PORTUGUESE EAST AFRICA 



47V. 



PORTUGUESE GUINEA 



man trading vessels which had interned in its 

 harbors to secure safety from the English and 

 French. Germany demanded their release ; no 

 attention was given to the ultimatum which 

 followed, and on March 8 Germany formally 

 declared war on the republic. Portugal was 

 thus the thirteenth nation to enter the con- 

 flict. Including its reserve force, it counted 

 itself able to muster about 800,000 men for the 

 cause of the allies against the Germanic powers 

 and Turkey, should they be needed. E.B.P. 



Consult White's A Century of Spain and Por- 

 tugal; Oldmeadow's Portugal. 



itolntfii Subjects. The reader who is inter- 

 ested in Portugal is referred to the following arti- 

 cles in these volumes : 



L i s I >< > n 



Angola 



I'm tuguese East Africa 



ISLANDS 



See '.1st, with article IST.ANH 



CITIES 

 Oporto 



COLONIES 



Portuguese Guinea 



LEADING PRODUCTS 



Olive 

 Port Wine 



Cork 



(Jrape 



fctalberrjr 



rxn.ASBIFIED 



Henry the Navigator Pyrenees . 

 Mo., is War of the Nations 



PORTUGUESE, pohr'lugees, EAST AF- 

 RICA, a colonial possession of Portugal, lyinti 

 along the east coast of South Africa. The 

 name Mozambique, formerly applied to tin 

 whole colony, is now restricted to its north* 

 ern coast. It is divided into two sections by 

 Zambezi River, and is bounded on the 

 north by German East Africa, on the south by 

 Zululand and on the west by British Central 

 Africa, Rhodesia and the Transvaal Its east- 

 era shores are washed by the Indian Ocean. It 

 covers an area of 293,400 square miles, divide <1 

 administrative purposes into several dis- 

 he control of Portuguese officials 

 vn as commandants. These are all under 

 I" the govenmr of the territory , 

 resides at Lourenc.o Marques, the capital. 

 i quickly fades into premature middle 

 age mult r the hot African sun in this territory, 

 H an enemy which is constantly 

 port of Beira, 



most important towns and the 1 

 of the Mozambique Company, a i 

 ration, is protected from the cncronch- 

 th ocean by a sea wall wh.eh gives 

 e appearance of being fortified. 

 300 



Handsome public buildings and hotels have 

 been built, and avenues of acacia trees and 

 ornamental gardens beautify the port. 



The natives of Portuguese East Africa are 

 negroes. They live in huts made of straw and 

 mud, in settlements fringed by banana trees. 

 The women pound millet in rude wooden mor- 

 tars or grind it into coarse flour between flat 

 stones. They are a peaceful, civilized people, 

 generally engaged in raising corn, tobacco, palm 

 nuts and coffee. Pearl fishing is also a source 

 of considerable profit. There are about 300 

 miles of railway in the colony. The principal 

 towns are Mozambique, Quilimane, Sofala and 

 Beira. The population is about 3,120,000. 



PORTUGUESE GUINEA, gin'i, a Portu- 

 guese colony of 14,000 square miles in North- 

 west Africa, bounded by the Atlantic Ocean 

 and by the French Senegambian territory. The 

 Hissayos Islands, off the coast, form a part of 

 the colony. The capital and port is Bulama. 

 on an island of that name in the delta of the 

 Rio Grande, or Comba. The colony runs east- 

 ward on both sides of the river, and consists of 

 alluvial plains covered with tropical vegetation 

 and forests. The chief products are rubber. 

 ivory, hides, oilseed and wax. The government 

 is administered by a Portuguese governor and 

 council, appointed by the Lisbon government; 

 a military force of 250 men is maintained, in- 

 cluding about 150 natives. The total popula- 

 tion is 820,000. The inhabitants are of many 

 tribes, each maintaining its own customs, reli- 

 gion and language, and they seldom mix or in- 

 trnnarry. The Portuguese inhabitants consist 

 of officials, soldiers and a few traders. 



There was a long-standing dispute between 

 England and Portugal concerning ownership of 

 this colony. In 1870 the United States gov- 

 ernment was called upon_to act as arbitrator 

 between the two powers, and the matter was 

 settled in favor of Portugal. Little progress 

 has been made under Portuguese rule, for the 

 authorities have nrver acquired the confidence 

 of the natives. 



The colony abounds in natural resources and 

 with careful development would prove a 

 valuable possession. Rubber trees are abun- 

 dant, and among < found ate the oil 

 and date palms, ebony, mahogany, calabash 

 trees and acacia. 1 * are plentiful.* in- 



Img the papaw. wnh fnut Dearly u 

 as ostrich eggs; banana, orange, citron, A] 

 mango. Wild animals are plentiful. The 

 hant and the hippopotamus are found in 

 districts, panthers and wild boars roam 



