SPORT IN MOZAMBIQUE 



black goose also possesses the very curious habit of 

 perching. As this bird is very tough and possesses 

 solid bones, I advise shooting it with No. shot. We 

 pass the night under our mosquito-curtains, lulled 

 by the buzzing of legions of mosquitoes and the 

 snorting of hippopotamuses. 



In a day's march we reach the Muda, an affluent 

 of the Pungw6, and halt on its bank. This river 

 has been described to me as very rich in gold, and also 

 in bituminous schists, an indication of oil-bearing 

 strata. I find, indeed, traces of gold, but less 

 important than at Chivumba, while the schists 

 which I came across are only graphite of bad quality. 



From the Muda we reach an affluent of that river, 

 the Muda-ma-fou, where we lunch. At six o'clock 

 in the evening we make our entry into the town of 

 Bamboo Creek. Of a truth, the word town seems 

 somewhat of an exaggeration to apply to a collection 

 of some fifty houses. But as there is a railway-station, 

 a telegraph-office, a baker, some cafes, and, of course, 

 some Indian shops where they sell everything, while, 

 in fine, the place is the centre of a district, the whole 

 well merits in Africa the designation of a town, more 

 especially as it possesses two names. Thus among 

 the English it is known as Bamboo Creek, and to the 

 Portuguese as Nova Fontesvilla, the capital of Neves- 

 Ferreira. We install ourselves to pass the night at 

 the Railway Hotel, which is under the management 

 of a polite Austrian. 



(50) 



