SPORT IN MOZAMBIQUE 



centre, of which the only traces now remaining are 

 heaps of rubbish and a splendid mango-tree. A dense 

 vegetation has sprung up to cover the barren effort, 

 which doubtless cost much treasure and many lives. 

 It appears that this fort was established by a Portu- 

 guese captain named Oliveira. Its situation was, 

 however, very badly chosen, as it is in the middle 

 of a plain inundated for part of the year and infested 

 with mosquitoes, whereas at the distance of a few 

 kilometres the spurs of the Gorongoza mountains 

 offer an admirable site, both from the hygienic and the 

 strategic point of view. During the afternoon I arrive 

 at the village of Demba, at the foot of the ancient 

 fortress of Massara, which formed the principal seat 

 of the military operations of a certain Manuel Antonio 

 Gouveia, who merits special mention. 



He is one of the most remarkable figures in the 

 history of the country, this Goa half-caste, who, 

 succeeding his uncle, took on lease from the Portuguese 

 Government an immense territory where he pillaged, 

 ravished, decapitated, acquired the monopoly of com- 

 merce and of elephant-hunting, and enthralled in a 

 most despotic yoke entire nationalities. At one time 

 he aided the Portuguese against the English in their 

 frontier wars, and received as a reward the title of 

 captain. Made prisoner by the English and taken 

 to Europe, he came back to reign once more ; but 

 ended by perishing miserably in an ambush in the 

 course of an expedition undertaken against the Barwe 



(90) 



