BETWEEN THE ZAMBEZI AND THE PUNGWE 



only be crossed at high-water, we had to stay on board 

 for over ten hours. At last we landed, as may be 

 imagined, with great relief. I went to the English 

 hotel and spent four days at Chind6, where I was 

 very kindly received by the Portuguese commandant, 

 the English consul, and a number of merchants, among 

 whom I found a fellow-countryman, Mr. Joseph 

 Comtat, who knew a great deal about the country, 

 as he had lived there for thirty-five years. 



Chinde is a town which came into being through 

 the necessity of having a port at the mouth of the 

 Zambezi. Built on the shore, without any shade, it 

 is not a very attractive place, especially when the sea 

 breeze blows clouds of sand into one's eyes. But if 

 Chinde is not well situated it is, nevertheless, com- 

 mercially important, and I found it more lively than 

 Beira. The Zambezi Company and its flotilla, the 

 Navigation Associations, Charrer & Co., the African 

 Lakes Company, and the management of the Companies 

 of Borhor, Marromeu, Mopea, and Caia bring to it an 

 activity which also increases the traffic of the upper 

 Zambezi and the lake-district. It would be still 

 greater if there were not two towns in Chinde, the 

 Portuguese and English, each having their quarter 

 with their own post-office, custom-house, and police. 

 In the English quarter the taxes are very small, but 

 they are quite the opposite in the Portuguese, and 

 this liberality of the English naturally harms the 

 Portuguese merchants. 



(135) 



