M O S A M B I Q U E. 



731 



Jlotim- 



the anchorage, lies the town of Mozambique, occupy, 

 ing the central part of the island, and presenting, in the 

 appearance of its buildings and inhabitants, a strange 

 mixture of Indian, Arabian, and European costume. 

 The soil of the island is candy, and tolerably fertile, 

 yielding rice, millet, pulse, roots, Sec. ; but the settle- 

 ment depends for its supplies on the peninsula of Ca- 

 haceiro, a tract of land about eleven miles long, and 

 four broad, connected with the continent by an isthmus 

 bout a mile across, which could be easily rendered se- 

 cure against any attack from the interior, were it not 

 that the creek on the south side becomes dry at low 

 water for the space of nearly four miles. On this pe- 

 ninsula are several village* and plantations, but none 

 of them displaying much agricultural industry or skill. 

 The principal trees are the cocoa-nut, cashew, mango, 

 papaw, and orange; am) the chief article of cultivation 

 is the manioca root, which constitutes the food of the 

 slaves. A great part of the land still remains unculti- 

 vated ; but numerous herds of cattle, and vast droves 

 of swine, are reared upon its pastures. A great variety 

 of bird* frequent the groves ; and the most curious sea 

 productions abound on the coast, such as star-fish, and 

 sea-flowers of uncommon beauty, sponges of several 

 kind-., sea-priapi, mollu<-;i-, muscles, crabs, and oysters, 

 which arc said to yield pearls of considerable value. 

 The beach u covered with flamingoes, spoonbills, cur- 

 lewi, snipe, and larks ; large herons, and several spe- 

 cies of gulls ; and great numbers of slaves are generally 

 rtn at low water employed in collecting the shell-fish. 

 One of the mo-t remarkable of the fishes found on the 

 coast, is the lucking-fch or remora, which is said to be 

 employed in c.ntchin^ turtles in the following manner: 

 When fastened to the boat with a line, it invariably 

 dart* forward.-", and fixes itself by its sucker to the first 

 turtle which it meets, holding so strongly as to enable 

 the fishermen to secure the prey. 



The climate of Motambique, from its oppressive heat 

 and heavy atmosphere, is extremely unhealthy ; and its 

 are so much increased by the mode of liv- 

 ing, that both among the military and civilians, not 

 more than reven out of a hundred are calculated to sur- 

 vive after a service of five year*. With the exception 

 of the governor and his staff, the greater part of the 

 European settler* are culprits who have been sentenced 

 to banishment. The native planters, descended from 

 the old settler*, hare, in consequence of their dealing 

 in slavc, become vicious, indolent, and carelets of im- 

 proving their plantations. Another class consists of 

 the i!ecmV-M of the old Arab settlers, most of whom 

 are engaged in a seafaring life, and Banian traders and 

 artizan*. The remainder of the inhabitants is com- 

 posed of the free blacks and native soldiers ; and the 

 whole populntion is calculated at little more than three 

 thousand, of which the list mentioned class composes 

 one half, and the two other classes about one fourth 

 each. The European Portuguese and natives, are ge- 

 nerally persons of little respectability and debauched 

 moraN : and the chief employment of both consists in 

 the tr.flic of slaves, which renders them not very scru- 

 pulous about the means of gaining wealth. The regu- 

 lar talarie* of all the public functionaries are so utterly 

 inadequate tor their support, that they are too much 

 tempted to tolerate varirus abuses, such as selling the 

 inferior office* of cummsnil, mincing the effective force 

 of the fcttlvtneut, and sharing in the perquisites which 

 ariw from the nefarious trwle in ."laves. Thig trade used 

 formerly to supply the Cape of Good Hope, the Isle of 

 France, and Batavia, with almo-t the whole of their 

 alave* ; betides sending a considerable number to the 



East and West Indies. Greit part of this traffic is cut Mosam- 

 off by the abolition of the trade on the part of Great bique. 

 Britain ; but still the settlement supplies the Brazil " ~~Y~~" 

 coast and Spanish colonies with above 4000 of these 

 unfortunate creatures every year. They are bought at 

 the rate of four or five pounds a head ; and it is reckon- 

 ed a lucky voyage, if, out of a cargo of 300 or 400, 

 only 60 die in the passage to South America. To the 

 Portuguese colonies in India, they send annually four 

 or five vessels loaded with gold, ivory, and slaves, which 

 bring back in return cottons, teas, and other kinds of 

 eastern produce. All exports are exempted from duty, 

 except slaves, which pay at the rate of 16^ crusades 

 each. Imports, after all charges are included, pay Trade, 

 about 25 per cent., except specie, which pays 2^, of 

 which one per cent, goes to the revenue, and the rest 

 to the governor. The most suitable articles for the mar- 

 ket of Mosambique are iron bars, and hoops, lead, pow- 

 der, shot, cutlery, stationery, prints, and framed pic- 

 tures, some articles of household furniture, cotton for 

 sofas, silk and cotton stockings, shoes and boots, waist- 

 coat pieces, light plain muslins, blue cloth, a few tele- 

 scopes, salt butter, hams, and cheese, and a little of. 

 most articles of luxury in use among the Portuguese. 

 Most of the goods for exportation bear a high price ; 

 but vessels may be supplied with provisions, consisting 

 of bullocks, goats, and guinea-fowls, at a moderate rate. 

 A considerable number of an Arabian breed of asses is 

 also reared at Mosambique for exportation, which are 

 generally sent to the Brazils as presents, but which 

 fetch a high price when sold. The articles exchanged 

 with the Africans for their gold, ivory, and slaves, are 

 chiefly salt, shells, beads, tobacco, coloured handker- 

 chiefs, and coarse cloths from Surat. 



It is a peculiar custom in the colony, that every per. 

 son who can command a decent dress may visit the go- 

 vernor's house in the evening, which many take care 

 to do, chiefly for the sake of obtaining a cup of tea ; 

 and, whenever the governor removes to his country 

 scat, it is esteemed a proper mark of respect to follow 

 him, ami make similar visits of ceremony. The wives 

 of the planters (of whom few arc seen in public) are 

 generally thin and sallow in their complexion, negli- 

 gent in the care of their prr-o:is, r\ccpt on great occa- 

 sions, and resembling those of the Cape in their taste 

 for smoking tobacco, and the cu.-tom of going without 

 stocking-?. The food of these planters is gross in the 

 extreme, consisting of great masses of boiled meats, 

 chiefly pork and beef in the midst of vegetables ; with 

 quantities of oil, not remarkable for its purity, in most 

 of their dishes. 



The natives who occupy the country behind Mosam- Native 

 bique, are the Makooa or Makooana, comprising a ti :!*-... 

 number of powerful tribes, extending northward as far 

 M Mclinda; southward, to the mouth of the Zambezi ; 

 and in a southwest direction, almost to the neighbour- 

 hood of the Caffres. They are an athletic and ugly 

 race of people, of the most ferocious aspect, and sa- 

 vage disposition. They are fond of tattooing their 

 skins, and draw a stripe clown the forehead along the 

 nose to the chin, which is crossed in a direct angle by 

 another line from ear to ear, so as to give the face the 

 appearance of being sewed together in four parts. They 

 file their teeth to a point, so as to referable a coarse 

 saw ; and suspend ornaments of copper or bone from 

 a hole in the gristle of the nose. Their upper Ifp pro. 

 trudes in a very remarkable degree ; and this they con- 

 sider as so principal a point of beauty, that they en- 

 deavour to make it still longer, by introducing into the 

 centre a small circular piece of ivory, wood, or iron, 



