M O S 



732 



M O S 



History. 



They dress their hair in a very fantastic manner, some 

 shaving one side of the head, others both sides, le.iv- 

 ing a kind of crest from the front to the nape of the 

 neck ; while a few of them wear simply a knot of hair 

 on their foreheads. Their females resemble greatly 

 the Hottentot women in the curvature of the spine, 

 and protrusion of the hinder parts ; and, when pa<t 

 the prime of life, are said to present the most disagree- 

 able objects that can be conceived. They are fond of 

 music and dancing ; but their tunes and motions are 

 unvaried and monotonous. Their favourite instrument 

 is called Ambira, which is formed by a number of thin 

 bars of iron, of different lengths, highly tempered, and 

 set in a row on a hollow case of wood, about four in- 

 ches square, and closed on three sides. It is played 

 upon with a piece of quill ; and its notes, though sim- 

 ple, are sufficiently harmonious, sounding to the ear, 

 when skilfully managed, like the changes upon bells. 

 They are armed with spears, darts, and poisoned ar- 

 rows ; and possess also a considerable number of mus- 

 kets, which they procure from the Arabs in the north- 

 ern districts, and sometimes even from the Portuguese 

 dealers. They are formidable enemies to the settle- 

 ment ; and have been rendered desperate in their hos- 

 tilities by the nefarious practices of the traders who 

 have gone among them to purchase slaves. But not- 

 withstanding this natural ferocity, they are very docile 

 and serviceable as slaves ; and when partially admitted 

 to freedom, by being enrolled as soldiers, they become 

 both expert and faithful in the service. A few tribes 

 on the coast, who speak the same language as the Ma- 

 kooa, and probably belonged originally to the same 

 stock, had fallen under the jurisdiction of the Arab 

 settlers ; and, when these last were conquered by the 

 Portuguese, became bound to pay tribute, and render 

 military service. Their Sheiks are appointed by the 

 governor of Mosambique ; and some of them are so 

 powerful as to be able to bring into the field from two 

 to four thousand men ; but as they seldom act in uni- 

 son, little reliance can be placed on their assistance. 



This coast had been known to the Arabs, and its 



ports frequented by their traders, for centuries before 



its discovery by Europeans; and all the information 



possessed by the latter on the subject, was chiefly 



drawn from the vague accounts of Ptolemy, and the 



Periplus of the Erythrean sea. It was first discovered 



by the Portuguese in the 14t)7> who found the whole 



of the coast in the possession of the Arabs ; but the 



fame of its gold mines, and the convenience of its ports, 



as resting places for the Indian trade, led them to at- 



tempt the expulsion of the original settlers. This was 



easily accomplished by their superiority in arms ; and, 



in 1508, they had conquered Quiloa, gained a footing 



in Sofala, and built the fort which still stands on the 



island of Mosambique. They gradually encroached 



on the Mohammedan possessions in the river Zambezi ; 



1 and, about the year 1569, they completely cleared that 



part of the river of the Arabs, by putting the whole 



of them to death. In the attempts of the Portuguese 



to reach the gold mines of the interior, they were not 



very scrupulous as to the means which they employed ; 



and have furnished, in the history of the East, a pa- 



rallel to the atrocities of their Spanish neighbours in 



the West But theirs was a harder task ; and the na- 



tives of Africa maintained a nobler struggle for the in- 



dependence of their country, than the feebler South 



American race. Though compelled to abandon their 



fields and habitations to the rapacious invaders, they 



embraced every opportunity of harassing the enemy 



in their progress, or of taking them by surprise in their 



settlements. The most celebrated of these expeditions 

 was undertaken at the command of Sebastian I. in 

 1570, and conducted by Francis Baretto, who hud 

 been purposely appointed governor-general of Mosam- 

 bique. They penetrated the country of Monomotapa, 

 and burnt its capital ; but, after losing a great number 

 of men, they were obliged to retreat with no other 

 fruit of their victories, than permission to pass through 

 the territories of Monomotapa, upon condition of pay- 

 ing an annual tribute of 200 pieces of cloth. Another 

 attempt was soon after made through the country of 

 the Mongas, or Monjou ; and, after a hard fought bat- 

 tle with the natives, the armament passed the forest of 

 Lupata, and then, marching eastwaid along the line of 

 the Zambezi, made every exertion to reach the silver 

 mines of Chieova ; but all their researches proved fruit- 

 less ; and a detachment, which had been left behind to 

 prosecute the object, was cut off by an ambuscade. 

 Since this event, the Portuguese have contented them- 

 selves with acting on the defensive, occupying the coast 

 along the line of the river Zambezi, and maintaining their 

 influence in the country, by exciting the native powers 

 against one another. Even in these limited views, they 

 had many hard contests with the natives, and particular- 

 ly in 1589 and 1 592, they were attacked on the northern 

 bank of the last mentioned river, by a wandering and 

 ferocious tribe named Muzimbaj, who afterwards pass- 

 ed eastwards, and are conjectured to have belonged to 

 the tribes of Galla, who penetrated to the frontiers of 

 Abyssinia. The Portuguese were not more successful 

 in attempts to convert the natives to the Catholic faith ; 

 and, though one of their most zealous missionai ies, 

 Gonzalvo de Sylva, gained access to the court of the 

 Prince of Monomotapa, and made a favourable impres- 

 sion on his mind, the Mahommedan traders afterwards 

 acquired the ascendancy, and effected the destruction of 

 the Portuguese teachers. Most of their other converts, 

 as has too often been the case in catholic missions, were 

 merely nominal, and little benefited by the appellation 

 of Christians. The value of this colony to Portugal 

 has always been greatly overrated, but was probably 

 greater in former times than it can be at present. It 

 furnished large supplies of gold and ivory, and enrich- 

 ed at least a number of private individuals, whose 

 wealth ultimately proved beneficial to the state. It af- 

 forded in the earlier voyages to the east an important 

 resting place, and supplied most of the Portuguese co- 

 lonies with slaves. Its trade and importance have na- 

 turally declined with that of the mother country, and 

 especially with the loss of her eastern possessions; but 

 the impolitic manner in which it has for a long time 

 been governed, has farther reduced it to a state of 

 weakness and insignificance which can scarcely with- 

 stand the attacks of the surrounding savages. During 

 the war with France, and before the capture of the 

 Mauritius by the British, it suffered greatly from the 

 French privateers, and has recently been exposed to 

 serious depredations from the tribe of pirates called Ma- 

 rati, who occupy the north-east point of Madadascar. 

 See Purchas's Pilgrim ; Salt's Voyage to Abyssinia ; and 

 Histoire deCEthiopie Orient, part. R.Jean dea Santes. 



MOSCOW, formerly the metropolis of the Russian 

 empire, is situated in East Long. 37 33', and North 

 Lat. 55 45' 45". It was founded by George, son of 

 Volodimir Monomaka, who ascended the Russian throne 

 in 1154; but it was Daniel, the son of Alexander 

 Neuski, who, by making it his residence as Uuke of 

 Muscovy, laid the foundation of its future greatness, 

 and, hi 1304, made it the capital of the Russian domi. 



