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The National Geographic Magazine 



Traveling in Pre-railway Days, Portuguese East Africa 



forms of native amusement, and are in- 

 dulged in all over the country about the 

 time of full moon. The music of the 

 drums is the most general form of ac- 

 companiment, and many of the people 

 become astonishingly expert in beating 

 them. The number of drums used at 

 one time is as a rule three, and this num- 

 ber is never allowed to exceed five or 

 six, although on one occasion, when I 

 was in Marayi's main town, close to 

 Mozambique, I witnessed a dance in 

 which over 2,000 persons took part, to 

 music furnished by over thirty drums. 

 On this occasion three immense rings 

 were formed, and the drums were sta- 

 tioned a little way off. This was the most 

 imposing festivity of the kind at which 

 I have been oresent." 



Mr Maugham gives an interesting sum- 

 mary of Portuguese exploration and set- 

 tlements in Sofala and Mozambique. 

 When the Portuguese came in 1502 they 



found the region ruled by an Arab sul- 

 tan, whose vessels traded in slaves and 

 gold and ivory along the East African 

 coast. The region was fabled for its 

 wealth, and, in fact, Mr Maugham be- 

 lieves that the wild jungle in which he 

 hunted was "the legendary Land of 

 Ophir" itself ; "that land to which King 

 Solomon of old sent the vessels which 

 enriched his treasury and enhanced his 

 influence, and to which the ancient Phoe- 

 nicians sent their fast-sailing argosies, 

 to return laden with the riches of the 

 land of Punt." 



No part of the world arouses greater 

 curiosity or is veiled in deeper mystery 

 than the hinterland of Portuguese East 

 Africa and the neighboring territory of 

 Mashonaland and Rhodesia, where the 

 ruins of many cities surrounded by walls 

 of solid masonry have been found, but 

 not a single inscription to tell of their in- 

 habitants or asfe. 



