38 EARLY EAST AFRICA 



head was borne on high upon the point of a spear. 

 The Hmbs of those who had fallen, which were 

 destined for an unimaginable feast, were also dis- 

 played to the horror-stricken Europeans as an 

 earnest of what was in store for them. Terrified 

 by this wholly unlooked-for catastrophe, the Sena 

 commander endeavoured to withdraw his forces in 

 the night ; but, while preparing to recross the river, 

 they were fallen upon, and most, if not all the 

 Europeans, with many of their native allies, were 

 cut to pieces. 



From 1608 to 1619 various expeditions were 

 sent from Mozambique to accomplish the pacifica- 

 tion of the Zambezi districts, each, as we learn, 

 with an eye to the illusive silver mines which in 

 the past had cost the early settlers so dearly. These 

 were never discovered, but the crumbling power 

 of Monomotapa, which for many years had been 

 undergoing a gradual process of disintegration, 

 enabled the Portuguese thenceforward to establish 

 themselves firmly in those distant inland regions. 

 Thus about 1 630 the Governor of Mozambique, by 

 dint of assisting that potentate in the subjugation 

 of some disaffected tribes, took advantage of the 

 pretext thus afforded him of negotiating a treaty 

 of vassalage whereby the Monomotapa formally 

 recognised Portuguese sovereignty throughout his 

 dominions ; undertook to seek for and make known 

 the whereabouts of the silver mines ; grant to 

 Portugal a virtual monopoly of the gold industry ; 

 receive a permanent Portuguese resident in his 

 Zimbabwe,* or capital ; and pay an annual tribute 



* Zimbabwe is said by the old writers to have signified royal residence. 



