74 THE RIVER ZAMBEZI AND ITS SCENERY 



a silver streak past a lovely amphitheatre of low 

 wooded hills, the shallow stream being about a 

 quarter of a mile wide as it sweeps past the low, 

 boulder-strewn neck or peninsula which separates 

 Muterara from the hills farther along its course. 

 The true front of the building overlooks the 

 Zambezi, and the two large wooded hills on the 

 other shore at the back of the old settlement of 

 Sena, whose whitewashed red-roofed buildings can 

 just be distinguished. These two hills are called 

 Mbala-muana (the child-carrier), one being very large, 

 whilst the other which appears to be much smaller 

 bears a faint resemblance to the position of a child 

 borne on a woman's back — a rare instance of native 

 imagination. The surrounding land, which is poor 

 and stony, has been planted as an experiment with 

 Sisal fibre {Agave sigatana), and Senhor Magalhaes 

 tells us that a little farther up the river it is 

 proposed to try the Oil Palm {Elais guineensis) 

 which it is confidently expected will give good 

 results. 



In this part of the Zambezi, and especially in 

 the district surrounding the ancient settlement of 

 Sena, the influence of several centuries of inter- 

 course with the European is extremely noticeable 

 in the negro, his manners, his surroundings, and 

 mode of life. No longer does he shelter himself 

 beneath the roof of the squalid, tumble-down hut 

 of small dimensions. His dwelling is large, fairly 

 airy, and often furnished with sawn timber doors, 

 glazed windows, and other luxuries whose uses the 

 advance of civihsation has taught him to appreci- 

 ate. Then again, the Sena people are decently 



