134 THE PRAZOES 



lend such vast assistance to the prosecution of 

 rapid internal development, is nothing more during 

 the greater part of the year than a troublesome 

 hindrance. As I have stated in a previous chapter, 

 this fault is far from incurable. Its remedy con- 

 sists in the adoption of means whose cost, com- 

 pared with the construction of the railroad which 

 must soon alternatively become necessary, is in- 

 considerable. 



The Zambezi, in a word, must be dredged. 



I have pointed out that the sand-banks, which 

 constitute the chief obstacles to navigation, are not 

 continuous ; that where one of these bars a channel, 

 its extent is in nearly every case inconsiderable. 

 The task of clearing a way wide enough and deep 

 enough to afford passage to navigation during the 

 whole of the dry season would, I feel convinced, 

 be easily performed by one, or, at the outside, two 

 dredgers of moderate size and power. The Zambezi 

 thenceforward, its permanent channels carefully 

 marked and charted, its sand-banks pierced by pas- 

 sages of sufficient depth, and an intelligible system 

 of leading marks set up, should enable vessels to 

 navigate its waters by night as well as by day. 

 Thus, by means of a Kitson or other acetylene 

 search-light mounted forward, the tiresome delays 

 involved by making fast to the bank at nightfall, as 

 at present, would be done away with, and the time 

 occupied on the river journey reduced by at least 

 one half, with a consequent proportionate reduction 

 in the cost of freight and conveyance. 



In the foregoing passages of this chapter we 

 have caught an imperfect glimpse of the region of 



