EXTENT OF THE GOLD-REGION 415 



Farther west lay the now unknown kingdom of Abutua, 

 which was formerly famous for the metal; and then, coming 

 round toward the east, we have the gold-washings of the 

 Mashona, or Bazizulu, and, farther east, that of Manica, 

 where gold is found much more abundantly than in any 

 other part, and which has been supposed by some to be tbe 

 Ophir of King Solomon. I saw the gold from this quarter 

 as large as grains of wheat, that found in the rivers which 

 run into the coal-field being in very minute scales. If we 

 pfece one leg of the compasses at Tete, and extend the 

 other three and a half degrees, brine-ina; it round from the 

 northeast of Tete by west, and then to the southeast, we 

 nearly touch or include all the known gold-producing coun- 

 try. As the gold on this circumference is found in coarser 

 grains than in the streams running toward the centre or 

 Tete, I imagine that the real gold-field lies round about the 

 coal-field; and, if I am right in the conjecture, then we 

 have coal encircled by a gold-field, and abundance of wood, 

 water, and provisions, — a combination not often met with 

 in the world. The inhabitants are not unfavorable to 

 washings conducted on the principle formerly mentioned. 

 At present they wash only when in want of a little calico. 

 They know the value of gold perfectly well ; for they 

 bring it for sale in goose-quills, and demand twenty-four 

 yards of calico for one penful. 



Major Sicard, the commandant, whose kindness to me 

 and my people was unbounded, presented a rosary made 

 of the gold of the country, the workmanship of a native 

 of Tete, to my little daughter, — also specimens of the gold- 

 dust of three different places, which, with the coal of 

 Muatize and Morongoze, are deposited in the Museum of 

 Practical Geology, Jermyn Street, London. 



All the cultivation is carried on with hoes in the native 

 manner, and considerable quantities of Holcus sorghum, 

 maize, Pennisetum typho'ideum, or lotsa of the Balonda, 

 millet, rice, and wheat are raised, as also several kinds of 

 beans, — one of which, called "litloo"' by the Bechuanas, 



