636 TRADE— PRICES. Chap. XXXI. 



Mozambique made that article contraband, after the commence- 

 ment of the war. Goods, when traded with in the tribes around 

 the Portuguese, produce a profit of only about 10 per cent., the 

 articles traded in being ivory and gold-dust. A little oil and wheat 

 are exported, but nothing else. Trade with the tribes beyond the 

 exclusive ones is much better. Thirty brass rings cost 10s. at Senna, 

 11. at Tete, and 21. beyond the tribes in the vicinity of Tete ; these 

 are a good price for a penful of gold-dust of the value of 21. The 

 plantations of coffee, which, previous to the commencement of the 

 slave-trade, yielded one material for exportation, are now deserted, 

 and it is difficult to find a single tree. The indigo (Indigofera 

 argentea, the common wild indigo of Africa) is found growing 

 everywhere, and large quantities of the senna-plant * grow in the 

 village of Tete and other parts ; but neither indigo nor senna is 

 collected. Calumba-root, which is found in abundance in some 

 parts further down the river, is bought by the Americans, it is said, 

 to use as a dye-stuff. A kind of sarsaparilla, or a plant which is 

 believed by the Portuguese to be such, is found from Londa to 

 Senna, but has never been exported. 



The price of provisions is low, but very much higher than pre- 

 vious to the commencement of the war. Two yards of calico are 

 demanded for six fowls ; tliis is considered very dear, because, before 

 the war, the same quantity of calico was worth 24 fowls. Grain 

 is sold in little bags made from the leaves of the palmyra, like 

 those in which Ave receive sugar. They are called panjas, and each 

 panja weighs between 30 and 40 lbs. The panja of wheat at Tete 

 is worth a dollar, or 5s. ; but the native grain may be obtained 

 among the islands below Lupata, at the rate of three panjas for two 

 yards of calico. The highest articles of consumption are tea and 

 coffee — the tea being often as high as 15s. a pound. Food is 

 cheaper down the river below Lupata, and, previous to the war, the 

 islands which stud the Zambesi were all inhabited, and, the soil 

 being exceedingly fertile, grain and fowls could be got to any 

 amount. The inhabitants disaj3peared before their enemies the 

 Landeens, but are beginning to return since the peace. They 

 have no cattle, the only place where we found no tsetse being 

 the district of Tete itself; and the cattle in the possession of 



* These appear to belong to Cassia acutifolia, or true senna of commerce, 

 found in various parts of Africa and India. — Dr. Hooker. 





