662 BOAT-BUILDING. Chap. XXXII. 



Sofa] a, its nearest port, pieces of wrought gold have been dug 

 up near the fort, and in the gardens. They also report the 

 existence of hewn stones in the neighbourhood, but these cannot 

 have been abundant, for all the stones of the fort of Sofala are 

 said to have been brought from Portugal. Natives whom I met 

 in the country of Sekeletu, from Manica, or Manoa, as they call 

 it, state that there are several caves in the country, and walls of 

 hewn stone, which they believe to have been made by their ances- 

 tors ; and there is, according to the Portuguese, a small tribe of 

 Arabs there, who have become completely like the other natives. 

 Two rivers, the Motirikwe and Sabia, or Sabe, run through their 

 country into the sea. The Portuguese were driven out of the 

 country by the Landeens, but now talk of re-occupying Manica. 

 The most pleasant sight I witnessed at Senna was the negroes 

 of Senhor Isidore building boats, after the European model, with- 

 out any one to superintend their operations. They had been in- 

 structed by a European master, but now go into the forest and 

 cut down the motondo-trees, lay down the keel, fit in the ribs, 

 and make very neat boats and launches, valued at from 201. to 

 1001. Senhor Isidore had some of them instructed also in car- 

 pentry at Kio Janeiro, and they constructed for him the hand- 

 somest house in Ivilimane, the woodwork being all of country 

 trees, some of which are capable of a fine polish, and very 

 durable. A medical opinion having been asked by the Com- 

 mandant respecting a better site for the village, winch, lying on 

 the low bank of the Zambesi, is very unhealthy, I recommended 

 imitation of the Jesuits, who had chosen the high healthy 

 mountain of Gorongozo, and to select a new site on Morumbala, 

 which is perfectly healthy, well watered, and where the Shire is 

 deep enough for the purpose of navigation at its base. As the 

 next resource, I proposed removal to the harbour of Mitilone, 

 which is at one of the mouths of the Zambesi, a much better 

 port than Kilimane, and where, if they must have the fever, 

 they would be in the way of doing more good to themselves and 

 the country than they can do in their present situation. Had 

 the Portuguese possessed this territory as a real colony, this 

 important point would not have been left unoccupied ; as it is, 

 there is not even a native village placed at the entrance of this 

 splendid river to show the way in. 



