414 



CONGE AND BUAZE. 



Chap. XXXI. 



I saw here for the first 

 time a specimen of plants 

 named Conge and Buaze, 

 the fibres of which will 

 probably prove to be a 

 suitable substitute for flax. 

 The former is a species of 

 aloe ; the latter is stated 

 by the Portuguese to grow 

 in large quantities in the 

 Maravi country north of 

 the Zambesi, but is not 

 cultivated, and has only 

 been used for making 

 threads on which the na- 

 tives string their beads. 

 A firm thread of it feels 

 like catgut in the hand, 

 and would cut the fingers 

 before it would break. 

 The price of provisions is 

 The Buaze. low, but very niuch higher 



than previous to the commencement of the war. Two yards 

 of calico are now demanded for six fowls, while before the war 

 the same quantity was worth twenty-four fowls. The panja 

 of wheat, weighing between 30 and 40 lbs., is worth a dollar, 

 or os. ; 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 former being often 15s. a pound. Food is 

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

 war, the islands which stud the Zambesi were inhabited, and 

 grain and fowls could be got to any amount. The inhabitants 

 disappeared before their enemies the Landeens, but are be- 

 ginning 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 the Portuguese 

 are a mere remnant of what they formerly owned. 



On the 1st of April I visited the site of a former establish- 

 ment of the Jesuits, called Micombo, about ten miles S.E. of 



