556 CROSSING THE ZAMBESI. 



hauled the canoes up to our bivouac, and slept in them. 

 Next morning we all reached the opposite bank in safety. 

 We observed as we came along the Zambesi that it had 

 fallen two feet below the height at which we first found 

 it, and the water, though still muddy enough to deposit 

 a film at the bottom of vessels in a few hours, is not nearly 

 so red as it was, nor is there so much wreck on its surface. 

 It is therefore not yet the period of the central Zambesi 

 inundation, as we were aware also from our knowledge 

 of the interior. The present height of the water has been 

 caused by rains outside the eastern ridge. The people 

 here seem abundantly supplied with English cotton goods. 

 The Babisa are the medium of trade, for we were informed 

 that the Bazunga, who formerly visited these parts, have 

 been prevented by the war from coming for the last two 

 years. The Babisa are said to be so fond of a tusk that 

 they will even sell a newly-married wife for one. As we 

 were now not far from the latitude of Mozambique, I 

 was somewhat tempted to strike away from the river to 

 that port, instead of going to the S.E. in the direction the 

 river flows, but, the great object of my journey being to 

 secure water carriage, I resolved to continue along the 

 Zambesi, though it did lead me among the enemies of the 

 Portuguese. The region to the north of the ranges of hills 

 on our left is called Senga, from being the country of the 

 Basenga, who are said to be great workers in iron, and to 

 possess abundance of fine iron-ore, which, when broken, 

 shows veins of the pure metal in its substance. It has been 

 well roasted in the operations of nature. Beyond Senga 

 lies a range of mountains called Mashinga, to which the 

 Portuguese in former times went to wash for gold, and 

 beyond that, are great numbers of tribes which pass under 

 the general term Maravi. To the N.E. there are extensive 

 plains destitute of trees, but covered with grass, and in 

 some places it is marshy. The whole of the country to 

 the north of the Zambesi is asserted to be very much more 

 fertile than that to the south. The Maravi, for instance, 

 raise sweet potatoes of immense size, but when these are 

 planted on the southern bank they soon degenerate. The 

 root of this plant (convolvulus batala) does not keep more 

 than two or three days, unless it is cut into thin slices and 

 dried in the sun, but the Maravi manage to preserve 

 them for months by digging a pit, and burying them 

 therein enclosed in wood-ashes. Unfortunately, the 



