604 INUNDATION OF THE ZAMBESI. 



On the 2nd the Zambesi suddenly rose several feet 

 in height. Three such floods are expected annually, but 

 this year there were four. This last was accompanied 

 by discoloration, and must have been caused by another 

 great fall of rain east of the ridge. We had observed 

 a flood of discoloured water when we reached the river 

 at the Kafue ; it then fell two feet, and from subsequent 

 rains again rose so high, that we were obliged to leave 

 it when opposite the hill Pinkwe. About the ioth of 

 March the river rose several feet with comparatively 

 clear water, and it continued to rise until the 21st, with 

 but a very slight discoloration. This gradual rise was 

 the greatest, and was probably caused by the water of 

 inundation in the interior. The sudden rise which 

 happened on the 2nd, being deeply discoloured, showed 

 again the effect of rains at a comparatively short distance. 

 The fact of the river rising three or four times annually, 

 and the one flood of inundation being mixed with the 

 others, may account for the Portuguese not recognising 

 the phenomenon of the periodical inundation, so well 

 known in the central country. 



The independent natives cultivate a little cotton, but 

 it is not at all equal, either in quantity or quality, to what 

 we found in Angola. The pile is short, and it clings to 

 the seed so much that they use an iron roller to detach 

 it. The soil, however, is equal to the production of any 

 tropical plant or fruit. The natives have never been 

 encouraged to cultivate cotton for sale, nor has any new 

 variety been introduced. We saw no palm-oil trees, 

 the oil which is occasionally exported being from the 

 ground-nut. One of the merchants of Tete had a mill 

 of the rudest construction for grinding this nut, which 

 was driven by donkeys. It was the only specimen of a 

 machine I could exhibit to my men. A very superior 

 kind of salad-oil is obtained from the seeds of cucumbers, 

 and is much used in native cookery. 



An offer, said to have been made by the ' Times,' having 

 excited attention even in this distant part, I asked the 

 Commandant if he knew of any plant fit for the production 

 of paper. He procured specimens of the fibrous tissue 

 of a species of aloe, named Conge, and some also from 

 the root of a wild date, and, lastly, of a plant named 

 Budze, the fibres of which, though useless for the manu- 

 facture of paper, are probably a suitable substitute for 



