Geography and Travel. 721 
MossAMEDES AND BENGUELA.—The bed of the river Giraul 
at Mossamedes has, according to Mr. E. W. Parsone, for many 
years been dry, and though pools occur here and there in the in- 
terior, and a stream is sometimes formed after heavy rains, no 
water ever appears on the surface at its mouth. Yet an anchor 
with a heavy wooden stock has been found embedded in the ancient 
channel about twenty miles from the mouth. The sandstone cliffs 
of the coast table-land sink into the valley at about ten miles north 
of the port, which is larger and has a better depth of water than 
that of Loanda, from which it is distant 385 miles. The o 
Valley is fertile, and has some low-growing trees, but the rest of 
the country near the town is barren, and the want of roads and 
carriers hampers the trade with the interior. Colonies or inland 
Limbigues and Bihe. These highland places are fertile, healthy, 
and adapted for cattle-breeding. A superior class of rubber gum 
has been recently introduced by the natives, and, as the caravans, 
which formerly took nine months to fetch their loads, are now bac 
in three months, it is supposed that a new gum-bearing bush or 
shrub has been discovered. 
geogt 
in width. The northeast cape of Rat Island is precipitous, but the 
rest slopes to the westward, and is apparently cultivable. The 
