142 
THE  TROHCAL  AGRICULTURIST, 
[August  i,  1892. 
Africa  Company  cent  several  parties  from  Fort  Salie- 
bury,  and  bought  large  quantities  of  goods  in  Tete, 
whence  they  were  taken  overland.  The  distance 
between  the  two  pieces  is  about  ten  days’  march. 
This  brings  Fort  Salisbury  within  18  days  from  (be 
coast,  as  steamers  can  run  from  Chinde  to  Tete 
in  eight  days.  A large  quantity  of  oil-seeds  is 
grown  on  the  Z<inbesi  about  Senna,  but  the 
difficulty  and  cost  of  transport  is  so  great  that  the  Oost 
Afrikaanische  Companie,  the  only  European  firm  in 
that  place,  has  closed  its  establishment  thtre.  The. 
Senna  natives  transport  now  on  their  ocn  account 
to  Muzongoa,  a place  on  the  Zambesi,  100  miles 
from  the  mouth,  where  there  are  both  European 
and  Indian  trading-houses-  From  Muzongoa  the  pro- 
duces are  carried  by  steamer  to  Chinde.  A well 
organised  flotilla  company  ftr  the  Zambesi  and 
Shire  would  pay  handsomely  cow,  and  would  have 
a good  future  before  it.  The  vessels  employed  in 
the  service  would  require  to  be  carefully  built  to  suit 
the  particular  requirements  of  the  river.  At  Chinde 
a piece  of  ground  of  10  acres  has  been  leased  to 
Her  Majesty’s  Government  whereon  to  build  store- 
houses, &c.,  aDd  a township  is  rapidly  springing  up 
there.  It  Is  intended  to  build  at  c-nce  a wooden  pier 
to  facilitate  the  loading  and  discharging  of  lighters. 
The  anohorage  is  about  three  miles  from  the  bar 
inside  the  river,  and  is  well  protected,  and  has  deep 
water  and  a sandy  bott  m.  The  tides  run  very 
strong  there.  The  township  is  on  a sand-bank,  one 
side  of  which  is  washed  hy  the  eea,  The  pert  is 
connected  with  the  main  Zambesi  by  a deep,  though 
narrow  and  twistirg-  channel,  some  14  miles  lcng. 
The  Kongoni  bar  is  no  longer  used  as  an  eLtraDce 
to  or  exit  from  the  Z-mbesi. 
It  is  intended  at  an  early  date  to  place  two 
small  steamers  on  the  Kwa-kwa,  and  to  run  them 
between  Quilimane  and  Magarrumbe,  whence  there 
is  always  a good  road  to  the  Zambesi.  Nothing 
more  has  been  heard  of  the  wharf  and  tramway  which 
were  spoken  of  last  year. 
Shipbuilding. — None  is  cone  here,  but  a number  of 
boats  and  ligh’ers  are  built  every  year  by  native  car 
penters  of  native  wood.  These  cralt  are  rough,  heavy 
and  stroDg,  but  badly  finished,  and  constantly  in  want 
of  repair. 
Coal — None  is  imported  here,  but  a small  quantity 
is  imported  monthly  at  CbiLde  for  the  use  of  the 
river  steamers.  The  Portuguese  Government  river 
sleamers  have  used  coal  dug  from  the  Zambesi  hank 
at  Ilevugwe,  20  miles  above  Tete.  The  beds  tun  for 
more  than  60  miles  along  the  bank  of  the  l iver,  and 
the  coal  could  be  hewn  and  brought  down  river  for 
abont  20s  per  ton,  a price  that  would  make  it  cheaper 
than  wcu  d fuel,  the  supply  of  which  is  often  very 
insufficient. 
Agr  culture  <n  a large  scale  has  not  been  tried  by 
any  persoD.  Each  native  hoes  and  cultivates  his  own 
little  patch  of  ground.  The  crops  grown  are  rice, 
different  kinds  of  bears,  maize,  millet,  peas,  sesame 
seed,  ground  nuts,  and  in  the  cold  wta'her  most 
European  vegetables.  The  fuits  produced  are  man- 
goes, oraDges,  limes,  lemons,  figs,  guavas,  gra[  es,  pine- 
apples, pomegranates,  custard  apples,  cachew  prickly 
pear,  and  a small  wild  apple  not  unlike  an  olive. 
Domestic  animals  are  represented  by  a few 
horses,  donkeys,  cattle,  goats,  sheep,  pigs,  and  poultry. 
Horses  do  not  thrive,  but  doDkeys  and  mules  do  very 
well.  There  are  not  enough  cattle,  sheep,  and  goats 
to  maintain  a supply  of  butcher  meat,  and  poultry 
forms  the  staple  article  of  diet.  Fish  of  an  excellent 
quality  are  fish  caught  near  the  sea,  but  only  in  small 
quantities. 
Per  lb. 
Beef  ...  ...  8d. 
Vegetables  ...  2 
Bread  ...  ...  4 
Fish  ..  ...8 
Water  is  obtained  from  wells;  it  is  only  moderately 
good.  It  c:n  bo  supplied  to  ships  at  20*  per  ton. 
A vigorous  effort  to  grow  sugar-cane  has  been  made 
by  the  Companhia  do  Assucar  di  Mozambique.  The 
site  chosen  for  the  plantation  is  on  the  right  bank 
of  the  Kwa-kw#,  about  70  miles  from  the  coast.  At 
the  end  of  1S90  and  the  beginning  of  1891  tome  6t0 
tons  or  700  tons  ot  Natal  cane  tops  were  imported, 
of  which  75  per  cent  were  spoiled  < n route.  'J  be  first 
planting  of  180  acres  was  made  Id  January,  1891.  with 
Natal  and  native  tops,  with  the  resnlt  that  the  native 
cane  has  been  discarded  as  too  slow  and  poor  in  growth. 
The  soil  ot  the  first  field  has  been  fennd  unsuitable,  ar  d 
Brother  site  is  to  be  tried.  It  is  propi  sed  <o  try  ratcon- 
ing  the  canes.  The  rainfall  of  1891  has  teeD  much  less 
than  usual,  amounting  to  ody  35  inches ; in  1888  it  was 
63.  Much  of  the  cane  was  destroyed  by  drought, 
seme  by  while  8n<s.  In  addition  to  sugar  the  com- 
pany proroses  to  plant  mealies,  end  experimentally, 
sea  island  cottoD,  pepper,  vanilla,  and  Liberisn  coffee 
has  been  tried  and  found  to  do  fairly  well.  Sugar 
machinery  of  the  value  of  2,000f  has  been  imported, 
and  is  now  ou  the  way  upconntry.  The  mill  can 
torn  out  20  tons  a day.  In  addition  to  this  a good 
frame  saw  has  been  imported  and  used  to  cut  planks 
for  building.  The  experiment  is  to  be  made  of  crush- 
ing oil-seeds  by  a hydraulic  oilprtss,  and  exporting 
the  oil.  The  company  has  leased  the  lakes  of  the 
Prazo  in  which  it  works,  and  has  an  ample  supply  of 
labour-  The  adults  in  the  Prazo  i umber  6,000. 
The  native  population  of  the  district  is  estimated 
at  1,000.000,  that  of  the  town  at  10,000,  but  there 
are  no  accurate  data  to  go  upon.  The  Eurcpean 
population  is  Bbcut  200,  of  whom  140  are  Portuguese, 
25  British,  and  the  others  Dutch,  French,  SwisB 
German,  and  Italian.  The  British-Indiai  s number 
some  200.  They  are  divided  into  two  religion3,  Hindu 
and  Mohammedan;  the  latter  are  by  far  the  more 
numerous.  They  are  of  fc  ur  srets,  Meman,  Khatri, 
BoLra,  and  Khoja.  The  Hindus  ere  of  four  castes, 
libattia  and  B»nyan  (merchants,)  Vanja  (sailors,) 
aDd  Kama  (small  shopkeepers  and  spirit  dealers.) 
The  Karnas  alone  of  the  Indians  sell  liquors.  The 
Britieh-Ii  diaDS  come  from  Kutch,  Pcrbundir,  Jam- 
uuggur,  Batwa,  and  Lalpcre. 
The  rates  ot  wages  are  as  follows: — 
Description. 
Amount. 
s. 
d. 
f>. 
d. 
Cooks 
Per  month 
12 
0 to 
20 
0 
Servants  ... 
)) 
6 
0 
12 
0 
Carpenters 
Per  day 
JJ 
0 
10 
1 
6 
Blacksmiths  ... 
0 
10 
1 
6 
Masons 
JJ 
0 
10 
1 
6 
Boatmen 
JJ 
0 
10 
Labourers 
JJ 
0 
10 
. 
At  a distance  from  the  town  the  pay  of  craftsmen 
is  the  same  aa  in  the  town  or  a lit tlo  higher,  but  that 
of  servants  and  labourers  much  less. 
There  is  a military  and  civil  hospital  located  in  a 
temporary  building,  under  charge  of  a doctor,  and  an 
apothecary  who  dispenses  mtdicii  e.  The  diseases 
prevalent  sa  oDg  Europeans  are  8rreaii8,  marsh,  and 
bilious  fevers.  In  1890  influenza  i ttacked  many  people, 
and  carried  off  many  nativ.  s.  The  Datives  suffer  from 
ftver,  lung  complaints,  leprosy,  elephantiaeis.  and 
native  small  pox.  An  attempt  waB  made  in  1890  to 
enforce  vaccination  among  natives,  but  it  d es  not 
appear  to  have  keen  persisted  in. 
Passports  for  the  interior  cr  lor  any  part  of  the 
province  have  been  clone  away  with,  but  they  are 
still  demanded  of  those  leaving  the  province. 
Permits  to  live  in  the  country  must  annually 
he  taken  ont  by  foreigners  coming  into  the  country. 
The  fee  charged  for  these  is  2s  2d. 
Public  Works — None  of  importance  carried  out 
during  1890, 
Telegraph — The  telegraph  lire  runs  from  Quili- 
mane to  Gwcngoe,  cn  the  Z mbesi,  and  Chile  mo, 
on  the  Shire.  There  is  also  a lice  from  Quilitnane 
to  the  signal-station  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kwa-kwa. 
A line  to  Chinde  from  Vicenti  is  nearly  completed. 
The  service  is  fairly  well  carried  cn  considering  the 
nature  of  the  country  and  the  difficulties  of  trans- 
port. The  rate  to  all  places  is  2d  a word  and  4d  for 
each  message.  The  telegraph  revenue  fir  1S91  was 
about  500f,  a great  increase  upon  last  year. 
There  are  no  made  roads,  only  tracks  through  the 
bush.  The  streets  of  the  town  are  of  sand. 
