June 14 , 1858 .] 
ADDITIONAL NOTICES. 
365 
to Cavravassa for a vessel drawing four feet ; and in the rainy season the river 
has at least in the shallowest part more than 12 feet, and during that season 
the water rises about sixty feet in the narrows of Lupata. As I have already 
stated, the tide reaches Mangara. The current is from 2 to 6 miles per hour, 
according to the season. The river is about 3000 yards wide at Tete ; at 
Senna, 1-| miles ; at Quillimane, about 800 yards ; at Quillimane Bar, more 
than 2 miles. 
There are no fords. In some dry seasons there are rapids between Senna 
and Tete ; they are not dangerous, and always passable. The bed of the 
river is mud, gravel, and sand. 
In the dry season the water of the river is clear and transparent ; in the 
rainy season it is brown, and at times approaching to a bright yellow. At 
this season the Mozambique Channel is discoloured at a distance of 80 or 100 
miles from the Quillimane Bar. At Cavravassa there is a high fall ; here 
vessels discharge their cargoes, which are carried a quarter of a mile overland 
and reshipped ; this operation is repeated twice before reaching Zumbo. 
In the neighbourhood of Tete, gold, coal, and iron are found in close prox- 
imity. More definite information on this point, with a plan of that portion of 
the country, and particulars of labour, carriage, &c., I am promised by Major 
Sicard, Governor of Tete. 
Large quantities of wheat are grown at Tete and in the surrounding country, 
which is considered the granary of the Zambesi : both Senna and Quillimane 
are annually supplied from thence. At Tete the price of wheat is about half 
a dollar per arroba of 32 lbs. 
Opposite to Tete the country is almost overrun by the sugar-cane. The 
natives make sugar, but it is of an inferior quality, owing to their not under- 
standing the manufacture of it. 
The people of Tete have a great advantage over other parts of the river, for 
in the rear of the town, and at the foot of it, only a mile distant, is the Car- 
uera, a high mountain, said to be from 3000 to 5000 feet in height. Here 
they have their plantations, consisting of different varieties of Indian or Kaffir 
corn, peas, beans, sweet potatoes, cabbages, onions, &c. ; and close to the vil- 
lage is a place called Ilhalutanda, having an area of from 10 to 20 square 
miles, which in the rainy season is more or less flooded. When the waters 
retire, they plant rice, corn, wheat, beans, &c. ; so that, should the plantations 
in the high lands fail for want of rain, they have a crop below ; and, if the 
floods destroy the crop below, they have a supply in the mountains. In the 
rainy season there is generally a great fall of rain, accompanied by very high 
winds from the south and south-west. At times, when it is very hot, after 
continued calms, they have violent whirlwinds, which destroy everything in 
their course, breaking trees and taking up houses and whirling them in the 
air as if they were straw mats. Some years, in the months of June and July, 
they have a hot wind from the south-west, which bums up everything that 
may be in the ground ; but this is unusual. 
From Inhasuja (which is close to Quillimane) to Mazaro, and even in dif- 
ferent parts of the river as high as Senna, the natives build their huts on 
stakes about 20 feet above the ground, so that in the rainy season they will 
not be endangered by the floods, which are constant and sudden. During this 
time it is not unusual for a native to indulge in the luxury of fishing out of 
his bed. In 1855 thousands of the natives were drowned by the river rising 
higher than usual ; many who escaped the flood fell victims to the famine that 
succeeded it. 
Fish of different species abound in the Zambesi. Buquena ; a long fish, 
long head, no scales, white, from 1 to 6 feet in length, weighing about 
8 lbs., very oily, and without any small bones. Pende ; from 6 to 20 inches 
in length, broad, scales, black, from 1 to 4 lbs. in weight ; no small bones. 
