636 
TRADE—PEICES. 
Chap. XXXI. 
Mozambique made that article contraband, after tbe commence¬ 
ment of tbe war. Goods, when traded with in the tribes around 
the Portuguese, produce a profit of only about 10 per cent., the 
articles traded in being ivory and gold-dust. A little oil and wheat 
are exported, but nothing else. Trade with the tribes beyond the 
exclusive ones is much better. Thirty brass rings cost 10s. at Senna, 
11. at Tete, and 21. beyond the tribes in the vicinity of Tete; these 
are a good price for a penful of gold-dust of the value of 21. The 
plantations of coffee, which, previous to the commencement of the 
slave-trade, yielded one material for exportation, are now deserted, 
and it is difficult to find a single tree. The indigo {Indigofera 
argenteaj the common wild indigo of Africa) is found growing 
everywhere, and large quantities of the senna-plant * grow in the 
village of Tete and other parts; but neither indigo nor senna is 
collected. Calumba-root, which is found in abundance in some 
parts further down the river, is bought by the Americans, it is said, 
to use as a dye-stuff. A kind of sarsaparilla, or a plant which is 
believed by the Portuguese to be such, is found from Londa to 
Senna, but has never been exported. 
The price of provisions is low, but very much higher than pre¬ 
vious to the commencement of the war. Two yards of calico are 
demanded for six fowls; this is considered very dear, because, before 
the war, the same quantity of calico was worth 24 fowls. Grain 
is sold in little bags made from the leaves of the palmyra, hke 
those in which we receive sugar. They are called panjas, and each 
panja weighs between 30 and 40 lbs. The panja of wheat at Tete 
is worth a dollar, or 5s .; but the native grain may be obtained 
among the islands below Lupata, at the rate of three panjas for two 
yards of cahco. The highest articles of consumption are tea and 
coffee—the tea being often as high as 15s. a pound. Food is 
cheaper down the river below Lupata, and, previous to the war, the 
islands which stud the Zambesi were all inhabited, and, the soil 
being exceedingly fertile, grain and fowls could be got to any 
amount. The inhabitants disappeared before their enemies the 
Landeens, but are beginning to return since the peace. They 
have no cattle, the only place where we found no tsetse being 
the district of Tete itself; and the cattle in the possession of 
* These appear to belong to Cassia acutifolia^ or true senna of commerce, 
found in various parts of Africa and India.— Br. Hooker. 
