Chap. XXXII. 
JESUIT STATION. 
661 
miles beyond stands the lofty mountain Morumbala, probably 
3000 or 4000 feet bigb. It is of an oblong shape, and from its 
physiognomy, which can be distinctly seen when the siin is in 
the west, is evidently igneous. On the northern end there is a 
hot sulphurous fountain, which my Portuguese friends refused 
to allow me to visit, because the mountain is well peopled, ‘and 
the mountaineers are at present not friendly with the Portu¬ 
guese. They have plenty of garden-ground and running water 
on its summit. My friends at Senna declined the responsibility 
of taking me into danger. To the north of Morumbala we have 
a fine view of the mountains of the Maganja; they here come 
close to the river and terminate in Morumbala. Many of them 
are conical, and the Shire is reported to flow amongst them, and 
to run on the Senna side of Morumbala, before joining the 
Zambesi. On seeing the confluence afterwards, close to a low 
range of hills beyond Morumbala, I felt inclined to doubt the 
report, as the Shire must then flow parallel with the Zambesi, 
from which Morumbala seems distant only twenty or thirty 
miles. All around to the south-east, the country is flat, and 
covered with forest, but near Senna a number of little abrupt 
conical hills diversify the scenery. To the west and north the 
country is also flat forest, which gives it a sombre appearance; but 
just in the haze of the horizon south-west by south, there rises a 
mountain range equal in height to Morumbala, and called Nya- 
monga. In a clear day, another range beyond this may be seen, 
which is Gorongozo, once a station of the Jesuits. Gorongozo 
is famed for its clear cold waters and healthiness, and there are 
some inscriptions engraved on large square slabs on the top of 
the mountain, which have probably been the work of the fathers. 
As this lies in the direction of a district between Manica and 
Sofala, which has been conjectured to be the Ophir of King Solo¬ 
mon, the idea that first sprang up in my mind was, that these 
monuments might be more ancient than the Portuguese; but on 
questioning some persons who had seen them, I found that they 
were in Eoman characters, and did not deserve a journey of six 
days to see them. 
Manica lies three days north-west of Gorongozo, and is the 
best gold country known in Eastern Africa. The only evidence 
the Portuguese have of its being the ancient Ophir, is, that at 
