662 
BOAT-BUILDING. 
Chap. XXXII. 
Sofala, its nearest port, pieces of wrought gold have been dug 
up near the fort, and in the gardens. They also report the 
existence of hewn stones in the neighbourhood, but these cannot 
have been abundant, for all the stones of the fort of Sofala are 
said to have been brought from Portugal. Natives whom I met 
in the country of Sekeletu, from Manica, or Manoa, as they call 
it, state that there are several caves in the country, and walls of 
hewn stone, which they believe to have been made by their ances¬ 
tors ; and there is, according to the Portuguese, a small tribe of 
Arabs there, who have become completely like the other natives. 
Two rivers, the Motirikwe and Sabia, or Sabe, run through their 
country into the sea. The Portuguese were driven out of the 
country by the Landeens, but now talk of re-occupying Manica. 
The most pleasant sight I witnessed at Senna was the negroes 
of Senhor Isidore building boats, after the European model, with¬ 
out any one to superintend their operations. They had been in¬ 
structed by a European master, but now go into the forest and 
cut down the motondo-trees, lay down the keel, fit in the ribs, 
and make very neat boats and launches, valued at from 20?. to 
100?. Senhor Isidore had some of them instructed also in car¬ 
pentry at Eio Janeiro, and they constructed for him the hand¬ 
somest house in Kilimane, the woodwork being all of country 
trees, some of which are capable of a fine polish, and very 
durable. A medical oj)inion having been asked by the Com¬ 
mandant respecting a better site for the village, which, Ipng on 
the low bank of the Zambesi, is very unhealthy, I recommended 
imitation of the Jesuits, who had chosen the high healthy 
mountain of Gorongozo, and to select a new site on Morumbala, 
wliich is perfectly healthy, well watered, and where the Shire is 
deep enough for the purpose of navigation at its base. As the 
next resource, I proposed removal to the harbour of Mitilone, 
which is at one of the mouths of the Zambesi, a much better 
port than Kilimane, and where, if they must have the fever, 
they would be in the way of doing more good to themselves and 
the country than they can do in their present situation. Had 
the Portuguese possessed this territory as a real colony, this 
important point would not have been left unoccupied; as it is, 
there is not even a native village placed at the entrance of this 
splendid river to show the way in. 
