Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/341

 TOPOGRAPHY OF MATEBEI.ELAND. 269 the sources of the Um-Eosi, which, under another name, discharges into the Zambese over 00 miles above the Victoria Falls. Quhultirayo, the royal residence, formerly stood in the neighbourhood of the granitic water-parting between the Zambese and the Limpopo. But like most of the native towns in the interior of Austral Africa, its site has been changed, and Bithttcaijo, which is the more correct form of the word, now lies somewhat farther to the north. The royal residence, a house of European construction, crowns a hill in the centre of the village, and is encircled by a number of hive-shaped huts, all comprised within a stout palisade. The dwellings of the traders are scattered over the surrounding plain. Besides those traders, who have settled in the neighbourhood of the capital, several others have attached themselves to the king's suite, in order to supply the wants of his officials and warriors. Ilence they generally accompany the court on its frequent journeys to Inyati and the other towns which follow towards the north-east and the south-west in the hilly Matoppo district. Both Protestant and Catholic missionaries have also penetrated into the Matebele territory, and to these have now been added the miners, who had hitherto long been refused admittance to the country. On the other hand a large number of temporary emigrants proceed every year in search of employment to the British and Boer states beyond the Limpopo. The Tati mines, the first that were dis- covered in the Limpopo basin, are now worked by a company with its head management at Cape Town. Hero have been found the traces of ancient mining operations carried on by some now forgotten people. Numerous villages belonging to the Makorikori tribe lie to the north of the Matebele and Mashona territories in a rugged mountaincms region, whence impe- tuous torrents flow towards the Zambese. The ^Makorikori, no less industrious than the Mashonas, are specially noted for their skill in the treatment of leather, which they draw out in narrow strips and then twist and plait into all kinds of ornaments. The women pierce the upper lip for the insertion of a ring made of tin wire, which is sometimes embellished with pearls. Farther north, in the valley of the main stream, dwell the Mtande peo|»le, whose women also pierce the upper lip, into which they introduce the jnjn, an ivory or wooden ring. This district lies within the zone of the tsetse-fly, which the women collect and dry, reducing it to a powder with the bark of a certain root, and mixing the preparation with the food supplied to their domestic animals, goats, sheep, and dogs. On the opi)osite, or left side of the Zambese, certain ruins still mark the limits of the territory formerly occupied by the Portuguese in the interior of Africa. These are the remains of the ancient town of Zumho, which, however, was far less a town than a rural market-place. During the season thousands of native dealers assembled here to purchase European wares from seven or eight so-called " Canarians," that is merchants from Goa, in the Kanara country on the west coast of India. During the period from 1836 to 1863 Zumbo remained completely abandoned by the Portuguese; but since 1881 it has again been occupied, and is now the residence of a Capitao Mor, or head governor. Hence it is again resorted to by traders of various races, who find customers among the members of the sur-