Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/342

 270 SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA. rounding Buscnga (Ba-Senga) tribe. This raarket-placf has been well chosen at the confluence of the Lua-Ugwe and Zambese, below that of the Kafukwe, in a fertile and well-timbered country, encircled by picturesque hills. Zumbo can scarcely fail to recover its former importance whenever the Portuguese carry out the project of establishing new factories along the course of the Upper Zambese, and working the coal, iron, and gold mines of the surrounding district. Tcte (Tette), covering the slope of a hill on the right bank of the Zambese, is at present the most inland town occupied by the whites, or MazungoH, as they are called by the natives. The European houses are all grouped within the ramparts under the guns of the fort, while the huts of the blacks, made of mud and foliage, are scattered over the outskirts round about the walls. This Portuguese town was formerly a prosperous place, doing a large trade in gold, ivory, cereals, and indigo. But it was ruined by the slave-hunting expeditions, which left no hands to till the land and gather the crops. At present it is little more than a group of wretched hovels, where " solitude reigns supreme. On every side you see the wasting work of Time's relentless hand. You see it in the crumbling ruins of the houses at one time inhabited by prosperous merchants. Indigo and other weeds now rise rank amid the falling walls, and upon spots where houses once stood. You see it in the church which has now crumbled to the ground. Departed glory is knelled to you by the bells which toU from the slight structure where the Jesuit fathers and their small flock now perform the rites of their creed." * The little importance still enjoyed by Tete is derived from its position as a garrison town and fortified outpost in the midst of a more or less hostile native population. It has occasionally been cut off from all communication with the coast by the incursions of the predatory Landins, or Zulu marauders. But the sur- rounding district has the great advantage of being entirely free from the tsetse, or pepse, as this scourge is called in Zambeseland ; but stock-breeders have hitherto turned this great advantage to little account. The riverain tracts on the opposite side are extremely fertile, and here most of the rich traders had their residences. The Tete district, both north and south of the Zambese, promises one day to become one of the most important mining regions in the whole of Africa. Here are extensive coalfields, as well as auriferous deposits and rich iron ores, long utilised by the Basenga and Mukalaka blacksmiths. TheSerra Maxinga (Mashinga Range), which rises northwards above the surrounding solitudes, was formerly worked by Portuguese miners. Here the rock containing the precious metal is said to be so soft that the women are able to cnisb it between two blocks of wood, and then wash it for gold. Auriferous deposits also occur to the south of Tete, in the Makorikori territory, and especially in the valleys of the Mozoe and its aflHuents. Paiva de Andrada describes as a sort of future Eldorado the Shangamira district, which Mauch had previously designated by the name of the " Emperor William Mines." A few ruins of old monuments are scattered over these gold- fields, where, according to Kuss, the natives are in the habit of sowing nuggets in the confident hope of gathering a rich golden harvest. . • Kerr, op. dt. ii. p. 42