Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/350

 278 SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA. nian influences were doubtless on the wane. Inland stations had to be abandoned ; important establishments were falling to ruins ; the very communications between the whitw of the interior and the seaboard were frequently interrupted by the devastating Uragani (Maviti) hordes, known to the Portuguese by the name of I^ndins, that is, Ama-Landi, or " Couriers." Nevertheless the commercial rela- tions and intercourse between the foreign and native races had never at any time been entirely suspended. Nor did the Mambari, or half-caste Portuguese adven- turers, ever cease to visit all parts of the interior, while at present the mother oountrv has again revived her interest in her remote colonies on the banks of the Zambcse. Her attention has even been directed towards the distant region of the waterpartings, and surveying expeditions have been organised for the purpose of preparing the ground for the construction of the trans-continental route which must sooner or later connect Mossamedes on the Atlantic with Quelimane on the Indian Ocean. But the Portuguese have no longer the field all to themselves. The restless spirit of enterprise which is impelling the growing populations of Austral Africa still northwards, irresistibly attracts traders, squatters, miners, and missionaries towards Zambeseland, and the most inviting points along the middle course of the mainstream have already been selected as centres of future enter- prise. One of these points is Sesheke, capital of the Barotse empire, standing in the middle of the basin formed by the junction of the Zambese with the Chobe above the Victoria Falls. Another Zambese region towards which have already been directed the efforts of Europeans, represented mainly by British missionaries, is the Nyassa ba^^in, destined to become the future highway leading to Lake Tangan- yika and the Congo Even in the region of the Lower Zambese the Portuguese Government exercises little or no direct action. The territory is divided into great domains, the so- called prazos da coroa, or crown lands, some of which are almost little kingdoms in themselves, covering an extent of 20,000 square miles, and administered by practi- cally independent farmers-general. By thera are levied the mnssoro, or imposts, generally in the nature of a hut tax, payable in kind, at the valuation of about three shillings and sixpence for every native cabin. These great manorial lords also undertake to develop to the utmost of their power the natural resources of their vast domains. "When this system was originally introduced the crown lands were conceded for three generations, and the order of succession was to be through the female line, on the condition that the women married Europeans. It was hoped by this arrangement to attract settlers to the country; but the very opposite result was produced, and the great landowners, becoming powerful satraps, sold into slavery their own subjects, whereby the whole land became depleted. Officially this system has been abolished since 1854, but it has been virtually maintained under a slightly modified form, and immense grants continue still to be made to a few potent lords, who pay little more than a nominal revenue to the State.