Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/895

* ZAMBEZI. 757 ZAMIA. plateau, 5000 feet above the sea, and close to the sources of the Kassai, the great tributary of the Congo. The upper course is through a grassy plain which is annually inundated, but after the river has reached the British boundary its valley becomes narrow, and its course broken by falls and rapids. Shortly after turning east- ward into Rhodesia it ]dungcs in the great cataract known as the Victoria Falls (q.v.) into a deep transverse rift in the basalt Moor, and for the next 30 or 40 miles it rushes through a deep and narrow gorge bounded by forest-covered ridges. For the next 800 miles it is in general a navigable stream, though broken in several places by rapids as it passes through rocky gorges, and obstructed by sandbanks at low water. The last great interruption is the Kebra- basa Rapids in the Portuguese territory, 400 miles from the sea, and from that point to the delta the river is permanently navigable. The delta has an area of several thousand .square miles and a coast extension of 100 miles, but the channels are shifting and obstructed by sand- banks. The northernmost arm, Kwa Kwa, passes the port of Quilimane, but the central or Chinde passage is the most accessible. Among the chief tributaries of the Zambezi are the Shire, which drains Lake Nyassa, and the Kuando, which joins the main stream on the boundary of German Southwest Africa. The latter river is also believed to receive water from the Kubango (q.v.) during the wet season, in which case the Kubango becomes the longest tributary of the Zambezi system. Although the total navigable length of the river and its tribu- taries exceeds 4000 miles, the Zambezi is of little importance as a commercial route, since the navigable portions are broken up into a large number of short stretches separated by rapids, and the river is in general so shallow and ob- structed by sandbanks that at low water only small boats can pass. The upper course of the river was first explored by Livingstone in 1854- 55. Consult: Proccrdinrjs of Roi/nl Geogrnphlcal Societj/ (London. 1890) ;' Coillard, On the Thresh- old of Central Africa (London, 18!)7). ZAMBOANGA, thani'biVan'ga. A province in the island of Jlindanao. Philippine Islands, bounded on the north by Misamis. on the east by Cotabato and Celebes Sea, on the South bj' Cele- bes Sea and the Strait of Basilan. and on the west by the Sea of Jolo (Map: Philippine Isl- ands, G 12). Its area, including dependent islands, is .3486 square miles. Three peninsulas, inclosing the Dumanquilas and Sibuguey bays, jut into the Celebes Sea. The westernmost of these is traversed by a low range of mountains, whose highest peak is 1752 feet. The climate is the most healthful of the Philippines, with but little variation in temperature and with a pleas- ant sea breeze. There are few inconveniences during the rainy season. The plain of Zamboanga is the only cultivated portion, where by means of irrigation a little hemp and rice are produced. Gutta-percha is also a product of the province. The southern portion contains the only settle- ments of note, of which Zamboanga (q.v.) is the capital. The native population is Jloro, with a few of the Tagfllog and Visayan races. Popu- lation, in 1900. 117,.503. ZAMBOANGA. The largest town of the island of Mindanao, Philippine Islands, and the capital of the Province of Zamboanga (Map: Philippine Islands, G 13). The present town, re- cently built since the American occupation, with a cliurch, fort, and hospital, is surrounded by a plain covered with cocoanut groves and rice fields. It is an important market for hemp, copra, and gutta-percha, and is a general com- mcntia] point between the waters of the Olcbes and vSuIu groups and has regular steamer con- nection with Manila. Its climate is healthful. The town was settled in 1035 as a military basis against the pirates and Moros. Population, in 1900, 76.34. ZAMIA (Lat., fir-cone left to decay on the tree, from Gk, fo/nfa, zamia, ^tifila, zemia, harm, damage). A comprehensive name for plants of the natural order Cycadaceoe, the species of which are found throughout the tropics. They have a tree-like stem, with a single terminal bud and pinnate leaves. The wood consists of concentric ZAMIA (Zamia integrifolia circles, with very loose cellular zones between them. The male and female (lowers are on sepa- rate plants, in tessellated catkins, the scales of which difl'er in form in the male and female plants. The central part of the stem contains much starch, especially in old plants, and a kind of sago or arrowroot is made from some of them. The genus Zami.a has been divided, the Old World species being mosth' embraced in the genera Macrozamia ( q.v. ) and Encephalartos, the American species still retaining the name Zamia and comprising about thirty species. They are found mainly in Central America, Mexico, West Indies, and Northern South America. The cen- tral part of the stem of the kaffir bread tree {Encephalartos coffer), of South Africa, which is about to 7 feet high, with a scaly stem, is much used as an article of food by the Kaffirs and Hottentots, who prepare it by wrapping it in a skin well rubbed with grease, burying it until it undergoes putrefaction, bruising it with stones, making it into cakes, and baking it in wood-ashes. There are numerous fossil species