Page:The Past, Present and Future Trade of the Cape Colonies with Central Africa.pdf/14

 Matabele (in the third division) all ivory belongs to the king, and no man is allowed to sell or keep a single feather. But the natives are allowed to sell their cattle, rhinoceros horn, skins, carcases, and grain to tradesmen. In the Marutse empire the king buys all the things brought into the country, all the calico, beads, &c.; and, again, he gets all the ivory of his people, and distributes all the calico amongst his people, and lends them the guns which he buys. He has a chief, who has to remember how many of them has been given to the people, and he says he only lends them these weapons that they might slay the elephants for him. The king then buys all the goods which the traders bring into his empire, and does not allow anyone to sell ivory. All the more important articles, as ivory, skins of a certain kind of lemur, &c., all have to be handed over to the king.

If we now consider the trade of the Portuguese, we see that their roads go into South Africa from Delagoa Bay, then from different parts of the East coast farther to the north, and up the river in the valley of the Zambesi, up to 300 or 450 miles from its mouth. But from the West coast they are trading as far as the great lakes. I was really astonished, when I came into those parts of Central Africa, to see all those parts which have been considered by the people in Europe as a terra incognita; as such , I found, to my astonishment, that most of those parts between the West coast and the great lakes and the River Congo are well known to the Portuguese traders. I was astonished, when I met Portuguese traders who came down as far as 150 miles eastward of the Victoria Falls of the Zambesi, that they came from the lakes, traversing the continent from Loanda, Benguela, and Mosamedes, and appear in the vicinity of Shesheke. Those men know every tribe and river, and the peculiarities of the different tribes, in those tracts so well that they should be able to write a book on those parts. A very lively trade is going on in the interior towards the West coast. The nationality of these traders is to a certain extent Portuguese, but about seventy per cent. are called Mambari. These are a mixed race. They have the whole trade in their hands. These Mambari penetrate to the interior with carriers; they go in to the number of 100 to 200 men with their articles. Mostly what they bring are old-fashioned flint muskets—I suppose, which have been in use amongst the Portuguese about 100 years ago—with iron bullets to load them with. Then they bring in the worst quality of soft goods, rough gunpowder, and beads; and the articles they get in return are ivory and skins. I saw with regret, and I hope the practice no longer exists, that these Mambaris took slaves