Zambesi Expedition | Page 8

from its great size; and
Kongone follows several miles west. East Luabo has a good but long
bar, and not to be attempted unless the wind be north-east or east. It has
sometimes been called "Barra Catrina," and was used in the
embarkations of slaves. This may have been the "River of Good Signs,"
of Vasco da Gama, as the mouth is more easily seen from the seaward
than any other; but the absence of the pillar dedicated by that navigator
to "St. Raphael," leaves the matter in doubt. No Portuguese live within
eighty miles of any mouth of the Zambesi.
The Kongone is five miles east of the Milambe, or western branch, and
seven miles west from East Luabo, which again is five miles from the
Timbwe. We saw but few natives, and these, by escaping from their
canoes into the mangrove thickets the moment they caught sight of us,
gave unmistakeable indications that they had no very favourable
opinion of white men. They were probably fugitives from Portuguese
slavery. In the grassy glades buffaloes, wart-hogs, and three kinds of
antelope were abundant, and the latter easily obtained. A few hours'
hunting usually provided venison enough for a score of men for several
days.
On proceeding up the Kongone branch it was found that, by keeping
well in the bends, which the current had worn deep, shoals were easily
avoided. The first twenty miles are straight and deep; then a small and
rather tortuous natural canal leads off to the right, and, after about five
miles, during which the paddles almost touch the floating grass of the
sides, ends in the broad Zambesi. The rest of the Kongone branch
comes out of the main stream considerably higher up as the outgoing
branch called Doto.
The first twenty miles of the Kongone are enclosed in mangrove jungle;
some of the trees are ornamented with orchilla weed, which appears
never to have been gathered. Huge ferns, palm bushes, and occasionally

wild date-palms peer out in the forest, which consists of different
species of mangroves; the bunches of bright yellow, though scarcely
edible fruit, contrasting prettily with the graceful green leaves. In some
spots the Milola, an umbrageous hibiscus, with large yellowish flowers,
grows in masses along the bank. Its bark is made into cordage, and is
especially valuable for the manufacture of ropes attached to harpoons
for killing the hippopotamus. The Pandanus or screw-palm, from which
sugar bags are made in the Mauritius, also appears, and on coming out
of the canal into the Zambesi many are so tall as in the distance to
remind us of the steeples of our native land, and make us relish the
remark of an old sailor, "that but one thing was wanting to complete the
picture, and that was a 'grog-shop near the church.'" We find also a few
guava and lime-trees growing wild, but the natives claim the crops. The
dark woods resound with the lively and exultant song of the kinghunter
(Halcyon striolata), as he sits perched on high among the trees. As the
steamer moves on through the winding channel, a pretty little heron or
bright kingfisher darts out in alarm from the edge of the bank, flies on
ahead a short distance, and settles quietly down to be again frightened
off in a few seconds as we approach. The magnificent fishhawk
(Halietus vocifer) sits on the top of a mangrove-tree, digesting his
morning meal of fresh fish, and is clearly unwilling to stir until the
imminence of the danger compels him at last to spread his great wings
for flight. The glossy ibis, acute of ear to a remarkable degree, hears
from afar the unwonted sound of the paddles, and, springing from the
mud where his family has been quietly feasting, is off, screaming out
his loud, harsh, and defiant Ha! ha! ha! long before the danger is near.
Several native huts now peep out from the bananas and cocoa-palms on
the right bank; they stand on piles a few feet above the low damp
ground, and their owners enter them by means of ladders. The soil is
wonderfully rich, and the gardens are really excellent. Rice is cultivated
largely; sweet potatoes, pumpkins, tomatoes, cabbages, onions (shalots),
peas, a little cotton, and sugar-cane are also raised. It is said that
English potatoes, when planted at Quillimane on soil resembling this,
in the course of two years become in taste like sweet potatoes
(Convolvulus batatas), and are like our potato frosted. The whole of the
fertile region extending from the Kongone canal to beyond Mazaro,

some eighty miles in length, and fifty in breadth, is admirably adapted
for the growth of sugar-cane; and were it in the hands of our friends at
the Cape, would supply all Europe with sugar. The remarkably few