Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa by David Livingstone (interesting books to read for teens TXT) 📖

most fertile field of enterprise is ever to be opened up, men must proceed on a different plan from that which has been followed, and I do not apprehend there would be much difficulty in commencing a new system, if those who undertook it insisted that it is not our custom to pay for a highway which has not been made by man. The natives themselves would not deny that the river is free to those who do not trade in slaves.

If, in addition to an open, frank explanation, a small subsidy were given to the paramount chief, the willing consent of all the subordinates would soon be secured.

On the 1st of April I went to see the site of a former establishment of the Jesuits, called Micombo, about ten miles S.E. of Tete.

Like all their settlements I have seen, both judgment and taste had been employed in the selection of the site. A little stream of mineral water had been collected in a tank and conducted to their house, before which was a little garden for raising vegetables at times of the year when no rain falls. It is now buried in a deep shady grove of mango-trees.

I was accompanied by Captain Nunes, whose great-grandfather, also a captain in the time of the Marquis of Pombal, received sealed orders, to be opened only on a certain day. When that day arrived, he found the command to go with his company, seize all the Jesuits of this establishment, and march them as prisoners to the coast.

The riches of the fraternity, which were immense, were taken possession of by the state. Large quantities of gold had often been sent to their superiors at Goa, inclosed in images. The Jesuits here do not seem to have possessed the sympathies of the people as their brethren in Angola did. They were keen traders in ivory and gold-dust.

All praise their industry. Whatever they did, they did it with all their might, and probably their successful labors in securing the chief part of the trade to themselves had excited the envy of the laity.

None of the natives here can read; and though the Jesuits are said to have translated some of the prayers into the language of the country, I was unable to obtain a copy. The only religious teachers now in this part of the country are two gentlemen of color, natives of Goa.

The one who officiates at Tete, named Pedro Antonio d'Araujo, is a graduate in Dogmatic Theology and Moral Philosophy.

There is but a single school in Tete, and it is attended only by the native Portuguese children, who are taught to read and write.

The black population is totally uncared for. The soldiers are marched every Sunday to hear mass, and but few others attend church.

During the period of my stay, a kind of theatrical representation of our Savior's passion and resurrection was performed.

The images and other paraphernalia used were of great value, but the present riches of the Church are nothing to what it once possessed.

The commandant is obliged to lock up all the gold and silver in the fort for safety, though not from any apprehension of its being stolen by the people, for they have a dread of sacrilege.

The state of religion and education is, I am sorry to say, as low as that of commerce; but the European Portuguese value education highly, and send their children to Goa and elsewhere for instruction in the higher branches. There is not a single bookseller's shop, however, in either eastern or western Africa. Even Loanda, with its 12,000 or 14,000 souls, can not boast of one store for the sale of food for the mind.

On the 2d the Zambesi suddenly rose several feet in height.

Three such floods are expected annually, but this year there were four.

This last was accompanied by discoloration, and must have been caused by another great fall of rain east of the ridge. We had observed a flood of discolored water when we reached the river at the Kafue; it then fell two feet, and from subsequent rains again rose so high that we were obliged to leave it when opposite the hill Pinkwe.

About the 10th of March the river rose several feet with comparatively clear water, and it continued to rise until the 21st, with but very slight discoloration. This gradual rise was the greatest, and was probably caused by the water of inundation in the interior.

The sudden rise which happened on the 2d, being deeply discolored, showed again the effect of rains at a comparatively short distance.

The fact of the river rising three or four times annually, and the one flood of inundation being mixed with the others, may account for the Portuguese not recognizing the phenomenon of the periodical inundation, so well known in the central country.

The independent natives cultivate a little cotton, but it is not at all equal, either in quantity or quality, to what we found in Angola. The pile is short, and it clings to the seed so much that they use an iron roller to detach it.

The soil, however, is equal to the production of any tropical plant or fruit.

The natives have never been encouraged to cultivate cotton for sale, nor has any new variety been introduced. We saw no palm-oil-trees, the oil which is occasionally exported being from the ground-nut.

One of the merchants of Tete had a mill of the rudest construction for grinding this nut, which was driven by donkeys. It was the only specimen of a machine I could exhibit to my men.

A very superior kind of salad oil is obtained from the seeds of cucumbers, and is much used in native cookery.

An offer, said to have been made by the "Times", having excited attention even in this distant part, I asked the commandant if he knew of any plant fit for the production of paper. He procured specimens of the fibrous tissue of a species of aloe, named Conge, and some also from the root of a wild date, and, lastly, of a plant named Buaze, the fibres of which, though useless for the manufacture of paper, are probably a suitable substitute for flax. I submitted a small quantity of these fibres to Messrs. Pye, Brothers, of London, who have invented a superior mode for the preparation of such tissues for the manufacturer. They most politely undertook the examination, and have given a favorable opinion of the Buaze, as may be seen in the note below.*

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80 Lombard Street, 20th March, 1857.

Dear Sir, -- We have the pleasure to return you the specimens of fibrous plants from the Zambesi River, on which you were desirous to see the effects of our treatment; we therefore inclose to you,

No. 1. Buaze, in the state received from you. 1 A. Do. as prepared by us. 1 B. The tow which has come from it in hackling. No. 2. Conge, as received from you. 2 A. Do. as prepared by us.

With regard to both these fibres, we must state that the VERY MINUTE QUANTITY of each specimen has prevented our subjecting them to any thing like the full treatment of our process, and we can therefore only give you an APPROXIMATE idea of their value.

The Buaze evidently possesses a very strong and fine fibre, assimilating to flax in its character, but we believe, when treated IN QUANTITY by our process, it would show both a stronger and finer fibre than flax; but being unable to apply the rolling or pressing processes with any efficiency to so very small a quantity, the gums are not yet so perfectly extracted as they would be, nor the fibre opened out to so fine a quality as it would then exhibit.

This is even yet more the case with the Conge, which, being naturally a harsh fibre, full of gums, wants exactly that powerful treatment which our process is calculated to give it, but which can not be applied to such miniature specimens. We do not therefore consider this as more than half treated, its fibre consequently remaining yet harsh, and coarse, and stiff, as compared with what it would be if treated IN QUANTITY.

Judging that it would be satisfactory to you to be in possession of the best practical opinion to be obtained on such a subject, we took the liberty of forwarding your little specimens to Messrs. Marshall, of Leeds, who have kindly favored us with the following observations on them: "We have examined the samples you sent us yesterday, and think the Conge or aloe fibre would be of no use to us, but the Buaze fibre appears to resemble flax, and as prepared by you will be equal to flax worth 50 Pounds or 60 Pounds per ton, but we could hardly speak positively to the value unless we had 1 cwt. or 2 cwt. to try on our machinery. However, we think the result is promising, and we hope further inquiry will be made as to the probable supply of the material."

We are, dear sir, your very obedient servants, Pye, Brothers.

The Rev. Dr. Livingstone.

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A representation of the plant is given in the annexed woodcut,*

as a help to its identification. I was unable to procure either the flowers or fruit; but, as it is not recognized at sight by that accomplished botanist and eminent traveler, Dr. J. D. Hooker, it may safely be concluded that it is quite unknown to botanists.

It is stated by the Portuguese to grow in large quantities in the Maravi country north of the Zambesi, but it is not cultivated, and the only known use it has been put to is in making threads on which the natives string their beads. Elsewhere the split tendons of animals are employed for this purpose. This seems to be of equal strength, for a firm thread of it feels like catgut in the hand, and would rather cut the fingers than break.

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Unfortunately, this woodcut can not be represented in this ASCII text, but buaze, or bwazi, is `Securidaca longipedunculata'. -- A. L., 1997.

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Having waited a month for the commencement of the healthy season at Kilimane, I would have started at the beginning of April, but tarried a few days in order that the moon might make her appearance, and enable me to take lunar observations on my way down the river. A sudden change of temperature happening on the 4th, simultaneously with the appearance of the new moon, the commandant and myself, with nearly every person in the house, were laid up with a severe attack of fever. I soon recovered by the