The World and Its People Part 9

About eighty miles from the mouth, the Zambesi receives the waters of the Shire, which flows out from Lake Nya.s.sa.

Lake Nya.s.sa is a sheet of water about two hundred miles long. It attains a width of fifty miles at its widest point.

The Zambesi enters the low country about fifty miles from its mouth. It separates into various streams to form a large delta. The neighborhood of this delta bears the reputation of being very unhealthy.

The most northern stream of the Zambesi is the Kuaka; the most southern, and the one with the deepest channel, is the Luabo.

Various ports and entrances lie along the Zambesi. These were formerly used by slaving vessels and others not engaged in very honorable trade.

These ports are not shown very accurately upon the maps, and it is considered a very difficult and dangerous undertaking to attempt to enter the river without a good pilot.

The falls and the rapids of the Zambesi region, together with its elevated lakes and sites of settlements, are its most picturesque features.

Tete, a Portuguese town, is about four hundred feet above the level of the sea. The rapids of Lake Nya.s.sa where the Shire issues from it, are more than fifteen hundred feet higher than the ocean. A smaller lake southeast of Nya.s.sa is two thousand feet above the level of the sea.

The coast region drained by the Zambesi is inhabited by natives of a pure negro type. In the central and upper parts of the Zambesi region are tribes of a little higher grade of intelligence. They are the conquerors of the original tribes, many of whom still exist.

The Zulu tribes occupy the elevated region which divides the Limpopo from the Zambesi. They have overrun nearly all the territory south of them and subjugated most of its tribes.

In the sections claimed by the Portuguese the slave trade was for many years the shame and disgrace of the white man. All attempts to civilize and educate the natives, by missionaries from other countries, were met by great hostility on the part of the Portuguese. Even the best efforts of the most unselfish and faithful of missionary workers were well nigh fruitless. The greed and the cruelty of the men engaged in the traffic of human beings were almost beyond belief.

Villages were depopulated, homes were laid waste, and fields once under cultivation were despoiled. On every side, ruin and desolation were the work of the destroying hand of the slave trader.

Torn from home, family, and country, their wretched victims were conveyed to the coast, loaded upon some vessel engaged in the inhuman trade, and sold into slavery.

"Faint, gazing on the dying orb of day, As Afric's injured son expiring lay, His forehead cold and laboring bosom bare, His dewy temples, and his sable hair, His poor companions wept, and cried aloud, Rejoicing, while his head in peace he bowed, 'Now, thy long, long task is done!

Swiftly, brother, wilt thou run, Ere to-morrow's golden beam, Glitters in thy parent stream, Swiftly the delights to share, The feast of joy that waits thee there.

Swiftly, brother, wilt thou glide O'er the long and stormy tide, Fleeter than the hurricane, Till thou see those scenes again, Where thy father's hut was reared; Where thy infant brothers played 'Neath the fragrant citron's shade, Where, through green savannas wide?

Cooling rivers silent glide, And the shrill cigarras sing Ceaseless to their murmuring.

"'Where the dance and festive song Of many a friend divided long, Doomed through strangers' lands to roam, Shall bid thy spirit welcome home!

Then fear no more the tyrant's power!

Past is his insulting hour!

Mark no more the sullen trait On slavery's brow of scorn and hate; Hear no more the long sigh borne Murmuring on the gales of morn.

Yet we remain, far distant, Toiling on in pain and want.

When the great sun fires the skies, To our work of woe we rise

"'And see each night without a friend, The world's great comforter descend.

Tell our brethren when ye meet, Thus we toil with weary feet; Tell them, that love's gen'rous flame, In joy, in wretchedness the same, In distant lands was ne'er forgot; And tell them that we murmur not.

Tell them though the pang will start And drain the lifeblood from the heart, Tell them generous shame forbids The tear to stain our burning lids; Tell them in weariness and want For our native hills we pant, Where soon from shame and sorrow free, We hope in death to follow thee.'"

Most of the productions of the tropics are found in the Zambesi region.

The constant insurrections and disturbances among the native tribes have tended to keep the country from being extensively cultivated.

The animals of this section are very similar to those of South America.

The trade in ivory is large. Vast quant.i.ties are exported from the west and east coasts.

The mineral wealth is considerable. There are extensive coal fields, and gold has been found near Tete and Senna.

Livingstone relates that when he visited a hot spring near the Zambesi, he found the valleys near Tete very fruitful and well cultivated.

The whole country lying north and northwest of Tete is hilly. These hills are covered with trees, and present a very picturesque scene. It was in this neighborhood that he found evidences of extensive coal mines, which he felt sure could be worked with little labor and at little cost.

While in the vicinity of the hot spring he availed himself of the opportunity of visiting some former gold washing localities. The banks of the rivulet were covered with large groves of fine mango trees. The Portuguese used to live among these trees while they kept supervision over the natives engaged in the gold washing.

The process of washing the sand of the rivulet was hard and very tedious; for the gold was found in minute scales, like mica.

Towards the west various gold washing stations were pointed out to Livingstone. One station, where gold had been found more abundantly than in any other locality, was supposed by some to be the "Ophir of King Solomon."

He saw at this station gold flakes as large as grains of wheat. He found that the natives would wash for gold only when in need of a little calico.

He was very sure that they knew the value of the gold, for they brought it for sale, packed in goose quills, and demanded twenty-four yards of cloth in exchange for a quill.

They were not unaware of the advantages of this section, for when the waters of the river overflow, they leave a coating of mud upon the banks, and the natives quickly noticed which spots dried soonest, and would begin to dig there, in the firm belief that the gold lay in these spots.

They had a superst.i.tion that if they dug deeper than their chins the ground would fall in and kill them.

When they found a piece of gold,--literally a flake,--it was their custom to bury it again. This was due to a superst.i.tion that it was the seed of the gold. The value of the flake they knew very well, but they preferred to lose this seed rather than a full crop in the future.

It would be interesting to read more of Livingstone's stories of the Zambesi, but we must pa.s.s on to other topics.

CHAPTER XII.

THE DESERTS OF SOUTH AFRICA.

The deserts of South Africa, which include the great Kalahari, are, strictly speaking, savannas.

This section of what we might term semi-deserts lies between 20 and 30 south lat.i.tude. It is about one thousand miles long and seven hundred miles wide. The great Kalahari Desert is in the center of this vast area. Naturally, we should look for a variety of physical features in so vast a territory.

On its outer edges the desert tract of South Africa consists of broad plains. These are intersected by rugged, though not very lofty, mountains.

During the wet season these plains are covered with a rich, succulent herbage. This disappears, however, in the dry season. Under the scorching heat it is literally burned off, and leaves the ground parched and dusty.

At intervals in this territory may be found vast tracts overgrown with low bushes covered with thorns. These th.o.r.n.y bushes grow in such dense ma.s.ses that the traveler is compelled to cut his way through them.

The colonists of South Africa give the name "Wait-a-bit" to this bush.

Its short, hooked thorns check the progress of the traveler and compel him to wait a bit at almost every step he takes in advance.

Andersson, an early explorer, once came upon a forest of thornless trees in this section. In his journal he describes his feelings at the sight: "I do not think that I was ever so surprised in my life. I hesitated to trust my senses. Even the dull faces of my attendants seemed to relax from their usual heavy, unintelligent cast, and to express joy at the novel scene."

The climate is characterized by a brief wet season, when the rain falls in torrents. This season is succeeded by months of complete drought.

During these droughts water can be found only in solitary fountains, appearing at rare intervals, or in a few stagnant pools.

Accounts of travelers are filled with the record of suffering that has been endured in this region, by man and beast, just from the lack of water.