o ffic ia ls , fo r in s tan c e , a re a lm o s t a ll m en o f th e h ig h e s t
c h a r a c te r an d c a p a c ity .
T h e fa c t th a t th e y a r e h a n d ic a p p e d b y th e s y s tem
u n d e r w h ich th e y h a v e to w o rk is m o re th e fa u lt o f th e
C o r te s a t L is b o n th an th e ir 'own. T o me, p e r so n a lly ,
b o th w h ite s an d b la c k s c o n s t a n t ly sh ow ed th e g r e a t e s t
k in d n e s s , an d it w a s e a s y to s e e th a t th is w a s p e r fe c t ly
g en u in e . I th in k th a t it w o u ld b e a g o o d th in g b o th
fo r P o r tu g u e s e an d E n g l i s h in M a sh o n a la n d to e s ta b lish
a co n n e c tio n b e tw e e n th e tw o co u n trie s . E a c h n a tio n
h a s som e th in g to g a in from th e oth e r, an d th e p re sen t
c o rd ia l re la tio n s b e tw e e n th em w o u ld o n ly b e c om e m o re
an d m o re co rd ia l w ith time .
C H A P T E R X I I .
N Y A S A L A N D
a S I said before, I left Tete on the 30th of January in
jL a. the gunboat Cuama. At Bongo, our halting-place
the first night after leaving Tete, the Zambezi is about
two miles broad. When we reached the Gorge of Lupata,
which we did early the second morning,
the spectacle was most imposing.
On the right hand were enormously
high cliffs towering above the river;
on the left grand hills gently sloping
down to i t : a magnificent stream
flowed majestically between. It took
two hours and a half to pass through
this gorge, after which the Cuama
stopped all day to get wood. The
next day saw a complete change in
the scenery. The river was now t y p e o f m a n i a n ja .
nearly four miles broad, and ran
through many channels, between numerous islands. Thanks
to one of these we made no progress whatever this day.
Another gunboat, which was carrying the mails, passed
us steaming up another channel, so we went back after
her to get letters, and stayed the rest of the day. On
the 2nd of February we came to a small village on an
island opposite Iniakatanda. There we met a native chief
who had given valuable help to the Portuguese in one of
their wars. In recognition of this service two hundred
and seventy pieces of cloth were now to be distributed to
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