# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Portuguese East Africa

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​PORTUGUESE EAST AFRICA, or Mozambique. This Portuguese possession, bounded E. by the Indian Ocean, N. by German East Africa, W. by the Nyasaland Protectorate, Rhodesia and the Transvaal, S. by Tongaland (Natal), has an area of 293,500 sq. m. It is divided in two by the river Zambezi. The northern portion, between the ocean and Lake Nyasa and the Shiré river, is a compact block of territory, squarish in Oratory. ​ shape, being about 400 m. long by 360 m. broad. South of the Zambezi the province consists of a strip of land along the coast varying from 50 to 200 m. in depth. Along the Zambezi itself Portuguese territory extends west as far as the Loangwa confluence, some 600 m. by river.
Physical Features.—The coast-line extends from 26° 52′ S. to 10° 40′ S., and from south to north makes a double curve with a general trend outward, i.e. to the east. It has a length of 1430 m. Some 40 m. north of the Natal (Tongoland) frontier is the deep indentation of Delagoa Bay (q.v.). The land then turns outward to Cape Corrientes, a little north of which is Inhambane Bay. Bending westward again and passing several small islands, of which the chief is Bazaruto, Sofala Bay is reached. Northward the Zambezi with a wide delta pours its waters into the ocean. From this point onward the coast is studded with small islands, mainly of coral formation. On one of these islands is Mozambique, and immediately north of that port is Conducia Bay. Somewhat farther north are two large bays—Fernao Veloso and Memba. There is a great difference in the character of the coast north and south of Mozambique. To the north the coast is much indented, abounds in rocky headlands and rugged cliffs while, as already stated, there is an almost continuous fringe of islands. South of Mozambique the coast-line is low, sandy and lined with mangrove swamps. Harbours are few and poor. The difference in character of these two regions arises from the fact that in the northern half the ocean current which flows south between Madagascar and the mainland is close to the coast, and scours out all the softer material, while at the same time the coral animalcules are building in deep waters. But south of Mozambique the ocean current forsakes the coast, allowing the accumulation of sand and alluvial matter. North of Fernao Veloso and Memba the largest bays are Pemba (where there is commodious anchorage for heavy draught vessels), Montepuesi and Tunghi, the last named having for its northern arm Cape Delgado, the limit of Portuguese territory.
Orographically the backbone of the province is the mountain chain which forms the eastern escarpment of the continental plateau. It does not present a uniformly abrupt descent to the plains, but in places—as in the lower Zambezi district—slopes gradually to the coast. The Lebombo Mountains, behind Delagoa Bay, nowhere exceed 2070 ft. in height; the Manica plateau, farther north, is higher. Mt Doe rises to 7875 ft. and Mt Panga to 7610 ft. The Gorongoza massif with Mt Miranga (6550 ft.), Enhatete (6050 ft.), and Gogogo (5900 ft.) lies north-east of the Manica plateau, and is, like it, of granitic formation. Gorongoza, rising isolated with precipitous outer slopes, has been likened in its aspect to a frowning citadel. The chief mountain range, however, lies north of the Zambezi, and east of Lake Chilwa, namely, the Namuli Mountains, in which Namuli Peak rises to 8860 ft., and Molisani, Mruli and Mresi attain altitudes of 6500 to 8000 ft. These mountains are covered with magnificent forests. Farther north the river basins are divided by well-marked ranges with heights of 3000 ft. and over. Near the south-east shore of Nyasa there is a high range (5000 to 6000 ft.) with an abrupt descent to the lake—some 3000 ft. in six miles. The country between Nyasa and Ibo is remarkable for the number of fantastically shaped granite peaks which rise from the plateau. The plateau lands west of the escarpment are of moderate elevation—perhaps averaging 2000 to 2500 ft. It is, however, only along the Zambezi and north of that river that Portuguese territory reaches to the continental plateau.
Besides the Zambezi (q.v.) the most considerable river in Portuguese East Africa is the Limpopo (q.v.) which enters the Indian Ocean about 100 m. north of Delagoa Bay. The Komati (q.v.), Sabi, Busi and Pungwe south of the Zambezi; the Lukugu, Lurio, Montepuesi (Mtepwesi) and Msalu, with the Rovuma (q.v.) and its affluent the Lujenda, to the north of it, are the other rivers of the province with considerable drainage areas. The Sabi rises in Mashonaland at an altitude of over 3000 ft., and after flowing south for over 200 m. turns east and pierces the mountains some 170 m. from the coast, being joined near the Anglo-Portuguese frontier by the Lundi. Cataracts entirely prevent navigation above this point. Below the Lundi confluence the bed of the Sabi becomes considerably broader, varying from half a mile to two miles. In the rainy season the Sabi is a large stream and even in the “dries” it can be navigated from its mouth by shallow draught steamers for over 150 m. Its general direction through Portuguese territory is east by north. At its mouth it forms a delta 60 m. in extent. The Busi (220 m.) and Pungwe (180 m.) are streams north of and similar in character to the Sabi. They both rise in the Manica plateau and enter the ocean in Pungwe Bay, their mouths but a mile or two apart. The lower reaches of both streams are navigable, the Busi for 25 m., the Pungwe for about 100 m. At the mouth of the Pungwe is the port of Beira. Of the north-Zambezi streams the Lukugu, rising in the hills south-east of Lake Chilwa, flows south and enters the ocean not far north of Quilimane. The Lurio, rising in the Namuli Mountains, flows north-east, having a course of some 200 m. The Montepuesi and the Msalu drain the country between the Lurio and Rovuma basins. Their banks are in general well defined and the wet season rise seems fairly constant.
Geology.—The central plateau consists of gneisses, granites and schists of the usual East African type which in part or in whole are to be referred to the Archaean system. The next oldest rocks belong to the Karroo period. Their principal occurrence is in the Zambezi basin, where at Tete they contain workable seams of coal, and have yielded plant remains indicating a Lower Karroo or Upper Carboniferous age. Sandstones and shales, possibly of Upper Karroo age, form a narrow belt at the edge of the foot-plateau. Upper Cretaceous rocks crop out from beneath the superficial deposits along the coast belt between Delagoa Bay and Mozambique. The Cenomanian period is represented in Conducia by the beds with Puzosia and Acanthoceras, and in Sofala and Busi by the beds with Alectryonia ungulata and Exogyra columba. The highest Cretaceous strata occur in Conducia, where they contain the huge ammonite Pachydiscus conduciensis. The. Eocene formation is well represented in Gazaland by the nummuiitic limestones which have been found to extend for a considerable distance inland. Basalts occur at several localities in the Zambezi basin. On the flanks of Mount Milanje there are two volcanic cones which would appear to be of comparatively recent date; but the most interesting igneous rocks are the rhyolitic lavas of the Lebombo range.
Climate.—The climate is unhealthy on the coast and along the banks of the Zambezi, where malaria is endemic. With moderate care, however, Europeans are able to enjoy tolerably good health. On the uplands and the plateaus the climate is temperate and healthy. At Tete, on the lower Zambezi, the annual mean temperature is 77⋅9° F., the hottest month being November, 83⋅3°, and the coldest July, 72⋅5°. At Quilimane, on the coast, the mean temperature is 85⋅1°, maximum 106⋅7° and minimum 49⋅1°. The cool season is from April to August. The rainy season lasts from December to March, and the dry season from May to the end of September. November is a month of light rains. During the monsoons the districts bordering the Mozambique Channel enjoy a fairly even mean temperature of 76⋅1°, maximum mean 88⋅7°, and minimum mean 65⋅3°.
Fauna.—The fauna is rich, game in immense variety being plentiful in most districts. The carnivore include the lion, both of the yellow and black-maned varieties, leopard, spotted hyena, jackal, serval, civet cat, genet, hunting dog (Lycaon pictus) in the Mozambique district, mongoose and spotted otter, the last-named rare. Of ungulata the elephant is plentiful, though large tuskers are not often shot. The black rhinoceros is also common, and south of the Zambezi are a few specimens of white rhinoceros (R. simus). The rivers and marshes are the home of numerous hippopotami, which have, however, deserted the lower Zambezi. The wart-hog and the smaller red hog are common. A species of zebra is plentiful, and herds of buffalo (Bos caffer)are numerous in the plains and in open woods. Of antelopes the finest are the eland and sable antelope. The kudu is rare. Waterbuck, hartebeeste (Bubalis lichtensteini), brindled gnu and tsesebe (south of the Zambezi, replaced north of that river by the lechwe and puku), reedbuck, bushbuck, impala, duiker, klipspringer and oribi are all common. The giraffe is not found within the province. Of edentata the scaly ant-eater and porcupine are numerous. Among rodentia hares and rabbits are abundant. There are several kinds of monkeys and lemuroids, but the anthropoids are absent. Crocodiles, lizards, chameleons, land and river tortoises are all very numerous, as are pythons (some 18 ft. long), cobras, puff-adders and vipers. Centipedes and scorpions and insects are innumerable. Among insects mosquitos, locusts, the tsetse fly, the hippo-fly, cockroaches, phylloxera, termites, soldier ants and flying ants are common plagues. As has been indicated, the Zambezi forms a dividing line not crossed by certain animals, so that the fauna north of that river presents some marked contrasts with that to the south.
Bird-life is abundant. Among the larger birds flamingoes are especially common in the Mozambique district. Cranes, herons, storks, pelicans and ibises are numerous, including the beautiful crested crane and the saddle-billed stork (Mycteria senegalensis), the last-named comparatively rare. The eagle, vulture, kite, buzzard and crow are well represented, though the crested eagle is not found. Of game birds the guinea fowl, partridge, bustard, quail, wild goose, teal, widgeon, mallard and other kinds of duck are all common. Other birds numerously represented are parrots (chiefly a smallish green bird—the grey parrot is not found), ravens, horn bills, buntings, finches, doves, a variety of cuckoo, small wagtails, a starling with a beautiful burnished bronze-green plumage, spur-winged plovers, stilt birds, ruffs and kingfishers.
Flora.—The flora is varied and abundant, though the custom of the natives to burn the grass during the dry season gives to large areas for nearly half the ear a blackened, desolate appearance. Six varieties of palms are found-the Coco-nut, raphia, wild date, borassus (or fan palm), hyphaene and Phoenix spinosa. The coconut is common in the coast regions and often attains 100 ft.; the date palm, found mostly in marshy ground and by the banks of small rivers, is seldom more than 20 ft. in height. Of the many timber trees a kind of cedar is found in the lower forests; ironwood and ebony are common, and other trees resemble satin and rosewood. The Khaya senegalensis, a very large tree found in ravines and by river banks, affords durable and easily-worked timber; there are ​several varieties of vitex and of ficus, notably the sycamore, which bears an edible fruit. Excellent hardwood is obtained from a species of grewia. Other characteristic trees are the mangrove (along the sea shore), sandal-wood, gum ccpal, bnobab and bombax, and, in the lower plain, dracaenas (dragon trees), candelabra euphoria, and many species of creepers and flowering shrubs. The thorny smilax and many other prickly creepers and shrubs are abundant. Acacias are numerous, including the gum yielding variety, while landolphia rubber vines grow freely in the forests. Among plants of economic value the coffee, cotton, indigo and tobacco plants are found, as well as the castor oil and other oleaginous plants. Bananas, mangoes and pineapples grow in great profusion. Among flowers crinum lilies, lotus, gentians, gladioli, lobelias, violets (scentless), red and yellow immortelles (confined to the higher elevations) and ycllow and blue amomums are common. Of grasses the bamboo is common. Phragmites communis, spear grass, with its waving, snowy plumes, grows 12 to 1.1, ft. and is abundant along the river banks and along the edges of the marshes. (For the flora of the Nyasa region see British Central Africa.)
Inhabitants.—Portuguese East Africa is sparsely inhabited, the estimated population (1909) being 3,120,000; 90% of the inhabitants belong to various Bantu tribes, from whose ranks most of the natives employed in the Transvaal gold mines are recruited. The most important in the northern half of the province are the Yaos (q.v.) and the Ma Kua (Makwa). The Makwa, notwithstanding the presence of Arabs, Banyans (Hindus) and Battias in all the coast districts, have preserved in a remarkable degree their purity of race, although their language has undergone considerable change (see Bantu Languages). Most of the country between the Rovuma and the Zambezi is populated by branches of this race, governed by numerous petty chiefs. The Makwa are divided into four families or groups-the Low Makwa, the Lomwe or Upper Makwa, the Maua and the Medo. Yao possess the country between the Msalu river and Nyasa. The dominant race between the Zambezi and the Mazoe are the Tavala, other tribes in the same region being the Maravi, Senga, Muzimba and Muzuzuro. They are mainly of Zulu origin. Between the Zambezi and the Pungwe are the Barue, Batoka, &c. In the district south of the Pungwe river, known as Gazaland, the ruling tribes are of Zulu origin, all other tribes of different stock being known as Tongas. For the most part these Tongas resemble the Basutos. They are of peaceful disposition. They occupy themselves with stock-raising and agriculture. The white inhabitants numbered about 9000 in 1909. They are chiefly Portuguese and British and nearly a half live in Lourenco Marques. There are many Portuguese half-castes.
Chief Towns.—The chief towns are Lourenco Marques, Mozambique, Quilimane, Inharnbane, Beira, Chinde and Sofala all separately noticed. The other European settlements are Chingune (see Sofala), Angoxa and Ibo on the coast, and Sena, Tete and Zumbo on the Zambezi. Angoxa lies midway between Quilimane and Mozambique, dates from the 17th century, and is a small and little frequented port. Ibo, founded by the Portuguese at the beginning of the 17th century, is built on an island, likewise called Ibo, in 12° 20' S., 40° 38' E. off the northern arm of Montepuesi Bay, and 180 m. north of Mozambique. Ibo Island is one of a group known as the Querimba archipelago. The harbour is sheltered but shallow. The town attained considerable dimensions in the 17th century and was made the headquarters of the Cape Delgado district in the 18th century. The most prominent buildings are two forts, one disused. The other, called San Joao, is star-shaped and was built, according to an inscription over the gateway, in 1791. The Zambezi towns (Sena, Tete and Zumbo) mark the limits of penetration made by the Portuguese inland. Comparatively important places in the 17th and early part of the 18th centuries, with the decline of Portuguese power they fell into a ruinous condition. The opening up of Rhodesia and British Central Africa in the last quarter of the 19th century gave them renewed life. Sena, some 150 m. by river from Chinde, is built at the foot of a hill on the southern side of the Zambezi, from which it, is now distant 2 m., though in the middle of the 16th century the river flowed by it. Sena possesses an 18th-century fort, a modern government house and a church dedicated to St Marcal.
Tete, founded about the same time as Sena, is also on the south bank of the Zambezi. It is about 140 m. by the river above Sena. Since 1894 there has been a regular service of steamers between Tete and Chinde. Of the ancient town little remains save the strongly-built fort and the church. The new town dates from about 1860, when there was a revival of the trade in gold dust and ivory. This trade, however, became practically extinct by 1903; the gold dust traffic through exhaustion of supplies, and the ivory trade through diversion to other routes. A transit trade to British possessions north and south of Tete has been developed, and in 1906 some gold mines in the neighbourhood began crushing ore. Zumbo is picturesquely situated just below the Loangwe confluence and commands large stretches of navigable water on the Loangwe and middle Zambezi. The 17th-century town was deserted in consequence of the hostility of the natives. In 1859 David Livingstone found on its site nothing but the ruins of a few houses. Since then a new settlement has been made, and Zumbo has acquired some transit trade with Rhodesia.
On the line of railway from Beira to Rhodesia the most important town is Massi Kessi (Portuguese Macequece) in the centre of the Manica goldfields. It lies 2500 ft. above the sea, 194 m. north-west of Beira by rail, and is close to the British frontier. Along the railway from Lourenco Marques to the Transvaal frontier are stations marking the position of small settlements. The last Portuguese station is named Ressano Garcia; the first Transvaal station Komati Poort.
Communications.—The Zambezi is navigable by light draught steamers throughout its course in Portuguese territory with one break at the Kebrassa Rapids-400 m. frnm its mouth. By means of the Shire affluent of the Zambezi there is direct steamer and railway connexion with British Central Africa. The navigability of the other rivers of the province has been indicated. From Lourengo Marques railways run to Swaziland and the Transvaal, and from Beira, there is a railway to Rhodesia. These lines, built to foster trade with countries beyond Portuguese territory, link the ports named to the British railway systems in South and Central Africa. The route for a railway to connect Beira with Sena was surveyed in 1906-1907, a route from Quilimane to the Zambezi being also surveyed. A light railway (50 m. long) goes inland from Matamba, on Inhambane Bay, serving northern Gazaland. Native caravan routes traverse every part of the country, but these are mere tracks, and in general communication is difficult and slow. Lourenco Marques, Beira, Mozambique and other ports are in telegraphic communication with Europe via South Africa and Zanzibar, and a cable connects Mozambique with Madagascar. Inland telegraph lines connect the ports with the adjacent British possessions. British, German and Portuguese steamship lines maintain regular communication between Lourengo Marques and other ports and Europe and India. In 1908 some 1700 vessels of 3,400,000 tons visited the ports of the province.
Agriculture and Other Industries.—The country from the Rovuma to the Zambezi is of great fertility, the richest portion being that between Angoxa and Quilimane. In-the basin of the Zambezi the soil is fertilized by the inundations of the river. The low coast land of the Gaza country is almost equally fruitful. A great part of the country is suitable for the growth of the sugar-cane, rice, ground-nuts, coffee and tobacco. The two last named plants, as also cotton, vanilla, tea and cloves, are not a success in the Quilimane region, where coco-nuts and ground-nuts are the chief crops. Rubber vines are largely grown in the Mozambique district and the Mozambique Company has large plantations of coffee and sugar. There are numerous sugar factories and rice plantations in the Zambezi district. The natives devote their attention to the raising of oleaginous crops and of maize, cassava, beans, &c. Wheat and other cereals are grown in the valley of the Zambezi. Large herds of cattle are raised. The system prevails in many districts of dividing the land into prazos (large agricultural estates) in which the natives cultivate various crops for the benefit of the European leaseholder, who is also tax-collector for his district and can claim the tax either in labour or produce.
Fish are plentiful along the coast, and pearls are obtained off the Bazaruto Isles. Turtles are caught in the Querimba archipelago. Spirits, sugar, fibres and pottery are practically the only commodities manufactured. The hunting of game for ivory and skins affords employment to large numbers of people.
Mineral Resources.—There are immense deposits of coal in the neighbourhood of Tete and near Delagoa Bay, and adjoining the coalfields ironstone of the best quality is plentiful. Malachite and copper are found in the interior, north-west of Mozambique. The ​whole of the region north of Delagoa Bay to the Zambezi and inland to and beyond the Portuguese frontier is auriferous, and ancient gold workings abound. Many writers have sought to identify this region with the land of Ophir. In Manica several gold mines are worked. In 1906–1907 a rich formation similar to the American “placer” deposits was discovered in the Manica goldfields. Gold mines are also worked at Missale and Chifumbaze, to the north of Tete. The Missale mines are just south of the frontier of British Central Africa. Petroleum is found near Inhambane, as is also a curious elastic like substance named inhangellite, resembling bitumen, chiefly derived from masses of a gelatinous alga (see Kew Bulletin, No. 5, 1907.
Commerce.—The chief exports are rubber, sugar, coal (from the Transvaal), beeswax, coco-nuts, copra and mangrove bark, ivory (including hippopotamus teeth and rhinoceros horns), skins and hides, ground-nuts, and oilseeds, monkey-nuts, mealies, cattle (to Madagascar), cotton, tobacco, gold and other minerals. The principal imports for consumption in the province are cotton goods, hardware and foodstuffs. The “Kaffir” trade is largely in cheap wines of a highly deleterious character, blankets, hats and shoes, brass wire and Venetian beads. Immense quantities of cheap wine are bought by the natives. There is at Lourenço Marques and at Beira a large transit trade to and from the Transvaal and Rhodesia respectively. The average annual value of the external trade of the province for the five years 1901–1905 was about £5,500,000. In 1909 the total trade of the province—including re-exports and goods in transit—exceeded £10,000,000. Fully 50% of this trade was in transit to or from the Transvaal. (See further Lourenço Marques; Beira, &c.) The trade of the province is chiefly with Great Britain, India, Germany and Portugal. The retail trade both at the seaports and in the settlements inland is largely in the hands of British Indians—Banyans, Battias and Parsees.
On the coast there are several native ports of call, between which and Madagascar a large surreptitious trade in slaves was carried on until 1877. With this island, and also with Zanzibar, there is a large general coasting trade.
Administration, Revenue, &c.—Formerly called Mozambique, the province since 1891 bears the official title of State of East Africa. It is under a governor-general, appointed for three years, and for administrative purposes is divided into several districts. There is a government council, instituted in 1907, composed partly of officials and partly of elected representatives of the commercial, industrial and agricultural communities. There is also a provincial council “with the attributions of an administrative and account tribunal.” In each district is a subsidiary council. The governor-general resides at Lourenço Marques and has under his immediate direction the Delagoa Bay district. Gazaland (q.v.) and the district of Inhambane are also governed directly by Portuguese officials. The greater part of the country between the Sabi River and the Zambezi, including the Manica and Sofala regions, is administered, under a charter granting sovereign rights for 50 years from 1891, by the Companhia de Mogambique, which has its headquarters at Beira. The Quilimane, Chinde and Zambezi regions are administered by representatives of the governor-general, with headquarters at Mozambique. The Zambezi Company has large trading concessions over this district. North of the Quilimane district the coast region and adjacent islands go under the name of Angoxa. The territory between the Lurio and Rovuma rivers and Lake Nyasa is governed by the Companhia do Nyasa under a royal charter. Revenue is obtained largely from customs and a hut tax on natives. The annual revenue of the province is about £1,000,000. A military force, about 4000 strong, is maintained, including 1200 to 1400 Europeans. Education is chiefly in the hands of Roman Catholic missionaries.
History.—It is uncertain at what period the east coast of Africa south of Somaliland was first visited by the maritime races of the east. There is, however, no reason to doubt that by the 10th century A.D. the Arabs had occupied the seaboard as far south as Sofala, and that they carried on an active trade between East Africa and Arabia, the Persian Gulf and India. The Arabs built fine towns and exercised control over the coast peoples, but do not appear to have pushed their conquests far inland. They had extensive commercial dealings, chiefly in gold, ivory and slaves, with the Bantu potentates who ruled over the middle Zambezi valley and the country now known as Mashonaland. Until the close of the 15th century the Arab supremacy was unchallenged. But in 1498 Vasco da Gama entered the mouth of a river which he called Rio dos Bons Sinaes (River of Good Tokens), as there he first found himself in contact with the civilization of the East. This stream was the Quilimane River, taken by the Portuguese a little later to be the main mouth of the Zambezi. From this river da Gama continued his voyage, putting in at Mozambique and Mombasa on his way to India. Hostilities between the Arabs and Portuguese broke out almost immediately; da Gama, indeed, in his first voyage had some trouble with the sultan of Mozambique. In 1502 da Gama paid a visit to Sofala to make inquiries concerning the trade in gold carried on at that place, and the reports as to its wealth which reached Portugal led to the despatch in 1505 of a fleet of six ships under Pedro da Nhaya with instructions to establish Portuguese influence at Sofala. Da Nhaya was allowed to build a fort close to the Arab town. The fort, built in three months, was shortly afterwards attacked by a band of Bantus, who acted on the instigation of the Arabs. The attackers were driven off and the Arabs forced to acknowledge Portuguese rule. In 1509 a captain of Sofala and a factor, or chief trader, were sent out, and from this time the trade of the port fell to the Portuguese. Sofala, however, was not a suitable harbour for the refitting and provisioning of ships on the way to India, and to obtain such a port Mozambique was seized and fortified in 1507. By 1510 the Portuguese were masters of all the former Arab sultanates on the East African coast. The northern half of this region, from Kilwa to Mukdishu, has passed out of their possession; here it is only necessary to outline the history of the country still under the Portuguese Crown. For forty years Sofala was their only station south of the Zambezi. Thence they traded with the monomotapa or chief of the “Mocaranga” (i.e. the Makalanga or Karanga) in whose territory were the mines whence the gold exported from Sofala was obtained. At that time this chief was a powerful potentate exercising authority over a wide area (see Monomotapa). The efforts made by the Portuguese from Sofala to reach him were unsuccessful. It was probably the desire to penetrate to the “land of gold” by an easier route that led, in 1544, to the establishment of a station on the River of Good Tokens, a station from which grew the town of Quilimane. About the same time the Portuguese penetrated inland along the Zambezi, known then as the River of Sena, and founded the trading ports of Sena and Tete, or, perhaps, annexed already existing Arab towns of those names. It was at this period also that Lourenço Marques and a companion, sent out by the captain of Mozambique, entered Delagoa Bay and opened up trade with the natives. This was the most southerly point occupied by the Portuguese. For three centuries however the fine harbour was little used, and its ultimate development was due to the discovery of another “land of gold”—the Witwatersrand—beyond Portuguese territory. In the 16th century the Portuguese turned their energies towards the Zambezi valley. In 1569 their East African dominions, hitherto dependent on the vice royalty of India, were made a separate government with headquarters at Mozambique.
Francisco Barreto, a former Viceroy of India, appointed governor of the newly formed province, was instructed by King Sebastian to conquer the country of the gold mines. The route via the Zambezi, and not that by Sofala, was chosen by Barreto—in opposition to the desires of his council, but in accord with the advice of a Dominican friar named De Monclares. This advice proved fatal owing to the deadly climate of the Zambezi valley. Barreto’s expedition, including over 1000 Europeans, started in November 1569, and from Sena marched south, an arrangement having been come to with the monomotapa by which the Portuguese were granted a right of way to the gold mines on condition of their attacking a rebel vassal of that chieftain. Barreto attacked and defeated this rebel, but received no help from the monomotapa, and his force was so greatly weakened by deaths and disease that he was obliged to return to Sena, whence he went to Mozambique to put down disorder among the Portuguese there. He returned to Sena in 1570, only to die a few days after his arrival. His successor Vasco Fernandes Homem, got together another expedition and made his way inland from Sofala to a region where he saw the ground being worked for gold. The comparative poorness of the mine filled him, it is stated, with disappointment, and he returned to Sofala. Thus these, the most important efforts made by the Portuguese to obtain possession of the interior, ended in failure.
​Towards the end of the 16th century the Portuguese posts on the Zambezi were attacked by hordes of savages known as Muzimba, and Tete and Sena were destroyed. The captain-general of Mozambique—the province had been again attached to the Indian viceroyalty—was only able to make peace on promise not to interfere with matters which concerned only the native tribes. Thereafter the Portuguese often had to defend even the coast towns from attacks by the Bantus. Still they held one or two posts in the interior besides those on the Zambezi. Of these the chief appears to have been Masapa, on the river Mansovo, i.e. Mazoe, in what is now Mashonaland, and about 150 m. by road from Tete. Near Masapa dwelt the monomotapa, an insignificant chieftain, the power of the Makalanga having been broken by revolts of once subject tribes and by dissensions among the Makalanga themselves. In 1629 a treaty was concluded with a claimant to the chieftainship who embraced Christianity. This man, known as the Monomotapa F ilippe, declared himself a vassal of Portugal, and with the help of Dominican friars and a number of half-breeds established his authority.
The Portuguese, however, failed to make any effective use of their East African possessions. Among the causes of their non-success in the years immediately following the period of conquest must be reckoned the “Sixty Years' Captivity” (1580–1640), when the Spanish and Portuguese crowns were united, and the neglect of Africa for the richer possessions in India and the Far East. A more important and permanent reason for the non-development of Mozambique province was its unhealthy and enervating climate, which prevented European colonization. The few thousands of Portuguese who went out were chiefly officials, and they and the small body of planters led in general a life of indolence and debauchery. Commerce too was hampered and good government rendered impossible through the system of farming out the administration to officials who were in return granted a monopoly of trade, and even when this system was abandoned trade was confined to Portuguese subjects. But for many years the Jesuits and Dominicans were unceasing in their endeavours to win the native races to Christianity, the friars being the most energetic section of the white community. The first Jesuit missionaries began work in the province in the neighbourhood of Inhambane in 1560; in the same year another Jesuit, Goncalo da Silveira, made his way to the zimbabwe (chief kraal) of the monomotapa, by whose orders he and his converts were strangled (March 16, 1561). Mission work was soon afterwards begun by the Dominicans and the two orders between them had agents spread over the greater part of the country from Mozambique southward. They gained thousands of at least nominal converts, notably the heir of one of the monomotapas, who was baptized in 1652 and who, renouncing his heirship, became vicar of the convent of Santa Barbara in Goa. But during the 18th century the zeal of the missionaries declined; in 1759 the Tesuits were expelled, and two years later the Dominicans were sent to Goa. At that time they had been, together with a few white, Goanese and half-caste traders, for fully a century practically the only representatives of Portugal in the interior (the towns on the Zambezi excepted). Portugal’s influence was confined to helping one tribe in its quarrel with another, in return for favours received. The Portuguese were quite unable to take advantage of the disunion of the natives to establish their own supremacy. The exhaustion and enfeeblement of Portugal had, in short, its natural effect in Africa. In the early years of the 18th century the Arabs wrested from the Portuguese their African possessions north of Cape Delgado; the Dutch, French and British had been for some time menacing their trade and possessions in the south. In 1604, 1607 and again in 1662 the Dutch unsuccessfully attacked Mozambique, which was also attacked by the Arabs in 1670. The merchants of Sofala and Mozambique had, since the middle of the 17th century, found a new source of wealth in the export of slaves to Brazil, a trade due directly to the capture of the ports of Angola by the Dutch (1640–1648), but 1 Until 1853, when commerce was made free to all nations. continued until nearly the middle of the 19th century. Other trade declined steadily, the continual state of warfare among the tribes of the inland plateaus greatly reducing the production of gold.
In 1752 the government of the East African possessions was again separated from that of Goa, and twenty years later Francisco ]osé Maria de Lacerda e Almeida, a man of high attainments, made governor of the province at his own request, endeavoured to reform the administration. Lacerda is chiefly remembered for his journey to the heart of Central Africa, where he died in October 1798. Lacerda had conceived the idea of establishing a chain of Portuguese posts across the continent from Mozambique to Angola, and his statesmanlike prescience was shown by his prediction that the seizure of Cape Town by the British would lead to the extension of British rule over Central Africa, thus isolating the Portuguese provinces on the east and west coasts. After Lacerda’s death a state of apathy and decay was again manifest throughout Portuguese East Africa. During the greater part of the 19th century the country south of the Zambezi was devastated by hordes of savages of, Zulu origin (see Gazaland).
The discoveries of David Livingstone in the Zambezi basin in the period 1850–1865 attracted the attention of the British to those regions and led to the establishment of British settlements at the southern end of Lake Nyasa and in the Shiré highlands. These events aroused anxiety in Lisbon, which was increased when the British obtained a prepondering influence in Matabele, Mashona and Manica lands-the lands of the earlier monomotapas. With sudden energy the Portuguese engaged in the “ scramble for Africa, ” and though the result was disappointing to the patriotic feelings of the people they secured from their powerful neighbours-Great Britain and Germany—much better terms than might have been anticipated, having regard to the extremely limited area over which they exercised any sort of jurisdiction. The story of the partition is set forth fully in Africa, § 5.. Before the “scramble” began, Portugal had been fortunate in securing, in 1875, as the result of arbitration, complete possession of the fine harbour of Delagoa Bay, the southern half of which had been claimed by Great Britain in virtue' of acts of annexation in 1823 and later years.
The pressure of political events and the commercial activity of her rivals induced Portugal to take steps to develop the agricultural and mineral resources of the territory secured to her by international agreements. Imitating the policy of Great Britain, charters conveying sovereign powers were granted to the Mozambique Company in 1891, and to the Nyasa Company in 1893. Both these companies, as well as the Zambezi Company (which lacks a charter), undertook to open up the territory committed to their care. In all of them British capital is largely engaged. The total decay of Sofala, the removal of the seat of government from Mozambique to Lourenco Marques, the rise of the last named port and of Beira (both largely dependent on the transit trade with British possessions), all served to mark the changed condition of affairs. An agreement concluded in 1909 between the Transvaal and Portugal gave Delagoa Bay from 50 to 55% of the import trade with the Transvaal, the Portuguese agreeing further to facilitate the recruitment of natives in the province for work on the Rand mines. The development, in the early years of the 20th century, of rubber, rice, sugar and other plantations also gave anew impetus to commerce.
Bibliography.—E. de Vasconcellos, As Colonias portuguezas, pp. 212–299 (2nd ed., Lisbon, 1903) and A. Negreiros, La Mozambique (Paris, 1904). The last named, somewhat untrustworthy in the historical sketch, is valuable for its flora and fauna sections. For the regions south of the Zambezi see R. C. F. Maugham, Portuguese East Africa (London, 1906) and Zambesia (London, 1909) O Terriiorio de Monica e Sofala . . . 1892–1900 (Lisbon, 1902), a monograph prepared by the Mozambique Company; Commandant Smits, “La Compagnie a charte de Mozambique” in Le Mouvement géographique of Brussels (1906). For the districts north of the Zambezi ​see W. B. Worsfold, Portuguese Nyassaland (London, 1899); Major J. Stevenson-Hamilton's paper in Geog. Journ. (Nov. 1909); V. A. d'Eça, “Esboço geographico-historico dos territorios portugueses entre o Indico e o Nyassa” in Bol. soc. geo. Lisboa (1901). For geology consult A. A. F. de Andraada, “A Geological Reconnaissance of the Portuguese Territories between Lorenzo Marques and the Zambezi River,” review in Geal. Mag. (1897); R. B. Newton, “Note on the Occurrence of Nummulitic Limestone in South-eastern Africa,” Geal. Mag. (1896); Paul Choffat, Crétacique de conducia, com. d. service géol. du Portugal (1903). Ethnology and philology have received considerable attention. See M. M. Feio, Indigenes de Moçambique (Lisbon, 1900); J. V. do Sacramento, “Apontames sobre a lingua macua” in Bal. soc. geo. Lisboa, 22nd and 23rd series (1904 and 1905); H. A. Junod, Les Chants et les contes des Ba-Ronga de ta baie de Delagoa (Lausanne, 1897). For history see G. M‘C. Theal's Records of South-Eastern Africa (9 vols., London, 1898–1903), containing texts of original documents and MSS., with translations in English; History and Ethnography of South Africa to 1795 (3 vols., London, 1907–1910); and The Portuguese in South Africa (London, 1896); Père Courtois, Notes chronologiques sur les anciennes missions catholiques au Zambezi (Lisbon, 1889); João dos Santos, Ethiopia oriental . . . (Lisbon, 1609), an account of the travels of one of the early missionaries in Mozambique. A reprint, edited by M. D’Azevendo, was published at Lisbon in 1891. Valuable records of the state of the country in the last half of the 19th century are contained in the reports to the foreign office of the British consuls at Mozambique, notably those of Lieut. H. E. O‘Neill, R.N., and Lyons McLeod. See also O‘Neill’s The Mozambique and Nyassa Slave Trade (London 1885); McLeod's Travels in Eastern Africa, with the Narrative of a Residence in Mozambique (London, 1860); and Travels . . . [in] Eastern and Central Africa (London, 1879) from the journals of Captain J. F. Elton (consul at Mozambique), compiled by H. B. Cotterill. See further D. and C. Livingstone, Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi and its Tributaries, &c. (London, 1865), and the works cited under Delagoa Bay and Zimbabwe. Reference may also be made to the bibliography under British Central Africa. (F. R. C.)
* ↑ Until 1853, when commerce was made free to all nations.
* ↑ Slavery was not abolished until 1878.