The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1859-11-26
."RrvER SHIRE. june / lsr

Ft 1a " RIVER SHIRE, June l, 1859.
My DEAR SIR GEORGE: We have lately
discovered very fine lake by getting up
this river in the steam launch about 100
miles, and then marching some fifty more
on foot. IL is called Shirwa, and Lake
Ngami is a mere pond in comparison. 1t
is, moreover, particularly interesting from
the fact reported by the natives on its shores,
that iS is separated by strip of land only
five or six miles in width from Nyanja, or
Lake Nyinyee-the stars-wlich Burton
has gone to explore. We could hear nothing
of his party at Shirwa, and having got no
European news since you kindly sent some
copies of The Times last year, We are quite
in the dark as to whether he has succeeded
or not. Lake Shirwa has no other outlet
and its waters are bitter, but drinkable. @
1t abounds in fishes, ieeches, aIligators.
and hippopotami. We discovered, also by
examining partially branch of the Shire,
called Ruo, that one portion of Shirwa is
not more than 80 miles distant from point
that may easily be reached by this launch,
which, by newspaper measurement draws
thirteen inches, and actually thirty-one
inches. Lake Shirwa is very grand. 1t is
surrounded on all sides by lofty. green
mountaiHs. Dzomba--or, as the people
nearest it say, Zomba-is over 6,000 feet
high, of the same shape as Table Mountain,
but inhabited on the top; others are equally
high, but inaccessible. 1t is a high land re-
gion, the lake itself being about 2. 900 feet
above the sea. 1t is 20 or 80 miles wide,
and 80 or 60 long. On going some way up
a hill, we saw in the far distance two noun
tain tops, rising like little islands on q
watery horizon. An inhabited mountain
island stands near where we first came to
it. From the size of the waves, it is sup
posed to be deep Mr.. Maclear will show
you the map.
DR.. Kirk and /, with 5 Makololo, formed
the land party. The country is well .peo-H
pied, and very much like Loando. In the
middle Of the country, many streams rise
out of bogs; the vegetation is nearly iden-
tical also. Never saw so much cotton grown
as among the Mangango of the Shire and
Shirwa valleys-all spin and weave it.
These are the latitudes which | have always
pointed out as the sugar and cotton lands.
They are pre-eminentIy so; but such is the
disinterestedness of some people, that labor
10 exported to Bourbon instead of being en-
ployed here. The only trade the people
have is that of slaves, and the only symp-
toms of impudence we met were from a par
ty of Bajana slave traders, but they changed
their deportment instantly on learning that
we were English, and not Portuguese.
There are no Maravi at or near Shirwa-
they are all west of the Shire-so that this
lake can scarcely be called Lake Maravi.
The Portuguese know nothing Of it; but
the minister whs claimed (blue book for
1851 the honor of first traversing the
African continent for two black men with
Portuguese names, must explain why they
did not cross Sheriva. 1t lies some 40 or
so miles on each side of the latitude of Mo-
zambique. a
They came to Tete only, and lacked at
least AGO miles of Mozambique. We go back
to Shirwa in July, and may make a push
for n yinyeze. DAVID LIVINGSTONE.