e reports we received from gentlemen, who had entered the river and
were well qualified to judge, were that the Rovuma was infinitely
superior to the Zambesi, in the absence of any bar at its mouth, in its
greater volume of water, and in the beauty of the adjacent lands. We
probably came at a different season from that in which they visited it,
and our account ought to be taken with theirs to arrive at the truth. It
might be available as a highway for commerce during three quarters of
each year; but casual visitors, like ourselves and others, are all ill
able to decide. The absence of animal life was remarkable. Occasionally
we saw pairs of the stately jabirus, or adjutant-looking marabouts,
wading among the shoals, and spur-winged geese, and other water-fowl, but
there was scarcely a crocodile or a hippopotamus to be seen.

At the end of the first week, an old man called at our camp, and said he
would send a present from his village, which was up among the hills. He
appeared next morning with a number of his people, bringing meal, cassava-
root, and yams. The language differs considerably from that on the
Zambesi, but it is of the same family. The people are Makonde, and are
on friendly terms with the Mabiha, and the Makoa, who live south of the
Rovuma. When taking a walk up the slopes of the north bank, we found a
great variety of trees we had seen nowhere else. Those usually met with
far inland seem here to approach the coast. African ebony, generally
named _mpingu_, is abundant within eight miles of the sea; it attains a
larger size, and has more of the interior black wood than usual. A good
timber tree called _mosoko_ is also found; and we saw half-caste Arabs
near the coast cutting up a large log of it into planks. Before reaching
the top of the rise we were in a forest of bamboos. On the plateau
above, large patches were cleared and cultivated. A man invited us to
take a cup of beer; on our complying with his request, the fear
previously shown by the bystanders vanished. Our Mazaro men could hardly
understand what they said. Some of them waded in the river and caught a
curious fish in holes in the claybank. Its ventral fin is peculiar,
being unusually large, and of a circular shape, like boys' playthings
called "suckers." We were told that this fish is found also in the
Zambesi, and is called Chirire. Though all its fins are large, it is
asserted that it rarely ventures out into the stream, but r