Portuguese East Africa or Mozambique

Flamingoes are 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. The guinea fowl, partridge, bustard, quail, wild goose, teal, widgeon, mallard and other kinds of duck are all common. A small green parrot is found.

The coconut is common in the coast regions and often attains iooft.; the date palm, mostly in marshy ground and near rivers, is seldom more than 20f t. in height ; four other palms occur. A kind of cedar is found in the lower forests ; ironwood and ebony are common, and other trees resemble satin and rosewood. The large Khaya senegalensis found in ravines and by river banks, affords durable and easily-worked timber; there are several va rieties of vitex and of ficus, notably the sycamore, which bears edible fruit. Excellent hardwood is obtained from a species of grewia. Other characteristic trees are the mangrove (along the sea shore), sandal-wood, gum copal, baobab and bombax, and, in the lower plain, dracaenas (dragon trees), candelabra euphorbia, and many species of creepers and flowering shrubs, and several prickly shrubs. Acacias are numerous, including the gum-yielding variety, while landolphia rubber vines grow freely in the forests. Coffee, cotton, indigo and tobacco plants, castor oil, bananas, mangoes and pineapples are found. The bamboo is common. Phragmites communis, spear grass, with its waving, snowy plumes, grows 12 to 14ft. and is abundant along the river banks and along the edges of the marshes.

Climate and Health.

Malaria is endemic on the coast and along the banks of the Zambezi. 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°, the hottest month being November, 83.3°, and the coldest July, 72.5°. At Quelimane, on the coast, the mean temperature is 85.1°, maximum 106.7° and minimum 49.1°. The cool season is from April to August. 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°. 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. Rain

fall, average mean for many years, in millimetres, is : Lourenco Marques 776, Beira 1,534, Quelimane 1,433, Mozambique 797, Tete 538, Shire 1,885.

A scientific mission has verified endemic foci of sleeping-sickness of the Rhodesian type in 18 places in the territory studied. Cases of fever were also noted, due generally to Laverania malariae, but also to Plasmodius vivax; and malaria, recurrent fever and filariasis. The tsetse fly, mostly morsitans, was found in several districts. It is spreading in that of Tete. Good results had been obtained by the use of atoxil in the initial stages, and of Tripars amida in advanced cases of the disease. The mission emphasizes the necessity of the study of the disease "nagana" in cattle.

There are good Government hospitals at Lourenco Marques and other centres.

Population and Towns.

Portuguese East Africa is sparsely inhabited, the native population being, in 9o% 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 (Hin dus) 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). 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, with other tribes mainly of Zulu origin. Between the Zambezi and the Pungwe are the Barue, Batoka, etc. 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 Thongas, resembling the Basutos, peaceful stock-raisers and cultivators. Among them are the BaTonga south of Inham bane, and the BaRonga mainly in the Lourenco Marques district. The BaChopi in the Inhambane district are a Bantu tribe of different origin and language. The white inhabitants are chiefly Portuguese and British, and nearly half live in Lourenco Marques. The most important towns are Lourenco Marques (the capi tal), Mozambique, Quelimane, Inhambane, Beira and Chinde.