Lyons McLeod

“ There the land, being a succession of terraces rising from the ocean, offers the most beautiful spots, already cleared away by the hand of nature, for the erection of residences, having for their backgrounds magnificent forests, while the sea view unfolds the boundless expanse of the Southern Ocean, through storm and calm, bearing on its bosom the argosies richly laden with the commerce of the East and the West. ”

“ During the four hundred years which have passed since the gorgeous panorama of the East was made known to Europe by the immortal actors in the Portuguese Era of Conquest, what numbers of human beings have perished, what untold riches have been engulphed around that stormy headland! ”

“ Passing on from the mouths of the Zambesi, with all its untold treasures, we come to a country which, having abandoned the slave-trade, and entered into legitimate commerce, finds its reward in growing richer and more powerful every year, while the neighbouring Portuguese settlements, abandoned to the nefarious traffic in human beings, become annually more impoverished. ”

“ The Portuguese officials look with the greatest jealousy upon any of the Mozambique people engaged in the slave-trade, for they consider this traffic as belonging [294] entirely to themselves, and a grant from the government of Portugal, as a compensation in lieu of adequate salaries. There is no mistaking the meaning of the smile and shrug of the shoulders with which they reply to any one who ventures to state that the Portuguese government is sincere in its endeavour to suppress the slave-trade. ”

“ By restricting the supply of labour to our colonies, obstacles are placed in the way of their development which prevent them so successfully competing with the Slave Labour States of America and Cuba as they otherwise might do. On the other hand, by supplying abundance of labour, our colonies will produce supplies for European markets in so great abundance, and at such a great reduction in cost, that the working men of our own country will be able to obtain in plenty many articles which are now looked upon almost as luxuries, although absolutely necessaries to overworked frames ”

“ The malingerers and the recruits, forming the force called “the garrison,” are commanded by a captain, lieutenant, and alfares, or ensign; while the most thorough-going and boldest villain among the convicts is picked out for a non-commissioned officer to awe and outwit his comrades. Some of these Portuguese soldiers have outraged every law, human and divine; on this side of the grave there is no hope for them. Banished from their country to Goâ, they have there, in that sink of iniquity, committed fresh crimes, for which they have been sent, as an additional punishment, to Mozambique. ”

“ The Portuguese are always dreading their slaves rising upon them; and, therefore, they exercise all their ingenuity in devising means to keep them down, and display a refinement in cruelty which I am not aware exists in any other slave-holding communities. Here at Mozambique, where slaves are plentiful, and where there is no difficulty in replacing them, they are not valued as in those places where a human being represents so many thousand dollars, or hundred doubloons. Here a slave is only worth forty dollars, even when the slave ships from Réunion or Cuba lie [276] in the harbour. ”

“ Doubtless, some of the Kaffirs of Natal, seeing the great care devoted to the production of this staple of our manufactures in that thriving and industrious little colony, will communicate the intelligence to their countrymen, and eventually it may be brought to the notice of their chiefs. If Panda, the great chief of the Zulus, was once convinced of the benefits which would arise to his people by the cultivation of this plant, we should hear no more of bloody wars and wholesale massacres in his dominions ”

“ The young King of Portugal has a glorious career opened to him, if he will only prove himself worthy of the destiny to which he is called.
On the north end of the island of Mozambique, there is a large fort, called San Sebastian, having an appearance of considerable strength, which at one time no doubt was the case, for it has embrasures for at least eighty pieces of cannon, but barely half of that number are in the fort at present; even the carriages of these are dilapidated by age, and the cannon themselves honey-combed by the combined effects of climate and neglect. ”

“ Soares that neither as an Englishman, nor a British consul, could I allow any slave to be treated as Portuguese Rosa had used them in my presence; and as only one woman could command in an Englishman’s house, the poor widow, who did not understand her position, must go. ”

“ This miserable place is protected by a structure, to which is applied the name of a fort, having a large flag-staff, displaying the flag of Portugal, and a few honey-combed guns, which cannot be fired.
The town is filthy in every sense; even the Governor’s quarters being so surrounded with filth and dirt of all sorts, that none but Portuguese and Natives, acclimatized by long usage to the pestilential atmosphere of the place, can approach it without being attacked with fits of vomiting. ”

“ The advantages of this harbour for commercial purposes, both as to its means of communicating with the vast interior of Africa, and the facilities afforded to it by the monsoons for easy access to the neighbouring countries, cannot be overrated. It requires only the entire cessation of the accursed slave-trade to make the capabilities of this magnificent harbour known, when the development of its rich and varied resources would obtain for it a position as an emporium for the commerce of the world, second only to that of Alexandria. ”

“ On the great ocean route from Europe to India, if we except Port Louis, in the Island of Mauritius, there is not one harbour containing dry docks, and the necessary accommodation for repairing in security the hulls of the immense merchant fleets, of sailing and steam-ships, which are for ever ploughing the watery waste which lies between the East and the West. ”

“ Having, by his perseverance and address, overcome the opposition of the elements and the mutineers in his fleet, he rounded the great promontory of Africa, and by his subsequent success, earned for himself the proud distinction, throughout all ages, of having been the first who reached India by that route.
Anxious to visit Sofala, discovered by his countryman Covilham, he followed the coast of Africa from its southern extreme. He anchored in Saint Blasse Bay, after leaving which, he arrived at the island of Santa Cruz, which was the limit of the discoveries of his predecessor Diaz. ”

“ The natives between Delagoa Bay and Sofala have always been a subject of great anxiety to the Portuguese ever since their settlement in Eastern Africa.
There are numerous rivers running down to the coast to the southward of Inhambane, and indeed it is said to be one of the best watered portions of this side of the great continent. Some of these rivers are navigable for small craft; but all are more or less difficult of access in consequence of the bars at their entrance, formed by their own deposit at their mouths, being acted upon by the stream already named and the local monsoons. ”

“ If a slave is refractory, and flogging only makes him worse, the arbitrary master, enraged at his continued disobedience, bids his brutal overseer flog him until “he will require no more.” The master looks on and gloats his vengeance. ”

“ If the large supplies of native labour, introduced by Sir George Grey, can be turned to the cultivation of the soil, one of the great ends of all good government, the supply of cheap food for the people, will be the result. ”

“ Women are made to flog—and that under circumstances too revolting to be told. If two persons of different sexes are observed growing attached to each other, and there is springing up between them that feeling which we would unquestionably call love, but which the proud superiority of the Portuguese [277] intellect denies can exist in men and women with black skins,—those two are chosen for each other’s executioners. It is thus that, making nature war against itself, they endeavour to create and perpetuate an unnatural race, destitute of all affection to each other. ”

“ There are a few Portuguese officials connected with the Custom-house and the Treasury, some half-caste descendants of Portuguese or Canarines from Goâ, and natural children of slave-dealers by native women from India or Africa; such is the society at Mozambique. Add to this, one German merchant and an agent of a house from Marseilles, thirty or forty Banyan traders from Cutch, Goâ, and Bombay; a few Arabs, or, as they are called at Mozambique, Moors, and you have all that portion of the inhabitants of the island who call themselves free. ”

“ Leaving this melancholy picture of man’s degradation, let us proceed into the country, beyond the limit of so-called civilization, and explore the vast field which nature here unfolds to us.
In the district of Inhambane, the valleys, the mountains, and the rivers abound in riches. Copper, gold, and iron are found in abundance; nuts, roots, and even trees, are found producing dyes. ”

“ Agents are established on the East Coast of Africa, by slave merchants, to purchase slaves of those who obtain them in barter. Those agents act under instructions, particularly as to signs, and signals, and places of embarkation; and also establish relations with those already engaged in the traffic, from whom and through whom large numbers of negroes are collected, and chained in small groups, some by the neck, and others by the hand, and are then marched, at the time, and to the place appointed, to await the arrival of the vessel that is to carry them to their destiny. ”

“ I have been told, by persons in Mozambique, “Yes, the government of Portugal, after ruining us, are sincere in their endeavours to prevent us engaging in the traffic; and they take the best mode to prevent us benefiting by that traffic, for they send out their officers here on paltry salaries, which they well know cannot support life, and make them prevent us engaging in the slave-trade. ”

“ Surely a colony, whose capability for producing one of the great staples of our manufactures is thus shown to be almost unlimited, deserves the most encouraging attention of our statesmen both in a commercial and anti-slavery light. ”

“ If found stealing cocoa-nuts from the trees, the custom of Mozambique is to allow the captain or guardian of the palm trees to shoot them. No question is asked as to how a slave comes by his death—and the body is thrown into the sea. ”

“ Although the Portuguese have had possessions of immense territorial extent, both on the West and East Coasts of Africa, for more than three centuries, in regions where this weed of the most superior quality abounds, it is only within the last twenty or thirty years that they have brought it into the European market; and, from what I could learn at Mozambique, it is only since the Slave Trade was partially checked in that Province, that the Mozambique people began to export this valuable commodity, viz., subsequent to 1850. ”

“ Some of the houses have the appearance of comfort, and in former times, when the slave-trade was extensively carried on between Mozambique and Brazil, they were luxuriously furnished, having every comfort which affluence could supply, and the debilitating nature of the climate called for. Since the people of Mozambique have been obliged to abandon slavery, nearly all the former occupants have left, and the remainder, tied to the country by compulsory means, lead a miserable existence engendered by their own vices. ”

“ There is one man upon your track who judges for himself, and does not take slave-dealers’ reports; but he has not yet entered the Mozambique Channel; he is at Natal, and has only just heard of your movements. You may perhaps obtain your cargo of slaves, and add to the large list of unreported slavers which have been carrying large cargoes from the Mozambique to Cuba and America for a quarter of a century.
The “Zambesi” stood away for the Bazarutto Islands, remained there three days, relanded the men who had belonged to the “Ocean Queen,” and returned to Inhambane. ”

“ They heard of people who had formerly inhabited these countries, who were far advanced in civilization. And from the west coast of Africa, at the same time, the Portuguese priests were pushing into the interior, to the centres of kingdoms in a state of semi-civilization, where they were at first very successful in making proselytes to the Christian faith, but from which they were eventually banished in consequence of their endeavouring to get the government of those kingdoms into their own hands. ”

“ Sufficient is, however, known to justify one in stating that it communicates with the interior for a great extent, and that the country through which it has its course is rich in all the products of Eastern Africa.
Timber, of a large and superior quality, may be had in considerable quantities, while the harbour offers every facility for loading vessels with it. But, at the same time, it is proper to state that a cargo of timber has not been sent from this harbour within the memory of man; the only trade carried on being that in human beings. ”

“ It is said to be the highest land in the Transvaal country, and therefore one will not be surprised to hear that it is the most healthy. Sheep do here remarkably well, and some quantity of wool is produced; while horses are as healthy on the highest portions of the district as at Natal.
The Transvaal country has been long celebrated for abundance of game; but here, as in the other portions of South Africa, it is rapidly disappearing, and, before the end of this century, will probably be one of those things which have been. ”

“ The natives are a warlike race, and appear to keep the Portuguese in good order, but all their prisoners taken in war are supplied for the slave trade. It is unnecessary to state that many of these wars are occasioned by the demands of that inhuman traffic.
The huts of the natives of Inhambane are built square, instead of round, like those of the Kaffirs, and are sometimes made of mud bricks, but more commonly of wattle-dab, or palm leaves. Their manners and customs are very much like those of the natives met with on the Zambesi, of whom we purpose giving some account. ”

“ Already, from the balcony of one house, no less than seven shafts can be seen puffing away the fumes of boiling syrup; and, when labour is supplied to Natal, this necessary for the artisan of the mother country will be supplied at a much reduced price, completely driving slave-grown sugar out of the market. The growing of mealies, or Indian corn, may be carried on at the same time as that of sugar. The mealies ought to be grown in every other row of the cane, and about twice the distance apart of the cane roots. ”

“ Impressed with the conviction that, from the most remote time, Civilization and Christianity have been best promoted by Commerce, which binds rival nations in the bonds of Peace, I respectfully dedicate this work to the Mercantile portion of my countrymen, in the hope that by their united efforts, Slavery may be made to disappear from the continent of Africa, through the establishment of commercial relations, especially with that rich portion of its coast and the neighbouring Ethiopian Archipelago, including the fertile island of Madagascar, described in the following pages. ”

“ Many varieties of indigo grow luxuriantly and wild in the colony; almost justifying the thought that on this side of Africa the plant is indigenous, although we are aware that on the west coast it was introduced by the Jesuits, and perhaps also, by way of the Zambesi, into the interior.
Large factories are being erected for the manufacture of indigo; and, in order that it may be thoroughly successful, arrangements have been made for the introduction of persons who have been already acquainted with its manufacture in the island of Java. ”

“ The ancient kingdom of Sofala extended north to the Luavo mouth of the Zambesi; and to the south, as far as the river Sofala, formerly to the river Sabia; and west as far as the kingdom of Manica.
The kingdom of Sofala, like all those comprehending Monomotapa Proper, is rich in mines of gold, silver, copper, and iron; precious stones of every variety have been found in this region, and may be obtained in considerable quantities.
The sugar cane, coffee, and indigo are growing [218] everywhere, while wheat is grown on the uplands. ”