The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

INHABITANTS OF GAZ.VLAND. 229whom they resemble in physical appearance, usages, aud peaceful temperament.Like them, they show a decided preference for agriculture and stock-breeding, sofar at least as permitted bj' their Umgoni masters, and also speak dialects showingmarked affinities to the Sesuto language.All these despised Tongas are gifted with a clear intellect aud a passion forlearning. "\VhcneA-er they can escape from the tyranny of the Zulus, they immediatelyresume the cultivation of the land and their other industrial pxirsuits.Being entirely averse from the military spii-it, they discuss all affairs of generalinterest in common, leaving the administration to a council of elders and pettychiefs. Their circular huts, formed of stakes connected by creepers, with allinterstices tilled in by clay, are generally higher and better constructed than thoseof the southern Zulu Katir peoples.The Chobi, that is, " Bowmen," occupy the southernmost districts in Gazaland.Those dwelling in the neighbourhood of the Limpopo along the coast dunes haveall been reduced by the Zulus. But the northern Chobi, called also Mindongs bythe Portuguese, have succeeded in safeguarding their independence, thanks to thesupport accorded them by the garrison of the town of Inhambane. These are theBoa Gente, or "good folks" spoken of by Vasco de Gama. This tribe disfigurethemselves in a way which to Europeans seems absolutelj' repulsive. They raisethree rows of warty excrescences on the face, one from the top of the forehead tothe tip of the nose, the other two from ear to ear, forming two chains, which arcbrought round one by the upper lip the other by the chin. They seem betterentitled to the name or Knob-noses even than their Transvaal neighbours. Thecostume of their women is a sort of bark toga.North-west of the Chobi the plains are occupied by the Ma-Kwakwa people,where territory may be traversed in all directions without obtaining a sight of asingle village, so completely are their settlements concealed in the brushwood.For a stretch of about sixty miles, Eichards came upon nothing but abandonedkraals.These imfortunate Ma-Kwakwas do not dare even to cultivate their littlegarden plots, such is their dread of sudden visits from their Zulu kinsmen andoppressors. But they carefully tend their wine-yieldijig palms, small trees from5 to 10 feet high, which resemble cabbage stumjas in appearance, but gi\e a largesupply of liquor.The Ma-Gwanzas, who d^Acll west and north-west of the Ma-Kwakwas, alongthe banks of the Limjjopo and its affluents, are exempt from the visits of the Zulusoldiery, and are consequent!}' a very numerous people. They own large wellcidtivatedgardens, and even herds of cattle in all thedistricts not infested by thetsetse fly.Their northern neighbours, the Ma-Longwas or Ma-Kongwis, dwell in barkhuts of a rudimentary type. The district stretching still farther north in thedirection of the Sabi delta is held by the Bila-Kulu tribe, while the far morenumerous Hlenga nation occupies at some distance inland from the coast theregion of plains extending towards the interior between the Limpopo and Sabivalleys. Their country being mainly scrub, the Illeugas might almost be called