The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

ZAMBT("irK T>:T.ANT». 293immunity was purchased at the cost of keeping far from the highwaj's of commerce,and excluding the Arab traders from all their settlements. Xow, however,the buyers of copal and caoutchouc have gained access to their hitherto secludedretreats, and they have thus been gradualh* drawn within the sphere of commercialactivity centred in the Portuguese seaports.The Mavihas arc remarkable for their s^Tiimetrical figures and graceful carriage,but they disfigure themselves by incisions, while not only the women buteven the men wear the pelele in the upper lip, giving to the mouth somewhat theappearance of a nozzle. This lip-ring is prepared bj- the husband himself for hiswife, and the ornament thus becomes a symbol of love and fidelity, like thewedding-ring worn by married people in civilised countries. When the wife diesthe husband religiously presei-ves her pelele, never forgetting to bring it withhim when he visits her grave and pours libations to her memory.O'Xeill is of opinion that the Mavihas belong to the same race as the Makondes,who dwell to the north of the Rovuma. They have the same customs, and thepeople of the coast apply the same collective name to both groups. As amongstthe Makondes, the Maviha women enjoy (he privilege of choosing their husbands,ToronRAPiiv.The seaports where European and Asiatic dealers have settled for the purposeof ti-ading with the natives of the interior are not numerous on the Mozambiquecoast ; nor have any of them acquired the proportions of a large city. They arc,however, supplemented by the missionary stations founded in the regions remotefrom the seaboard, for these stations have become so many little Euroi^ean colonies,where the indigenous populations are brought into contact with a new and superiorcivilisation.Xorth-west of Quelimane, the first frequented port is that of AngonJia, formerlya busy centre of the slave-trade. But the point selected for connecting thesubmarine cable and for the regular mail service is the famous island of Mozambique,which was occupied by the Portuguese at the beginning of the sixteenthcentury, and a hundred years later made the capital of all their East Africanpossessions. This island was already a great Arab market, trading with the EastIndies, when Yasco de Gama discovered it in 1498. The Portugutse had merelj'to fortify the place in order to secure a station of ^ital importance on the highwaybetween Lisbon and Goa.Mozambique Island, a coralline rock aboiit two miles long and a few Imndrcdyards broad, jjartly doses the entrance of the spacious Mossoril Baj', a perfectlysheltered haven from 25 to 50 feet deep, where vessels frequenting these watersfind a safe anchorage during the prevalence of the south-east monsoons. But onthe cast side of the island there is also developed another haven well protectedfrom the surf by some coral reefs, low islands, and Cape Cabcceira, a prominentheadland Ipng to the north-east of Mozambique, and connected with the mainlandby a wooded peninsula. The town, where no traces ore any longer seen of the