The Agent In Sowing
In This Case Is A Bird, Which Eats The Outer Rind, And Throws The Kernel
On The Ground.
This plant can not bear the direct rays of the sun;
consequently, when a number of the trees are
Discovered in the forest,
all that is necessary is to clear away the brushwood,
and leave as many of the tall forest-trees as will afford good shade
to the coffee-plants below. The fortunate discoverer has then
a flourishing coffee plantation.
This district, small though it be, having only a population of 13,822,
of whom ten only are white, nevertheless yields an annual tribute
to the government of thirteen hundred cotton cloths, each 5 feet
by 18 or 20 inches, of their own growth and manufacture.
Accompanied by the commandant of Cazengo, who was well acquainted
with this part of the country, I proceeded in a canoe down the River Lucalla
to Massangano. This river is about 85 yards wide, and navigable for canoes
from its confluence with the Coanza to about six miles above the point
where it receives the Luinha. Near this latter point
stand the strong, massive ruins of an iron foundry, erected in
the times (1768) and by the order of the famous Marquis of Pombal.
The whole of the buildings were constructed of stone, cemented with
oil and lime. The dam for water-power was made of the same materials,
and 27 feet high. This had been broken through by a flood,
and solid blocks, many yards in length, were carried down the stream,
affording an instructive example of the transporting power of water.
There was nothing in the appearance of the place to indicate unhealthiness;
but eight Spanish and Swedish workmen, being brought hither
for the purpose of instructing the natives in the art of smelting iron,
soon fell victims to disease and "irregularities". The effort of the marquis
to improve the mode of manufacturing iron was thus rendered abortive.
Labor and subsistence are, however, so very cheap that almost
any amount of work can be executed, at a cost that renders
expensive establishments unnecessary.
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