MOZAMBIQUE
01 n
MOZAMBIQUE
resumed his morcunlilc pursuits in Philadelphia In
1792 he was Henislcr and Ueeorder of Chester County,
Penn., and was Connnissioner of Loans of Pennsyl-
vania for a few years before his deat h. Duly allowing
for the over excitability of the times, the eulogy of a
fellow patriot quoted by Irving (Life of Washinglim,
111, eh. 30) remains a no uncertain estimate of esteem:
" ' There is not in the whole range of my friends, ac-
quaintance, and I might add, in the universe', ex-
ehums Wilkinson, "a man of more sublimated senti-
ment, or who combined with sound discretion a more
punctilious sense of honour, than Colonel Moylan'."
General Moylan wa,s one of the organizers of the
Friendly Sons of St. Patrick in Philadelphia in 1771,
and was its first president. One of his brothers became Bishop of Cork, Ireland, and another, John,
acted during the war as United States Clothier Gen-
eral.
MARQns DE Chabtellhx, Travels in America (Paris, 1786); Americtiu MoiMli/ Magazine, vol. VI, 14.
Jarvis Keiley.
Mozambique (MogAMBiQUE), the former official and still usual name given to the Portuguese posses- sions on the eastern coast of Africa opposite the island of Madagascar. Portuguese East Africa extends from Cape Delgado (10° 41' S. lat.) to the south of Delagoa Bay (25° 58'), that is about twelve hundred miles. It is bounded on the north by German East Africa; on the east by the Mozambique Channel; on thesnuth by the Indian Ocean, and on the west by British South and Central Africa. It is the second largest Portuguese col- ony, its area approximating 293,000 square miles (that of Portuguese Angola is about 400,000) ; its population is between two and three millions. The coasts, in general low and marshy, are intersected here and there by rivers which terminate in almost every instance in muddy deltas or estuaries choked with sand. The low-lying tract between the Limpopo River and the delta of the Zambesi is barren, sprinkled with lagoons, malarial, and infested by the terrible tsee-tsee fly, which renders cattle-raising, the one industry other- wise suited to parts of this area, impossible. Between the Zambesi and the Rovuma the soil is very fertile, especially in the basin of the former river, where the land is fertilized by periodical inundations and pro- duces abundant crops. The climate of the regions along the coast is torrid, unhealthy, and subject to sudden and great variations; the mean annual tem- perature is very high (76° at Beira). As one proceeds inland, the soil rises gradually, terrace over terrace, attaining a great altitude in the mountains which bor- der on Lake Shirwa. In the interior both soil and cli- mate are favourable to cultivation and European life; the chief crops are millet, maize, rice, wheat, sesame, earth-nuts, sugar-cane, cocoa, and tobacco. The large forests of the interior yield ebony, sandalwood, a number of other valuable timbers, and india-rubber. Besides an unusual variety of game, the fauna include the elephant, antelope, buffalo, lion, leopard, and, in certain districts, the rhinoceros and the hippopota- mus. The mineral deposits, including coal, iron, and gold, are of exceptional importance, but not yet fully investigated.
Long before the arrival of the first European explor- ers, the Arabs, taking advantage of the regularity of the monsoons which greatly facilitated their voyages, carried on a brisk commerce with this portion of East Africa, and were in possession of the island of Mozam- bique when it was discovered by Vasco de Gama in 1498. Sofala had been already discovered by Covil- ham, another Portuguese, in 1489. The Portuguese had at first to contend with the fierce opposition of the Arabs who dominated all the adjacent country. In 1505 Albuquerque established at the mouth of the Sofala River the first European settlement. Vasco de Gama captured the island of Mozambique in 1506, and thanks to his exertions and those of other Portu-
guese captains (Saldaiiha, Almeida, and Tristilo da
Cimha) the neighbouring country w;is(|uickly brought
under Portuguese rule, .\lthougli the Portuguese
sent an expedition up the Zambesi about l."ili5 and oc-
cupied Tele in 1632, they seem to ha\e )iaid scant at-
t<'Mlion to the interior, "in 1607 and KiO.x the Dutch
made unsuccessful attempts on Mozambi(|ue, but in
169S the resinned attacks of the Arabs, supported by
the Sultan of Maseote, reduced the Portuguese terri-
tory to the country south of Cape Delgado. The
waning political importance and power of Portugal
rendered efficient colonization and control impo.ssible.
To the great feebleness of the authorities at home is
due the late continuation of the slave trade between
Mozambique and Madagascar, which was carried on
.surreptitiously until 1877. The discovery of gold in
the interior of Africa about 1S70 turned the tide of
prosperity again in favour of Mozambique, as its ports
were the natural outlets for the Transvaal and the
more northern territories.
The explorations of Serpa Pinto in 1877 and subse- quent years also led Portugal to take a keener interest in its possessions. In 1S75 the (lisjiute between Eng- land and Portugal for the iiosscssion of Delagoa Bay was decided by the arbitrator Marshal MacMahon, in favour of Portugal. The result of a subsequent col- lision between English and Portuguese claims was less favourable to Portugal. According to the modern theory of hinterland, Portugal claimed dominion over the territory situated between her possessions on the east and west coasts of Africa; but when in 1889 Eng- land proclaimed its protectorate over Matabeleland, Mashonaland, Nyassaland etc., Portugal, notwith- standing the immense indignation aroused by the oc- currence at Lisbon, had to acquiesce. In 1891 lack of capital compelled the Portuguese government to lease with administrative authority a large portion of the colony to the Mozambique and Nyassa Companies; the former controls the Manica and Sofala regions, and the latter the territory enclosed between the Ro- vuma, Lake Nyassa, and the Lurio River. It is gen- erally accepted that the Anglo-German Secret Treaty of 1898 dealt with the partition of Mozambique in the event that Portugal should be unable to extricate itself from its financial diflnculties. The chief exports of Mozambique arc rubber, sugar, various ores, wax, and ivory ; it imports mainly cot tons, hardware, spirits, beer, and wine. Lourenco Marques (9849 inhabi- tants), the capital of the colony, and Beira are thriving ports. The town of Mozambique (properly San Se- bastian of Mozambique), situated on the island of the same name, has diminished greatly in importance since the abolition of the slave trade. The college built by the Jesuits in 1670, which was made the gov- ernor's residence after the suppression of the order, is one of the very few buildings of importance.
The early explorers were accompanied on their voy- ages by Franciscan fathers who founded under Alva- rez of Coimbra the first mission in Mozambique in 1.500. In 1560, after the arrival of the Jesuits, a glori- ous future seemed to await the mission, the King of Inhambane and the Emperor of Monomotapa being baptized with numbers of their subjects. 'The Do- minicans also laboured for a period in this colony, their most illustrious representative being Joiio dos Santos (d. 1622), whose work, "L'Ethiopia oriental e varia historia de cousas nataveis do Oriente", was long authoritative on the geography and ethnology of the country. The Jesuits returned in 1610 and were followed by the Carmelites. The work of evangeliza- tion was, however, attended with great difficulties owing to the fickleness of the natives, the opposition of the Mohammedans, the insalubrity of the climate, and the irregular communication with Europe. The powerlessness of Portugal to exercise a firm control and the demoralizing effects of the slave trade resulted in an equally low standard of morals in the case of
