The Portuguese government, having obtained from Great Britain an acknowledgment of its sovereignty over the coast from Cape Delgado to Delagoa Bay, insists on maintaining it, although it does not carry out the terms of the agreement, viz.:—The abolition of the slave-trade in the province of Mozambique. The faithless are always most exacting in faith from others.
The Angoxa people know the Portuguese as the nation who once oppressed them, and perfidiously deprived them of Killimane, the capital of their kingdom, situated on a mouth of the river Zambesi, the great commercial highway of Eastern Africa.
The Sultan of Angoxa asks for a consular officer from England, and trades with the subjects of the Imâm of Muskat. I have seen dhows belonging to Zanzibar, with cargoes from Angoxa, on their return from that place to Zanzibar, anchor within gun-shot of the fort of Mozambique, during a calm, or for a whole night, and resume their voyage without being interrupted by the authorities at Mozambique; so much do the latter dread their neighbour, the Imâm of Muskat, whose plain red Arab flag these dhows fly. The reason for this is that on the Sultan of Angoxa driving away the fiscal officer placed there by the Portuguese when assisted by the British, under Commodore Wyvill, he offered to place himself under the protection of the Imâm of Muskat, but the Imâm refused the offer made by the Sultan of Angoxa, fearing to offend the English. At the same time, he sent an intimation to the Governor-general of Mozambique, once and for ever, that if he found him interfering, in any way, with the trade established between Angoxa and Zanzibar, or molesting any dhow or vessel with his flag flying on her, he would come with his ships and blow the city of Mozambique into the water, before England or France could come to its assistance. The Portuguese knew him well, and what he was capable of doing. He had taken from them Mombas and Melinda, and they wished to retain the last monument of their glory in the kingdom of Algarves; the consequence is that, as I have already related, the Portuguese do not interfere in the lucrative trade carried on by the Arabs of Zanzibar. On the other hand, any vessel with the British flag, trading at Angoxa, is immediately seized and plundered. I state facts, which I defy the Mozambique people or the Portuguese government to deny. Now to the proof.
In the year 1851 or 1852, the Sultan of Angoxa paid a visit to the Sultan of Johanna, one of the Comoro Islands, and while residing there made the acquaintance of an English merchant settled at that island. He informed the English merchant of a fact, viz., that he was an independent Sultan, most anxious to trade with the English. He told him of the riches of his country; how that from Angoxa, the simsim, or sesame, or guergelin seed, (the oil of which vies with that of the olive) is taken in great quantities to Zanzibar, and thence to Europe; how fleets of dhows are engaged, during the trading season, between Angoxa and Zanzibar. He described to him the ebony and beautiful figured woods of the country; the wax in abundance; tortoise shells and ivory, and, in fact, did all in his power to induce the merchant to visit him. The merchant, sometime afterwards, having occasion to go in his vessel to Mozambique, called in at Angoxa to see the Sultan, and make arrangements for future trading. I believe no trading transactions took place. The vessel weighed and left the river, outside of which was lying a small Portuguese schooner-of-war. As soon as the English vessel was beyond the protection of the Sultan, and out of gun-shot distance from the shore, and, consequently, out of the territory of the sovereign of the country, whether the Sultan of Angoxa or the King of Portugal, the small Portuguese schooner-of-war ranged alongside of the English vessel, and ordered her to keep company to the port of Mozambique. The merchant, a man of law and order, hailed to reply that he was going there. They sailed in company together, and when they arrived in the harbour of Mozambique, the Englishman discovered that he was a prisoner, his vessel was confiscated, and to this hour he has obtained no redress.
The name of the vessel which was thus seized was the “Reliance,” a brig under English colours; and the merchant was Mr. William Sunley, residing at Johanna, one of the Comoro Islands, and at present Her Majesty’s consul at that island. On referring to that gentleman, I think it will be found that I have stated the circumstances very fairly.
On Captain Gordon’s return to the “Hermes,” the anchor was weighed; and, although there was a present of a bullock from the Sultan to the captain, and another to myself, besides quantities of fowls on the way down the river, we could not wait for them, but steamed away to Mozambique, our arrival at which will form the subject of the next chapter.
CHAPTER XIII.
Arrival at Mozambique—Interview with the Governor-general—Saluting the Consular Flag—Description of the Consul’s House on the Mainland—Portuguese Rosa—Cruelty of the Portuguese Towards their Slaves—“Flog until he will Require no More”—Irrigation and Native Labour.