close by beneath a shady bush. When a new piece of woodland is to be
cleared, they proceed exactly as farmers do in America. The trees are
cut down with their little axes of soft native iron; trunks and branches
are piled up and burnt, and the ashes spread on the soil. The corn is
planted among the standing stumps which are left to rot. If grass land
is to be brought under cultivation, as much tall grass as the labourer
can conveniently lay hold of is collected together and tied into a knot.
He then strikes his hoe round the tufts to sever the roots, and leaving
all standing, proceeds until the whole ground assumes the appearance of a
field covered with little shocks of corn in harvest. A short time before
the rains begin, these grass shocks are collected in small heaps, covered
with earth, and burnt, the ashes and burnt soil being used to fertilize
the ground. Large crops of the mapira, or Egyptian dura (_Holcus
sorghum_), are raised, with millet, beans, and ground-nuts; also patches
of yams, rice, pumpkins, cucumbers, cassava, sweet potatoes, tobacco, and
hemp, or bang (_Cannabis setiva_). Maize is grown all the year round.
Cotton is cultivated at almost every village. Three varieties of cotton
have been found in the country, namely, two foreign and one native. The
"tonje manga," or foreign cotton, the name showing that it has been
introduced, is of excellent quality, and considered at Manchester to be
nearly equal to the best New Orleans. It is perennial, but requires
replanting once in three years. A considerable amount of this variety is
grown in the Upper and Lower Shire valleys. Every family of any
importance owns a cotton patch which, from the entire absence of weeds,
seemed to be carefully cultivated. Most were small, none seen on this
journey exceeding half an acre; but on the former trip some were observed
of more than twice that size.

The "tonje cadja," or indigenous cotton, is of shorter staple, and feels
in the hand like wool. This kind has to be planted every season in the
highlands; yet, because it makes stronger cloth, many of the people
prefer it to the foreign cotton; the third variety is not found here. It
was remarked to a number of men near the Shire Lakelet, a little further
on towards Nyassa, "You should plant plenty of cotton, and probably the
English will come and buy it." "Truly," replied a far-travelled Babisa
trader to his fellows, "the country is full of cotton, and if these