Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
to find. Iron was in abundance and were it in Europe would
have made them millionaires, but in Mozambique it was value-
less due to its distance from the market. It was therefore made
quite clear to the team
'that we are being sent out as a last
resource to the Memba Minerals Ltd. If we do not find any-
thing, the Rhodesian Exploration Co. will not allow the Memba
people any more funds and we shall be discharged.'
So the
pressure on the team to be successful was considerable, but the
conditions in which they had to work were daunting. Apart from
the enormous size of the area to be covered - it was 200 miles
just to the base camp at Sawa - the physical di~culties of get-
ting around in this virtually unexplored country were over-
whelming.
Had things gone as planned, the nine members of the group
were to be split up into three teams which would separately
make their way to the base camp at Sawa, the journey taking
about two weeks walking fifteen miles a day, but set-backs started
on day one. Huge numbers of 'boys', about a hundred and
twenty, were required to accompany each team and had to be
gathered together from the local Makua tribes. Sixty donkeys
were supposed to carry the team members and much of the
equipment, but when the donkeys arrived it was found that fifty-
eight of them were diseased and had to be destroyed, resulting
in each team needing a further eighty 'boys' to carry the extra
loads, and everyone having to go on foot. While the first team
of Cooper, Starey, and Wray managed to get away within a
couple of days, it then proved almost impossible to round up
enough 'boys' for the other teams:
In vain, attempts have been made in every direction to get
natives as carriers, but the numbers we require are not forth-
coming. The reason is that the Portuguese are going to have
a war somewhere next year - quite out of our territory of
course - and they are sending round press gangs obliging
natives to recruit in the local regiments. Consequently the
natives are much scared and they mistake us for the press
