The extent of surface is so great that the largest fields under culture, when viewed on a wide landscape, dwindle to mere spots.

When taken in connection with the wants of the people, the cultivation on the whole is most creditable to their industry.

They erect numerous granaries which give their villages the appearance of being large; and, when the water of the Zambesi has subsided, they place large quantities of grain, tied up in bundles of grass, and well plastered over with clay, on low sand islands for protection from the attacks of marauding mice and men.

Owing to the ravages of the weevil, the native corn can hardly be preserved until the following crop comes in.

However largely they may cultivate, and however abundant the harvest, it must all be consumed in a year.