Maputobaai

Maputobaai uit die ruimte, Januarie 1990

Maputobaai (Baia de Maputo), voorheen Delagoabaai (Port. "baai van die lagoen") is 'n inham van die Indiese Oseaan aan die kus van Mosambiek, tussen 25 40 en 26 20 S., met 'n lengte van 70 m noord na suid en 'n breedte van ongeveer 20 m.

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Beskrywing

Die baai is in die noordelike deel van 'n reeks lagoons wat gevind word aan die kus vanaf St. Lucia in Suid-Afrika. Die opening van die baai is aan die noord-oostelike kant. Die suidelike deel van die baai word gevorm deur 'n peninsula, bekend as die Inyak peninsula, wat aan die binne of westelike kant veilige hawe bied. Port Melville is aan die noord-westelike punt. Noord van die penisula is Inyak-eiland, and verder aan 'n kleiner eiland bekend as Olifante-eiland.

Alhoewel Maputobaai vlak is op verskeie plekke en 'n rif digby die ingang het, is dit 'n waardevolle hawe wat deur groot vaartuie in alle seisoene gebruik kan word. Die omliggende landskap is laag en baie ognesond, maar Inyak-eiland het 'n hoogte van 240 voet, en word gebruik as 'n sanatorium. Die Manhissa of Komatirivier, vloei die baai binne aan die noordekant, verskeie kleiner spruite uit die Lebomboberge ontmoet in die middel van die baai in 'n monding bekend as Espirto Santo (algemeen bekend as die Engelse-rivier), en die Maputorivier (wat ontspring in die Drakensberg), vloei vanaf die suide van die baai binne, as ook die Umfusirivier. Verskeie seekoeie en krokodille word in die riviere aangetref.

Geskiedenis

The bay was discovered by the Portuguese navigator Antonio de Campo, one of Vasco da Gamas companions, in 1502, and the Portuguese post of Lourenco Marques (now Maputo) was established not long after on the north side of the English river.

In 1720 the Dutch East India Company built a fort and factory called Lijdzaamheid (Lydsaamheid) on the spot of Lourenço Marques (now Maputo), since April 1721 governed by an Opperhoofd (Chief facor), under authority of the Dutch Cape Colony, interrupted by Taylor's pirate occupation April 1722 - 28 August 1722; in December 1730 the settlement was abandoned.

Thereafter the Portuguese had - intermittently - trading stations in the Espirito Santo estuary. These stations were protected by small forts, usually incapable, however, of withstanding attacks by the natives.

In 1823 Captain (afterwards Vice-Admiral) W. F. W. Owen, of the Royal Navy, finding that the Portuguese exercised no jurisdiction south of the settlement of Lourenco Marques, concluded treaties of cession with native chiefs, hoisted the British flag, and appropriated the country from the English river southwards; but when he visited the bay again in 1824 he found that the Portuguese, disregarding the British treaties, had concluded others with the natives, and had endeavoured (unsuccessfully) to take military possession of the country. Captain Owen rehoisted the British flag, but the sovereignty of either power was left undecided till the claims of the Transvaal Republic rendered a solution of the question urgent. In the meantime Great Britain had taken no steps to exercise authority on the spot, while the ravages of Zulu hordes confined Portuguese authority to the limits of their fort. In 1835 Boers, under a leader named Orich, had attempted to form a settlement on the bay, which is the natural outlet for the Transvaal; and in 1868 the Transvaal president, Marthinus Pretorius, claimed the country on each side of the Maputa down to the sea. In the following year, however, the Transvaal acknowledged Portugals sovereignty over the bay.

In 1861 Navy Captain Bickford, had declared Inyak and Elephant islands British territory; an act protested against by the Lisbon authorities. In 1872 the dispute between Great Britain and Portugal was submitted to the arbitration of M. Thiers, the French president; and on the 19th of April 1875 his successor, Marshal MacMahon, declared in favor of the Portuguese. It had been previously agreed by Great Britain and Portugal that the right of pre-emption in case of sale or cession should be given to the unsuccessful claimant to the bay. Portuguese authority over the interior was not established until some time after the MacMahon award; nominally the country south of the Manhissa river was ceded to them by the Matshangana chief Umzila in 1861.

In 1889 another dispute arose between Portugal and Great Britain in consequence of the seizure by the Portuguese of the railway running from the bay to the Transvaal. This dispute was referred to arbitration, and in 1900 Portugal was condemned to pay nearly 1,000,000 pounds in compensation. to the shareholders in the railway company.

Bronne en Verwysings

• Sir E. Hertslet, The Map of Africa by Treaty, iii. 991-998 (London, 1909)- an account of the Delagoa Bay arbitration proceedings
• the British blue-book, Delagoa Bay, Correspondence respecting the Claims of Her Majestys Government (London, 1875)
• L. van Deventer, La Hollande et la Baie Delagoa (The Hague, 1883)
• G. McC. Theal, The Portuguese in South Africa (London, 1896), and History of South Africa since September 179,f, vol. v. (London, 1908). The Narrative of Voyages to explore the shores of Africa, performed under direction of Captain W. F. W. Owen, RN. (London, 1833) contains much interesting information concerning the district in the early part of the 19th century.
• WorldStatesmen- Mozambique

Hierdie artikel maak gebruik van feite en teks uit die Encyclopædia Britannica van 1911. Die bron is in die publieke domein.