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33-532: The highlands cover an area of roughly 7250 square kilometers. the plateau varies in elevation from 600 to 1100 meters, with various hills and mountains rising higher. The highest peak is Zomba Mountain at 2087 meters. The highlands are bounded on the west and south by the valley of the Shire River , an extension of the African Rift Valley . The Phalombe Plain slopes gently towards Lake Chilwa to

66-876: A concession to build a railway in Portuguese territory, and in 1912 the Nyasaland government agreed with the Shire Highlands Railway Company Ltd that it would redeem the land it had previously granted to the company for £180,800, and that company would pay this to British South Africa Company to assist with the construction costs of the Central African Railway in exchange for shares in the Central Africa Railway Company Ltd. This railway of 61 miles (98 km) from Port Herald to Chindio on

99-540: A director of the Shire Highlands Railway Company Ltd and continued as such after he left the protectorate in 1902. He was also a director of the Central Africa Railway Company Ltd which was built after his departure. Further falls in Shire River level made it difficult, and often impossible, to use Port Herald for much of the year, so a port on the Zambezi river was needed. The British South Africa Company already had

132-538: A river in Malawi is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to a river in Mozambique is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Shire Highlands Railway Company The Shire Highlands Railway Company Ltd was a private railway company in colonial Nyasaland , incorporated in 1895 with the intention of constructing a railway from Blantyre (in modern-day Malawi ) to

165-457: Is still economically important in the highlands. Other important crops include tung oil , tobacco, peanuts (groundnuts), and maize (corn). 15°38′48″S 35°07′32″E  /  15.6468°S 35.1256°E  / -15.6468; 35.1256 Shire River The Shire / ˈ ʃ iː r eɪ / is the largest river in Malawi . It is the only outlet of Lake Malawi and flows into

198-528: The Zambezi River in Mozambique . Its length is 402 kilometres (250 mi). The upper Shire River issues from Lake Malawi and runs approximately 19 km (12 mi) before it enters shallow Lake Malombe . It then drains Lake Malombe and flows south through Liwonde National Park where large concentrations of hippopotamus are common along its shores. Between the towns of Matope and Chikwawa ,

231-549: The Zambezi and Shire rivers, which were too shallow for large vessels. The protectorate’s main settlements and its areas of economic activity were some way from the Shire River ports, and transport to and from these was by inefficient and costly head porterage. Between 1896 and 1934, low water levels in Lake Nyasa reduced the water flow in the Shire River, and the main river port was moved downstream to Chiromo further from

264-543: The Federal government of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland . Railways in Nyasaland were expensive to build and operated in difficult terrain involving costly maintenance, and used expensive imported coal as fuel. They carried relatively low tonnages, with little domestic traffic, relying instead on carrying exports and imports that varied in amount and type by season. Because of this, they charged up to three times

297-700: The Malawian town of Chiromo . The muddy waters pass through a large stagnant area known as the Elephant Marsh before reaching the confluence with the Zambezi River south of the town of Sena, Mozambique . In 1859, David Livingstone 's Second Zambezi expedition traveled up the Shire river. The river's valley is part of the East African Rift system. This article related to

330-583: The Mozambican port of Quelimane . With encouragement and assistance from David Livingstone during his second Zambesi expedition , in 1861 Bishop Charles Mackenzie of the Universities' Mission to Central Africa set up a missionary station at Magomero , near Zomba in the highlands. After Mackenzie died in 1863, the mission was withdrawn. Later in the 19th century more British missions and plantations were established, expanding British influence in

363-407: The Mozambican river port of Chindio on the Zambezi River in 1914. From the late 19th century, tobacco, cotton, and coffee were grown for export. Coffee growing declined in importance by 1900, displaced by drought and competition with Brazilian coffee growers. Tea plantations were established in the highlands in the 1930s, first around Thyolo where the climate and soils were most favorable. Tea

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396-623: The Rhodesian or East African rates for general freight. The UK Treasury and Nyasaland government provided some subsidies, but these still left freight very high. The original locomotives of the Shire Highlands Railway Company, acquired in 1904 to work on building the line, were two 0-4-0 inside cylinder, saddle-tank locomotives from Messrs. W.G. Bagnall Ltd. of Stafford . These were the 'A' Class locomotives, 'Thistle', No. 1 and 'Shamrock', No. 2 and they served on

429-639: The Shire Highlands Railway and shares it held in the Central Africa Railway Company Ltd were transferred to a new company, Nyasaland Railways Ltd. It was the operating company of the Sena railway , also called the Shire Highlands railway. In the late 19th and early 20th century, the land-locked Nyasaland protectorate lacked railways and could only be reached from the nearest Indian Ocean ports, some 200 miles (320 km) away, through

462-501: The Shire Highlands and Central Africa railways mainly on shunting and construction work for many years. 'Thistle' is preserved at Limbe Station and 'Shamrock' at the Chichiri Museum , Blantyre. Two 'B' Class 4-6-0 engines with outside cylinder and inside motion and built by Messrs. Kitson & Co. Ltd. of Leeds were also acquired in 1904. 'Rhodes' and 'Milner', Nos. 5 and 6 respectively, were main line haulers and worked

495-526: The accepted the Blantyre to Chiromo route and urged the Foreign Office to finance this railway, it declined to do so. However, in 1901 it agreed in principle to the construction of a railway by the Shire Highlands Railway Company Ltd from Blantyre to the lower Shire and granted the company 361,600 acres of land adjacent to the railway without charge. As Sharrer had acquired much of the land over which

528-488: The construction by the British South Africa Company of the Central African Railway of 61 miles (98 km) to the Zambezi , almost entirely within Mozambique . Although this line, completed in 1914, was owned by the separate Central Africa Railway Company Ltd, the Shire Highlands Railway Company operated all services on its line and was part-owner of its shares. In 1935, the railway undertaking of

561-442: The effective head of navigation of the Shire River . After problems with routing and finance, a South African 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) gauge railway was constructed between 1903 and 1907, and extended in 1908 to a Nsanje , a distance of 113 miles (182 km) as water levels in the Shire River fell. As navigational problems in the Shire River continued, in 1912 the Shire Highlands Railway Company contributed to

594-472: The highlands have been populated for thousands of years. In the middle of the 19th century, Yao people migrated eastwards from the northern Mozambican coast, and established chiefdoms in the highlands – Malemia ( Domasi ), Mlumbe (Zomba), Kawinga (Chikala), Mpama ( Chiradzulu ), and Kapeni and Somba (in Blantyre District). The Yao chiefs were involved in the trade of ivory and slaves, centered on

627-420: The highlands. By 1894, Johnston had granted 'certificates of claim' to a handful of British settlers, missionaries, and private companies, granting them freehold property rights to 3776 km, or over half the total area of the highlands. In addition to private lands, Johnston established public or crown lands that included forest reserves, and African trust lands, held by the colonial state for customary use by

660-714: The highlands. In 1891 Harry Johnston was appointed Commissioner and Consul General to the British Central Africa Protectorate , the territories in the British sphere of influence north of the Zambezi River. Johnston set up a headquarters at Zomba , and between 1891 and 1895 subordinated the Yao chiefs to British rule, often by force. Johnston abolished the slave trade, and allowed British missionaries and settlers to lay claim to large tracts of

693-686: The mail trains between the Zambezi and Blantyre. 'Milner' also worked on Trans-Zambezia Railway from July 1923 to 1934 and from the Dona Ana Bridge to Tete , until 1944. 'Rhodes' continued in main line service until 1951. One 'C Class locomotive worked on the railways for a short period. The next major type was the 'D' Class, type 4-8-0 with bogie tender, some purchased in 1917 from Messrs. R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Peckett of Newcastle-upon-Tyne , others in 1930 from North British Locomotive Works , Glasgow . The Shire Highlands and Central Africa railways operated Nos. 8 to 12 and 19 to 24 and

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726-544: The main settlements below a steep escarpment, from where steamers carrying 100 tons or less had to negotiate Lower Shire marshes and low-water hazards in the Zambezi and its delta to reach the small, poorly equipped coastal port of Chinde . The difficulties and cost of river transport provoked the idea of a rail link to the Indian Ocean and, as early as 1895, Harry Johnston the Commissioner and Consul-General of

759-455: The middle river drops approximately 400 m (1,300 ft) through a series of falls and gorges, including Kapachira Falls . Two hydroelectric dams have been built along the Shire northwest of Blantyre . Beyond Chikwawa , the lower river turns southeast and enters the low-lying Mozambique plain. Its largest and one of its few perennial tributaries, the Ruo River , joins the Shire near

792-569: The native people. Public lands and trust lands were later opened up to leaseholds of up to 99 years, effectively privatizing some of them. The Shire Highlands Railway Company built a railway across the highlands between 1903 and 1907, from Blantyre in the highlands to the river port of Chiromo , on the Shire River where it meets the Ruo . The railway was later extended north from Blantyre to Salima in central Malawi, south from Chiromo to Port Herald (present day Nsanje ) in 1908, and from Port Herald to

825-415: The north bank of the Zambezi was completed in 1914. From here, river steamers went to Chinde on one of the mouths of the Zambezi, from where sea-going lighters continued to Beira, Mozambique . Although this route allowed Beira’s port to be used, it took two to three weeks to transport goods from Blantyre, involved three transhipments and exposed goods to the risk of water damage. The Central African Railway

858-536: The northeast, and separates the highlands from the taller Mulanje Massif to the east. Streams originating in the highlands drain west, south, and southeast towards the Shire River, or northeast into the closed basin of Lake Chilwa. The highlands have a cooler climate and more rainfall than the surrounding lowlands, and are home to distinct forests, woodlands, and grasslands that make up the South Malawi montane forest-grassland mosaic . The northernmost portion of

891-632: The plateau includes a line of hills – Chinduzi, Mongolowe, Chaone, and Chikala – that extend 40 km east and west. The taller Zomba Plateau south of them. The northern hills are made up of syenite and nepheline syenite, and the Zomba plateau is made up of syenite and quartz syenite, which intruded into the much older Precambrian igneous and metamorphic rocks that compose much of the highlands. The central portion includes numerous hills and mountains, including Chiradzulu (1774 m), Ndirande (1613 m), Soche (1533 m), and Michiru (1474 m). Thyolo Mountain lies at

924-558: The proposed railway was to run, there was disagreement over the route, particularly from the African Lakes Corporation . Because of this, and delays over raising capital and loans for construction, it was not until early 1903 that construction began. The line was opened from Blantyre to Chiromo in 1907, but further falls in the level of the Shire River meant that the line had to be extended to Port Herald, 113 miles (182 km) from Blantyre, in 1908. Sharrer became

957-499: The prospectus for the company he formed, the Shire Highlands Railway Company Ltd, in December 1895. For Nyasaland, a short rail link to Shire River ports that eliminated porterage was the best option. This was because ratio of transport cost to the expected value of exports was high, so a longer line direct to the Indian Ocean passing through areas where little local freight was expected was unlikely to be viable. Although Johnston

990-402: The protectorate suggested a line from its main commercial town, Blantyre, to Quelimane in Mozambique . However, most of this proposed route ran through Portuguese territory, and Quelimane was only suitable for small ships with a draught of less than 5 metres until redeveloped after 1958. In the same year, Eugene Sharrer proposed building a railway from Blantyre to Chiromo, and he published

1023-477: The short river crossing by ferry. This was inconvenient and, in 1927, the British government commissioned a report on building the Dona Ana Bridge . When this bridge was completed in 1935, a new company, Nyasaland Railways Ltd was formed to take over the undertaking of the Shire Highlands Railway and the issued share capital of the Central Africa Railway Company Ltd. Nyasaland Railways Ltd retained responsibility for these railways until they were transferred in 1953 to

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1056-418: The southern end of the highlands. Yao are the predominant people of the northern highlands, and Chewa people in the center and south. The Lomwe people also live in the highlands. Blantyre is the largest city in the highlands. Zomba is the second-largest, and served as the capital of Nyasaland and independent Malawi until 1975. Thyolo is a center of tea production. Archeological evidence shows

1089-543: Was expensive to construct yet poorly built, and soon needed extensive repairs. The Nyasaland government agreed support the line to Chindio financially for ten years, and paid on average £20,000 until 1924. In 1922, the Trans-Zambezia Railway Company completed a line, which had been approved by the Portuguese government, from Beira to Murracca on the Zambezi, opposite Chindio, so there was an almost-complete rail link from Blantyre to Beira except for

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