Mashonaland, or Mashunaland, the region lying NE. of Matabeleland, between 16° 30' - 19° 10' S. lat. and 30° - 32° E. long. It embraces the plateau (4000-4600 feet) whose backbone is the Umvukwe Mountains, and in which rise some of the chief feeders of the Zambesi, Limpopo, Sabi, and Mazoe. It has rich soil, grass all the year round, and an abundance of running streams. A constant cold south-east wind tempers the heat, and renders the air strong and bracing, though some of the valleys breed fever. A peaceful and industrious people (392,000 in number), of Bantu race, the Mashonas and their kinsmen the Makalakas long lived in fear of their fierce neighbours, the Matabele. They are the best husbandmen in South Africa, and before being dispossessed of their country owned large herds of cattle. They now grow rice, Kaffir corn, maize, ground-nuts, sweet potatoes, tobacco, and cotton; this last they weave into blankets. They are also good iron-workers. Iron, copper, and gold (in quartz and river sand) exist in immense quantities. There are very ancient ruins and old gold-mines, especially at Zimbabye (q.v.). Mashonaland was put under British protection in 1888, and now, with Matabeleland, forms Southern Rhodesia (q.v.). See Selous' Travels in South-East Africa (1893), and other books cited at Matabeleland.