It Is Somewhat Remarkable
That More Accurate Information About This Country Has Not Been Published.
Captain Neves And Others Had
A correct idea of the courses of the rivers,
and communicated their knowledge freely; yet about this time
maps were
Sent to Europe from Angola representing the Quango and Coanza
as the same river, and Cassange placed about one hundred miles
from its true position. The frequent recurrence of the same name has probably
helped to increase the confusion. I have crossed several Quangos,
but all insignificant, except that which drains this valley.
The repetition of the favorite names of chiefs, as Catende,
is also perplexing, as one Catende may be mistaken for another.
To avoid this confusion as much as possible, I have refrained from introducing
many names. Numerous villages are studded all over the valley;
but these possess no permanence, and many more existed previous to
the Portuguese expedition of 1850 to punish the Bangala.
This valley, as I have before remarked, is all fertile in the extreme.
My men could never cease admiring its capability for raising
their corn (`Holcus sorghum'), and despising the comparatively limited
cultivation of the inhabitants. The Portuguese informed me that no manure
is ever needed, but that, the more the ground is tilled, the better it yields.
Virgin soil does not give such a heavy crop as an old garden,
and, judging from the size of the maize and manioc in the latter,
I can readily believe the statement. Cattle do well, too. Viewing the valley
as a whole, it may be said that its agricultural and pastoral riches
are lying waste. Both the Portuguese and their descendants
turn their attention almost exclusively to trade in wax and ivory,
and though the country would yield any amount of corn and dairy produce,
the native Portuguese live chiefly on manioc, and the Europeans
purchase their flour, bread, butter, and cheese from the Americans.
As the traders of Cassange were the first white men we had come to,
we sold the tusks belonging to Sekeletu, which had been brought to test
the difference of prices in the Makololo and white men's country.
The result was highly satisfactory to my companions, as the Portuguese give
much larger prices for ivory than traders from the Cape can possibly give,
who labor under the disadvantage of considerable overland expenses
and ruinous restrictions. Two muskets, three small barrels of gunpowder,
and English calico and baize sufficient to clothe my whole party,
with large bunches of beads, all for one tusk, were quite delightful
for those who had been accustomed to give two tusks for one gun.
With another tusk we procured calico, which here is the chief currency,
to pay our way down to the coast. The remaining two were sold for money
to purchase a horse for Sekeletu at Loanda.
The superiority of this new market was quite astounding to the Makololo,
and they began to abuse the traders by whom they had, while in
their own country, been visited, and, as they now declared, "cheated".
They had no idea of the value of time and carriage, and it was somewhat
difficult for me to convince them that the reason of the difference of prices
lay entirely in what they themselves had done in coming here,
and that, if the Portuguese should carry goods to their country,
they would by no means be so liberal in their prices. They imagined that,
if the Cassange traders came to Linyanti, they would continue
to vend their goods at Cassange prices. I believe I gave them at last
a clear idea of the manner in which prices were regulated
by the expenses incurred; and when we went to Loanda, and saw goods delivered
at a still cheaper rate, they concluded that it would be better for them
to come to that city, than to turn homeward at Cassange.
It was interesting for me to observe the effects of the restrictive policy
pursued by the Cape government toward the Bechuanas. Like all other
restrictions on trade, the law of preventing friendly tribes
from purchasing arms and ammunition only injures the men who enforce it.
The Cape government, as already observed, in order to gratify
a company of independent Boers, whose well-known predilection
for the practice of slavery caused them to stipulate that
a number of peaceable, honest tribes should be kept defenseless,
agreed to allow free trade in arms and ammunition to the Boers,
and prevent the same trade to the Bechuanas. The Cape government
thereby unintentionally aided, and continues to aid, the Boers
to enslave the natives. But arms and ammunition flow in on all sides
by new channels, and where formerly the price of a large tusk
procured but one musket, one tusk of the same size now brings ten.
The profits are reaped by other nations, and the only persons
really the losers, in the long run, are our own Cape merchants,
and a few defenseless tribes of Bechuanas on our immediate frontier.
Mr. Rego, the commandant, very handsomely offered me a soldier as a guard
to Ambaca. My men told me that they had been thinking it would be better
to turn back here, as they had been informed by the people of color
at Cassange that I was leading them down to the sea-coast only to sell them,
and they would be taken on board ship, fattened, and eaten, as the white men
were cannibals. I asked if they had ever heard of an Englishman
buying or selling people; if I had not refused to take a slave
when she was offered to me by Shinte; but, as I had always behaved
as an English teacher, if they now doubted my intentions,
they had better not go to the coast; I, however, who expected to meet
some of my countrymen there, was determined to go on. They replied
that they only thought it right to tell me what had been told to them,
but they did not intend to leave me, and would follow wherever I should
lead the way.
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