This Small Field Was Cultivated
By Mr. Miland, An Agreeable Portuguese Merchant.
His garden was interesting,
as showing what the land at this elevation is capable of yielding;
for, besides wheat, we saw European vegetables in a flourishing condition,
and we afterward discovered that the coffee-plant has propagated itself
on certain spots of this same district.
It may be seen
on the heights of Tala Mungongo, or nearly 300 miles from the west coast,
where it was first introduced by the Jesuit missionaries.
We spent Sunday, the 30th of April, at Ngio, close to the ford of the Quize
as it crosses our path to fall into the Coanza. The country becomes
more open, but is still abundantly fertile, with a thick crop of grass
between two and three feet high. It is also well wooded and watered.
Villages of Basongo are dotted over the landscape, and frequently
a square house of wattle and daub, belonging to native Portuguese,
is placed beside them for the purposes of trade. The people here
possess both cattle and pigs. The different sleeping-places on our path,
from eight to ten miles apart, are marked by a cluster of sheds
made of sticks and grass. There is a constant stream of people
going and returning to and from the coast. The goods are carried
on the head, or on one shoulder, in a sort of basket
attached to the extremities of two poles between five and six feet long,
and called Motete. When the basket is placed on the head,
the poles project forward horizontally, and when the carrier wishes
to rest himself, he plants them on the ground and the burden against a tree,
so he is not obliged to lift it up from the ground to the level of the head.
It stands against the tree propped up by the poles at that level.
The carrier frequently plants the poles on the ground, and stands
holding the burden until he has taken breath, thus avoiding the trouble
of placing the burden on the ground and lifting it up again.
When a company of these carriers, or our own party, arrives at
one of these sleeping-places, immediate possession is taken of the sheds.
Those who come late, and find all occupied, must then erect others
for themselves; but this is not difficult, for there is no lack of long grass.
No sooner do any strangers appear at the spot, than the women may be seen
emerging from their villages bearing baskets of manioc-meal,
roots, ground-nuts, yams, bird's-eye pepper, and garlic for sale.
Calico, of which we had brought some from Cassange, is the chief
medium of exchange. We found them all civil, and it was evident,
from the amount of talking and laughing in bargaining,
that the ladies enjoyed their occupation. They must cultivate largely,
in order to be able to supply the constant succession of strangers.
Those, however, near to the great line of road, purchase also much of the food
from the more distant villages for the sake of gain.
Pitsane and another of the men had violent attacks of fever,
and it was no wonder, for the dampness and evaporation from the ground
was excessive. When at any time I attempted to get an observation of a star,
if the trough of mercury were placed on the ground, so much moisture
was condensed on the inside of the glass roof over it
that it was with difficulty the reflection of the star could be seen.
When the trough was placed on a box to prevent the moisture entering
from below, so much dew was deposited on the outside of the roof
that it was soon necessary, for the sake of distinct vision,
to wipe the glass. This would not have been of great consequence,
but a short exposure to this dew was so sure to bring on a fresh fever,
that I was obliged to give up observations by night altogether.
The inside of the only covering I now had was not much better,
but under the blanket one is not so liable to the chill
which the dew produces.
It would have afforded me pleasure to have cultivated
a more intimate acquaintance with the inhabitants of this part of the country,
but the vertigo produced by frequent fevers made it as much as I could do
to stick on the ox and crawl along in misery. In crossing the Lombe,
my ox Sinbad, in the indulgence of his propensity to strike out a new path
for himself, plunged overhead into a deep hole, and so soused me
that I was obliged to move on to dry my clothing, without calling
on the Europeans who live on the bank. This I regretted,
for all the Portuguese were very kind, and, like the Boers
placed in similar circumstances, feel it a slight to be passed
without a word of salutation. But we went on to a spot
where orange-trees had been planted by the natives themselves,
and where abundance of that refreshing fruit was exposed for sale.
On entering the district of Ambaca, we found the landscape enlivened
by the appearance of lofty mountains in the distance,
the grass comparatively short, and the whole country at this time
looking gay and verdant. On our left we saw certain rocks of the same nature
with those of Pungo Andongo, and which closely resemble the Stonehenge group
on Salisbury Plain, only the stone pillars here are of gigantic size.
This region is all wonderfully fertile, famed for raising cattle,
and all kinds of agricultural produce, at a cheap rate. The soil contains
sufficient ferruginous matter, to impart a red tinge to nearly
the whole of it. It is supplied with a great number of little flowing streams
which unite in the Lucalla. This river drains Ambaca,
then falls into the Coanza to the southwest at Massangano.
We crossed the Lucalla by means of a large canoe kept there by a man
who farms the ferry from the government, and charges about a penny per head.
A few miles beyond the Lucalla we came to the village of Ambaca,
an important place in former times, but now a mere paltry village,
beautifully situated on a little elevation in a plain surrounded on all hands
by lofty mountains.
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