It Is Known That The Jesuits Also Introduced
Many Other Trees For The Sake Of Their Timber Alone.
Numbers of these
have spread over the country, some have probably died out,
and others failed to spread, like
A lonely specimen which stands
in what was the Botanic Garden of Loanda, and, though most useful in yielding
a substitute for frankincense, is the only one of the kind in Africa.
A circumstance which would facilitate the extensive propagation of the coffee
on the proper clay soil is this: The seed, when buried beneath the soil,
generally dies, while that which is sown broadcast, with no covering
except the shade of the trees, vegetates readily. The agent in sowing
in this case is a bird, which eats the outer rind, and throws the kernel
on the ground. This plant can not bear the direct rays of the sun;
consequently, when a number of the trees are discovered in the forest,
all that is necessary is to clear away the brushwood,
and leave as many of the tall forest-trees as will afford good shade
to the coffee-plants below. The fortunate discoverer has then
a flourishing coffee plantation.
This district, small though it be, having only a population of 13,822,
of whom ten only are white, nevertheless yields an annual tribute
to the government of thirteen hundred cotton cloths, each 5 feet
by 18 or 20 inches, of their own growth and manufacture.
Accompanied by the commandant of Cazengo, who was well acquainted
with this part of the country, I proceeded in a canoe down the River Lucalla
to Massangano. This river is about 85 yards wide, and navigable for canoes
from its confluence with the Coanza to about six miles above the point
where it receives the Luinha. Near this latter point
stand the strong, massive ruins of an iron foundry, erected in
the times (1768) and by the order of the famous Marquis of Pombal.
The whole of the buildings were constructed of stone, cemented with
oil and lime. The dam for water-power was made of the same materials,
and 27 feet high. This had been broken through by a flood,
and solid blocks, many yards in length, were carried down the stream,
affording an instructive example of the transporting power of water.
There was nothing in the appearance of the place to indicate unhealthiness;
but eight Spanish and Swedish workmen, being brought hither
for the purpose of instructing the natives in the art of smelting iron,
soon fell victims to disease and "irregularities". The effort of the marquis
to improve the mode of manufacturing iron was thus rendered abortive.
Labor and subsistence are, however, so very cheap that almost
any amount of work can be executed, at a cost that renders
expensive establishments unnecessary.
A party of native miners and smiths is still kept in the employment
of the government, who, working the rich black magnetic iron ore,
produce for the government from 480 to 500 bars of good malleable iron
every month. They are supported by the appropriation of a few thousands
of a small fresh-water fish, called "Cacusu", a portion of the tax levied upon
the fishermen of the Coanza. This fish is so much relished in the country
that those who do not wish to eat them can easily convert them into money.
The commandant of the district of Massangano, for instance,
has a right to a dish of three hundred every morning, as part of his salary.
Shell-fish are also found in the Coanza, and the "Peixemulher",
or woman-fish of the Portuguese, which is probably a Manatee.
The banks of the Lucalla are very pretty, well planted with orange-trees,
bananas, and the palm (`Elaeis Guineensis') which yields the oil of commerce.
Large plantations of maize, manioc, and tobacco are seen along both banks,
which are enlivened by the frequent appearance of native houses
imbosomed in dense shady groves, with little boys and girls
playing about them. The banks are steep, the water having cut out its bed
in dark red alluvial soil. Before every cottage a small stage is erected,
to which the inhabitants may descend to draw water without danger
from the alligators. Some have a little palisade made in the water for safety
from these reptiles, and others use the shell of the fruit of the baobab-tree
attached to a pole about ten feet long, with which, while standing
on the high bank, they may draw water without fear of accident.
Many climbing plants run up the lofty silk, cotton, and baobab trees,
and hang their beautiful flowers in gay festoons on the branches.
As we approach Massangano, the land on both banks of the Lucalla becomes
very level, and large portions are left marshy after the annual floods;
but all is very fertile. As an illustration of the strength of the soil,
I may state that we saw tobacco-plants in gardens near the confluence
eight feet high, and each plant had thirty-six leaves,
which were eighteen inches long by six or eight inches broad.
But it is not a pastoral district. In our descent we observed the tsetse,
and consequently the people had no domestic animals save goats.
We found the town of Massangano on a tongue of rather high land,
formed by the left bank of the Lucalla and right bank of the Coanza,
and received true Portuguese hospitality from Senhor Lubata.
The town has more than a thousand inhabitants; the district has 28,063,
with only 315 slaves. It stands on a mound of calcareous tufa,
containing great numbers of fossil shells, the most recent of which
resemble those found in the marly tufa close to the coast.
The fort stands on the south side of the town, on a high perpendicular bank
overhanging the Coanza. This river is here a noble stream,
about a hundred and fifty yards wide, admitting navigation in large canoes
from the bar at its mouth to Cambambe, some thirty miles above this town.
There, a fine waterfall hinders farther ascent.
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