They Deal Largely In Salt,
Which Their Country Produces In Great Abundance.
It is brought
in crystals of about 12 inches long and 1-1/2 in diameter.
This is hawked about every where in Angola, and, next to calico,
is the most common medium of barter.
The Kisama are brave;
and when the Portuguese army followed them into their forests,
they reduced the invaders to extremity by tapping all the reservoirs of water,
which were no other than the enormous baobabs of the country hollowed
into cisterns. As the Kisama country is ill supplied with water otherwise,
the Portuguese were soon obliged to retreat. Their country, lying near
to Massangano, is low and marshy, but becomes more elevated in the distance,
and beyond them lie the lofty dark mountain ranges of the Libollo,
another powerful and independent people. Near Massangano I observed
what seemed to be an effort of nature to furnish a variety of domestic fowls,
more capable than the common kind of bearing the heat of the sun.
This was a hen and chickens with all their feathers curled upward,
thus giving shade to the body without increasing the heat.
They are here named "Kisafu" by the native population,
who pay a high price for them when they wish to offer them as a sacrifice,
and by the Portuguese they are termed "Arripiada", or shivering.
There seems to be a tendency in nature to afford varieties
adapted to the convenience of man. A kind of very short-legged fowl
among the Boers was obtained, in consequence of observing that
such were more easily caught for transportation in their frequent removals
in search of pasture. A similar instance of securing a variety
occurred with the short-limbed sheep in America.
Returning by ascending the Lucalla into Cazengo, we had
an opportunity of visiting several flourishing coffee plantations,
and observed that several men, who had begun with no capital
but honest industry, had, in the course of a few years,
acquired a comfortable subsistence. One of these, Mr. Pinto,
generously furnished me with a good supply of his excellent coffee,
and my men with a breed of rabbits to carry to their own country.
Their lands, granted by government, yielded, without much labor,
coffee sufficient for all the necessaries of life.
The fact of other avenues of wealth opening up so readily
seems like a providential invitation to forsake the slave-trade
and engage in lawful commerce. We saw the female population occupied,
as usual, in the spinning of cotton and cultivation of their lands.
Their only instrument for culture is a double-handled hoe, which is worked
with a sort of dragging motion. Many of the men were employed in weaving.
The latter appear to be less industrious than the former, for they require
a month to finish a single web. There is, however, not much inducement
to industry, for, notwithstanding the time consumed in its manufacture,
each web is sold for only two shillings.
On returning to Golungo Alto I found several of my men laid up with fever.
One of the reasons for my leaving them there was that they might recover
from the fatigue of the journey from Loanda, which had much more effect
upon their feet than hundreds of miles had on our way westward.
They had always been accustomed to moisture in their own well-watered land,
and we certainly had a superabundance of that in Loanda. The roads, however,
from Loanda to Golungo Alto were both hard and dry, and they suffered severely
in consequence; yet they were composing songs to be sung
when they should reach home. The Argonauts were nothing to them;
and they remarked very impressively to me, "It was well you came
with Makololo, for no tribe could have done what we have accomplished
in coming to the white man's country: we are the true ancients, who can tell
wonderful things." Two of them now had fever in the continued form,
and became jaundiced, the whites or conjunctival membrane of their eyes
becoming as yellow as saffron; and a third suffered from an attack of mania.
He came to his companions one day, and said, "Remain well.
I am called away by the gods!" and set off at the top of his speed.
The young men caught him before he had gone a mile, and bound him.
By gentle treatment and watching for a few days he recovered. I have observed
several instances of this kind in the country, but very few cases of idiocy,
and I believe that continued insanity is rare.
Chapter 21.
Visit a deserted Convent - Favorable Report of Jesuits and their Teaching
- Gradations of native Society - Punishment of Thieves -
Palm-toddy; its baneful Effects - Freemasons - Marriages and Funerals -
Litigation - Mr. Canto's Illness - Bad Behavior of his Slaves -
An Entertainment - Ideas on Free Labor - Loss of American Cotton-seed -
Abundance of Cotton in the country - Sickness of Sekeletu's Horse -
Eclipse of the Sun - Insects which distill Water -
Experiments with them - Proceed to Ambaca - Sickly Season -
Office of Commandant - Punishment of official Delinquents -
Present from Mr. Schut of Loanda - Visit Pungo Andongo -
Its good Pasturage, Grain, Fruit, etc. - The Fort and columnar Rocks -
The Queen of Jinga - Salubrity of Pungo Andongo - Price of a Slave -
A Merchant-prince - His Hospitality - Hear of the Loss of my Papers
in "Forerunner" - Narrow Escape from an Alligator -
Ancient Burial-places - Neglect of Agriculture in Angola -
Manioc the staple Product - Its Cheapness - Sickness -
Friendly Visit from a colored Priest - The Prince of Congo -
No Priests in the Interior of Angola.
While waiting for the recovery of my men, I visited, in company with
my friend Mr. Canto, the deserted convent of St. Hilarion,
at Bango, a few miles northwest of Golungo Alto. It is situated
in a magnificent valley, containing a population numbering 4000 hearths.
This is the abode of the Sova, or Chief Bango, who still holds
a place of authority under the Portuguese. The garden of the convent,
the church, and dormitories of the brethren are still kept
in a good state of repair.
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