The Cattle In This Country Are Seldom Milked,
On Account Of The Strong Prejudice Which The Portuguese Entertain
Against The Use Of Milk.
They believe that it may be used with safety
in the morning, but, if taken after midday, that it
Will cause fever.
It seemed to me that there was not much reason for carefully avoiding
a few drops in their coffee, after having devoured ten times the amount
in the shape of cheese at dinner.
The fort of Pungo Andongo (lat. 9d 42' 14" S., long. 15d 30' E.)
is situated in the midst of a group of curious columnar-shaped rocks,
each of which is upward of three hundred feet in height. They are
composed of conglomerate, made up of a great variety of rounded pieces
in a matrix of dark red sandstone. They rest on a thick stratum
of this last rock, with very few of the pebbles in its substance.
On this a fossil palm has been found, and if of the same age as those
on the eastern side of the continent, on which similar palms now lie,
there may be coal underneath this, as well as under that at Tete.
The asserted existence of petroleum springs at Dande, and near Cambambe,
would seem to indicate the presence of this useful mineral,
though I am not aware of any one having actually seen a seam of coal
tilted up to the surface in Angola, as we have at Tete.
The gigantic pillars of Pungo Andongo have been formed by a current of the sea
coming from the S.S.E.; for, seen from the top, they appear arranged
in that direction, and must have withstood the surges of the ocean
at a period of our world's history, when the relations of land and sea
were totally different from what they are now, and long before
"the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God
shouted for joy to see the abodes prepared which man was soon to fill."
The imbedded pieces in the conglomerate are of gneiss, clay shale,
mica and sandstone schists, trap, and porphyry, most of which
are large enough to give the whole the appearance of being the only remaining
vestiges of vast primaeval banks of shingle. Several little streams
run among these rocks, and in the central part of the pillars
stands the village, completely environed by well-nigh inaccessible rocks.
The pathways into the village might be defended by a small body of troops
against an army; and this place was long the stronghold of the tribe
called Jinga, the original possessors of the country.
We were shown a footprint carved on one of these rocks.
It is spoken of as that of a famous queen, who reigned over all this region.
In looking at these rude attempts at commemoration, one feels
the value of letters. In the history of Angola we find
that the famous queen Donna Anna de Souza came from the vicinity,
as embassadress from her brother, Gola Bandy, King of the Jinga,
to Loanda, in 1621, to sue for peace, and astonished the governor
by the readiness of her answers. The governor proposed,
as a condition of peace, the payment by the Jinga of an annual tribute.
"People talk of tribute after they have conquered, and not before it;
we come to talk of peace, not of subjection," was the ready answer.
The governor was as much nonplussed as our Cape governors often are
when they tell the Caffres "to put it all down in writing,
and they will then be able to answer them." She remained some time in Loanda,
gained all she sought, and, after being taught by the missionaries,
was baptized, and returned to her own country with honor.
She succeeded to the kingdom on the death of her brother,
whom it was supposed she poisoned, but in a subsequent war with the Portuguese
she lost nearly all her army in a great battle fought in 1627.
She returned to the Church after a long period of apostasy,
and died in extreme old age; and the Jinga still live as an independent people
to the north of this their ancient country. No African tribe
has ever been destroyed.
In former times the Portuguese imagined that this place
was particularly unhealthy, and banishment to the black rocks of Pungo Andongo
was thought by their judges to be a much severer sentence
than transportation to any part of the coast; but this district
is now well known to be the most healthy part of Angola.
The water is remarkably pure, the soil is light, and the country
open and undulating, with a general slope down toward the River Coanza,
a few miles distant. That river is the southern boundary of the Portuguese,
and beyond, to the S. and S.W., we see the high mountains of the Libollo.
On the S.E. we have also a mountainous country, inhabited by
the Kimbonda or Ambonda, who are said by Colonel Pires to be
a very brave and independent people, but hospitable and fair
in their dealings. They are rich in cattle, and their country produces
much beeswax, which is carefully collected, and brought to the Portuguese,
with whom they have always been on good terms.
The Ako (Haco), a branch of this family, inhabit the left bank of the Coanza
above this village, who, instead of bringing slaves for sale, as formerly,
now occasionally bring wax for the purchase of a slave from the Portuguese.
I saw a boy sold for twelve shillings: he said that he belonged
to the country of Matiamvo. Here I bought a pair of well-made boots,
of good tanned leather, which reached above the knee, for five shillings
and eightpence, and that was just the price given for one pound of ivory
by Mr. Pires; consequently, the boy was worth two pairs of boots,
or two pounds of ivory. The Libollo on the S. have not so good a character,
but the Coanza is always deep enough to form a line of defense.
Colonel Pires is a good example of what an honest industrious man
in this country may become.
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