Matiamvo, Like Most Of The Natives In The Interior Of The Country,
Has A Strong Desire To Possess A Cannon,
And had sent ten large tusks
to purchase one; but, being government property, it could not be sold:
he was
Now furnished with a blunderbuss, mounted as a cannon,
which would probably please him as well.
Senhor Graca and some other Portuguese have visited this chief
at different times; but no European resides beyond the Quango;
indeed, it is contrary to the policy of the government of Angola
to allow their subjects to penetrate further into the interior. The present
would have been a good opportunity for me to have visited that chief,
and I felt strongly inclined to do so, as he had expressed dissatisfaction
respecting my treatment by the Chiboque, and even threatened to punish them.
As it would be improper to force my men to go thither, I resolved
to wait and see whether the proposition might not emanate from themselves.
When I can get the natives to agree in the propriety of any step, they go
to the end of the affair without a murmur. I speak to them and treat them
as rational beings, and generally get on well with them in consequence.
I have already remarked on the unhealthiness of Cassange;
and Captain Neves, who possesses an observing turn of mind, had noticed
that always when the west wind blows much fever immediately follows.
As long as easterly winds prevail, all enjoy good health;
but in January, February, March, and April, the winds are variable,
and sickness is general. The unhealthiness of the westerly winds
probably results from malaria, appearing to be heavier than common air,
and sweeping down into the valley of Cassange from the western plateau,
somewhat in the same way as the carbonic acid gas from bean-fields
is supposed by colliers to do into coal-pits. In the west of Scotland
strong objections are made by that body of men to farmers planting beans
in their vicinity, from the belief that they render the mines unhealthy.
The gravitation of the malaria from the more elevated land of Tala Mungongo
toward Cassange is the only way the unhealthiness of this spot
on the prevalence of the westerly winds can be accounted for.
The banks of the Quango, though much more marshy, and covered with
ranker vegetation, are comparatively healthy; but thither the westerly wind
does not seem to convey the noxious agent.
FEB. 20TH. On the day of starting from Cassange, the westerly wind
blew strongly, and on the day following we were brought to a stand
by several of our party being laid up with fever. This complaint
is the only serious drawback Angola possesses. It is in every other respect
an agreeable land, and admirably adapted for yielding
a rich abundance of tropical produce for the rest of the world.
Indeed, I have no hesitation in asserting that, had it been
in the possession of England, it would now have been yielding
as much or more of the raw material for her manufactures
as an equal extent of territory in the cotton-growing states of America.
A railway from Loanda to this valley would secure the trade
of most of the interior of South Central Africa.*
-
* The following statistics may be of interest to mercantile men.
They show that since the repression of the slave-trade in Angola
the value of the exports in lawful commerce has steadily augmented.
We have no returns since 1850, but the prosperity of legitimate trade
has suffered no check. The duties are noted in Portuguese money, "milreis",
each of which is about three shillings in value.
Return of the Quantities and Value of the Staple Articles,
the Produce of the Province of ANGOLA, exported from
ST. PAUL DE LOANDA between July 1, 1848, and June 30, 1849,
specifying the Quantities and Value of those exported
in Portuguese Ships and in Ships of other Nations.
ABSTRACT VIEW of the Net Revenue of the Customs at St. Paul de Loanda
in quinquennial periods from 1818-19 to 1843-44, both included;
and thence in each year to 1848-49.
