I Asked If They Had Ever Heard Of An Englishman
Buying Or Selling People; If I Had Not Refused To
Take a slave
when she was offered to me by Shinte; but, as I had always behaved
as an English
Teacher, if they now doubted my intentions,
they had better not go to the coast; I, however, who expected to meet
some of my countrymen there, was determined to go on. They replied
that they only thought it right to tell me what had been told to them,
but they did not intend to leave me, and would follow wherever I should
lead the way. This affair being disposed of for the time,
the commandant gave them an ox, and me a friendly dinner before parting.
All the merchants of Cassange accompanied us, in their hammocks
carried by slaves, to the edge of the plateau on which their village stands,
and we parted with the feeling in my mind that I should never forget
their disinterested kindness. They not only did every thing they could
to make my men and me comfortable during our stay; but, there being no hotels
in Loanda, they furnished me with letters of recommendation to their friends
in that city, requesting them to receive me into their houses,
for without these a stranger might find himself a lodger in the streets.
May God remember them in their day of need!
The latitude and longitude of Cassange, the most easterly station
of the Portuguese in Western Africa, is lat. 9d 37' 30" S.,
and long. 17d 49' E.; consequently we had still about 300 miles to traverse
before we could reach the coast. We had a black militia corporal as a guide.
He was a native of Ambaca, and, like nearly all the inhabitants
of that district, known by the name of Ambakistas, could both read and write.
He had three slaves with him, and was carried by them in a "tipoia",
or hammock slung to a pole. His slaves were young, and unable
to convey him far at a time, but he was considerate enough to walk
except when we came near to a village. He then mounted his tipoia
and entered the village in state; his departure was made in the same manner,
and he continued in the hammock till the village was out of sight.
It was interesting to observe the manners of our soldier-guide.
Two slaves were always employed in carrying his tipoia,
and the third carried a wooden box, about three feet long,
containing his writing materials, dishes, and clothing.
He was cleanly in all his ways, and, though quite black himself,
when he scolded any one of his own color, abused him as a "negro".
When he wanted to purchase any article from a village, he would sit down,
mix a little gunpowder as ink, and write a note in a neat hand
to ask the price, addressing it to the shopkeeper with
the rather pompous title, "Illustrissimo Senhor" (Most Illustrious Sir).
This is the invariable mode of address throughout Angola.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 303 of 572
Words from 162071 to 162582
of 306638
