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.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 339 of 572
Words from 180948 to 181451
of 306638
