Green Grassy Meadows,
The Cattle Feeding, The Goats Browsing, The Kids Skipping,
The Groups Of Herd-Boys With Miniature Bows,
Arrows, and spears;
the women wending their way to the river with watering-pots
poised jauntily on their heads; men
Sewing under the shady banians;
and old gray-headed fathers sitting on the ground, with staff in hand,
listening to the morning gossip, while others carry trees or branches to
repair their hedges; and all this, flooded with the bright African sunshine,
and the birds singing among the branches before the heat of the day
has become intense, form pictures which can never be forgotten.
We were informed that a chief named Gando, living on the other side
of the river, having been accused of witchcraft, was killed by the ordeal,
and his body thrown into the Quango.
The ferrymen demanded thirty yards of calico, but received six thankfully.
The canoes were wretched, carrying only two persons at a time;
but my men being well acquainted with the water, we all got over
in about two hours and a half. They excited the admiration of the inhabitants
by the manner in which they managed the cattle and donkeys in crossing.
The most stubborn of beasts found himself powerless in their hands.
Five or six, seizing hold on one, bundled him at once into the stream,
and, in this predicament, he always thought it best policy
to give in and swim. The men sometimes swam along with the cattle,
and forced them to go on by dashing water at their heads. The difference
between my men and those of the native traders who accompanied us
was never more apparent than now; for, while my men felt an interest
in every thing we possessed in common, theirs were rather glad when the oxen
refused to cross, for, being obliged to slaughter them on such occasions,
the loss to their masters was a welcome feast to themselves.
On the eastern side of the Quango we passed on, without visiting
our friend of the conical head-dress, to the residence of some Ambakistas who
had crossed the river in order to secure the first chances of trade in wax.
I have before remarked on the knowledge of reading and writing that these
Ambakistas possess; they are famed for their love of all sorts of learning
within their reach, a knowledge of the history of Portugal, Portuguese law,
etc., etc. They are remarkably keen in trade, and are sometimes called
the Jews of Angola. They are employed as clerks and writers,
their feminine delicacy of constitution enabling them to write
a fine lady's hand, a kind of writing much esteemed among the Portuguese.
They are not physically equal to the European Portuguese, but possess
considerable ability; and it is said that half-castes, in the course
of a few generations, return to the black color of the maternal ancestor.
The black population of Angola has become much deteriorated.
They are not so strongly formed as the independent tribes.
A large quantity of aguardiente, an inferior kind of spirit,
is imported into the country, which is most injurious in its effects.
We saw many parties carrying casks of this baneful liquor
to the independent chiefs beyond; and were informed that it is difficult for
any trader to convey it far, carriers being in the habit of helping themselves
by means of a straw, and then injecting an equal amount of water
when near the point of delivery.
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