If I Had Gone Merely To Visit Him, All The Goods
Would Have Been Expended By The Time I Returned To Cabango;
And We Had Not Found Mendicity So Pleasant On Our Way To The North
As To Induce Us To Desire To Return To It.
The country of Matiamvo is said to be well peopled, but they have
little or no trade.
They receive calico, salt, gunpowder,
coarse earthenware, and beads, and give in return ivory and slaves.
They possess no cattle, Matiamvo alone having a single herd, which he keeps
entirely for the sake of the flesh. The present chief is said to be mild
in his government, and will depose an under-chief for unjust conduct.
He occasionally sends the distance of a hundred miles or more
to behead an offending officer. But, though I was informed by the Portuguese
that he possesses absolute power, his name had less influence
over his subjects with whom I came in contact than that of Sekeletu has
over his people living at a much greater distance from the capital.
As we thought it best to strike away to the S.E. from Cabango
to our old friend Katema, I asked a guide from Muanzanza
as soon as the funeral proceedings were over. He agreed to furnish one,
and also accepted a smaller present from me than usual,
when it was represented to him by Pascoal and Faria that I was not a trader.
He seemed to regard these presents as his proper dues;
and as a cargo of goods had come by Senhor Pascoal, he entered the house
for the purpose of receiving his share, when Senhor Faria
gravely presented him with the commonest earthenware vessel,
of which great numbers are brought for this trade. The chief received it
with expressions of abundant gratitude, as these vessels are highly valued,
because from their depth they can hold so much food or beer.
The association of ideas is sometimes so very ludicrous that it is difficult
to maintain one's gravity.
Several of the children of the late Matiamvo came to beg from me, but never
to offer any food. Having spoken to one young man named Liula (Heavens)
about their stinginess, he soon brought bananas and manioc.
I liked his appearance and conversation, and believe that the Balonda
would not be difficult to teach, but their mode of life would be a drawback.
The Balonda in this quarter are much more agreeable-looking
than any of the inhabitants nearer the coast. The women allow their teeth
to remain in their beautifully white state, and would be comely
but for the custom of inserting pieces of reed into the cartilage of the nose.
They seem generally to be in good spirits, and spend their time
in everlasting talk, funeral ceremonies, and marriages.
This flow of animal spirits must be one reason why they are such
an indestructible race. The habitual influence on their minds
of the agency of unseen spirits may have a tendency in the same direction,
by preserving the mental quietude of a kind of fatalism.
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