The Two Native Portuguese Traders Of Whom We Had Heard Had Erected
A Little Encampment Opposite The Place Where Ours Was About To Be Made.
One Of Them, Whose Spine Had Been Injured In Youth - A Rare Sight
In This Country - Came And Visited Us.
I returned the visit next morning.
His tall companion had that sickly yellow hue which made him look
fairer
Than myself, but his head was covered with a crop of unmistakable wool.
They had a gang of young female slaves in a chain, hoeing the ground
in front of their encampment to clear it of weeds and grass;
these were purchased recently in Lobale, whence the traders had now come.
There were many Mambari with them, and the establishment was conducted
with that military order which pervades all the arrangements
of the Portuguese colonists. A drum was beaten and trumpet sounded
at certain hours, quite in military fashion. It was the first time
most of my men had seen slaves in chains. "They are not men," they exclaimed
(meaning they are beasts), "who treat their children so."
The Balonda are real negroes, having much more wool on their heads and bodies
than any of the Bechuana or Caffre tribes. They are generally
very dark in color, but several are to be seen of a lighter hue;
many of the slaves who have been exported to Brazil have gone
from this region; but while they have a general similarity
to the typical negro, I never could, from my own observation,
think that our ideal negro, as seen in tobacconists' shops,
is the true type.
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