The Whole Of The Colored
Population Of Angola Are Sunk In These Gross Superstitions,
But Have The Opinion, Notwithstanding, That They Are Wiser In These Matters
Than Their White Neighbors.
Each tribe has a consciousness of following
its own best interests in the best way.
They are by no means
destitute of that self-esteem which is so common in other nations;
yet they fear all manner of phantoms, and have half-developed
ideas and traditions of something or other, they know not what.
The pleasures of animal life are ever present to their minds
as the supreme good; and, but for the innumerable invisibilities, they might
enjoy their luxurious climate as much as it is possible for man to do.
I have often thought, in traveling through their land, that it presents
pictures of beauty which angels might enjoy. How often have I beheld,
in still mornings, scenes the very essence of beauty, and all bathed
in a quiet air of delicious warmth! yet the occasional soft motion
imparted a pleasing sensation of coolness as of a fan. 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.
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