[_Offerings._]
... Andrew Battell lived among them [the Bramas of Loango][230] for two
years and a half. They are, saith he, heathens, and observe many
superstitions. They have their _Mokissos_ or images [_nkishi_] to which
they offer in proportion to their sorts and suits;[231] the fisher
offereth fish when he sueth for his help in his fishing; the countryman,
wheat; the weaver, _Alibungos_,[232] [that is] pieces of cloth; others
bring bottles of wine; all wanting that they would have, and bringing
what they want, furnishing their _Mokisso_ with those things whereof
they complain themselves to be disfurnished.
[_Funeral Rites._]
Their ceremonies for the dead are divers. They bring goats and let them
bleed at the _Mokisso’s_ foot, which they after consume in a feasting
memorial of the deceased party, which is continued four or five days
together, and that four or five several times in the year, by all his
friends and kindred. The days are known, and though they dwell twenty
miles thence, yet they will resort to these memorial exequies, and,
beginning in the night, will sing doleful and funeral songs till day,
and then kill, as aforesaid, and make merry. The hope of this maketh
such as have store of friends to contemn death; and the want of friends
to bewail him makes a man conceive a more dreadful apprehension of
death.[233]
[_Prohibitions—Taboo._]
Their conceit is so ravished with superstition that many die of none
other death. _Kin_[234] is the name of unlawful and prohibited meat,
which, according to each kindred’s devotion, to some family is some kind
of fish; to another a hen; to another, a buffe [beef]; and so of the
rest: in which they observe their vowed abstinence so strictly that if
any should (though all unawares) eat of his _Kin_, he would die of
conceit, always presenting to his accusing conscience the breach of his
vow, and the anger of _Mokisso_. He hath known divers thus to have died,
and sometimes would, when some of them had eaten with him, make them
believe that they had eaten of their _Kin_, till, having sported himself
with their superstitious agony, he would affirm the contrary.
They use to set in their fields and places where corn or fruits grow, a
basket, with goat’s horns, parrot’s feathers, and other trash: this is
the _Mokisso’s_ Ensign, or token, that it is commended to his custody;
and therefore, the people very much addicted to theft, dare not meddle,
or take anything. Likewise, if a man, wearied with his burthen, lay it
down in the highway, and knit a knot of grass, and lay thereon; or leave
any other note (known to them) to testify that he hath left it there in
the name of his idol, it is secured from the lime-fingers of any
passenger. Conceit would kill the man that should transgress in this
kind.[235]
In the _banza_ [_mbanza_], or chief city, the chief idol is named
_Chekoke_.[236] Every day they have there a market, and the _Chekoke_ is
brought forth by the _Ganga_, or priest, to keep good rule, and is set
in the market-place to prevent stealing. Moreover, the king hath a
Bell,[237] the strokes whereof sound such terror into the heart of the
fearful thief that none dare keep any stolen goods after the sound of
that bell. Our author inhabited in a little reed-house, after the Loango
manner, and had hanging by the walls, in a cloth case, his piece,
wherewith he used to shoot fowls for the king, which, more for the love
of the cloth than the piece, was stolen. Upon complaint, this bell (in
form like a cow-bell) was carried about and rung, with proclamation to
make restitution; and he had his piece next morning set at his door. The
like another, found in a bag of beans of a hundred pound weight, stolen
from him, and recovered by the sound of this bell.
[_Poison Ordeal._][238]
They have a dreadful and deadly kind of trial in controversies, after
this manner: there is a little tree, or shrub, with a small root (it is
called _Imbunda_) about the bigness of one’s thumb, half a foot long,
like a white carrot. Now, when any listeth to accuse a man, or a family,
or whole street, of the death of any of his friends, saying, that such a
man bewitched him, the _Ganga_ assembleth the accused parties, and
scrapes that root, the scrapings whereof he mixeth with water, which
makes it as bitter as gall (he tasted of it); one root will serve for
the trial of a hundred men. The _Ganga_ brews the same together in
gourds, and with plantain stalks hitteth everyone, after they have
drunk, with certain words. Those that have received the drink walk by,
till they can make urine, and then they are thereby free’d. Others
abide till either urine frees them, or dizziness takes them, which the
people no sooner perceive but they cry, _Undoke, Undoke_,[239] that is
“naughty witch”; and he is no sooner fallen by his dizziness, but they
knock him on the head, and dragging him away, hurl him over the cliff.
In every Liberty[240] they have such drinks, which they make in case of
theft, and death of any person. Every week it falls out that some or
other undergoes this trial, which consumeth multitudes of people.
[_Albinos._][241]
There be certain persons called _Dunda_ [_ndundu_], which are born by
negro parents, and yet are, by some unknown cause, white. They are very
rare, and when such happen to be born, they are brought to the king, and
become great witches: they are his councillors, and advise him of lucky
and unlucky days for execution of his enterprises. When the king goes
any whither the _Dundas_ go with him, and beat the ground round about
with certain exorcisms before the king sits down, and then sit down by
him. They will take anything in the market, none daring to contradict
them.
[_The Gumbiri Fetish._]
Kenga is the landing-place of Loanga. They have there an idol called
_Gumbiri_, and a holy house called _Munsa Gumbiri_,[242] kept and
inhabited by an old woman, where once a year is a solemn feast, which
they celebrate with drums, dances, and palm-wines; and then, they say,
he speaketh under the ground. The people call him _Mokisso Cola_,[243]
or a strong _Mokisso_, and say, that he comes to stay with _Chekoke_,
the idol of the banza. That _Chekoke_ is a negro image, made sitting on
a stool; a little house is then made him. They anoint him with _Toccola_
[_tacula_],[244] which is a red colour made of a certain wood, ground on
a stone, and mixed with water, wherewith they daily paint themselves,
from the waist upwards, esteeming it a great beauty; otherwise they
account not themselves ready. It is for like purposes carried from hence
to Angola.
[_Possessed of the Fetish._]
Sometimes it falls out that some man or boy is taken with some sudden
enthusiasm, or ravishment, becoming mad, and making a whooping and great
clamours.
They call them _Mokisso-Moquat_[245] that is, taken of the _Mokisso_.
They clothe them very handsomely, and whatever they bid in that fit (for
it lasteth not very long), they execute as the _Mokisso’s_ charge.
[_The Maramba Fetish._][246]
_Morumba_[247] is thirty leagues northwards from hence, in the Mani
Loango’s dominions, where he [Battell] lived nine months. There is a
house, and in it a great basket, proportioned like to a hive, wherein is
an image called _Morumba_, whose religion extendeth far. They are sworn
to this religion at ten or twelve years old; but, for probation are
first put in a house, where they have hard diet, and must be mute for
nine or ten days, any provocation to speak notwithstanding. Then do
they bring him before _Morumba_, and prescribe him his _Kin_ [kina], or
perpetual abstinence from some certain meat. They make a cut in his
shoulder like to a half moon, and sprinkle the blood at _Morumba’s_
feet, and swear him to that religion. In the wound they put a certain
white powder in token of his late admission; which, so long as it
continueth, doth privilege him to take his meat and drink with
whomsoever he pleaseth, none denying him the same, at free cost.
They also have their fatal trials before this image, where the accused
party, kneeling down and clasping the hive, saith: “_Mene quesa cabamba
Morumba_,” signifying that he comes thither to make trial of his
innocence;[248] and if he be guilty he falls down dead; being free he is
free’d.
Andrew Battell saith he knew six or seven, in his being there, that made
this trial.
CHAP. X, § III.—OF THE GIACCHI, OR IAGGES.[249]
[_Origin of the Jagas._]
... Andrew Battel lived (by occasion of the Portugals treachery) with
the Iagges a longer time than ever any Christian or white man had done,
namely, sixteen months, and served them with their [his] musket in the
wars; neither could Lopez (saith he) have true intelligence whence they
came,[250] for the Christians at that time had but uncertain
conjectures of them: neither after had the Portugals any conversing, but
by way of commerce; but he, being betrayed, fled to them for his life,
and after, by stealth, escaped from them: the only European that ever
lived in their camp.
He saith they are called Iagges by the Portugals, by themselves
Imbangolas*[251] (which name argues them to be of the Imbij and Galæ
before mentioned) and come from Sierra Liona;*[252] that they are
exceeding devourers of man’s flesh, for which they refuse beef and
goats, whereof they take plenty. They have no settled habitation, but
wander in an unsettled course.
[_Infanticide among the Jaga._]
They rise in harvest, and invading some country, there stay as long as
they find the palms, or other sufficient means of maintenance, and then
seek new adventure. For they neither plant nor sow, nor breed up cattle,
and, which is more, strange, they nourish up none of their own children,
although they have ten or twenty wives a man, of the properest and
comeliest slaves they can take. But when they are in travail they dig a
hole in the earth, which presently receiveth in that dark prison of
death the new-born creature, not yet made happy with the light of life.
Their reason is that they will not be troubled with education, nor in
their flitting wanderings be troubled with such cumbersome
burthens.[253]
Once, a secret providence both punisheth the father’s wickedness, and
preventeth a viperous generation, if that maybe a prevention where there
is a succession without generation; and as Pliny saith of the Esseni
(lib. v, c. 15), _Gens æterna est in qua nepto nascitur_. For of the
conquered nations they [the Jaga] preserve the boys from ten to twenty
years of age, and bring them up as the hope of their succession, like
_Negro-azimogli_,[254] with education fitting their designs. These wear
a collar about their neck in token of slavery, until they bring an
enemy’s head slain in battle, and then they are uncollared, free’d, and
dignified with the title of soldiers; if one of them runs away he is
killed and eaten; so that, hemmed in betwixt hope and fear, they grow
very resolute and adventurous, their collars breeding shame, disdain,
and desperate fury, till they redeem their freedom as you have heard.
Elembe,[255] the great Iagge, brought with him twelve thousand of these
cruel monsters from Sierra Liona, and after much mischief and spoil
settled himself in Benguele,[256] twelve degrees from the Zone
southwards, and there breedeth and groweth into a nation. But Kelandula,
sometime his page, proceeds in that beastly life before mentioned, and
the people of Elembe, by great troops, run to him and follow his camp in
hope of spoil.
[_Human Sacrifices._]
They have no _fetissos_, or idols. The great Iagge, or Prince, is master
of all their ceremonies, and a great witch. I have seen this Kelandula
(sayth our author) continue a sacrifice from sun to sun, the rites
whereof are these: himself sat on a stool, in great pomp, with a cap
adorned with peacocks’ feathers (which fowls, in one country called
_Shelambanza_,[257] are found wild; and in one place, empaled about the
grave of the king, are fifty kept and fed by an old woman, and are
called _Ingilla Mokisso_, that is, Birds of Mokisso).[258] Now, about
him thus set, attended forty or fifty women, each of them waving
continually a zebra’s tail in their hands. There were also certain
Gangas, priests or witches. Behind them were many with drums and pipes,
and _pungas_[259] (certain instruments made of elephants’ teeth, made
hollow a yard and a half, and with a hole like a flute, which yield a
loud and harsh sound, that may be heard a mile off). These strike and
sound, and sing, and the women wave (as is said) till the sun be almost
down. Then they bring forth a pot, which is set on the fire with leaves
and roots, and the water therein, and with a kind of white powder the
witches or Gangas spot themselves, one on the one cheek, the other on
the other; and likewise their foreheads, temples, breasts, shoulders,
and bellies, using many enchanting terms, which are holden to be prayers
for victory. At sunset a Ganga brings his _Kissengula_,[260] or
war-hatchet, to the Prince (this weapon they use to wear at their
girdles) and putting the same in his hands bid him to be strong, [that]
their God goes with him, and he shall have victory. After this they
bring him four or five negroes, of which, with a terrible countenance,
the great Iagge with his hatchet kills two, and the other two are
killed without the fort. Likewise, five kine are slain within, and other
five without the fort; and as many goats and as many dogs, after the
same manner.
This is their sacrifice, at the end whereof all the flesh is, in a
feast, consumed. Andrew Battell was commanded to depart when the
slaughter begun, for their devil, or _Mokisso_ (as they said) would then
appear and speak to them.[261]
This sacrifice is called _Kissembula_[262] which they solemnise when
they undertake any great enterprise. There were few left of the natural
Iagges, but of this unnatural brood the present succession was raised.
[Illustration]
APPENDIX I.
ANTHONY KNIVET IN KONGO AND ANGOLA:
BEING
Extracts from “The Admirable Adventures and Strange Fortunes
of MASTER ANTONIE KNIVET, which went with MASTER THOMAS
CANDISH in his Second Voyage to the South Sea, 1591,”
published in _Purchas His Pilgrimes_, Part IV, lib. vi, c. 7.
London, 1625.
INTRODUCTION.
Master Anthony Knivet joined the second expedition of Thomas Cavendish,
which left England in August, 1591. He seems to have served on board the
_Roebuck_, of which vessel one Cocke was captain. Nothing in his
narrative enables us to identify this Cocke with the Abraham Cocke of
Limehouse, who was “never heard of more” after he parted from Battell on
the coast of Brazil in 1590, nor with the Abram Cocke who, according to
Knivet, put in at the Ilha Grande in 1598, in the hope of making prizes
of some of the richly-laden Spanish vessels returning from the Rio de la
Plata. Battell, surely, may be supposed to have been acquainted with the
fate of his old shipmate, whilst Knivet gives no hint that the Abram
Cocke of the Ilha Grande was the captain of the _Roebuck_, to whom he
was indebted for his life when Cavendish was about to throw him
overboard in Magellan’s Strait. It is, however, just possible that there
was but one Abraham Cock, who had not been heard of for some time when
Battell returned to England about 1610.[263]
When Cavendish returned from Magellan’s Strait, he put Knivet and
nineteen other sick men ashore near St. Sebastian, to shift for
themselves. Knivet was ultimately taken by the Portuguese; but they
spared his life, and he became the “bond-slave” of Salvador Corrêa de
Sá, the Governor of Rio de Janeiro; and apart from the time he spent
among the cannibal Indians, and on a voyage to Angola, he remained with
his master to the end, and returned with him to Portugal in 1599.
My friend, Colonel G. Earl Church, to whom I applied for an opinion on
the trustworthiness of Knivet’s statements with regard to Brazil, writes
as follows:—
“Yesterday morning I spent at the R. Geo. Soc., refreshing my memory of
Knivet’s extraordinary adventures. One must read them always bearing in
mind the romantic spirit of the age in which they were written, and the
novel surroundings in which every adventurer found himself in the New
World. Giving due weight to all this, I find Knivet’s relation of his
voyages singularly truthful, so far as my knowledge of Brazil goes. What
he states, excepting in two or three minor particulars, clashes with no
geographical, descriptive, or historical point with which I am familiar,
and he often throws in a sentence which relates to facts which no man
could invent, and which makes his narrative impressive with
truthfulness. I utterly discard Cavendish’s opinion of his men and
companions for Cavendish appears to have been one of the most
cold-blooded freebooters who ever cut a throat or raided a settlement
or scuttled a prize.”
I regret not being able to write in terms equally favourable of what
Knivet claims to have experienced during his visit to Angola and Kongo.
Knivet says that he ran away from bondage on June 27th, 1597, and that
he reached the “port of Angola” after a perilous voyage of five months,
that is in November. He then sailed up the Kwanza, and reached
Masanganu, where he remained three months, when he was arrested in
consequence of a requisition of his master and sent back to Brazil,
which he must have reached before June, 1598. We should be quite
prepared to accept this part of his story if his description of
Masanganu did not show that he can never have been there. Knivet,
however, is not content with such modest honours, but claims to have
resided for some time at the court of the King of Kongo, and to have
fallen in the hands of the Portuguese when on his road to Prester John’s
country. By them he was carried to Masanganu, where he lived three
months. These two accounts are absolutely irreconcilable. As to the
author’s astounding geographical misstatements, I refer the reader to
the notes appended to his narrative.
FIRST ACCOUNT (_Purchas_, pp. 1220-2).
Continually I desired my master to give me leave to get my living,
intending to come into my country, but the Governor would not let me go
from him. When I saw no means to get leave of my master, I determined to
run away to Angola, for to serve the King as a soldier in Massangano
till such time that I might pass myself to the King of Anyeca,[264]
which warreth against the Portugals, and so have come through Prester
Johns country into Turkey.
On the seven and twentieth day of June, 1597, I embarked myself unknown
to my master, in a small ship of one Emanuell Andrea, for to come for
Angola. In this voyage we were driven so near the Cape of Good Hope that
we thought all of us should have been cast away, the seas are there so
great; and by reason of the current they brake in such sort that no ship
is able to endure. There we brake both our main mast and our mizzen. It
pleased God to send us the wind Eastward, which brought us to our
desired harbour [of] Angola.[265] We had been five months in our voyage,
and by that means other ships that departed two months after us were
there before us.
When I heard that there were ships of the River of Ienero [Rio de
Janeiro], I durst not go ashore for fear of being known of some of the
Portugals. The next day after that we came into the harbour, there came
a great boat aboard us, to ask if we would sell any Cassava meal. We
told them we would, and asked them whither they went with their boat.
They answered, that they tarried for the tide to go up to the River of
Guansa [Kwanza] to Masangano. Then I thought it a fit time for my
purpose, and so embarked myself in the bark. The Portugals marvelled to
see me go willingly to Masangano; for there men die like chickens, and
no man will go thither if he can chose.
Nine days we were going up the River of Guansa [Kwanza], in which time
two Portugal soldiers died; the country is so hot that it pierceth their
hearts. Three days after I had been in Masangano, Don Francisco de
Mendosa Fortado,[266] the Governor of the city of Kongo, having
received a letter from Salvador Coria de Sasa [Salvador Corrêa de Sá],
who was his great friend, sent a Pursuivant for me, who brought me by
land through the King of Kongo’s country, and in six days we came to a
town called Saint Francis[267] (where the Governor was), hard by the
kingdom of Manicongo.
When I came before the Governor he used me very kindly in words, and
asked me what I meant, to cast myself away wilfully in Masangano. Then I
told him how long I had served Salvador Coria de Sasa; and in how many
dangers I had been for him and his Son, without ever having any
recompence of any of them, and therefore I thought it better to venture
my life in the King’s service, than to live his Bond-slave. The Governor
commanded me to be carried to Angola, and charged a pair of bolts to be
put upon my legs, because I should not run away.
About a fortnight after I was sent back again in a Carvell [caravel] of
Francis Lewes, and in two months we arrived in the River of Jenero [Rio
de Janeiro], and I was carried with my bolts on my legs before the
Governor; when he saw me he began to laugh and to jest with me, saying
that I was welcome out of England. So, after many jests he spake, he
bade pull off my bolts from my legs, and gave me clothes and used me
very well.
SECOND ACCOUNT (_Purchas_, pp. 1233-7).
Angola is a kingdom of itself in Ethiopia, where first the Portugals did
begin to inhabit: The country of Angola cometh along the coast; as
Portugal doth upon Spain, so doth Angola run upon the Kingdom of Longa
[Luangu] and Manicongo.
In Angola the Portugals have a City called the Holy Ghost,[268] where
they have great store of Merchandise, and the Moors do come thither with
all kind of such things as the country yieldeth; some bring elephant’s
teeth, some bring negro slaves to sell, that they take from other
kingdoms which join hard by them; thus do they use once a week, as we
keep markets, so do all the Blackamoors bring hens and hogs, which they
call gula,[269] and hens they call Sange,[270] and a kind of beast that
they take in the wilderness, like a dog, which they call ambroa:[271]
then they have that beast which before I have told you of, called gumbe,
which is bigger than a horse.[272]
The Blackamoors do keep good laws, and fear their King very much; the
King is always attended with the nobles of his realm, and whensoever he
goeth abroad, he has always at the least two hundred archers in his
guard, and ten or twelve more going before him, singing and playing with
pipes made of great canes, and four or five young Moors coming after
him as his pages. After them follow all his noblemen.
When there falleth out any controversy among them, they crave battle of
the King, and then they fight it out before him. They come before the
King and fall flat on their breasts; then they rise up and kneel upon
their knees, stretching out their arms crying, _Mahobeque benge,
benge_;[273] then the King striketh them on the shoulders with a
horse-tail; then they go to the camp, and with their bows they fight it
out till they kill one another. After the battle is done, if any liveth,
he that liveth falleth down before the King in the same manner as he did
when he went to the field; and after a long oration made, he taketh the
horse-tail from the King’s shoulder, and waveth it about the King’s
head, and then layeth it on his shoulder again, and goeth away with
great honour, being accompanied with all the nobles of the Court. The
Moors of Angola do know that there is a God, and do call God
_Caripongoa_,[274] but they worship the sun and the moon.
The country is champaign plain, and dry black earth, and yieldeth very
little corn; the most of anything that it yieldeth is plantons
[plantains], which the Portugals call _baynonas_ [bananas], and the
Moors call them _mahonge_[275] and their wheat they call _tumba_,[276]
and the bread _anou_; and if you will buy any bread of them, you must
say, _Tala cuna auen tumbola gimbo_; that is, _Give me some bread, here
is money_.[277] Their money is called _gullginbo_,[278] a shell of a
fish that they find by the shore-side; and from Brazil the Portugals do
carry great store of them to Angola.
These Moors do esteem very much of red, blue and yellow cloths. They
will give a slave for a span of cloth in breadth, I mean, and the length
of it, of the breadth of the piece; those pieces of cloth they wear
about their middles, and under it they hang the skin of a great weasel
before them, and another behind them, and this is all the garments that
they wear. A weasel in their language is called _puccu_.[279] You can do
a Blackamoor no greater disgrace than to take away his skin from before
him, for he will die with grief if he cannot be revenged.
The Portugals do mark them as we do sheep, with a hot iron, which the
Moors call _crimbo_.[280] The poor slaves stand all in a row one by
another, and sing _Mundele que sumbela he Carey ha belelelle_,[281] and
thus the poor rogues are beguiled, for the Portugals make them believe
that they that have not the mark is not accounted a man of any account
in Brazil or in Portugal, and thus they bring the poor Moors to be in a
most damnable bondage under the cover of love.
The country of Angola yieldeth no stone, and very little wood: the Moors
do make their houses all covered with earth. These houses are no bigger
than a reasonable chamber, and within are many partitions, like the
cabins of a ship, in such sort that a man cannot stand upright in them.
Their beds are made of great bulrushes sewed together with the rinds of
a tree. They do make cloth like spark of velvet (but it is thinner) of
the bark of a tree, and that cloth they do call _mollelleo_.[282]
The elephants do feed in the evening and in the morning in low marshes,
as there be many. The Moors do watch which way they come, and as soon as
the elephants are at meat, they dig great holes in the ground, and cover
them with sticks, and then they cover the pits with earth; and when they
have made all ready they go to the elephants and shoot at them with
their arrows; and as soon as the elephants feel themselves hurt, they
run at whatsoever they see before them, following after the Blackamores
that chase them. Then they fall into the deep pits where, after they are
once in, they cannot get out.
The Moors of Angola are as black as jet; they are men of good stature;
they never take but one wife, whom they call _mocasha_.[283] These Moors
do cut long streaks in their faces, that reach from the top of their
ears to their chins. The women do wear shells of fishes[284] on their
arms, and on the small of their legs. The law amongst them is, that if
any Moor do lie with another’s wife, he shall lose his ears for his
offence. These Moors do circumcise their children, and give them their
names, as we do when we baptize.
Angola may very easily be taken, for the Portugals have no forts to
defend it of any strength.
The King[285] of Congo is the greatest King in all Ethiopia; and doth
keep in the field continually sixty thousand soldiers, that do war
against the King of Vangala,[286] and the King of Angola; this King is a
Christian, and his brother-in-law of arms with the King of Spain. His
servants of his house are most of them all Portugals, and he doth favour
them very much.
The King is of a very liberal condition, and very favourable to all
travellers, and doth delight very much to hear of foreign countries. He
was in a manner amazed to hear how it was possible Her Majesty [Queen
Elizabeth] had lived a maiden Queen so long, and always reigned in peace
with her subjects. When I was brought before the King, and told him of
my country, what plenty of things we had, if the Portugals had not liked
of it, they would interrupt my speech, and the King would show himself
very angry, and tell them that every man was best able to speak of his
country, and that I had no reason but to tell him that which was true.
The King of Congo, when he goeth to the camp to see his army, rideth
upon an elephant in great pomp and majesty; on either side of the
elephant he hath six slaves. Two of them were kings, that he himself had
taken in the field; all the rest were of noble birth; some of them were
brothers to the King of Ancica, and some of them were of the chiefest
blood of the great King of Bengala. These noble slaves, at every command
of the King of Congo, do fall flat on the ground on their breasts. When
the King doth ride, as you have heard, they carry a canopy, as it were a
cloth of state, over his head. His two secretaries, the one a nobleman
of Spain, the other a Moor, do ride next after him. Before him goeth at
the least five hundred archers which are his guard; then there followeth
a Moor, which doth nothing but talk aloud in praise of the King,
telling what a great warrior he hath been, and praising his wisdom for
all things that he hath accomplished very honourably to his great fame
of such as knew him.
When this King of Congo cometh to his host, all the soldiers, as he
passeth, fall flat on their faces to the ground. He never cometh into
his host after any battle, but he dubbeth at the least twenty Knights
Portugals, and as many Moors, giving them very great living according to
their callings, and the service that they have done. The brother of this
King was in Spain at my coming from thence for ambassador from his
brother.[287]
Here the Portugal Captain would have taken me perforce, to have been a
common soldier, but the King commanded that they should let me go
whither I would, and my determination at that time was to have gone for
the country of Prester John [Abyssinia], for I had a great desire to see
the River of Nilo and Jerusalem (for I accounted myself as a lost man,
not caring into what country or kingdom I came) But it was not the will
of God that I should at that time obtain my desire, for travelling
through the kingdom of Congo, to have gone to the kingdom of
Angila,[288] it was my fortune to meet a company of Portugal soldiers
that went to a conquest that the King of Spain had newly taken, called
Masangana; which place is on the borders of Anguca. Here they made me
serve like a drudge, for both day and night I carried some stone and
lime to make a fort.
It lyeth right under the Line, and standeth in a bottom in the middle
of four hills, and about are many fogges [bogs] but not one river.[289]
It is the unfirmest country under the sun. Here the Portugals die like
chickens. You shall see men in the morning very lusty, and within two
hours dead. Others, that if they but wet their legs, presently they
swell bigger than their middles;[290] others break in the sides with a
draught of water. O, if you did know the intolerable heat of the
country, you would think yourself better a thousand times dead, than to
live there a week. There you shall see poor soldiers lie in troops,
gaping like camelians [camels?] for a puff of wind.
Here lived I three months, not as the Portugals did, taking of physick,
and every week letting of blood and keeping close in their houses when
they had any rain, observing hours, and times to go abroad morning and
evening, and never to eat but at such and such times. I was glad when I
had got anything at morning, noon, or night; I thank God I did work all
day from morning till night; had it been rain or never so great heat, I
had always my health as well as I have in England.
This country is very rich. The king had great store of gold[291] sent
him from this place: the time that I was there, the King of Angica had a
great city at Masangana; which city Paulas Dias, Governor of Angola,
took and situated there; and finding hard by it great store of gold,
fortified it with four forts, and walled a great circuit of ground round
about it, and within that wall; now the Portugals do build a city, and
from this city every day they do war against the King of Angica, and
have burnt a great part of his kingdom.
The Angicas[292] are men of goodly stature; they file their teeth before
on their upper jaw, and on their under jaw, making a distance between
them like the teeth of a dog; they do eat man’s flesh; they are the
stubbornest nation that lives under the sun, and the resolutest in the
field that ever man saw; for they will rather kill themselves than yield
to the Portugals. They inhabit right under the line, and of all kinds of
Moors these are the blackest. They do live in the law of the Turks, and
honour Mahomet. They keep many concubines, as the Turks do; they wash
themselves every morning upwards, falling flat on their faces towards
the east. They wear their hair all made in plaits on their heads, as
well men as women; they have good store of wheat, and a kind of grain
like vetches, of which they make bread: they have great store of hens
like partridges, and turkeys, and all their feathers curl on their
backs. Their houses are like the other houses of the kingdoms
aforenamed.
And thus I end, showing you as brief as I can, all the nations and
kingdoms, that, with great danger of my life, I travelled through in
twelve years of my best age, getting no more than my travel for my pain.
From this kingdom, Angica, was I brought in irons again to my master,
Salvador Corea de Sasa, to the City of San Sebastian in Brazil, as you
have heard.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
APPENDIX II.
A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF KONGO TO THE END OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
THE EARLY HISTORY OF KONGO.
If traditions may be accepted where written history fails us, the
foundation of the Empire of Kongo lies back no further than the middle
of the fifteenth century.
The founder of the dynasty and first King of Kongo—Ntotela ntinu
nekongo—was Nimi a Lukeni, the son of Nimi a nzima and of Lukeni lua
nsanzi, the daughter of Nsa ku ki-lau. His father appears to have been a
mere village chief in Kurimba (Corimba),[293] a district of the kingdom
of Kwangu. He had established himself at a ferry on a great river
(_nzari_), now known to us as the Kwangu, and levied a toll upon all
travellers who crossed the stream. One day the young man’s aunt came
that way, and claimed exemption on the ground of being the old chief’s
sister. Her brother was absent, and not only was the claim denied, but
young Nimi a Lukeni, notwithstanding that she was with child, caused her
to be disembowelled. The younger members of his clan looked upon this
act of brutality as one of bravery, and shielded him against his
father’s just wrath. He then placed himself at their head, assumed the
title of _ntinu_ (king), and started westward upon a career of conquest.
The country he was about to invade was inhabited by a people kindred to
those of Angola and of the country to the north of the Zaire, split up
into numerous small clans[294] ruled by independent kinglets. This, no
doubt, would account for the rapidity and the extent of his conquests,
which have been matched however, in our own days, by the Makololo.
Having defeated Mbumbulu mwana Mpangala of Mpemba-kasi, he founded his
capital—Mbazi a nkanu—[295] upon a rock within that chief’s territory.
By degrees he extended his conquests southward to the Kwanza and even
beyond, installed his uncle Nsa ku ki-lau as ruler of the important
province of Mbata, bestowed large territories upon others of his
adherents, and even restored some of their father’s territories to the
children of the Mwana Mpangala. His “sons,” attended by the great Nganga
Ngoyo, he sent across the Zaire, and they became the founders of the
“kingdoms” of Kakongo and Luangu; whilst a third son, by a slave woman,
is supposed to be the ancestor of the “counts” of Sonyo or Soyo.[296]
Anciently the King of Kakongo, before he assumed his kingship, was bound
to marry a princess of the blood royal of Kongo, whilst he of Luangu
married a princess of Kakongo; yet the ruler of Luangu was highest in
rank, for he enjoyed the title of _nunu_ (“aged person”), whilst his
brother of Kakongo had to be contented with the inferior title of
_nkaji_ (“spouse”). The Kings were elected by the feudal princes, but
their choice was limited to the sons of princesses, as in a great part
of negro Africa.[297]
Of the early institutions of Kongo we know next to nothing, though we
may presume that the law of succession was originally the same there as
in the sister-states to the north, for the first Ntotela was succeeded
by two nephews (Nanga kia ntinu and another, whose name has not reached
us). But even thus early, and anterior to the introduction of
Christianity, the old law of succession was broken through, for Nkuwu a
ntinu, the fourth Ntotela, was a son of Ntinu Nimi a Lukeni, and was
succeeded by a son of his own, Nzinga a Nkuwa, the first Christian
Ntotela, better known in history as John I.
If Dapper may be believed, it was the custom to bury twelve virgins with
the earlier kings—a distinction much sought after, as in other parts of
Africa; but the people of Kongo have never been charged with
cannibalism, nor its rulers with the bloody rites practised by the Jaga.
CÃO’S DISCOVERY OF THE KONGO, 1482.[298]
It was towards the end of 1482, that the natives at the mouth of the
River Kongo for the first time saw rising above the horizon the white
wings of a European vessel, ascending, as it were, from the Land of
Spirits; and we can imagine their surprise when they for the first time
beheld the bleached faces of its inmates. Yet they came on board,
offering ivory in exchange for cloth. The interpreters from the Guinea
coast who were with Cão naturally failed to make themselves understood,
but they learnt from signs that far inland there dwelt a powerful king.
Cão at once despatched some Christian negroes in search of this
potentate. They were the bearers of suitable presents, and were
instructed to assure the King of the friendly intentions of his
visitors, whose only desire it was to trade with him.
Before continuing his voyage, Cão set up the first of the stone pillars,
or _padroes_, which he had on board. He then sailed south along the
coast, noting its prominent features, but curiously missed the Kwanza
or River of Angola, although its clayey waters discolour the sea for ten
or fifteen miles. On a low foreland, Cabo do Lobo,[299] ten miles beyond
the cliffs named by him Castello d’Alter Pedroso, he set up a second
pillar, to mark the furthest point reached by him.
On again returning to the Kongo, he was annoyed to find that his
messengers had not returned; and as he was naturally anxious to make
known in Portugal his discovery of a magnificent river and a powerful
kingdom, he left them behind him, and seized instead four unsuspecting
visitors to his ship as “hostages;” giving their friends to understand
that they should be restored to them after the lapse of fifteen months,
when they would be exchanged for his own men. These latter appear to
have been treated with distinction at first, but when the King heard of
Cão’s high-handed proceedings he refused to admit them any longer to his
presence, and even threatened them with death, should his own people not
be restored.
Among the hostages carried off by Cão there was a man of some
distinction in his own country, Nsaku (Caçuto) by name, who picked up
Portuguese quickly, and much pleased King John by the information he was
able to give. He, as well as his companions, were much petted in
Portugal, and, in defiance of all sumptuary laws, were dressed in fine
cloths and silks.
Cão himself, soon after his arrival, in April, 1484, was appointed a
cavalier in the Royal household, granted an annuity of 18,000 reals, and
on the 14th of that month he was “separated from the common herd,” and
granted a coat-of-arms charged with the two pillars erected by him
during this memorable voyage.
CÃO’S SECOND VOYAGE, 1485-6.
Cão’s departure on a second voyage was much delayed, either because the
King’s Council were opposed to these adventures, which strained the
resources of a small kingdom like Portugal, or—and this is more
likely—because it was desired that a change in the Royal Arms, which was
only made in June, 1485, should be recorded on the stone pillars which
Cão was to take with him.
Great was the rejoicing when Cão’s “fleet” appeared in the Kongo, and
the hostages, loud in praise of the good treatment they had received,
were once more among their friends. Cão at once forwarded rich presents
to the King, with an invitation to throw aside all fetishes, and to
embrace the only true and saving faith; promising that, on his return
from a voyage to the south, he would personally visit the capital of his
kingdom. This promise Cão was not permitted to fulfil, for having set up
a pillar on Monte Negro (15° 40´ S.) and another on Cape Cross (21°
50´),[300] he died a short distance beyond. Of the details of his death
we know nothing.[301] It seems, however, that the loss of their
commander induced a speedy return home: for Cão’s vessels must have
arrived in Portugal before August, 1487, as in that month Dias sailed on
his famous voyage, taking with him the negroes whom Cão had kidnapped to
the south of the Kongo, with a view to their learning Portuguese, and
being employed as interpreters in future voyages.
Cão, therefore, never saw the King of Kongo; and there are good grounds
for believing that Nsaku who was sent by the King to Portugal to ask
for priests, masons, carpenters, agricultural labourers, and women to
make bread, only reached Europe in one of Dias’s vessels, in December,
1488. Nsaku, most certainly, was first introduced to King John at Beja,
in January, 1489, when he and his companions were baptised, the King
himself, the Queen, and gentlemen of title acting as sponsors.(312) He
was sent back to the Kongo with Don Gonçalo de Sousa, in December, 1490,
about two years after he had been baptised.[302]
THE EMBASSY OF 1490-1.[303]
Don João de Sousa, the ambassador, left Portugal on December 19th, 1490,
with a fleet commanded by Gonçalo de Sousa, as captain-major. Among the
pilots were Pero d’Alemquer and Pero Escovar, men famous in the maritime
history of Portugal. Ten Franciscan Friars[304] went out with this
fleet, and so did Nsaku, the ambassador of the King of Kongo. The plague
was raging at Lisbon at the time, and before the vessels reached the
Cape Verde Islands, this dreaded disease had carried off João de Sousa
(the ambassador), the captain-major, and many others. Ruy de Sousa, a
nephew of the captain-major, was then chosen to take the place of D.
João de Sousa.
After a voyage of a hundred days the vessels reached the Kongo, and the
Mwana of Sonyo and his son, who had already been instructed in the
Christian doctrine by a priest from S. Thomé, were baptised on Easter
Sunday, April 3rd, 1491, and were thenceforth known as Don Manuel and
Don Antonio da Silva; for it was the practice of the Portuguese, from
the very beginning, to bestow Portuguese names and titles upon the
negroes who submitted to the sacrament of baptism.
This ceremony performed, Ruy de Sousa started for the King’s
capital,[305] which he reached on April 29th. The King received him
seated on a platform, in a chair inlaid with ivory. He wore a
loin-cloth, presented to him by Cão, copper bracelets, and a cap of
palm-cloth. A zebra tail depended from his left shoulder—a badge of
royalty.[306]
The King was about to join his son Mbemba a Nzinga, Duke of Nsundi, who
had taken the field against the Bateke;[307] but before doing so he was
anxious to be baptised. The foundations of a church having been laid on
Rood Day, May 3rd,[308] the King and his Queen were baptised at once by
Frei João de Santa Maria, and were named Don João and Donna Leonor,
after the King and Queen of Portugal.
The King, marching for the first time under the banner of the Cross, and
supported by the firearms of his Portuguese allies, came back a victor
to his capital. His eldest son and many nobles were then baptised.
When Ruy de Sousa departed, he left behind him Frei Antonio[309] with
other priests, and gave instructions for an exploration of the Kongo
river above the cataracts, which do not appear to have been acted upon.
He also founded a factory near the mouth of the Kongo, where the
enterprising people of S. Thomé had already established commercial
relations, although formal permission to do so was only granted them by
King Manuel on March 26th, 1500. Dom Pedro, a cousin of the King of
Kongo, accompanied him, with nine attendants, who, having been taught to
read and write, returned to their native country with D. João Soares,
early in 1494.[310]
The missionaries lost no time in preaching the doctrines of their
Church; but whilst Don Affonso proved an ardent Christian, who
recklessly destroyed all fetishes discovered in his province of Nsundi,
the King himself soon grew lukewarm, owing to the priests’ interference
with polygamy and other valued social institutions. In the country at
large, the heathen still held their ground.
D. AFFONSO I, 1509-1540.[311]
And thus it happened that when João I died in 1509, the chiefs favoured
his second son, _Mpanzu a nzinga_,[312] a heathen, whilst the dowager
queen and the Count of Sonyo took the part of the elder brother. Don
Affonso, immediately on hearing of his father’s illness, hurried up to
the capital, accompanied by only thirty-six Christians. He found that
his father had died. His brother approached with a mighty army, but five
flaming swords seen in the heavens on the eve of battle gave courage to
his small following, whilst a white cross and the appearance of St.
James at the head of the celestial host struck terror into the hearts of
the assailants. They fled in a panic.[313] Mpanzu himself was taken,
wounded, and decapitated.
Order having been restored throughout the country, King Affonso availed
himself of the presence of Gonçalo Rodriguez Ribeiro, who had come from
Portugal with a number of priests, and was about to return to that
country, to send an embassy to Pope Julius II and King Manuel.[314] The
head of this mission was Don Pedro (de Castro?), a cousin of the King
(who was accompanied by his wife), and with him went D. Manuel, a
brother of the King, and D. Henrique, a son. The presents conveyed to
Portugal included seven hundred copper bracelets, elephant tusks,
slaves, parrots, civet cats and other animals, and native cloth. D.
Henrique remained behind at Rome, where he was ordained and created
Bishop of Utica in 1518.[315]
The mission sent by King Manuel in return was far-reaching in its
effects upon the political development of Kongo.[316] Of its magnitude
we may judge when we learn that it embarked in five vessels. Its leader,
Simão da Silva, dying on the road to S. Salvador, his place was taken by
Alvaro Lopes, the Royal factor. In his company were priests, experienced
soldiers, masons and carpenters to build churches and a royal palace,
and a lawyer (_leterado_) to explain the law books which figured among
the royal gifts, besides horses, mules, cloth, banners, church furniture
and images. The ambassador was instructed to explain the management of
the royal household in Portugal, and King Affonso quickly learnt the
lessons he received, and at once introduced the Portuguese titles of
Duke, Marquis, and Count. The ambassador likewise had with him an
elaborate coat-of-arms for the King,[317] and twenty less ambitious
heraldic designs for his principal noblemen; and the monarch himself
adopted a title closely imitated from that of his “brother” of
Portugal.[318] The ambassador was likewise instructed to make inquiries
about the origin of the Kongo in a lake, and to bring home cargoes of
slaves, copper and ivory.
The King was delighted with all these gifts, not being aware that by
accepting them he virtually acknowledged himself to be a vassal of the
King of Portugal; and he published a long manifesto to his people, in
which he dwelt upon his past career, the blessings of the Christian
faith, and the honours now done him. He actually read the six bulky
folios, but he told Ruy d’Aguiar (in 1516) that if complicated laws like
these were to be introduced in his dominions, not a day would pass
without a legal offence of some kind being committed.[319]
The intercourse between Kongo and Lisbon must have been very active in
those days. We learn, for instance, that in 1526 the King asked for
physicians and apothecaries, and in 1530 he forwarded to his “brother”
Manuel two silver bracelets, which he had received from Matamba. Many
young Kongoese were sent to Portugal to be educated; but, to judge from
a letter written by the King in 1517, the results were not always very
gratifying.[320] Nay, he accuses Antonio Viera, to whom he entrusted
twenty young relations to be taken to Portugal, of having parted with
several among them to Mpanzu-alumbu, his enemy, and of having left
others behind him at S. Thomé.[321] A second embassy left Kongo in 1540,
to do homage to Pope Paul III. It was headed by D. Manuel, a brother of
the King, who had been a member of D. Pedro’s mission. King Affonso
expected the King of Portugal to pay 3,000 cruzados towards the expenses
of this mission, in consideration of the large profits which he derived
from the trade with Kongo.[322]
As a member of the Church militant, King Affonso deserved well of the
priesthood. He ruthlessly ordered all fetishes to be destroyed
throughout his dominions, but supplied their place with images of
saints, crosses, agni dei, and other ecclesiastical paraphernalia, which
he held to be more effectual. The clergy were numerous in his day, and
in addition to secular priests included Franciscans, Dominicans and
Austin Friars. They were wealthy, too, for lands and slaves had been
given them, and Christian churches arose even in remote parts of the
country. A Franciscan friar, Antonio de Dénis (known in the world as D.
Diogo de Vilhegas) had been appointed Bishop of S. Thomé and Kongo,[323]
and took possession of his see in 1534, on which occasion exceptional
honours were shown him. He was a man of energy and much sincerity, but,
unhappily for his Church, survived only a few years. On his death-bed he
desired that D. Henrique, the King’s son, whom he himself had ordained a
priest, when in Rome, and whom the Pope (as already mentioned) had
created Bishop of Utica in 1518, should succeed him in the episcopal
chair. The Pope, however, before he would consent to the appointment of
a native, desired personally to inquire into the matter. D. Henrique
went to Rome, but died on the voyage home, in 1539 or earlier.
King Affonso deserved his reputation as a zealous Christian, and had
certainly proved himself a good friend to the regular and secular clergy
who undertook to convert his people. Yet, as early as 1515, he had
occasion to call upon the King of Portugal to aid him in suppressing the
irregularities of these “unworthy preachers of the Holy Catholic Faith,”
whose inordinate desire of power and covetousness brought scandal upon
the Church, and promised little for the future.[324] Towards the close
of his reign, in 1540, one of these priests, Frei Alvaro, actually
attempted to assassinate the King, in church, and after Mass![325]
The Portuguese living at the time in Kongo were placed under a royal
factor and a Corregedor (magistrate), and enjoyed ex-territorial
jurisdiction. They had a factory at Mpinda, at the mouth of the Kongo,
where the King of Portugal levied heavy duties. The commercial relations
do not appear to have been at all times of the most friendly nature. In
1514 the King complained that Fernão de Mello, the Governor of S. Thomé,
traded with the Mpangu-lungu[326] who were his enemies; and in 1526 he
remonstrated against the conduct of the Portuguese slave-merchants.
Indeed, so preposterous were the claims put forward by the Portuguese
officials, that King Affonso, in 1517, humbly begged to be allowed to
employ a ship of his own when trading; or, at least to be exempted from
paying the heavy duties exacted by a foreign, albeit suzerain, power
upon the outlanders trading in his kingdom. These ill-advised exactions
explain, too, why trade gradually deserted the Kongo, and sought more
favourable openings to the south, at Luandu, as is shown by an inquiry
held in 1548.[327]
The Portuguese made an effort to exploit the mineral wealth of the
country. Ruy Mendes, the “factor of the copper mines,” is stated to have
discovered lead; and Gimdarlach (Durlacher?), a German “fundidor,” in
1593 discovered copper, lead, and silver. The King, however, would not
allow the mines to be worked, for he feared that such a concession might
cost him his kingdom.
Proposals for the exploration of the interior were made, but bore no
fruit. Gregòrio de Quadra, who had spent several years as a prisoner
among the Arabs, was sent to Kongo in 1520, with instructions to make
his way thence to the country of Prester John. The King refused his
consent; Quadra returned to Portugal, and died a monk.[328] Balthasar de
Castro, the companion of Manuel Pacheco in Angola, desired to explore
the upper Kongo in 1526; but neither his scheme nor that of Manuel
Pacheco himself, who was to have built two brigantines, seems to have
been carried out.
Of the domestic wars corned on by the King, we know next to nothing.
Angola and Matamba seem to have been virtually independent in his day,
though the island of Luandu, with its valuable cowry-fishery, was held
by him and his successors until 1649. He conquered, however,
Mpanzu-alumbu (Mpangu-lunga?)[329] on the lower Kongo, a district
inhabited by a predatory tribe.[330] That his successes in these “wars”
were due to his Portuguese mercenaries and their fire-locks is a matter
of course.
Don Affonso died in 1540, or soon afterwards, leaving behind him a son,
D. Pedro, who succeeded him, and three daughters.[331]
D. PEDRO AND HIS SUCCESSORS, 1540-1561.
PEDRO I had been educated in Portugal, and is described by Cavazzi as a
wise prince who had inherited all the virtues of his father, and was a
great friend of the missionaries. His reign was apparently a short
one,[332] and he was succeeded by a cousin, D. FRANCISCO, who only
reigned two or three years, and left the kingdom to a son,[333] D.
DIOGO.[334] Duarte Lopez describes this prince as a man of noble mind,
witty, intelligent, prudent in council, an upholder of the missionaries,
and at the same time a great warrior who, in the course of a few years,
conquered many of the neighbouring countries. His “wars” certainly did
not enlarge the borders of his kingdom, and the only war we know of
ended in disaster. The Portuguese at S. Salvador, jealous of the growing
commercial importance of Luandu, had persuaded the King to send an army
against Ngola Mbandi, they themselves furnishing an auxiliary corps. The
Kongoese, in spite of this, were defeated on the river Dande (about
1556); and Ngola not only appealed to Portugal for protection, but also
allied himself with the Jagas, with whose aid he invaded Kongo (in
1558).
Nor were the relations of D. Diogo with the missionaries quite as
friendly as Lopez would lead us to believe. As early as 1549, D. Diogo
complained of the overbearing conduct of the Jesuits who had arrived in
that year in the company of D. João Baptista, the Bishop of S.
Thomé;[335] the priests, on their side, accused the King of having shown
little respect to the bishop, and of having ordered them to be pulled
out of their pulpits, when they denounced his vices and those of his
people.[336] The Jesuits may have been over-zealous in the performance
of what they conceived to be their duty, and too prone to meddle in
politics; but they seem to have led clean lives, which cannot be said of
all of their clerical brethren. When D. Gaspar Cão,[337] the Bishop of
S. Thomé and Kongo, a man who took the duties of his office seriously,
visited S. Salvador, these priests openly defied his authority. But
after several of the recalcitrant priests had been deported to Portugal,
whilst others had left voluntarily with such wealth as they had been
able to amass, discipline was re-established.[338]
A REIGN OF ANARCHY, 1561-1568.
When Diogo died, about 1561, the Portuguese residents endeavoured to
secure the throne for one of their own creatures, and caused the duly
elected favourite of the people to be assassinated. As a result, the
people of S. Salvador rose upon the Portuguese, many of whom were
killed, not even priests being spared. The accounts[339] of this period
of disorder are too confused to enable us to be certain even of the
names of the reigning kings. D. AFFONSO II, a son (probably
illegitimate) of D. Diogo, ascended the throne of his father, but was
murdered by his brother, D. BERNARDO, who appears to have been the
candidate favoured by the Portuguese. He at once sent Father Estevão de
Laguos on an embassy to Queen Catherine of Portugal, who, in a letter
dated June 26th, 1562,[340] congratulated him upon his accession, whilst
gently chiding him for the murder of his brother. This King was
evidently friendly disposed towards the Portuguese; and Antonio Vieira,
a negro, who had visited Portugal as member of an embassy, when writing
to Queen Catherine in April 1566,[341] suggested that he might be
induced to allow the mines of copper and tin to be worked. D. Bernardo
is stated by the Duke of Mbamba to have fallen in a war with the
Anzicas, “in defence of Christianity and the Fatherland.” He was
succeeded by D. HENRIQUE, a brother of D. Diogo, who, after a short and
troubled reign, died of a wound received in a battle, either against
some revolted vassals,[342] or fighting the Anzicanas.[343] He was the
last king of the original dynasty, for Alvaro I, his successor, was only
a step-son.
D. ALVARO I AND THE AYAKA, 1568-1574.[344]
D. Alvaro, immediately on his accession, sent an embassy to Portugal, to
apologise for the massacre of many Portuguese during the reigns of his
predecessors, which he excused on the ground of the vices and abuses of
the clergy. These excuses were apparently accepted in Portugal,
fortunately for D. Alvaro, for the very next year the dreaded Ayaka[345]
invaded his kingdom by way of Mbata; and, being worsted, the King fled
with his adherents to the Hippopotamus Island,[346] on the lower Kongo,
where they suffered many hardships, and whence he appealed piteously to
the Portuguese for help. This help was not denied him. Francisco de
Gouvea, corregedor of S. Thomé, in 1570, hastened to his aid with six
hundred Portuguese, expelled the Ayaka, reinstated the King in his
capital, and built a wall round S. Salvador for greater security. The
King fully recognised the value of the service that had been rendered
him, for Paulo Dias de Novaes told Garcia Mendes[347] that he
acknowledged himself a vassal of Portugal;[348] and as neither gold or
silver had been discovered in his country, he agreed to pay a tribute in
_njimbos_, which he actually did for a few years.
No sooner was Alvaro once more seated securely upon his throne than he
sent the Count of Sonyo against Ngola (1572). Several encounters took
place in Musulu and Mbuila (Ambuila); but in the end Ngola was allowed
to retain his father’s conquests, the river Dande being fixed upon as
the boundary between the two kingdoms. Kongo, however, retained
possession of the valuable island of Luandu.
Among other events of this reign we should mention a second visit of D.
Gaspar Cão, the bishop, shortly before his death (in 1574); and the
scandal caused by the burial of a notorious infídel, D. Francisco Mbula
matadi, in the church of S. Cruz, the roof of which was taken off by
night, and the body, carried away by the Devil![349]
D. Alvaro only enjoyed his prosperity for a short time, for when Paulo
Dias landed at Luandu, in 1575, he was already dead.[350]
D. ALVARO II, 1574-1614.
Alvaro II, a son of Alvaro I, is described by Bishop D. Manuel Baptista
as a “zealous Christian, father and friend of all;”[351] but it is
evident that he looked not with overmuch favour upon the Portuguese
residents in his country, and he is charged, in a memoir addressed by
Domingos d’Abreu Brito to King Philip I, in 1592 with having plotted
with the kings of Ndongo and Matamba against the Portuguese. An army
which he sent ostensibly to the aid of the Portuguese in 1583 retired,
apparently without striking a blow, whilst he furnished a contingent to
the forces of Matamba which invaded Angola in 1590. He hindered, by
specious excuses, the completion of a stone fort at Mpinda, which had
been commenced in 1609 by Antonio Gonçalves Pitta, until all the workmen
had died. He favoured Dutch traders to the great detriment of the
Portuguese; and we know from Samuel Braun,[352] that an effort was made
in 1612 to expel the Dutch from the Kongo, and that it would have been
successful, had not the natives sided with these heretical enemies,
whose dealings appeared to them to be more generous. Moreover, the King,
although he had promised Sebastian da Costa (1580) that he would allow
the supposed silver mines to be sought for, eventually refused his
consent.[353]
Turning to Church affairs, we hear of the usual applications for
missionaries, and of several episcopal visitations by D. F. Antonio de
Goiva (1578), D. Manuel de Ulhoa, D. Miguel Baptista Rangel, and D.
Manuel Baptista. D. Manuel de Ulhoa presided over a synod at S.
Salvador, in 1585, and laid down statutes for the government of his see.
D. Miguel Baptista Rangel was the first Bishop of Kongo, which had been
separated from the diocese of S. Thomé by a Bull of May 20th, 1596. His
successor, D. Manuel Baptista, resided for several years in Kongo, where
he died in 1621; and a letter addressed to King Philip II, in 1612,[354]
speaks of the results of over a century of missionary effort as
insignificant, and describes the people as incurable barbarians, full of
vice.
D. PEDRO II AFFONSO, 1622-1624.
BERNARDO II, a son of Alvaro II, only reigned for a few months, for he
was killed by his brother, ALVARO III, and a complaint addressed to him
by the Governor of Angola about the admission of heretical Dutchmen to
trade in Sonyo was answered by his successor. This Alvaro III, the
fratricide, is nevertheless described by Cavazzi as having been “wise,
modest, courageous, and above all a zealous Christian.” It was during
his reign, in 1619, that the Jesuits founded a college at S. Salvador. A
proposed mission of Italian Capuchins came to nothing, for King Philip
of Spain, by royal letters of September 22nd, 1620, forbade foreign
missionaries to enter Portuguese colonies without first obtaining a
royal license.[355] Alvaro III died on May 26th, 1622, and was succeeded
by D. PEDRO II AFFONSO, whom Cavazzi describes as a son of Alvaro III;
whilst a Jesuit canon of S. Salvador,[356] who wrote an interesting life
of this prince in 1624, makes him out to have been a son of Mbiki a
ntumba, Duke of Nsundi, and a descendant, in the female line, of the
first King of Kongo. If this biographer can be trusted, he was a man of
much promise, and of a mild, forgiving temper; for although the Duke of
Mbamba had sought his life, he conferred upon him the marquisate of
Wembo. His reign was a short and troubled one. In August, 1622, the Duke
of Mbata had been killed by rebels, and his vassal, the King of Kwangu
(Ocango), had suffered a defeat. João Corrêa de Souza, the Governor of
Angola, summoned him to surrender Luandu Island and all the copper
mines; and this being refused, the Portuguese under Luiz Gomez, aided by
the Jagas, crossed the Dande at Ikau and invaded Nambu a ngongo, and (in
December) also Mbumbi, where the Duke of Mpemba and many others were
killed and eaten by the Jagas, in spite of their being Christians. The
people of the invaded districts revenged themselves by killing the
Portuguese living in their midst, the King vainly endeavouring to
protect them. These invaders had scarcely been driven off, when Captain
Silvestre Soares, with a body of Jagas, entered Ngombe and Kabanda. But
that which gave most pain to the King was the destruction of the kingdom
of Bangu, and the murder of its King by the Jagas, with the aid of the
King of “Loango,” which was the “trunk and origin of the kingdom of
Kongo.”[357] In the midst of these afflictions, the King was rejoiced to
learn the arrival of D. Simão Mascarenhas at Luanda; but he met with an
accident, and died on April 13th, 1624, after a short reign of less than
two years, and mourned by six sons and two daughters.[358]
D. PEDRO’S SUCCESSORS, 1624-1641.
GARCIA, the eldest son of D. Pedro, when elected was only twenty years
of age, He was succeeded by D. AMBROSIO, in October, 1626, whose reign,
up till March, 1631, was one continuous warfare with his powerful
vassals. The country became unsafe, and the Portuguese retired for a
time from S. Salvador. ALVARO IV, a son of Alvaro III, made himself
master of the kingdom, and retained possession until his death, February
25th, 1636. He was succeded by his son, ALVARO V, who, doubting the
loyalty of his half-brothers, the Duke of Mbamba and the Marquis of
Kiowa, made war upon them, was defeated and taken prisoner, but
liberated. Unmindful of the generosity of his opponents, he once more
tried the fortune of battle, was taken again, and executed (in August,
1636). The Duke of Mbamba was unanimously elected in his place, and
reigned, as ALVARO VI, until his death on February 22nd, 1641. He waged
two unsuccessful wars against the Count of Sonyo, in 1636 and again in
1637; and was obliged to surrender the district of Makuta (Mocata) to
his adversary.
GARCIA II AFFONSO, O KIMBAKU, 1641-1663,[359]
the half-brother and old companion in arms of Alvaro VI, took possession
of the throne at a critical time; for in August of the year of his
accession, the Dutch captured Luandu, and the fortunes of the Portuguese
were at the lowest ebb. The Dutch lost no time in sending an embassy to
Kongo (1642),[360] and these new allies lent him their assistance in a
small war against Mwana Nsala, who had defied the royal authority.[361]
But they declined to give effective help against a more powerful vassal,
the Count of Sonyo, as it might have interfered with their trade
interests on the Lower Kongo.[362] The King’s army was defeated twice on
April 29th, 1645, when Affonso, the King’s son, was taken prisoner, and
again in July 1648, in the forest of Mfinda angulu. Meanwhile the Dutch
had broken the padrão set up by Cão at the mouth of the Kongo; they had
re-named S. Antonio’s Bay after their river Pampus at Amsterdam; had
gone to S. Salvador; and at least one of them, Johan Herder,[363] had
travelled far inland, and visited the Mwana Nkundi on the Kwangu. The
heretical tracts and books which they liberally distributed were in due
course burnt by the Capuchin friars.
Portugal was, moreover, irritated by the admission of Italian and
Castilian Capuchins, a batch of whom, headed by P. Bonaventura of
Alessano,[364] arrived at S. Salvador, on September 2nd, 1645, without
having previously called at Lisbon. This first mission was followed by
three others in 1648, 1651 and 1654,[365] and mission stations were
established in Mbata, in Nkusu, Nsundi, Mpemba, Mbwela, and Wembo
(Ovando).[366] Among the more noteworthy missionary travels of the time
was that of P. Girolamo of Montesarchio, who visited Konko a bele
(Concobello), in 1652.[367]
Even greater offence was given to Portugal by a mission which the King
despatched to Rome in 1646, and which arrived there, by way of Holland,
in May, 1648. P. Angelo de Valenza, the head of this mission, had been
instructed to beg the Pope to appoint three bishops for Kongo, Matamba
and the Makoko’s country, without reference to the claims of Portugal.
This the Pope declined to do; but to show his pleasure at receiving this
mission, he had a medal struck in memory of its visit, with the
inscription “Et Congo agnovit Pastorem,” and sent the King a Royal crown
blessed by himself. The King, however, when his mission returned (1651),
and when he heard that the Pope had refused to change Kongo from an
elective into a hereditary monarchy, grew wroth. He openly renounced
Christianity, forbade the Capuchins to preach the word of God, and
recalled his native ngangas. But when some bags containing relics and
ornaments, which the King had taken out of the churches, were
miraculously spared by a fire which broke out in his palace, he
reconsidered his position. A reconciliation with the Capuchins was
effected, and soon afterwards the King, in penitential robes, actually
marched at the head of a procession which had been organised to turn
away a threatened plague of locusts; he allowed himself to be crowned by
P. Giannuario of Nola, in the name of his Holiness, and took an active
part in the celebration of the Pope’s jubilee.[368]
Meanwhile the Portuguese had recovered Luandu, and the King was called
upon to pay the penalty for having made friendship with the Dutch
heretics, and admitted foreigners as missionaries. Bartholomeu de
Vasconcellos invaded Kongo. The King at once sent P. Domingos Cardoso, a
Jesuit, and the Capuchin Friar Bonaventura Sardo, to Luandu, where they
had an interview with the Governor (on February 19th, 1649), and
preliminary terms of peace were arranged.[369] The treaty was reported
upon by the _Conselho Ultramarino_, and confirmed in 1651 at Lisbon,
whither Friar Bonaventura[370] of Sorrento had gone to do homage to the
King of Portugal, on behalf of the Prefect of the Capuchins, as also to
plead the cause of his Order in reference to the proposed treaty. The
terms of this treaty, as modified, were as follows:—Castilians or
Dutchmen not to be permitted to reside or travel in Kongo nor their
ships to be admitted, unless provided with a Portuguese passport; the
Capuchin friars to communicate with Rome only by way of Luandu or
Lisbon, and no Castilians to be admitted among them; the Kings of Kongo
and Portugal to mutually assist each other if attacked by an enemy; an
ambassador of the King of Kongo to take up his residence at Luandu, as
also a royal prince, as hostage, or in his absence two or three men of
rank; compensation to be granted for all the losses suffered by the
Portuguese since the arrival of the Dutch, and fugitive slaves to be
surrendered; Portuguese merchants to be exempted from the payment of
tolls; a site to be granted at the mouth of the Kongo for a fortress;
all gold and silver mines to be ceded to the crown of Portugal, and the
country to the south of the river Dande to be ceded absolutely; and
finally the King of Kongo to acknowledge himself a “tributario” of
Portugal.
The King seems to have long hesitated before he ratified this treaty,
for in 1656, Diogo Gomes de Morales was ordered to invade Kongo to
enforce it, and was on the point of crossing the river Loje into Mbamba,
when he was recalled, as envoys from the King had arrived at Luandu,
definitely to arrange the terms of peace.
During the later years of his life, D. Garcia once more fell away from
his Christian teachers, whom he accused of being influenced by political
motives. Suspecting the Duke of Mpemba of a desire to deprive his son of
the succession, he had him executed; and when the native diviners
accused his eldest son, Affonso, of aiming at his life, he had his
second son elected as his successor. He died in 1663.
D. ANTONIO I, 1663-66.
D. Antonio had been enjoined by his dying father to avenge the
humiliation forced upon him by the Portuguese. He inaugurated his reign
by killing his own brother and other relatives, whom he suspected of
disloyalty. The warnings of heaven—fiery balls, an earthquake, which
destroyed part of his capital, a plague, which decimated the
population—were disregarded by him.
He very soon found himself involved in a war with the Portuguese, who
claimed possession of the mines which had been promised by treaty, and
complained of raids made upon friendly chiefs. On July 13th, 1665, the
King called upon his people to rise in defence of their country and
liberty.[371] His diviners had promised him an easy victory. The
Portuguese had recently been reinforced from Brazil, yet the army which
they were able to put into the field only numbered four hundred
Europeans, with two field guns and six thousand negroes. It was
commanded by Luiz Lopez de Sequeira, the captain-major, with whom were
Manuel Rebello de Brito, Diogo Rodriguez de Sá, Simão de Matos and
Antonio Araujo Cabreira, the serjeant-major. The hostile forces met on
January 1st, 1666, at Ulanga, near the Pedras de Ambuilla.[372] Antonio,
seeing the small force opposed to him, hoped to gain an easy victory;
but the Portuguese, formed in square, resisted the onslaught of his
hosts for six hours. At last the King left the ranks, desirous of a
personal encounter with Lopez de Sequeira; but he was shot down, his
head was cut off, and stuck upon a pike. His followers fled in dismay.
The missionaries assert that the Virgin Mary, with her Child, was seen
to stand by the side of the Portuguese leader, directing the battle, and
that a fiery rain fell upon the idolaters.[373]
The Governor of Angola, in commemoration of this victory, built the
chapel of N.S. da Nazareth at Luandu, whilst the King of Portugal amply
rewarded the victors.
A TIME OF ANARCHY, AFTER 1666.
We are indebted to Pedro Mendes for an account of the history of Kongo
from the death of D. Antonio in 1666 to the beginning of the eighteenth
century.[374] During that time, according to this authority, there were
fourteen Kings of Kongo, of whom four were beheaded (or killed) by the
Musurongo, five by the Ezikongo, three died a natural death, and two
were survivors when he wrote, namely, D. Pedro IV, at Salvador, and D.
João at Mbula.[375] At one time there were actually three kings in the
field.
ALVARO VII, a royal prince who had passed his early life in retirement,
but who, on being raised to the throne, turned out a monster of
iniquity, was killed by his own subjects, abetted by the Count of Sonyo
(1666), under whose auspices took place the election of his successor,
D. ALVARO VIII (1666-70), who was in turn removed by the Marquis of
Mpemba. Alvaro VIII[376] had allowed the Portuguese to search for gold,
but this search turned out as fruitless as the search for silver at
Kambambe. Meanwhile D. AFFONSO III AFFONSO had been proclaimed at
Kibangu, the new capital (1667), whilst D. PEDRO III _nsukia ntamba_ was
put up as an opposition King in Mbula. The latter defeated his rival,
who fled beyond the Mbiriji (Ambriz), and died there (of poison?). His
widow, D. Anna, a daughter of a former King, Garcia, retired to Nkondo
(Mucondo), and survived her husband until 1680. The people proclaimed D.
GARCIA III _nenganga mbemba_[377] his successor, whilst the opposition,
at the old capital (S. Salvador), declared D. DANIEL DE GUZMAN,
descendant of Mpanzu (Alvaro I), to be the rightful King. D. Daniel took
the field against D. Garcia III, but, before he reached the residence of
that King, he was overtaken by D. Pedro of Mbula; his army was
dispersed, and himself beheaded. His children sought refuge with the
Count of Sonyo, and by treachery they succeeded in getting D. Pedro into
their power, and killed him. The people of Mbula thereupon raised his
brother, D. JOÃO, to the throne, who survived until after 1710. S.
Salvador, after D. Daniel had deserted it, became the haunt of wild
beasts.
Meanwhile D. RAFAEL, Marquis of Mpemba, who had been proclaimed King
some time anterior to this, had been obliged to seek refuge among the
Portuguese, and his reinstatement was one of the objects of the
disastrous expedition of 1670,[378] by which it was sought to punish
Count Estevão da Silva of Sonyo for his desecration of Christian
churches and the ill-treatment of Portuguese traders: or, rather, his
dealings with heretic competitors.
João Soares de Almeida, the commander of this expedition, had with him
five hundred Portuguese, supported by a strong force of native allies,
among whom was a Jaga Kalandula. He won a battle, in which Estevão was
killed; but Pedro, the brother of the unfortunate Count, rallied the
forces of Sonyo, unexpectedly fell upon the Portuguese near the Mbiriji
(Ambriz), and scarcely a man among them escaped. Count Pedro then
expelled the Italian Capuchins, who were supposed to be friendly to
Portugal, and invited in their stead Belgian members of the same Order,
who arrived in September, 1673, under the lead of P. Wouters. But,
having been accused of stopping the rain, and having in reply
excommunicated the Count, they were speedily expelled.[379] Peace
between Sonyo and Portugal was only restored in 1690, when the former
promised to abolish idolatry and to sell no slaves to heretics.
It was about this period (between 1669 and 1675) that Francisco do
Murça, the captain-major of Dande, visited S. Salvador, and proceeded
thence to Mbata and the Kwangu, where he was told that this river flowed
through the kingdom of the Makoko, and entered the sea at Mpinda, a fact
long before known to the missionaries. These latter had not quite
abandoned the Kongo, notwithstanding these troubles, and in 1668 the
Capuchins still occupied their monasteries at the capital of Mbamba and
at Mpembu;[380] whilst Girolamo Merolla (1682-88) and Antonio Zucchelli
steadily laboured (1700-02) in Sonyo and Luangu.[381]
D. ANDRE succeeded D. Garcia, but died after a short reign. D. MANUEL
_nzinga elenge_, a descendant of Mpanzu, was duly elected, but expelled
by the sons of the late D. Garcia, who raised ALVARO IX to the throne in
his stead. This prince was never recognised by the Count of Sonyo, who
looked upon D. Manuel, who had sought refuge with him, as the legitimate
King. He was reinstated by him for a time, but ultimately fell into the
power of his enemies, and was beheaded.
Alvaro IX was succeeded in 1694 by his brother PEDRO IV _nsanu a
mbemba_, also known as _agoa rosada_,[382] who once more returned to the
ancient capital. He and D. João of Mbula were the only Kings alive in
1701, when the Capuchin Friar Francisco de Pavia, and his colleague
Friar João Maria went throughout the kingdom of Kongo, preaching peace,
and calling upon the leading men to recognise D. Pedro as their King;
and thus put an end to quarrels which had distracted the country for an
entire generation.
A RETROSPECT.
And if we ask to what extent, and in what manner, have the natives of
Kongo been benefited by two centuries of contact with the civilisation
of Europe, and of missionary effort, we feel bound to admit that they
have not been benefited at all—either materially or morally. On the
contrary. There were, no doubt, a few earnest men among the
missionaries, and the Church of Rome deserves some credit for the zeal
with which she addressed herself to the object of converting the
natives. At the same time it cannot be denied that the instruments she
employed, the methods she pursued, and the surrounding circumstances,
were not favourable to success. And success there has been none—at
least, none of an enduring nature—notwithstanding the boastful, if not
absolutely mendacious, reports of her missionaries. The assertion that
there was a time when the whole of Kongo had become Roman Catholic must
raise a smile on the face of those who have attentively studied the
missionary reports. There were eleven churches and a crowd of priests at
the capital; but the outlying provinces were but poorly attended to. The
number of missionaries, even including the native helpers, was never
large enough to administer, even to a tithe of the population, those
rites and sacraments, which the Roman Catholic Church professes to be of
essential importance.[383]
I quite agree with the Rev. J. Leighton Wilson, when he says that the
“great spiritual edifice” [raised by the missionaries] has not only
“crumbled into the dust, but it has left the unfortunate inhabitants of
that country in as deep ignorance and superstition, and perhaps in
greater poverty and degradation, than they would have been if Roman
Catholicism had never been proclaimed among them.”[384] Father José
Antonio de Souza, who resided at S. Salvador from 1881-87, and was
subsequently created Bishop of Mozambique, virtually admits this, for he
says: “Christianity did not penetrate deeply; it passed over the country
like a heavy rain, which scarcely wetted the surface of the land, and
left the subsoil absolutely dry and sterile.”[385] He adds
significantly: “By the side of the missionary stood the slave-trader.”
And surely it was the export slave trade, created by the cupidity of the
Portuguese, but shared in by Dutch, French and English, which undermined
the prosperity of the country, and decimated its population. And the
missionaries never raised a protest against this traffic, although it
was against the tenets of their Church,[386] for they profited by it.
The only thing which they did for the wretched slaves was to endeavour
to secure, as far as possible, that they should not fall into the hands
of heretics; so that at least their souls might be saved, whatever
became of their bodies.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
APPENDIX III.
A LIST OF THE KINGS OF KONGO.
(NTOTELA NTINU MAKONGO.)
1. Ntinu mini a lukeni.
2. Nanga kia ntinu, his nephew or cousin.
3. — —
4. Nkuwu a ntinu, son of No. 1.
5. João I Nzinga a nkuwu, son of No. 4, baptised May
3rd, 1491, died 1509.
6. Mpanzu a nzinga (Mpanzu a kitima?), second son of
No. 5, 1509.
7. Affonso I Mbemba a nzinga (Mbemba nelumbu),
eldest son of No. 5, 1509-40.
8. Pedro I Nkanga a mbemba, son of No. 7, 1540-44.
9. Francisco Mpudi a nzinga, 1544-46.
10. Diogo Nkumbi a mpudi, son of No. 9, 1546-61.
11. Affonso II Mpemba a nzinga, an illegitimate son of
No. 10? 1561.
12. Bernardo I, (bastard) son of No. 10, 1561-67.
13. Henrique (Nerika) a mpudi, son of No. 9, 1567-68.
14. Alvaro I o Mpanzu, Mini a lukeni lua mbamba,
stepson of No. 12, 1568-74.
15. Alvaro II Nempanzu a Mini, son of No. 14, 1574-1614.
16. Bernardo II Nenimi a mpanzu, son of No. 15, 1615.
17. Alvaro III Mbiki a mpanzu, Duke of Mbamba, son of No. 15,
1615 to May 26th, 1622.
18. Pedro II Affonso Nkanga a mbiki, son of Mbiki an tumbo,
Duke of Nsundi, grandson of a daughter of No. 7, 1622 to April
13th, 1624.
19. Garcia I Mbemba a nkanga, Duke of Mbamba, son of No. 18,
April 1624, to June 26th, 1626.
20. Ambrosio I, October 10th, 1626, to March, 1631.
21. Alvaro IV, son of No. 17, 1631 to February 25th, 1636.
22: Alvaro V, son of No. 21, 1636-38.
23. Alvaro VI, Duke of Mbamba, August, 1638, to February 22nd,
1641.
24. Garcia II o kimbaku, (Nkanga a lukeni), Marquis of Kiwa,
1641-63.
25. Antonio I Nevita a nkanga, mwana mulaza, son of No. 24,
1663-66.
26. Alvaro VII Nepanzu a masundu, 1666-67.
27. Pedro III Nsukia ntamba of Mbula, 1667-79.
28. Alvaro VIII, 1667-78.
29. Affonso III Affonso, 1667-69.
30. Garcia III Nenganga mbemba, 1669-78.
31. Rafael I, marquis of Mpemba, 1669-75.
32. Daniel de Guzman Nemiala nia gimbuilla (?), a descendant
of No. 14, 1678-80.
33. João of Mbula, brother of No. 27, 1679—(He was alive in
1710).
34. André mulaza, a descendant of No. 25, 1679.
35. Manuel Nzinga elenge, a descendant of No. 14, 1680-16—.
36. Alvaro IX Nenimi a mbemba, a descendant both of No. 14 and
of No. 25.
37. Pedro IV, Nsanu a mbemba (Agoa rosada), brother of No. 36,
acceded 1694, and was alive in 1710.
38. Pedro Constantino Kibangu. He was executed in 1709.
The dates given for Nos. 26-38, are for the most part very uncertain:
Nos. 26, 28, 31, and 32 I believe to have resided at S. Salvador; Nos.
29, 30, 34, 35, 36 and 37, at Kibangu; Nos. 27 and 33, in Mbula.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
APPENDIX IV.
A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF ANGOLA TO THE END OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
EARLY PORTUGUESE VISITORS.
The inhabitants of S. Thomé were granted permission in 1500[387] to
trade as far as the Kongo river; but it is just possible that long
before that time, and notwithstanding an interdict of 1504, they had
felt their way southward along the coast, and had discovered that a
profitable trade, not hampered by the presence of royal officials or
“farmers,” might be carried on at Luandu, and up a river which, after
the King of the country, was called the river of Ngola (Angola).
Several years afterwards, a representative of this Ngola, whilst on a
visit at S. Salvador, suggested that missionaries should be sent to
convert his master. King Manuel was nothing loth to act upon this
suggestion, and entrusted Manuel Pacheco and Balthasar de Castro, both
of whom were old residents in Kongo, with an expedition, whose main
object was to report on the missionary and commercial prospects in
Ngola’s country, to inquire into the existence of reputed silver mines,
and, eventually, to explore the coast as far as the Cape of Good Hope.
On arriving at the bar of Ngola’s river (the Kwanza), B. de Castro was
to go to the King’s court, where, if circumstances were favourable, he
was to be joined by a priest. Pacheco himself was to return to Portugal,
with a cargo of slaves, ivory, and silver.[388]
No report of this mission has hitherto seen the light; but we know that
B. de Castro actually reached Ngola’s residence, and that he was
retained there as a prisoner, until released in 1526, through the
intervention of the King of Kongo. He reported that he never saw silver
or precious stones anywhere in Angola.[389]
THE EARLY HISTORY OF NDONGO (ANGOLA).
Ndongo is the original name of the vast territory now known as Angola,
from the name or title of its ruler (Ngola) when first the Portuguese
became acquainted with it. The early history of this region is involved
in obscurity, but it seems that its chiefs at one time owed allegiance
to the King of Kongo, whose authority was finally shaken off about the
middle of the sixteenth century, the King only keeping possession of
Luandu island and its valuable _njimbu_ fishery.
Cavazzi, Antonio Laudati of Gaeta, Cadornega, and others, have published
long lists of Kings of “Angola;” but nearly all the names they give are
not those of the Kings, but the titles which they assumed,[390] and by
which they were generally known. The full title of the King of Ndongo
was _Ngola kiluanji kia Samba_,[391] and that title is still borne by
the present ruler, who claims to be a descendant of the kings of old,
and whose _Kabasa_[392] on the River Hamba (Va-umba or Umba) still
occupies the locality assigned by the missionaries to Queen Nzinga’s
_Kabasa_, where they built the church of S. Maria of Matamba.
Cavazzi’s Matamba, however, included the whole of Queen Nzinga’s
kingdom, as it existed in his day, whilst the original Matamba, as also
the country known by that name in the present day, had much narrower
limits. It was originally tributary to Kongo, but one of its rulers
assumed the title of _Kambulu_, that is, King, and renounced all
vassalage to his former suzerain. It existed as an independent kingdom
until 1627, when the famous Queen Nzinga took prisoner the dowager
Queen, Muongo Matamba, and incorporated this ancient kingdom in her own
dominions.[393]
It may have been a Ngola kiluanji, described by Cavazzi as the son of
Tumba ria ngola and of a Ngola kiluanji kia Samba, who first invaded
lower Ndongo, and assigned his conquest to one of his sons. But all is
uncertainty, and there exists an inextricable confusion in the names of
the Kings of upper and lower Ndongo as transmitted to us. One thing,
however, is certain, namely, that as early as 1520 the country down to
the sea was held by a king bearing the name or title of Ngola.[394]
THE FIRST EXPEDITION OF PAULO DIAS DE NOVAES, 1560.
In 1556 Ngola Ineve,[395] being threatened by Kongo, sent an ambassador
to Portugal asking for the establishment of friendly relations. This
ambassador arriving in the year of the death of King John III (1557),
action was deferred until 1559, when three caravels were fitted out and
placed under the command of Paulo Dias, a grandson of the discoverer of
the Cape of Good Hope. Dias left Lisbon on December 22nd, 1559, and
called at S. Thomé (where Bishop Gaspar Cão observed that the Jesuits,
who accompanied Dias, would meet with no success as long as commercial
intercourse was prohibited).[396] Dias arrived at the bar of the Kwanza
on May 3rd, and there waited patiently for six months, when Musungu, a
native chief, made his appearance at the head of a crew of painted
warriors, armed with bows and arrows. In his company Dias, accompanied
by the Jesuit fathers and twenty men, travelled up the country for sixty
leagues, when he arrived at the royal residence.[397] The King, not any
longer the Ngola who had asked for missionaries, but his successor,[398]
received his visitors kindly, but would net allow them to depart until
they had helped him against one of his revolted Sobas, called Kiluanji
kia kwangu by Garcia Mendes.[399] Having rendered this service Dias was
dismissed, but the Jesuits remained behind as hostages. Whilst Dias was
absent in Europe, Ngola defeated an army sent against him, and thus
compelled the recognition of the Dande river as his boundary, the
island of Luandu alone, with its productive _njimbu_ fishery, remaining
with Kongo. Ngola ndambi died (in 1568?) before Dias returned.
THE SECOND EXPEDITION OF DIAS, 1574.
After a considerable delay, Dias was sent out as “Conquistador” of the
territory recently visited by him. He left Lisbon on October 23rd, 1574,
with seven vessels and three hundred and fifty men, most of them
cobblers, tailors, and tradesmen.[400] Among his officers were Pedro da
Fonseca, his son-in-law, Luis Serrão, André Ferreira Pereira, and Garcia
Mendes Castellobranco, all of whom subsequently won distinction as
“Conquistadores.” Three Jesuit fathers (with P. Balthasar Barreira as
superior), and three Dominicans accompanied him. These latter, however,
not finding the country to their liking, soon sought more comfortable
quarters in Kongo. Dias was authorised to grant estates (including full
seignorial rights) to all such among his companions as were prepared to
build a small fort at their own expense.
In February, 1575, the fleet sighted the coast near the Kwanza, and
passing over the bar of Kurimba cast anchor in the fine bay of Luandu,
and on February 20th Dias laid the foundations of a church.[401] The
island, at that time, was inhabited by forty Portuguese who had come
from Kongo, and a considerable number of native Christians. Its cowry
fisheries yielded great profit to its owner, the King of Kongo, who was
represented by a governor.[402] Not finding the site originally chosen
for his capital to be suitable, Dias, in 1576, removed to what is now
known as the Morro de S. Miguel, and he named the new colony “Reino de
Sebaste na conquista de Ethiopia,” in honour of the King who fell
gloriously at Al Kasr el Kebir, and its capital S. Paulo de Luandu.
Meanwhile the customary presents were exchanged with the King, whose
name or title seems to have been Ngola a kiluanji. The King’s gifts
included slaves, cattle, copper and silver bracelets, and aromatic
Kakongo wood. The Cardinal King D. Henrique (1578-80) converted the
silver bracelets into a chalice, which he presented to the church of
Belem.
Friendly relations continued for three years. The King had been duly
helped against his rebellious sobas; Pedro da Fonseca lived at the
King’s residence as “ministro conservador” of the Portuguese, and a
brisk trade seems to have sprung up with the new town of S. Paulo de
Luandu, when it was insinuated to the King that the Portuguese
ultimately intended to take possession of his country, and to sell his
subjects abroad as slaves. The _Catalogo_ traces these insinuations to
the jealousy of a Portuguese trader “inspired by the Devil,” and
although neither Garcia Mendes nor Abreu de Brito alludes to this
infamy, their not doing so does not disprove the positive statement of
the _Catalogo_.[403] Moreover, whether the King’s mind was influenced by
envoys from Kongo, or by a traitorous Portuguese, it must be admitted
that the intentions of the Portuguese were not altogether
misrepresented.
At all events, the results were immediately disastrous, for twenty
Portuguese traders, who were at the King’s kabasa at the time, were
murdered, together with one thousand slaves, and their merchandise was
confiscated.
DIAS IN THE FIELD, 1578-89.
Dias, before this happened, had already (in 1577) built the fort of S.
Cruz,[404] ten leagues up the Kwanza, and was at the time at a stockade
on the Penedo de S. Pedro, still higher up on the river.[405] When
there, he was warned not to advance any further, and, suspecting
treachery, he retired with his one hundred and fifty men to Kanzele
(Anzele),[406] where he entrenched himself (in 1578). Twenty days later
he received news of the massacre. Dias at once hastened back to Luandu
for reinforcements, the serjeant-major, Manuel João, meanwhile valiantly
defending the stockade and raiding the neighbourhood.
In September, 1580, Dias again left Luandu with three hundred men.
Slowly he proceeded along the Kwanza by land and in boats, punished the
sobas Muchima, Kitangombe, and Kizua, in Kisama, and defeated the King’s
army at Makunde,[407] where he had his headquarters for two years,
during which time his subordinates, João Serrão, Manuel João, and
others, established his authority among the sobas of Kisama and Lamba
(Ilamba).
In 1582 he removed to Masanganu, at the “meeting of the waters” of the
Lukala and Kwanza. Determined to capture the reputed silver mines of
Kambambe, he set out with Luiz Serrão, eighty Portuguese, and a “guerra
preta” of thirty thousand men. During his forward march he defeated the
soba Mbamba Tungu; and at an entrenched camp at Teka ndungu, on February
2nd, 1584, he inflicted a crushing defeat upon the King’s forces; the
Jesuit Father Balthasar Barreiro claiming no little credit for having
contributed to this victory by his prayers.[408] As a result of this
success, many of the sobas declared in favour of Portugal, but so
inconsiderable were the forces at the command of Dias that he could do
no more than maintain his position at Masanganu. An army under the Duke
of Mbamba, which had been promised to him, was never sent.[409]
Reinforcements, however, arrived in the course of 1584 and 1586,[410]
and Dias fought a battle on the Lukala. But his subordinates did not
always meet with a like success; and João Castanhosa Vellez, with one
hundred Portuguese, was completely routed by the soba Ngola
Kalungu.[411]
As an incident of the governorship of Paulo Dias may be mentioned the
building of a fort at Benguella velho, by his nephew, Antonio Lopes
Peixoto, in 1587. Unhappily, fifty men of the garrison ventured abroad,
unarmed, and fell in an ambush; and of the twenty who had remained in
the fort, and who offered a stout resistance, only two escaped. As a
matter of fact, the losses of human life in these native wars were very
considerable.
Paulo Dias died in the midst of preparations for a fresh expedition
against Ngola, in October, 1589, and was buried in the church of N. S.
da Victoria, which he himself had built at Masanganu.[412]
His soldiers elected Luiz Serrão, the captain-major, to succeed him.
LUIZ SERRÃO AND THE BATTLE OF 1590.
Luiz Serrão, having completed his preparations, started with an army
numbering one hundred and twenty eight Portuguese musketeers (with three
horses), and fifteen thousand native allies armed with bows. With this
utterly insufficient force he crossed the Lukala, and then advanced to
the east. On Friday, December 25th, 1590, when at Ngwalema a kitambu
(Anguolome aquitambo) in Ari,[413] he found himself face to face with
the King of Matamba, whose army had been reinforced by Ngola, the King
of Kongo, the Jaga Kinda,[414] and others. Serrão desired to retire
before this overwhelming host, but his subordinate officers, André
Ferreira Pereira and Francisco de Sequeira, persuaded him to attack the
enemy. He did so, on Monday, December 28th, 1590, and was defeated. The
retreat was effected in good order. The vanguard of forty musketeers
was led by João de Velloria, then came the “guerra preta,” whilst Serrão
himself commanded the rear, and fought almost daily with his pursuers.
The camp at Lukanza, with its valuable contents, had to be abandoned. At
length, on reaching Akimbolo,[415] many leagues to the rear, the
fugitives met Luiz Mendez Rapozo, who had come up from Luandu with
seventy-eight men. At last they reached the old presidio of Mbamba Tungu
and Masanganu; Manuel Jorge d’Oliveira was at once sent down to Luandu
for reinforcements, and on their arrival the siege was raised. L. Serrão
survived this disaster only for a month; and when he died, his officers
elected Luiz Ferreira Pereira, the captain-major, to take his place. The
sobas all around, and in Lamba and Ngulungu, headed by one Muzi Zemba
(Muge Asemba), were in the field, but they were held in check by
Pereira, and the Portuguese name continued to be respected.
THE JAGA.
Jaga or Jaka is a military title,[416] and by no means the name of a
people. The predatory man-eating bands at whose head they invaded the
agricultural districts towards the sea coast, included elements of all
kinds, not unlike the bands of the “Zulu” of our own time; and hence,
one of the names by which they became known in Angola was Bangala.[417]
I have already stated that I do not think that these military leaders,
or Jaga, have anything to do with the tribe of the Ayaka to the east of
Kongo. Still less can we adopt the monstrous notion that the various
inland tribes who, in the course of the sixteenth century, descended
upon the coast of the most opposite parts of Africa, are to be
identified with our Jaga. It was João Bermudes[418] who first identified
the Galla of Abyssinia with the Sumba, who raided the coast of Guinea
about 1570. Duarte Lopez (pp. 66, 67) would have us believe that the
Jaga came out of Moenemuge (Mwene muji), and called themselves
Agag.[419] But the people of Mwene muji, or the land of the Maravi, are
in reality the Zimbas, who raided Kilwa and Mombasa in 1589, whilst
“Agag” looks to me like a corruption of Agau, which is the name of an
Abyssinian tribe.[420] And hence arises this absurd confusion of Father
Guerreiro, who expects us to believe that the Jaga are known in Kongo as
Iacas, in Angola as Gindes,[421] in “India” (that is, on the East coast
of Africa) as Zimbas, in Prester John’s country as Gallas, and in Sierra
Leone as Sumbas! Battell, who reports facts and leaves hypotheses alone,
confesses that in his day nothing was known about the origin of this
dreaded people.[422]
We have already met with Jaga in Kongo, as allies of Ngola. In 1590 they
were fighting Luiz Serrão as the allies of Matamba, and by 1600 they
appear to have advanced as far as the coast of Benguella, where Battell
joined them, and had an opportunity of gaining an intimate knowledge of
their daily life, not enjoyed by any other traveller. H. D. de
Carvalho[423] and A. R. Neves[424] have been at the trouble of
collecting such information on their origin as it is possible to gather
after the lapse of three centuries. Entrusting ourselves to the guidance
of the former of these authors, we learn that Kinguri, the son of the
chief of the Bungo, in Lunda, was excluded by his father from the
succession, in favour of his sister Lueji. Gathering around him his
adherents, he left his native land to found a “state” elsewhere. He
first settled in Kioko, then crossed the Upper Kwanza into Kimbundu
(Binbundu of Bié), and reached Lubolo, where he made friends with the
chief, Ngongo, whose daughter Kulachinga he married. He then crossed the
Kwanza above Kambambe, entered into friendly relations with the
Portuguese, visited the Governor, D. Manuel,[425] and offered to fight
on the side of the Portuguese. He was granted land at Lukamba,[426] on
the river Kamueji. Being dissatisfied with this land, on account of its
sterility, he again turned to the eastward, and, crossing the Lui,
finally settled in the country still occupied by his successors, who
(according to Carvalho), were Kasanje, Ngonga ka mbanda, Kalunga ka
kilombo, Kasanje ka Kulachinga, etc.[427] Having settled down, Kinguri
invited his father-in-law to join him, and his forces were subsequently
increased by some discontented subjects of Queen Nzinga, led by Kalungu.
His followers, being thus a mixture of many tribes, the Jagas were
thenceforth chosen alternately among the three leading families of
Kulachinga (Kinguri’s wife), Ngongo and Kalunga.[428]
It is perfectly clear from this information, collected in Lunda and
Kasanje, that it throws no light upon the original Jaga, although it may
explain the origin of the Jaga still ruling at Kasanje.
The account given by Ladislaus Magyar[429] evidently refers to the same
leader. According to him, a Jaga Kanguri settled in the country now
occupied by the Sonyo three hundred years ago. His people were
cannibals, but the more intelligent among them saw that this practice
would ultimately lead to the destruction of the subject tribes upon whom
they depended for support, and they founded the secret society of the
Empacaceiros[430] for the suppression of cannibalism. Being worsted in a
civil war, they crossed the upper Kwanza into Bié, whilst Kanguri turned
to the north-west and settled in Kasanje.
Cavazzi seems to go further back, for he tells us that Zimbo, who was
the first chief of the Jaga (Aiacca), invaded Kongo, whilst one of his
chiefs, “Dongij” (Ndongo?), invaded Matamba, and that the bloody
“kichile,”[431] or customs, were introduced by Musasa the wife, and
Tembandumba the daughter, of this “Dongij.” The daughter married
Kulambo, whom she poisoned; he was succeeded by Kinguri, who was killed
during an invasion of Angola, Kulachimbo a great warrior, Kassanje, and
many others; the last of whom, Kassanje ka nkinguri, was baptised in
1657.[432]
I confess my inability to evolve the truth out of these conflicting
statements, and can only suppose that the title of “Jaga” was assumed by
the leaders of predatory hordes of very diverse origin, in order to
inspire terror in the hearts of peaceful tribes; just, as in more recent
times, certain tribes in East Africa pretend to be Zulu for a like
reason.
D. FRANCISCO AND D. JERONYMO D’ALMEIDA, 1592-1594.
The new Governor, D. Francisco d’Almeida, arrived at S. Paulo, on June
24th, 1592, accompanied by four hundred foot-soldiers and fifty African
horse, all picked men. Among the volunteers attending him were his
brother, D. Jeronymo, Luis Lopez de Sequeira and Balthasar Rebello de
Aragõa;[433] and perhaps also Domingos d’Abreu de Brito, who, in a
“Summario e descripção do Reino de Angola,” presented to King Philip I,
proposed an expedition across Africa, and the protection of the road to
be opened by a chain of forts.[434]
The new Governor, immediately on his arrival, found himself face to face
with a religious difficulty. The Jesuits, ever since the days of Dias,
expected to be consulted in all government business. They desired to be
appointed “preceptors” (amos) of the native chiefs, their aim being
evidently to create a theocratic government, such as they established
subsequently in Paraguay. They “used their spiritual influence to
induce the conquered sobas to refuse obedience to the civil powers;” and
when d’Almeida made use of the authority conferred upon him at Madrid in
order to crush this “nascent theocracy,” he was excommunicated.[435] He
certainly was unequal to cope with these domineering priests.
Disheartened, he threw up a charge to which he felt unequal, and took
ship for Brazil (April 8th, 1593).[436]
D. Jeronymo, at the urgent request of the Camara, took up the reins of
government, and being of a more conciliatory nature than his brother,
made peace with the Jesuits, and was thus able to take the field. He
started with four hundred men and twenty horses, and received the
submission of the sobas of Kisama, excepting the most powerful among
them. On reaching the salt mines of Ndemba[437] he founded a “presidio,”
and garrisoned it with one hundred men. On his way to the silver-mines
of Kambambe he was struck down with fever, and returned to Luandu,
leaving Balthasar d’Almeida de Sousa and Pedro Alvares Rebello in
command of the troops. They were imprudent, and on April 22nd, 1594,
fell into an ambush prepared for them by the powerful chief Kafuche
kabara (Cafuxe cambara). Only the captain-major, thanks to the swiftness
of his horse, and a few men, escaped this disaster.[438]
JOÃO FURTADO DE MENDONÇA, 1594-1602.
D. Jeronymo was on the point of hurrying up with reinforcements when
João Furtado de Mendonça arrived at Luandu (August 1st, 1594). He
brought with him, not only four hundred men with thirty horses, but also
twelve European women,[439] the first ever seen in Luandu, in whose
honour the town was decorated.
One of the most memorable events of his governorship was a campaign
which he conducted up the river Mbengu. Starting at the worst time of
the year (in March, 1496), he quickly lost two hundred men by fever.
Having brought up fresh recruits from Luandu, he avenged himself for a
disaster brought about by his own ignorance, by an exceptional severity
in his treatment of the “rebels,” many of whom were blown from guns.
This expedition kept the field for several years, and proceeded as far
as Ngazi (Ingasia), the chief of which district was called Ngombe—the
bullock.[440]
Meanwhile, João de Velloria,[441] the captain-major, had severely
punished the rebellious sobas of Lamba. Masanganu was once more
blockaded by the King Ngola (1597), until relieved by Balthasar Rebello
de Aragão. On again descending the Kwanza, he built a presidio in the
territory of the chief Muchima, in Kisama (1559).[442]
THE CAMPAIGN OF 1602-3.[443]
A new Governor, João Rodrigues Coutinho, arrived early in 1602. He was
acceptable to the Jesuits, and soon won the hearts of the people by his
liberality. He had been authorised by the King to bestow five habits of
the Order of Christ, dub five knights, and appoint thirty King’s
chamberlains (moços da camara). Seven years’ receipts of the export duty
on slaves were to be devoted to the building of forts at the salt mines
(Ndemba), Kambambe, and in Benguela.
Six months after his arrival, the Governor took the field against the
powerful chief Kafuche. His force was the most formidable that had ever
been at the disposal of a Governor, numbering no less than eight hundred
Portuguese. It was joined at Songo by a portion of the garrison of
Masanganu. Unhappily, the Governor died before coming in contact with
the enemy, and appointed Manuel Cerveira Pereira as his successor.
Battell calls this man an “upstart,” and he certainly had many enemies;
but he is well spoken of by the Jesuits, and was an able soldier. On
August 10th, 1603, he inflicted a crushing defeat upon Kafuche, at
Agoakaiongo,[444] on the very spot where, seven years before, the
Portuguese had met with a great disaster. Overcoming the stout
resistance of the chiefs of the Museke,[445] he arrived at the head of
the navigation of the Kwanza, and there, at Kambambe, he founded the
Presidio da N.S. do Rozario (1604). Having punished several of the
neighbouring chiefs, including Shila mbanza (Axilambanza), the
father-in-law of King Ngola, and left João de Araujo e Azevedo[446] in
command of the new presidio, Pereira returned to the coast.
S. Paulo de Luandu had by that time grown into a fine town, where
commerce flourished. Unfortunately for the lasting prosperity of the
colony, human beings constituted the most valuable article of export,
and the profits yielded by this slave trade attracted Dutch and French
interlopers, notwithstanding a royal decree of 1605, which excluded all
foreign vessels from the vast territories claimed by Portugal. In 1607
there were four “Presidios” or forts in the interior, namely Muchima,
Agoakaiongo, Masanganu, and Kambambe.[447]
D. MANUEL PEREIRA FORJAZ AND BENTO BANHA CARDOSO, 1607-15.
We have already stated that Manuel Cerveira Pereira had many enemies,
and when D. Manuel Pereira Forjaz, the new Governor, arrived towards the
end of 1607, very serious accusations must have been brought against the
former, for he was at once sent back to Lisbon. There, however, we are
bound to assume that he refuted these accusations, for otherwise it is
not likely that he would have been re-appointed Governor eight years
afterwards: unless, indeed, he had friends at court who profited by his
delinquencies. Forjaz himself showed to little advantage. He superseded
the commandant of Kambambe by one of his own creatures, and the fort
would certainly have been taken by the sobas who blockaded it, had not
Roque de S. Miguel and Rebello de Aragão hastened to its relief. Forjaz,
moreover, is accused of having imposed an annual tax upon the sobas,
yielding from twelve to thirteen thousand cruzados, which seem to have
found their way into his own pockets, and those of his favourites.[448]
When he suddenly died in his bed, on April 11th, 1611, the bishop and
the leading men called upon the captain-major, Bento Banha Cardoso, to
take charge of the government. Cardoso was a man of enterprise, and
successful in his undertakings, but cruel. In 1611 he defeated King
Ngola. The sobas Kilonga and Mbamba Tungu, who fell into his hands, were
beheaded, as were also several of their makotas. To avenge these
executions, fourteen sobas of Ngola and Matamba made an attack upon
Kambambe in the following year; and although that place was valiantly
defended until relieved, it took a year before order was restored in the
surrounding district. To keep these sobas in check, a fort (Mbaka) was
built on the river Lukala (1614), eight leagues from Masanganu.[449] In
Kisama, the territory of Nambua ngongo (Nabo angungo) was raided in the
same year.
AN ATTEMPT TO CROSS AFRICA.
Before proceeding with our account, there remains to be noticed a
serious attempt to cross the whole of Africa from the west coast to
“Manomotapa,” on the Zambezi, which was made by Balthasar Rebello de
Aragão, by order of D. Manuel Pereira Forjaz. Rebello de Aragão himself
furnishes a very short account of this expedition,[450] from which we
learn that he discovered copper and iron, and was told that there was
also silver. The natives bred cattle and cultivated the land, and they
told him of a lake, in lat. 16° S., giving rise to many rivers,
including the Nile. Unfortunately, when he had advanced one hundred and
forty leagues from the sea, and eighty beyond the place he started from
(Kambambe?), he was summoned back, as the fort just named was threatened
by King Ngola.[451]
THE CONQUEST OF BENGUELLA.
In 1615, Manuel Cerveira Pereira[452] returned to the scene of his
former labours, with special instructions to take possession of
Benguella, which for a considerable time past had been visited by
trading vessels. But before he started upon this enterprise, he ordered
his old comrade, João (or Paio?) de Araujo e Azevedo, to deal with
Kakulu Kabasa,[453] Mbumba (Bumba) a ndala, Kilomba kia tubia, and other
revolted chiefs in Angola, whilst he himself penetrated into the country
of the Kakulu Kahenda,[454] who had given offence by assisting fugitive
slaves and interfering with traders.
Having entrusted Antonio Gonçalves Pitta with the government of S.
Paulo, he left that place for the South, on April 11th, 1617, with four
vessels, a patacho, and one hundred soldiers.[455] Finding the site of
the old fort near the Terra das duas Puntas unsuitable, he continued his
voyage along the coast, until he came in sight of a “sombreiro,”
overlooking the Bahia das Vaccas;[456] and there he built the fort of S.
Filippe de Benguella, which in course of time developed into a city of
some importance. The sobas of Ndombe, of whose territory he had
possessed himself, naturally objected to the presence of these uninvited
strangers, but they were compelled to submit after five defeats. The
Jaga on the river Murombo likewise gave in, after three months’
fighting, but soon afterwards broke the peace, and was executed. The
chief Kalunga, at the mouth of the Koporolo (Kuporol), and the
cattle-keeping Mukimba in the neighbouring hills, also submitted. It
scarcely admits of doubt that Pereira, in the course of his many
military excursions, discovered copper, sulphur and salt,[457] but he
was to benefit little by these discoveries. His harsh conduct and greed
had estranged his people. Headed by a priest and by their officers, they
mutinied, put their leader on board a patacho, and shipped him off to S.
Paulo, where no notice was taken of his presence, the Governor being
absent at that time, because of a native war (1618).[458]
Pereira once more returned to Madrid, and having explained matters to
the satisfaction of the authorities, he was sent back, and again reached
S. Felippe de Benguella on August 8th, 1620. He sailed north to Sumba
mbela’s country, at the mouth of the river Kuvu. A couple of days inland
he discovered more copper, three quintals of which he took to S. Paulo.
He died in the midst of his labours. The _Catalogo_ credits him with
having gone inland as far as Kakonda.[459]
THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT.
We have already learned that the native sobas were handed over to the
mercy of individual “conquistadores,” and Rebello de Aragão declares
that these sobas were being “robbed and maltreated.” They were required
by their masters to pay a tax in slaves, to furnish carriers, and render
all kinds of services,[460] without payment. In addition to this the
Governor, D. M. P. Forjaz, imposed upon them a poll-tax, which produced
from twelve to thirteen thousand cruzados (say £1,650[461]) a year.
Rebello de Aragão maintains that the native wars were largely due to
this pernicious system, which enriched the Governor and his officials,
whilst traders were made to suffer, and ceased to visit the “feiras”
because of the extortionate demands made upon them. At Mpinda nearly all
the “honest” trade had passed into the hands of the Dutch, because of
the monopoly conferred upon Portuguese slave-dealers. He declares that a
tax of 20 per cent. on the salt mined at Ndemba would pay all the
legitimate expenses of government; but that, although the export duty on
slaves yielded from five to six thousand cruzados, there had not yet
been built a decent house for the government offices.
Garcia Mendes Castellobranco, in a memoir[462] addressed to the King in
1620, is equally outspoken with regard to the treatment of the native
chiefs, who, he maintains, ought not to be taxed more heavily than at
the time when they were still subjects of a native king. He, too, refers
to the salt mines as a source of revenue, recommends the levying of a
toll at river crossings, and the expropriation of the uncultivated
territory around S. Paulo.[463]
Many of these abuses may, no doubt, be traced to the demoralising
influence of the slave-trade and the insufficient pay of the officials.
A slave costing £3 7_s._ in the interior (or nothing, if taken in the
course of one of the frequent slave raids) was sold for more than double
that sum on the coast; and whilst money could be made thus easily the
great natural resources of the country were neglected and the
population—which, on the arrival of the Portuguese, is said to have been
very considerable—shrank from year to year.[464]
The export duties on slaves and ivory were farmed out in 1607 to one
Duarte Dias Enriques for twenty million reis annually (about
£6,600).[465]
S. Paulo and Masanganu enjoyed municipal institutions at that time, but
all outside these cities was ruled by military adventurers. The Governor
(in 1607) was paid a salary of £267, but the other officials were
decidedly underpaid; and thus, almost of necessity, were driven to
increase their incomes by illegitimate means.[466]
THE WAR WITH NGOLA NZINGA MBANDI.
Luiz Mendes de Vasconcellos, the new Governor, arrived in November,
1617, and almost immediately found himself involved in a war with the
King of Ndongo. Nzinga mbandi ngola kiluanji,[467] a great tyrant, had
been “removed” by his indignant subjects shortly before the arrival of
the new Governor. He left behind him three daughters, one of whom, born
in 1582, became famous as Queen D. Anna de Souza Nzinga, and two sons,
one by a legitimate wife, the other by a slave woman. It was the latter,
Ngola nzinga mbandi,[468] whom his partisans raised to the throne, which
he reached through rivers of blood, among his victims being his own
brother, a son of his sister, and many of the trusted councillors of his
father. In 1618 the usurper took the field, intending to expel the
Portuguese, who seem to have given provocation by shifting the old
presidio of Mbaka (Ambaca) to a site much higher up the Lukala.[469] The
Governor, ably supported by his captain-major, Pedro de Souza Coelho,
not only defeated the King, but also captured his queen and many other
persons of consideration. The King sued for peace, but as he failed to
surrender the Portuguese whom he had taken prisoner, the war was renewed
in 1619. His allies fared no better than the King himself. His vice-king
of lower Ndongo, Ngola ari,[470] was compelled to pay a tribute of one
hundred slaves annually (in 1620); and while the Governor raided the
territories of Kahibalongo, Ndonga, and Kasa, his lieutenant, Lopo
Soares Laço, destroyed the kilombos of the sobas Ngunza a ngombe and
Bangu.
It had been recognised by this time that many of these punitive
expeditions were provoked by the lawless conduct of white traders,
mulattoes and negros calçados (that is, shoe-wearing negroes), who went
inland on slaving expeditions; and only Pumbeiros descalços, that is,
native agents or traders not yet sufficiently civilised to wear shoes,
should be permitted to do so in future.[471]
When King Ngola nzinga mbandi heard of the arrival of João Corrêa de
Souza, the new Governor, in September, 1621,[472] he at once sent his
sister to Luandu to arrange terms of peace. This woman, then about forty
years of age, proved an excellent diplomatist. When the Governor alluded
to the payment of tribute, she declared that tribute could only be
demanded from a conquered people, and the treaty ultimately signed was
one of reciprocity: fugitive slaves were to be surrendered, and
assistance to be given against common enemies.
Before this able ambassadress left Luandu, she was received into the
bosom of Holy Mother Church, being baptised as D. Anna de Souza (1622);
and on her return home she persuaded her brother to apply for the
services of a priest, or _Mamaganga_.[473] A priest was sent, but he was
a native, who had been ordained at Luandu, and one of the King’s own
subjects. The King looked upon this as an insult; he treated the priest
with great indignity, and once more invaded the Portuguese territory.
Thrice beaten, and deserted by his vassals, he fled to the island of
Ndangi,[474] in the Kwanza river, where he died of poison administered
by his own sister Nzinga, who thus avenged the murder of her son (1623).
QUEEN NZINGA, 1623-1636.
Nzinga at once renounced Christianity, and the bloody rites of the Jaga
were celebrated when she ascended her throne. She inaugurated her reign
by the murder of her brother’s son, of his adherents, and her supposed
enemies. Having reduced her own people to subjection, with the aid of
the Jaga, she declared war upon Portugal. D. Felippe de Souza Ngola ari,
the King of Ndongo recognised by the Portuguese, was at once ordered to
defend the frontier, and, if possible, to invade the territories of his
kinswoman. On consideration, however, it was thought best, in the
interest of trade, to avoid a serious conflict. An officer was sent to
the court of the Queen, offering to restore the lost provinces (and thus
sacrificing their vassal D. Felippe), on condition of her acknowledging
herself a vassal, and paying tribute. These conditions were haughtily
rejected, and the war began in earnest.
João de Araujo e Azevedo was placed at the head of the Portuguese
invading force.[475] He raided the country along the Lukala, and then
turned back upon the Kwanza, occupied the islands of Ukole and Kitaka,
and came up with the Queen’s camp at Ndangi Island. The Queen, having
consulted the spirit of her brother Ngola mbandi,[476] declined to risk
a battle, and fled into Hako (Oacco). The Portuguese followed in
pursuit, passing through Bemba, Malemba and Kipupa, and Little Ngangela
(Ganguella); came up with the Queen’s forces in the territory of soba
Matima (Mathemo), and inflicted a serious defeat upon them. Among the
prisoners taken were the Queen’s sisters, Kambe and Funji, and many
Makotas. The pursuit was continued as far as Kina grande in Ngangela, a
deep and difficult gorge, into which some of the soldiers and the
_guerra preta_ descended by means of ropes. When the Queen fled to the
kingdom of Songo, the Portuguese forces retired to the west (1627).[477]
The two princesses were taken to Luandu, where the Governor, Fernão de
Souza, lodged them in his own house. In baptism (1628), they received
the names of D. Barbara and D. Engracia.
The Portuguese had no sooner retired than Queen Nzinga returned to
Ndangi Island, and having been reinforced by several Jaga, she undertook
the conquest of Matamba. At Makaria ka matamba she took prisoner the
dowager-queen[478] Muongo Matamba, and her daughter. The mother was
branded as a slave, and died of grief; but the daughter was taken into
favour, and was baptised in 1667.
Having thus destroyed the ancient kingdom of Matamba, the Queen once
more invaded Portuguese territory, but she turned back when she heard
that the Jaga Kasanji was raiding her recent conquest, upon which he
claimed to have prior rights.
At the same time she interfered continually with the commerce of the
Portuguese with the interior; and it was only in 1636, when the
Governor, Francisco de Vasconcellos da Cunha, sent D. Gaspar Borgia and
Father Antonio Coelho on a mission to the Jaga in Little Ngangela, and
to the Queen at her Kabasa, in Umba, that peaceable relations were
established. The Queen, however, persistently refused to surrender her
claims to the provinces of Ndongo which had been occupied by the
Portuguese.
MINOR EVENTS, 1624-1641.
Punitive expeditions were frequent. In 1624 the Jaga Kasanji, who had
taken advantage of the conflicts between the Portuguese and Queen Nzinga
to rob Pumbeiros, was severely punished, and Captain Roque de Miguel
returned from this expedition with a large number of captives, who as a
matter of course, were sold into slavery. During the provisional
governorship of the bishop D. Simão de Mascarenhas[479] (1623-4), Lopo
Soares Laço meted out punishment to the Jagas Nzenza a ngombe and
Bangu-Bangu, and to the irrepressible Kafuche.[480] A few years later,
in 1631, the captain-major Antonio Bruto waged a successful war against
rebellious sobas, and more especially impressed the natives by his
victory over the dreaded Mbuila anduwa (Ambuila Dua), who held out for
six months in a rocky stronghold deemed impregnable. The invasion of
Kongo, in 1622, by order of Governor João Corrêa de Souza, who claimed
the surrender of Luandu Island and of all the copper mines, has already
been referred to (see p. 123).
Among the very few measures calculated to promote the material or moral
interests of the colony may be mentioned the establishment of the three
_feiras_, of Ndondo, Beja, and Lukamba, in 1625; the foundation of a
_Santa casa da misericordia_ (Poor-house and hospital) at S. Paulo de
Luandu, by the bishop D. Simão de Mascarenhas; the compulsory
cultivation of the banks of Mbengu (Bengo), when Luandu was threatened
with famine owing to the non-arrival of provision ships from Brazil, in
1629;[481] the reform of the administration of the Royal revenue, by
Fernão de Souza, in the same year; and the creation of a board of
revenue (_Junta da fazenda_), charged with the collection of the tithes
and of the tribute payable by the native chiefs, by Francisco de
Vasconcellos da Cunha, in 1638.
The affairs of the missions will be dealt with subsequently, in a
comprehensive manner, but a difficulty which arose in 1623 between the
Governor, João Corrêa de Souza, and the Jesuits, may be dealt mentioned
at once. In 1619, Gaspar Alvares,[482] a wealthy merchant of Luandu,
placed 20,000 cruzados at the service of the Fathers, in order that they
might found a seminary[483] for the education of twelve natives.
Subsequently he himself became a member of the Society of Loyola, and
devoted the whole of his fortune, amounting to 400,000 cruzados, to its
purposes. The Governor not unnaturally objected to this sudden
enrichment of a Society which had always been a thorn in the side of the
government. Alvares himself escaped to S. Salvador, but the Prefect of
the Jesuits and three Fathers were sent as prisoners to Lisbon, where
they were at once liberated; whilst the Governor himself, who arrived
soon afterwards, perhaps with the intention of justifying his hasty
proceedings, was thrown into prison, and died in the _limoeiro_ in 1626.
THE DUTCH IN ANGOLA.
When Philip of Spain seized upon the crown of Portugal in 1580, that
unfortunate country became at once involved in the troubles between
Spain and the United Netherlands. No sooner had the destruction of the
_Armada_, in 1588, enabled the Dutch to take the offensive on sea, than
they began to compete for a share in the trade of the Portuguese
possessions. The Dutch at first kept on the defensive, but in 1598 they
and the Portuguese came into hostile collision near the Ilha do
Principe; and all efforts to exclude these noxious heretics from sharing
in the trade of the Kongo proved futile, more especially as the natives
themselves preferred their Dutch visitors to the masterful
Portuguese.[484]
An armistice concluded in 1609 expired in 1621. The Dutch West-India
Company was founded in that very year, and thenceforth the Dutch
proceeded aggressively. In 1623 they burnt several _patachos_ off the
mouth of the Kwanza; in 1629 a Dutch squadron cruised during three
months off the coast of Benguella and captured four Portuguese
merchantmen, but failed to force their way into the harbour of Luandu.
In 1633 two Dutch vessels menaced S. Felippe de Benguella, but were
driven off by Lopo Soares Laço, after a stout fight, on November 15th.
In 1637, Bartholomeu de Vasconcellos da Cunha, the Governor’s brother,
captured a Dutch man-of-war of 24 guns. At that time the coast was being
regularly patrolled by Portuguese men-of-war,[485] and in 1638 the
foundations of the Fort S. Miguel were laid on the Morro de S. Paulo,
the original site of the city of S. Paulo.
When Portugal recovered her independence, in December, 1640, D. João IV
of Bragança at once sent Tristão de Mendoza Furtado to the Hague, with
instructions to demand a suspension of hostilities. The West-India
Company, which profited largely from a state of war, declared in favour
of a definite treaty of peace, but objected to the conclusion of an
armistice. The Portuguese envoy had no authority to sign such a treaty;
but after protracted negotiations an armistice for ten years was signed
on June 23rd, 1641, which was to take force outside Europe as soon as it
became known there.
Meantime, the directors of the West-Indian Company had instructed Count
John Moritz of Nassau to take advantage of the momentary weakness of
Portugal, after her war of liberation, to seize all he could before the
terms of the treaty became known.[486] Count Moritz, being desirous to
increase the supply of slaves for the plantations in Brazil, determined
to seize upon Luandu. A fleet of twenty-one vessels was at once fitted
out at Pernambuco, and placed under the command of Cornelis Cornelissen
Jol, surnamed Houtebeen, or “Wooden leg.” It was manned by nine hundred
sailors, and had on board two thousand troops, commanded by Jeems
Hindersen. This formidable armament left Pernambuco in June 30th, 1641,
sighted Cabo Negro on August 5th, and having captured the _Jesus Maria_,
on a voyage from Madeira, was by her piloted into the harbour of Luandu.
On August 24th the Dutch fleet unexpectedly appeared off S. Paulo,
surprising its inhabitants in the midst of their rejoicings at the
accession of the “liberator king.” S. Paulo, at that time, was a city of
twenty thousand inhabitants, including three thousand Portuguese; but
the Governor, Pedro Cezar de Menezes, though he was at the head of nine
hundred white troops, offered only a feeble resistance; and, accompanied
by many of the citizens, he withdrew to the river Mbengu, and
subsequently to Masanganu. The booty which fell into the hands of the
Dutch included thirty ships and ninety-eight cannon.
They lost no time in gaining the goodwill of the neighbouring sobas,
sent an embassy to the King of Kongo (see p. 125), and entertained
offers of alliance from Queen Nzinga. Aki musanu (Aca mochana) and Nambu
a ngongo (Nabo a ngongo), who had risen upon the Portuguese, were joined
by one hundred and fifty Dutchmen, and thus enabled to overcome their
enemies, whose leaders, André da Costa and João Vieira, they killed
(1642).
In the following year (1643) information was received that the truce had
been signed, but the Dutch director very naturally declined to surrender
the town. He agreed, however, to suspend hostilities. Pedro Cezar had
been instructed by his government to avail himself of the first
opportunity to recover the city,[487] and it was evidently with a view
to this eventuality that he established a camp on the river Mbengu. The
Dutch suspected his treacherous design, and at dawn on May 26th, 1643,
they surprised his force. Many Portuguese were killed (including Antonio
Bruto), while Pedro Cezar himself, Bartholomeu de Vasconcellos da Cunha,
and one hundred and eighty seven soldiers were taken prisoner. The
remainder escaped to Masanganu. The forces assembled there under the
captain-major, Antonio de Miranda, were unable to retrieve this
disaster, but the Governor, aided by friends, managed soon afterwards to
escape.
But though unequal to meeting the Dutch in the field, the Portuguese
were still able to enforce their authority upon the natives; and in 1645
Diogo Gomes de Morales led an expedition into Lubolo and Mbalundu
(Bailundo), and reduced the _kolombos_ of thirty “Jagas” to obedience.
In 1645, the Portuguese of Brazil, under the leadership of João
Fernandez Vieira, rose upon their Dutch oppressors, and in the same year
the Dutch occupied S. Felippe de Benguella. The garrison under Antonio
Teixeira de Mendonça, the captain-major, and Antonio Gomez de Gouvea, an
experienced _sertanejo_, or backwoodsman, retired northward along the
coast. On reaching Kikombo Bay, on July 27th, 1645, they met there
Francisco de Sotto-maior, just arrived from Rio de Janeiro with
reinforcements. By advice of Gomez, the troops and stores were landed in
Suto Bay, near Cabo ledo, and conducted by him in three detachments to
Masanganu, without the Dutch becoming aware of their arrival. The
Governor, Pedro Cezar de Menezes, returned by the same route to Rio,
taking with him a cargo of slaves.
These reinforcements arrived just in time to be employed against Queen
Nzinga. That lady had set a black and a white cock to fight each other,
and the defeat of the white cock was looked upon by her as a favourable
augury for venturing an attack upon Masanganu. But Gaspar Borges de
Madureira fell upon her before her forces had been concentrated
(January, 1646). She suffered a severe defeat, notwithstanding the
presence of Dutch auxiliaries. Her sisters once more fell into the hands
of the Portuguese. D. Engracia was strangled soon afterwards for an act
of treachery, whilst D. Barbara was kept in honourable captivity until
1657.[488]
Meanwhile the Dutch had made preparations for an advance up the Kwanza.
They had built Fort Mols at the mouth of the river, and another fort
higher up. The Governor, Francisco de Sotto-maior, having died of fever
in May, 1646, measures for a spirited defence were taken by the three
captains-major, Bartholomeu de Vasconcellos da Cunha, Antonio Teixeira
de Mendonça, and João Juzarte de Andrada. Muchima, which had been
furiously assaulted by the Dutch, was relieved by Diogo Gomes de
Morales. But in the following year the Portuguese suffered a reverse at
Kawala (Caoalla), and Masanganu itself was threatened by the combined
forces of Queen Nzinga, Kongo, and the Dutch.
However a saviour was at hand in this extremity. On August 12th, 1648,
Salvador Corrêa de Sá Benevides,[489] with nineteen vessels, having on
board nine hundred soldiers, cast anchor in the harbour of Luandu, and
summoned the Dutch to surrender within forty-eight hours. On their
refusal he landed his troops, and after a short bombardment of Fort S.
Miguel, to which the Dutch had withdrawn, early on August 15th he
delivered an assault, which cost him one hundred and sixty three men,
but led to the surrender of a garrison numbering one thousand one
hundred men, including French and German mercenaries. When these
prisoners had been joined by the three hundred Dutchmen who were with
Queen Nzinga, and the garrison of Benguella, which surrendered without a
blow, they were shipped off to Europe. The city, in memory of the event,
assumed the name of “S. Paulo da Assumpção de Loanda,” for it was on the
Day of Ascension of the Virgin Mary that a seven years’ captivity ended.
The anniversary of that event is celebrated to the present day by a
religious procession.
RESTORATION OF PORTUGUESE AUTHORITY.
No time was lost in restoring the authority of Portugal throughout the
colony. The King of Kongo was compelled to accept a treaty by which
Luandu Island and the whole of the country to the south of the Dande
river were unconditionally surrendered, and other advantages held out
(p. 128). Queen Nzinga, although she declined the overtures of Captain
Ruy Pegado[490] for a formal treaty, retired inland, and gave no trouble
for a number of years. As to the sobas of Lamba, Kisama, Lubolo, and the
Modiku islands, they were visited by punitive expeditions commanded by
Antonio Teixeira de Moraes, Diogo Mendes de Morales, Vicente Pegado de
Pontes, and Francisco de Aguiar.
Order having been restored, the Governor, Salvador Corrêa de Sá, caused
the ruined buildings to be repaired, and granted crownland to the
inhabitants for houses and gardens. In a very short time prosperity
returned, and the trade of Luandu was as flourishing as ever it had
been.[491]
But although the Portuguese were masters on shore, the Dutch, and
occasionally also French or English “pirates” frequented the coast. In
1650 Alvaro d’Aguiar defeated five of these interlopers, who had made
prizes of two ships on a voyage from Brazil; in 1651 João Duque was
killed in an action with Dutch men-of-war; in 1652 João de Araujo drove
away the Dutch from Mpinda and Luangu; in 1658 the same officer made a
prize of a English slaver off Benguella. A second English slaver was
captured in 1659 by João Cardoso, who also captured a Dutch vessel off
the Kongo in 1661. In 1662 the definite treaty of peace between Portugal
and Holland was signed, and “pirates” are no longer heard of; although
Dutch vessels provided with passes, or favoured by the Governors, seem
to have been admitted to Portuguese ports.
QUEEN NZINGA AND HER SUCCESSORS.
Queen Nzinga, after the return of her General from a raid on the
territory of Mbuila (Imbuille), in 1655, whence he brought a miraculous
crucifix, felt troubled in her conscience; and on consulting the spirits
of five of her ancestors (see p. 166), she learned, to her no small
terror, that they were suffering eternal torments, which she could only
escape by once more embracing the Christian faith, and seeking the
friendship of the Portuguese.[492] Upon this advice she acted. The
negotiations for a treaty were conducted by Captain Manuel Freis Peixoto
and the Capuchin friar Antonio of Gaeta, who came to her Court for that
purpose in 1657. Her sister, D. Barbara, was restored to her on payment
of a ransom of two hundred slaves,[493] and the river Lukala was
thenceforth to form the boundary between the Queen’s dominions and those
of the Portuguese. No tribute was to be paid by her. Friar Antonio had
the honour of once more baptising this ancient lady, then seventy-five
years of age, and also of marrying her, legitimately, to a slave-youth,
Don Salvatore; while her sister, D. Barbara, allied herself unto D.
Antonio Carrasco Nzinga a mona, a foster-brother of the Queen, and the
General-in-Chief of her armies. A church, S. Maria de Matamba, was
specially built for these interesting ceremonies. This remarkable woman
died on December 17th, 1663, after Father Cavazzi had administered to
her the last consolations of religion, and was buried in the church of
St. Anna, which had been built within the precincts of the Royal palace.
When D. Barbara died, on March 24th, 1666, her husband, D. Antonio
Carrasco Nzinga a mona, killed the legitimate heir, D. João Guterres
Ngola kanini, and usurped the throne, but was himself slain in a battle
against D. Francisco Guterres Ngola kanini, in 1680. The conqueror then
attacked the allies of the Portuguese, robbed the pumbeiros, and
beheaded the Jaga Kasanji (1682).[494] Luiz Lopez de Sequeira at once
took the field against him with five hundred and thirty infantry,
thirty-seven horse, and ten thousand _empacaceiros_, and defeated him at
Katole, a place within three days of the Royal _kabasa_. The King
himself lost his life, but so did the leader of the Portuguese[495] and
Vasco de Mello da Cunha. João Antonio de Brito, who took the command
after his leader’s death, remained encamped for thirty days on the site
of the battle; and finding that the enemies did not return, retired to
Mbaka; from which we may judge that the Portuguese, too, suffered heavy
losses. D. Veronica (or Victoria) Guterres, the sister of the late King,
sued for peace, which was readily granted. Fresh complications
threatened in 1689, when the Queen was charged—falsely, it appears—with
having stirred up the soba Kahenda to rebel against his Portuguese
masters; but matters were arranged through the intervention of bishop D.
João Franco de Oliveira. No further trouble seems to have occurred with
the successors of Queen Nzinga until 1744, when the Queen[496] provoked
a war by killing a white trader and robbing pumbeiros: the result of
which was the capture of her capital by Bartholomeu Duarte de Sequeira,
and the cession of the Kinalunga Islands to Portugal.[497]
THE LAST OF THE KINGS OF NDONGO, 1671.
We have seen that D. João de Souza Ngola ari had been installed as the
first King of Ndongo, recognised by the Portuguese (see p. 164), about
1627, and had been succeeded by D. Filippe de Souza, who died in 1660,
and by João II. The hope that this tributary would prove a staunch ally
of the Portuguese was not to be realised, for immediately after the
disastrous campaign against Sonyo (see p. 131), in 1670, D. João Ngola
ari raised the standard of rebellion, and invaded the district of Mbaka.
The Governor, Francisco de Tavora,[498] a future Viceroy of India, who
on account of his youth (he was only 23 years of age) and supposed
prudence had been nick-named _o menino prudente_, despatched his
captain-major, Luiz Lopes de Sequeira, to reduce the rebel to obedience.
Ngola ari met with a defeat on the river Luchilu, close to the Pedras of
Pungu a ndongo, which were considered impregnable. Yet, on a dark night,
on November 18th, 1671, Manuel Cortes, the leader of the _guerra preta_,
surprised this rocky stronghold. The King himself was taken, and
beheaded as a traitor. Thenceforth there was no further need for
punitive expeditions on a large scale.[499]
RELATIONS WITH KONGO.
No sooner had the Portuguese regained possession of S. Paulo than the
King of Kongo was called to account for having sided with the Dutch and
favoured the operations of “foreign” Capuchins. A threatened invasion of
his kingdom (1649) speedily led to the conclusion of a treaty of peace
(see p. 126). But as the supposed gold and silver mines were not ceded,
as promised, the Portuguese once more invaded the country, and in the
bloody battle of Ulanga, in 1666, the King lost his life and crown (p.
129). From that time to the close of the century anarchy reigned in
Kongo. The disastrous expedition against Sonyo in 1670 (see p. 131) was
partly undertaken in order to support one of the many rival kings of
that period.
MINOR PUNITIVE EXPEDITIONS, 1658-95.
João Fernandes Vieira, who had gained fame as the leader of the
Portuguese patriots in Brazil, where the capture of Pernambuco had won
him the surname of _o hero de nossa edade_, arrived as Governor on April
18th, 1658, and before the close of the year, a serious rebellion broke
out in Upper Ngulungu. The captain-major, Bartholomeu de Vasconcellos,
took the field, and compelled Ngolome a kayitu (Golome Acaita), to
surrender his rocky stronghold after a siege of four months; Tanga a
ngongo submitted quietly, but Kiluanji kia kanga (Quiloange Acango),
faced the Portuguese four times, and then retired inland without
yielding submission.
A second expedition, in the same year, traversed the districts to the
south of the Kwanza.[500] It started from Masanganu, and having crossed
the Kwanza into Hako was joined by Ngunza mbambe;[501] it entered the
district of Kabeza, where the Jaga of Rimba brought further
reinforcements. Jaga Ngonga ka anga, the chief of Nsela (Shella), on the
river Kuvu, surrendered his capital, Kangunza, by the advice of his
diviners, without striking a blow, and submitted to be baptised. The
expedition then returned to Mbaka by way of the river Gango and Tamba;
whilst Cavazzi, who accompanied it as chaplain, took a more direct road
through Kabeza.
After the great victory over the King of Kongo in 1666 (see p. 130), a
detachment under Antonio da Silva was sent into the territory of the
Ndembu Mutemu Kingengo, whilst another, under Diogo Gomes Morales,
raided the villages of Nambua nongo, these chiefs having aided the
defeated King.
Kisama, at all times an unruly district, and even now virtually
independent, though situated on the sea and within easy reach of Luandu,
has repeatedly given trouble to the Portuguese. In 1672, the sobas of
the district unsuccessfully assaulted the fort at Muchima. In 1686 they
blockaded that fort, until relieved by João de Figueiredo e Souza. In
1689, the sobas Kimone kia sanga and Muchima interfered with the free
navigation of the Kwanza, and were punished by the Portuguese leader
just named; and in 1695, the rebellion of the soba Katala brought into
the field the captain-major, Manuel de Magalhães Leitão.
A rebellion in Lubolo, in 1677, was suppressed by Luiz Lopez de
Sequeira. The soba Ngunga mbambe was killed, and his allies, Sakeda,
Ngola kitumba, and Ngola Kabuku, were severely punished.
Far more serious was an expedition which the Governor, Gonçalo da Costa
de Alcaçova Carneiro de Menezes, despatched against the ndembu Mbuilu
(Ambuilla), who had expelled the Portuguese residents, robbed the
Pumbeiros, and burnt the church. João de Figueireda e Souza, a trusted
officer, was given the command; and notwithstanding that the garrison of
Masanganu mutinied and refused to join him, he mustered, on May 25th,
1682, a formidable force of six hundred musketeers, forty-two horse, and
a _guerra preta_ of forty thousand men, with two field guns.
Unfortunately, he lost precious time by lingering two months at
Kamolembe, where many of his people died; and when at last ready to
start, he heard that Mbuila had been reinforced by two “armies” sent to
his aid by King Manuel of Kongo[502] and Queen Nzinga, and lost his
head. Fortunately for the Portuguese a stroke of paralysis carried off
this pusillanimous leader, and his place was taken by Pascoal Rodrigues,
a man of much energy, who marched straight upon the mbanza of Mbuilu,
and there achieved a great victory. Mbuilu fled to his neighbour and
ally Ndamba (Dambe). The number of prisoners taken was so great that it
was feared they might endanger the safety of their captors, and they
were mercilessly beheaded, a nephew of Mbuilu alone being sent a
prisoner to Luandu.[503]
When Pascaol Rodrigues fell ill, the Governor appointed João Baptista de
Maia to succeed him. The troops passed the rainy season in barracks. On
the return of fine weather, Mbuilu was pursued into the territory of
Ndamba and killed. The mbanzas and over one hundred and fifty libatas
were burnt. The Ndembu Kabanda, a partisan of Mbuilu, was pursued by
the sergeant-major, Lourenço de Barros Morim, and the leader of the
_guerra preta_, Gonçalo Borges de Barros, and killed with many of his
people. Another ndembu having been installed, and sworn allegiance to
the King of Portugal, the army returned to Mbaka, and thence to Lembo
near Masanganu. The victorious troops were refused admission into the
latter, the garrison of which had mutinied. It was only after the
Governor had promised a pardon to the offenders, with the exception of
the leaders, that order was restored (1693).
BENGUELLA.
S. Filippe de Benguella was founded in 1617 by Manuel Cerveira Pereira,
and in 1661 its fortifications were rebuilt by Gaspar de Almeida Silva,
whilst Manuel de Tovar Froes fought the neighbouring sobas. A further
step in advance was taken in 1682, when the sergeant-major, Pedro da
Silva, founded the presidio of Kakonda a velha, in the territory of the
soba Bongo. Two years later, in 1684, this presidio was surprised by
Bongo, and Manuel da Rocha Soares, its commandant, was killed. Carlos de
Lacerda, who was despatched to avenge this outrage, being compelled to
fall back before superior forces, João Bráz de Goes, the captain-major
of Benguella, himself took the field. The Jaga, deserted by his people,
sought refuge with Ngola njimbu (Golla Gimbo), but was pursued and
captured,[504] and the present presidio was built eighty miles further
inland (1685), in the territory of the soba Kitata. An attempt made by
the soba of Huambo (Hiamba), in 1698, to expel the Portuguese was
frustrated by Antonio de Faria, its commandant. A more formidable attack
by the neighbouring sobas, in 1718, proved equally ineffectual. The
Portuguese had thus gained an advanced post nearly one hundred and
fifty miles from the coast, the possession of which opened up to them
fresh sources for the supply of slaves, and contributed not a little to
the growing prosperity of S. Filippe de Benguella.
ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS.
The Jesuits were the earliest missionaries in Angola; but it would be in
vain to look to them for any precise geographical or historical
information, such as is furnished by members of the Society established
in other parts of the world. They confined their activity to the seat of
Government and its immediate vicinity, and Portuguese authors are severe
upon their love of power and covetousness. Their relations with the
Governors were on many occasions strained, but it cannot be asserted
that the Jesuit Fathers were in every instance in the wrong.[505] As an
illustration of their masterfulness, the following incident may serve.
In 1661, the Governor, João Fernandez Vieira, very properly ordered that
pigs, should no longer be allowed to run about the streets of the
capital. The Jesuits did not deign to take the slightest notice of this
order; and when several of their slaves were arrested for disregarding
it, they protested against this exercise of authority, and actually
excommunicated the Governor. But the Governor was not to be frightened.
He reported the case to his King, D. Affonso VI, and the King in a Royal
rescript of December 9th, 1666, severely reproved the Jesuits for their
insolence; and threatened, in case of similar conduct, to deprive them
of the crown lands, and to take other legal measures against them.