CUSTOMS OF THE MUSSURONGO, AMBRIZ, AND MUSHICONGO NEGROES--MANDIOCA
PLANT--ITS PREPARATIONS--CHILI PEPPER--BANANAS--RATS--WHITE
ANT--NATIVE BEER--STRANGE SOUNDS.
The Mussurongo, Ambriz, and Mushicongo negroes have hardly any
industrial or mechanical occupation; they weave no cloths of cotton or
other fibre; their only manufactures being the few implements, baskets,
pots, &c., required in their agriculture and household operations.
The reason for this want of industry, apart from the inherent laziness
and utter dislike of the negroes for work of any kind, is to be found
in their socialistic and conservative ideas and laws.
No man can be richer than his neighbour, nor must he acquire his riches
by any other than the usual or established means of barter or trade of
the natural products of the country, or of his plantations.
Should a native return to his town, after no matter how long an
absence, with more than a moderate amount of cloth, beads, &c., as
the result of his labour, he is immediately accused of witchcraft or
“fetish,” and his property distributed among all, and is often fined as
well.
I have already mentioned how the natives at Bembe, on receiving their
pay, would squander it in riot before leaving for their towns, knowing
that it would only be taken away from them, and so preferring to enjoy
themselves with it first.
Some of the black traders on the coast, who acquire large values in
the ivory trade, have to invest them in slaves, and even form towns
consisting of their wives and slaves, and entirely maintained by
them;--even these traders are constantly being accused of “fetish,”
from which they have to clear themselves by heavy payments.
We have already seen how there are hardly any social distinctions among
the negroes, and consequently no necessity for finer clothing, food,
houses, &c.; it is even considered very mean for one black to eat or
drink by himself. Any food or drink, however little, given to them, is
always distributed amongst those present. The Portuguese convict whom I
have described as owning the sugar-cane plantation at Quincollo, goes
under the nickname among the blacks of “Fiadia,” or one who eats alone,
from his having, when first starting a grog shop, lived in a hut apart,
and as the blacks said “when he ate his dinner no other white man saw
him, and what was over he kept for the next day.”
Nature favours the habits and customs of the blacks, removing all
inducement to work by providing with a prodigal hand their few
necessities, and exacting scarcely any exertion on their part in
return. Their principal food or staff of life, the mandioca root, does
not even require harvesting or storing. A knife or matchet, a hoe, a
sleeping-mat, and a couple of pots and baskets, enable persons about to
marry to begin life and rear a large family without the least misgiving
for the future, or anxiety for the payment of rent, doctor’s and
tailor’s bills, schooling, rates, or taxes.
The materials for their huts grow around them in the greatest
abundance, a few forked upright poles form the walls, and bear others
forming the roof; thin sticks tied horizontally or perpendicularly to
the uprights, both inside and out, forming a double wall, complete the
framework of the hut, which is then plastered with clay or earth, or
covered with grass or “loandos,” or mats made of the dried stem of the
papyrus. The roof is of grass neatly laid on in layers like thatch,
on a frame of light cane or the mid-rib of the palm-leaf. The door is
made of slabs of the “Mafumeira” or cotton-wood tree, or of palm-leaves
woven together; the door is always about a foot from the ground, and
the threshold generally the trunk of a small tree, forming the usual
seat of the inmates during the day.
The Mushicongos, living on the mica schist and clay slate formations,
which decompose readily, forming tenacious clayey soils, and are the
favourite habitat of the white ant, are obliged to prepare with great
care the poles employed in building their huts, in order to preserve
them from the ravages of that most destructive insect.
For this purpose the poles are soaked for months in stagnant pools,
until they become black with fetid mud or slime, and, the end which is
intended to be stuck in the ground is then held over a fire till the
surface is charred. The smoke from the fire, always kept burning in
a hut, preserves it perfectly from the attacks of the white ant, the
interior becoming in time perfectly black and shining as if varnished,
there being of course no chimney and very seldom a window, though
sometimes an open space is left at the top ends for the smoke to issue
from.
The furniture is restricted to a bed, made of a framework of sticks or
palm-leaves plaited together, and resting on two logs of wood or short
forked sticks, so as to raise it about six inches or a foot from the
ground. On the bed is laid a sleeping-mat made by the natives of the
interior, and sometimes there is a mat-pillow stuffed with wild cotton,
but this is seldom more than an inch or two thick;--blacks mostly sleep
without pillows, with their heads resting on the extended arm.
The negroes from the interior are sometimes seen using curious small
pillows made of wood (Plate IV.) and carved in fanciful patterns;
they carry them slung from the shoulder. A very singular habit of all
negroes is that of never slinging anything across the shoulders and
chest as we do, but always from one shoulder, and hanging under the arm.
Building huts is man’s work, and as no nails of any kind are employed
in their construction, the sticks only being notched and tied together
with baobab fibre, a few days, with but little trouble, suffices to
build one.
Women’s work is entirely restricted to cultivating the ground and
preparing the food. Their simple agricultural operations are all
performed with one implement, a single-handed hoe (Plate V.). This hoe
is made of iron, nearly round, about the size and shape of a large
oyster-shell, and has a short spike which is burnt into the end of the
handle, a short knobbed stick about eighteen inches long. With this hoe
the ground is cleared of grass and weeds, which are gathered into heaps
when dry, and burnt. The ground is then dug to a depth of about six to
eight inches, and the loose broken earth scraped together into little
hillocks ready for planting the mandioca. This plant, the Cassada or
Cassava of the West Indies, &c. (_Manihot aipi_), grows as a peculiar
thick round bush from three to six feet high, bearing an abundance of
bright green, handsome deeply-cut leaves; it flowers but sparingly, and
bears few seeds; it is propagated by cuttings, any part of the stem
or branches, which are soft, brittle, and knotty, very readily taking
root. About the beginning of the rainy season is the usual time of
planting,--two or three short pieces of stem, about a foot long, being
stuck in each hillock. In some places two of the pieces are of equal
length, and planted near each other, the third piece being shorter,
and planted in a slanting position across the other two. This method
of planting is supposed, but with what truth I know not, to produce
a greater crop of roots than any other. The mandioca is of rapid and
luxuriant growth, and in favourable soil the plant throws out many
branches. The roots are very similar in outward appearance to those of
the dahlia, though of course, very much larger; the usual size is about
a foot long, but roots two feet long and several inches wide throughout
are of common occurrence. When fresh they are white and of a peculiar
compact, dense, brittle texture, more like that of the common chestnut
than anything else I can compare it to, and not unlike it in taste,
though not so sweet, and more juicy. They are covered by a thin, dark,
rough, dry skin, which is very easily detached. Gentle hill-slopes are
the places generally chosen for the mandioca plantations, to ensure
good drainage, as the roots are said to rot readily in places where
water stagnates. The mandioca-root is sufficiently large and good to
eat about nine months after planting, but is only pulled up then in
case of need, as it does not attain its full perfection for fifteen or
eighteen months after the cuttings are planted, and as it can remain in
the ground for two or even three years without damage or deterioration,
there is no need of a regular time for digging it up. It is eaten fresh
and raw as taken out of the ground, though the natives are fondest of
its various preparations.
The roots peeled and dried in the sun constitute what is called “bala,”
and are eaten thus or roasted. “Bombó” is prepared by placing the roots
in water for four or five days, running streams being preferred to
stagnant pools for this purpose; the outer black skin then peels off
very readily and the roots have suffered a kind of acetous fermentation
affecting the gluten and gum, and setting free the starch--of which
the bulk of the root is composed;--they now have a strong disagreeable
acid taste and flavour, but on drying in the sun become beautifully
white and nearly tasteless, and so disintegrated as to be readily
crushed between the fingers into the finest flour. This “bombó” is
also eaten thus dry or roasted, but most usually it is pounded in a
wooden mortar and sifted in the “uzanzos” or baskets, into the white
flour called “fuba.” From this is prepared the “infundi,” the food
most liked by the natives, which is made in this way:--into an earthen
pot half full of water, kept boiling on three stones over a fire, the
“fuba” is gradually added, and the whole kept constantly stirred round
with a stick; when the mass attains the consistency of soft dough the
pot is taken off the fire, and being secured by the woman’s toes if
she be sitting down, or by her knees if kneeling, it is vigorously
stirred with the stick worked by both hands, for some minutes longer,
or till it no longer sticks to the side of the pot. Portions of the
semi-transparent viscous mass are then transferred with the stick to
a small basket or “quinda,” dusted with dry “fuba,” and rolled round
into a flat cake about three or four inches in diameter and a couple
of inches thick. It is eaten hot, bits of the sticky cake being pulled
out with the fingers and dipped for a flavour into a mess of salt fish,
pork, or beans, or into a gravy of stewed mandioca or bean-leaves,
Chili pepper, and oil. This “infundi,” or “infungi” as it is also
pronounced by some of the natives, is delicious eating with “palm-chop.”
“Quiquanga” is also a very important preparation of the mandioca-root,
large quantities being prepared in the interior and brought down to the
coast for sale and for barter for dried fish, salt, &c. The fresh roots
are placed in water for a few days, in the same manner as described
for “bombó,” and peeled, but instead of being dried in the sun, are
transferred wet as they are taken out of the water to the wooden
mortars, and pounded to a homogeneous paste; this is rolled between the
hands into long, flattened cakes about eight inches in length, or into
round thick masses. These are rolled neatly in the large, strong smooth
leaf of the _Phrynium ramosissimum_--a beautiful trailing plant with a
knotted stem, growing very abundantly in moist and shady places,--and
steamed over a pot of boiling water carefully covered up to keep the
steam in, and then left to dry in the sun or air. The cakes then
become fit to keep for a long time, and are of a very close, cheesy,
indigestible character, with a disagreeable acid flavour. Cut into thin
slices and toasted, the “quiquanga” is not a bad substitute for bread
or biscuit.
It is curious that in the district of Loanda and as far south as
Mossamedes, the principal food of the people should be a preparation
of the mandioca-root, which is hardly ever used by the natives of the
country from Ambriz to the River Congo: this is the meal called by
the Portuguese and Brazilians “Farinha de pão.” It is made by rasping
the fresh roots, previously peeled, on a grater, generally a sheet of
tin-plate punched with holes or slits, and nailed over a hole in a
board. The grated pulp is then put into bags and squeezed in a rude
lever-press to extract as much of the juice as possible, and then dried
on large round iron or copper sheets fitting on a low circular stone
wall, where a wood fire is kept burning. When thoroughly dry it is
nearly white, and has the appearance of coarse floury saw-dust, and is
excellent eating. Carefully prepared, it appears on all Angolan and
Brazilian tables, and is taken dry on the plate to mix with the gravy
of stews, &c. Scalded with boiling water, and mixed with a little
butter and salt, it is very nice to eat with meat, &c.
Another very favourite way of cooking it is by boiling it to a thick
paste with water, tomatoes, Chili pepper, and salt, with the addition
of some oil or butter in which onions have been fried. This is called
“pirão,” and a dish of it appears at table as regularly as potatoes do
with us.
With cold meat, fish, &c., it is also eaten raw, moistened with water,
oil, vinegar, pepper, and salt, or, better still, with orange or
lemon juice, with pepper and salt. This is called “farofa,” and is an
excellent accompaniment to a cold dinner. The natives generally eat it
dry, or slightly moistened with water, and from its being carelessly
prepared it is always very gritty with sand and earth, and is the cause
of the molars of the natives being always ground very flat. A negro
never makes any objection to grit in his food. Fish is always dried on
the sandy beach; mandioca-roots or meal, if wet, are also spread on a
clean bit of ground and swept up again when dry, and he crunches up
his always sandy food with the most perfect indifference, his nervous
system not being of a sufficiently delicate character to “set his teeth
on edge” during the operation, as it would those of a white man.
Next to the mandioca-root, as an article of food among the blacks, is
the small haricot bean; these are of various colours, the ordinary
white bean being scarce. A species is much cultivated, not only for the
beans, which are very small, but also for its long, thin, fleshy pods,
which are excellent in their green state. Beans are boiled in water,
with the addition of palm or ground-nut oil or other fat, salt, and
Chili pepper. The leaves of the bean, mandioca, or pumpkin plants are
sometimes added.
Chili pepper is the universal condiment of the natives of Angola, and
it is only one species, with a small pointed fruit about half an inch
long, that is used. It grows everywhere in the greatest luxuriance
as a fine bush loaded with bunches of the pretty bright green and
red berries. It seems to come up spontaneously around the huts and
villages, and is not otherwise planted or cultivated. It is eaten
either freshly-gathered or after being dried in the sun. It has a most
violent hot taste, but the natives consume it in incredible quantities;
their stews are generally of a bright-red colour from the quantity of
this pepper added, previously ground on a hollow stone with another
smaller round one. Their cookery is mostly a vehicle for conveying this
Chili pepper, and the “infundi” is dipped into it for a flavour.
Eating such quantities of this hot pepper often affects the action of
the heart, and I remember once having to hire a black to carry the
load of one of my carriers, who was unable to bear it from strong
palpitation of the heart, brought on from the quantity of Chili pepper
he had eaten with his food.
In our garden at Bembe we grew some “Malagueta” peppers, a variety with
a long pod, and perhaps even hotter than the Chilies. Our doctor’s
cook, coming to me once for a supply of vegetables, was given a few
of these, and commenced eating one. I asked him how he could bear to
eat them alone? He laughed, and said he “liked them with rum early in
the morning.” To try him, I gave him a couple and a glass of strong
hollands gin, and he coolly chewed them up and drank the spirit without
the slightest indication that he felt the pungency of the fiery
mixture. A round and deliciously-scented variety, bearing pods the size
of a small marble, is also grown, but is not commonly seen.
Bananas or plantains, grow magnificently, as might be expected, and
without requiring the least trouble; yet, such is the stupid indolence
of the natives that there is often a scarcity of them. They are
principally grown in valleys and other places, where the rich, moist
earth in which they delight is found, and where, protected by palm
and other trees, they rear their magnificent leaves unbroken by a
breath of air. A grove of banana-trees thus growing luxuriantly in a
forest clearing is one of the most beautiful sights in nature;--the
vast leaves, reflecting the rays of the hot sun from their bright-green
surface, contrast vividly with the dark-hued foliage of the trees
around, and show off the whorls of flowers with their fleshy, metallic,
purple-red envelopes and the great bunches of green and ripe yellow
fruit. Numbers of butterflies flit about the cool stems and moist
earth, whilst the abundant flowers are surrounded by a busy crowd of
bees and other flies, and by lovely sunbirds that, poised on the wing
in the air, insert their long curved beaks into the petals in search of
the small insects and perhaps honey that constitute their food.
The negroes of Angola always eat the banana raw, but it is roasted by
the whites when green, when it becomes quite dry and a good substitute
for bread, or boiled, to eat with meat instead of potatoes; and when
ripe, roasted whole, or cut lengthways into thin slices and fried in
batter and eaten with a little sugar and cinnamon or wine, forming
a delicious dish for dessert. A very large plantain, growing as long
as eighteen or twenty inches, is cultivated in the interior, and is
brought down to the coast by the “Zombos” with their caravans of ivory.
Indian corn is the only other plant that is grown and used as food by
the negroes of Angola, except the ground-nut already described. It is
sparingly cultivated, though bearing most productively, and is eaten
in the green state, raw or roasted, and sometimes boiled. About Loanda
the dry grain is occasionally pounded into meal and boiled into a stiff
paste with water, and eaten in the same manner as the “infundi” from
the mandioca-root.
Other edible plants, though not much cultivated by the natives, are the
sweet potato; the common yam (which is very rarely seen, and I am quite
unable to give a reason for its not being more commonly cultivated);
the Cajanus indicus, a shrub bearing yellow pea-like flowers and a
pod with a kind of flat pea, which is very good eating when young and
green; the purple egg-plant, or “berenjela” of the Portuguese; the
“ngilló” (_Solanum sp._), bearing a round apple-like fruit, used as
a vegetable; the ordinary pumpkin, and a species of small gourd; and,
lastly, the “quiavo” or “quingombó” (_Abelmoschus esculentus_) of the
Brazilians.
The Ambriz and Mushicongo natives make but little use of animal food,
seldom killing a domestic animal, and of these the pig is the most
esteemed by them. Very little trouble would enable them to rear any
quantity of sheep, goats, and other live stock; but, such is their
indolence, that, as I have already stated, these animals are quite
scarce in the country, and are daily becoming more so.
Blacks, as a rule, seldom engage in the chase. Antelopes, hares, &c.,
are only occasionally captured or shot, though they are abundant in
many places; but they are very fond of field-rats and mice, though
house-rats are held in disgust as articles of food. Immediately after
the annual grass-burnings the inhabitants of the towns turn out
with hoes and little bows and arrows to dig out and hunt the rats
and mice. Various devices are also employed to entrap them. A small
framework of sticks, about a foot high, is raised across the footpaths,
leaving small apertures or openings into which the open ends of long
funnel-shaped traps of open flexible wickerwork are inserted. The
bushes are then beaten with sticks, and the rats, frightened out of
their haunts, rush along the paths into the traps, in which they cannot
turn round, and as many as four or five are caught at a time in each
(Plate XI.).
Another common trap is made by firmly fixing in the ground one end of
a strong stick, and bending down the other end, to which is attached a
noose inserted in a small basket-trap, and so arranged as to disengage
the bow and catch the unlucky rat round the throat and strangle it as
soon as it touches the bait. The rats, as soon as killed, are skewered
from head to tail on a long bit of stick, and roasted over a fire in
their “jackets” whole, without any cleaning or other preparation,
generally five on each skewer.
Frogs are only eaten by the Mushicongos. They are also very fond of
grasshoppers, which are beaten down with a flapper, like a battledore,
made out of a palm-leaf, their legs and wings pulled off, and roasted
in a pot or crock over a fire; they smell exactly like stale dry
shrimps.
A large king-cricket (_Brachytrypes achatinus_) is greatly relished
everywhere, and the blacks are wonderfully clever at finding the exact
spot where one is chirping in the ground, and digging it out from
perhaps the depth of a foot or more. It is incredible how puzzling
it is to discover the exact place from whence the loud chirp of this
insect proceeds.
A large white grub or larva, the interior of which is very streaky
in appearance, and which is roasted and eaten spread on a cake of
“infundi” as we should spread marrow on a slice of toast, is considered
a great delicacy, as also is a very large yellow caterpillar. I have
seen, when travelling, all the blacks of my party suddenly rush off
with the greatest delight to a shrub covered with these caterpillars,
which they eagerly collected to eat in the same way as the grubs I have
just described.
The “salalé,” or white ant, is eaten by the natives of Angola when
it is in its perfect or winged state; they are captured by hand as
they issue from holes in the ground, stewed with oil, salt, and Chili
pepper, and used as a sauce or gravy with which to eat the “infundi.”
They have a very sharp taste, from the formic acid contained in them.
The natives of Angola manufacture but one kind of drink, called
“uállua” in the district of Ambriz, and “garapa” in the rest of Angola.
It is a sort of beer, prepared from Indian corn and “bala,” or dry
mandioca-root. The Indian corn is first soaked in water for a few days,
or until it germinates; it is then taken out and thinly spread on
clean banana leaves, and placed on the ground in the shade, where it
is left for two or three days; at the end of that time it has become
a cake or mass of roots and sprouts; it is then broken up and exposed
in the hot sun till it is quite dry, then pounded in wooden mortars
and sifted into fine flour; the dry mandioca-roots are also pounded
fine and mixed in equal parts with the Indian corn. This mixture is
now introduced in certain proportions, into hot water, and boiled
until a thick froth or scum rises to the surface. Large earthen pots,
called “sangas,” are filled with this boiled liquor, which when cold
is strained through a closely woven straw bag or cloth, and allowed
to stand for one night, when it ferments and is ready for use. It is
slightly milky in appearance, and when freshly made is sweetish and not
disagreeable in taste, but with the progress of fermentation becomes
acid and intoxicating. The rationale of the process of making “garapa”
is the same as that of the manufacture of beer. The germination of the
Indian corn, in which part of its starch is changed into sugar with
the production of diastase, and the arrest of this process by drying,
corresponds to the “malting,” and the boiling in water with mandioca
flour to the “mashing;” the diastase acting on the starch of the
mandioca-root, transforms it into sugar, which in its turn is fermented
into alcohol, rendering the “garapa” intoxicating, and ultimately
becoming acid, or sour, from its passing to the state of acetous
fermentation.
The “quindas” or baskets, used by the natives of Angola, are of various
sizes and all conical in shape. They are made of straw, but are not
woven. A kind of thin rope is made by covering a quantity of straight
straws or dry grass stems, about the thickness of an ordinary lead
pencil, with a flat grass, or strips of palm leaf, and the basket is
built up by twisting this rope round and round, and tightly sewing
it together. A coarser kind is made at Loanda for carrying earth or
rubbish. It is very curious that no other form of basket should be made
in the country, and when a cover is required, another basket inverted
is employed.
The “loangos,” or “loandos” are large mats about four to five feet
long, and from two to four wide; they are made of the dry, straight,
flattened stems of the papyrus plant (_Papyrus antiquorum_), and like
the baskets are also not woven or plaited, but the stems are passed
through or sewn across at several places with fine string made of
baobab fibre. These mats are stiff, but at the same time thick and
soft; they are used for a variety of useful purposes, such as for
fencing, for lying or sitting upon, and for placing on the ground on
which to spread roots, corn, &c., to dry in the sun, but principally
to line or cover huts and houses. The papyrus grows most luxuriantly
in all the pools, marshes, and wet places of Angola, and in many parts
lines the banks of the rivers. I have seen it growing everywhere, from
a few hundred yards distance from the sea, to as far in the interior
as I have been. It is always of the brightest bluish-grey green, and
the long, graceful, smooth stalk surmounted by the large feathery
head, waving in every breath of wind, makes it a beautiful object. It
often covers a large extent of ground in low places, particularly near
rivers, to the exclusion of any other plant, and forms then a most
lovely cool patch of colour in the landscape, and hides numbers of
happy water birds which, unmolested, boom and churrr and tweet in its
welcome shade.
Very curious are the sounds that issue in the stillness of the night
from these papyrus-covered fields, principally from different species
of waterfowl; and I have often remained awake for hours listening to
the weird trumpetings, guttural noises and whistlings of all kinds,
joined to the croak of frogs and the continual, perfectly metallic,
ting, ting, ting--like the ring of thousands of tiny iron hammers on
steel anvils--said to be made by a small species of frog.
Nothing gives such an idea of the wonderful multiplicity of bird or
insect life in tropical Africa, as the number and variety of sounds to
be heard at night. Every square foot of ground or marsh, every tree,
bush, or plant, seems to give out a buzz, chirp, or louder noise of
some sort. With the first streak of daylight these noises are suddenly
hushed, to be quickly succeeded by the various glad notes of the
awakened birds, and later on, when the sun’s rays are clear and hot,
the air is filled with the powerful whirr of the cicads on every tree.
The “uzanzos” are a kind of sieve in the form of an openwork basket,
rather prettily and neatly made of the thin and split midrib of the
palm leaflets, in which the women sift mandioca, Indian corn, or
whatever else they may pound into meal in their wooden mortars. These
latter are “uzus,” and the long wooden pestles employed with them are
termed “muinzus” (Plate XII.).
These mortars are made of soft wood, mostly of the cotton-wood tree,
which is easily cut with a knife; for scooping out the interior of the
mortars the natives use a tool made by bending round about an inch of
the point of an ordinary knife, which they then call a “locombo.”
The last article to be described, in daily use amongst the natives of
Angola, is a small wooden dish, which is more rarely made now owing
to the large quantity of earthenware plates and bowls that have been
introduced by the traders on the coast. These dishes are invariably
made square in shape (Plate XIV.).
END OF VOL. I.
INDEX.
A
Abuses by authorities of Angola, i. 54.
Adansonias, abundance of, from River Congo to Mossamedes, i. 27.
African fevers, facts and observations about, ii. 236.
Agave, i. 29.
Alligators, i. 65, ii. 123.
Ambaca, natives of, ii. 103.
Ambaquistas, natives of Ambaca, ii. 103.
Ambriz, description of town, i. 153;
trade of, _ib._;
iron pier at, 157;
author’s return to, 233;
negroes, customs of the, 281.
----, vegetation of, i. 30; exports from in 1874, 111.
---- to Mossamedes, i. 23.
---- to Loanda country, ii. 1.
Ambrizzette, witchcraft at, i. 65;
treatment of a black for forgery, 115.
_Amydrus fulvipennis_, ii. 164.
Andrade, on board the, to Quanza, ii. 113.
Angola, discovery and early history, i. 1;
Portuguese possessions of, 23;
physical geography of, _ib._;
description of coastline, _ib._;
character of landscape, 25;
change of landscape at 13° S. lat., 26;
vegetation of from Ambriz to Bembe, 29;
slave trade in, 59;
statistics of slaves shipped in, 67;
division of, ii. 51;
pay of governor and army officers, 52;
abuses by authorities of, 54;
climate of, 223;
effect of climate on Europeans, ii. 237;
customs of the natives, ii. 268.
_Angolœa fluitans_, ii. 133.
Anha River, ii. 173.
Animal food of the natives, i. 297.
_Arachis hypogœa_, native name of, “mpinda,” or “ginguba,” i. 129;
description of, 130;
its cultivation, _ib._;
preparation of the nut and Chili pepper, 132.
Arms and war, i. 261.
Atacamite, where found, i 192.
Athletic sports at Sierra Leone, account of, ii. 315.
Author buys a slave, i. 77;
the slave’s ingratitude to, _ib._;
reception of by Senhor Chaves at Boma, i. 83;
at a picnic organized by Senhor Chaves, 87;
catches four new species of fish at Boma, 95;
discoverer of the baobab fibre as a substance for paper-making, 118;
manages a malachite mine, 161;
accompanies Mr. Augustus Archer Silva to Quanza, ii. 112.
----, mining explorations of, at Benguella, i. 43, ii. 191,199.
B
Baba Bay, abundance of fish at, ii. 216.
Babies, treatment of, i. 71.
Bagre fish, i. 50.
_Bagrus_, “Bagre” fish, ii. 134.
Baobab-tree--_Adansonia digitata_, i. 24, 29.
---- bark, its application to paper-making (discovered by author in
1858), i. 75;
baobabs at Boma, 84.
---- or _Adansonia digitata_, as a substance for paper-making, i. 118;
description of the tree, and use of the trunk, 120.;
mode of taking off the bark, 122;
its fruit, and mode of climbing it, 128.
Banana, trading factories at, i. 81.
Bananas, or plantains, i. 294;
as food, 295.
Barra da Corimba, ii. 21.
Basalt, ii. 220.
Bats, abundance of in churches, ii. 129.
Bed-clothing of the natives, i. 266.
Beer, native, manufacture of, i. 301.
Bees--mode of getting honey, ii. 165.
Bellows, native, ii. 93.
Bembe, vegetation of, i. 31;
description of, 109.
---- Fort, i. 190; soil about, 225.
Bengo river, ii. 16.
Bengo to Loanda, vegetation, ii. 18.
Benguella, i. 28;
mining operations at, 43;
country south of, 45;
fertility of its soil, trade, &c., ii. 181;
slave-trade at, 184.
---- and Mossamedes, country between, ii. 212.
Berenjela, egg plant, i. 296.
Bigode, or moustache-bird (_Crithagra ictera_), ii. 205.
Bimba tree (_Herminiera Elaphroxylon_), ii. 195.
Bimbas, birds at, ii. 206.
Birds of Boma, i. 86;
habits of various kinds, _ib._
Bitumen, ii. 11.
Bleeding, fondness of the natives for, ii. 262.
Boma, as centre for slave-trade, i. 56;
cultivation of, 85;
birds of, 86;
distrust of natives at, 90.
Bombó, preparation, i. 287.
Bonny, landing at, i. 114.
_Brachytrypes achatinus_ (king cricket), i. 299.
Brandy, use of in Africa, ii. 245.
Bronchitis, &c., native treatment of, ii. 258.
Bruto, plantation at, ii. 119.
_Bucorax Abyssinicus_ (hornbill), ii. 71.
Bunda-speaking natives, indolence of, ii. 100.
Burial among the natives, i. 276.
---- and burial-places, ii. 275.
Bustards, ii. 5.
Bustards at Benguella, ii. 201.
Butterflies, species of, ii. 295.
C
Cabeça da Cobra to Ambriz--description of coast-line, i. 102;
vegetation, 103.
_Cajanus indicus_, shrub, i. 296.
Calumbo, scenery, vegetation, &c., ii. 116.
Cambambe, high grass at, i. 38;
water at, 47;
cataracts at, ii. 133.
_Camoensia maxima_, plant, i. 177.
Cannibalism, ii. 157.
Capatas, or captains of the carriers, i. 196, 203.
Cardozo, Feo, on the “History of the Governors of Angola,” i. 1.
Casca, preparation of, i. 63;
effect by poisoning from, 127.
Cashew-tree, i. 44.
Cassão, dogfish, ii. 207.
Cassanza, country about, ii. 153.
Cassytha--(_C. Guineensis?_), i. 45;
at Luache, ii. 198.
Castor-oil plant in Novo Redondo and Benguella, i. 51.
Catinga, or odour of the natives, i. 30.
Cattle, cause for absence of, i. 46.
---- and other animals, mortality of, i. 207.
Catumbella, scenery and vegetation, ii. 178.
Cazengo, abundance of food at, ii. 84-88.
Celis country, ii. 105.
Chameleons, ii. 109.
Circumcision among the natives, i. 278.
Civilization of the negro, i. 113.
Climate of Angola, effect on Europeans, ii. 237.
Coffee-trade, i. 134.
Coffee plantations, ii. 87;
wild, about Golungo Alto and the Dembos, ii. 92.
Cola fruit, ii. 37.
Commerce, i. 117.
Congo River, i. 26;
a boundary, i. 53;
mouth of, i. 81.
----, probable sources of, i. 54, ii. 69.
---- to Ambriz, the country from, i. 100.
---- River and Ambriz, system of trading, i. 105.
Congo, king of, i. 213;
customs of, 221.
Cookery of Angola natives, ii. 239.
Copper at Benguella, ii. 179;
at Quileba, 191.
Copper ore at Cuio Bay, ii. 198.
_Coracias caudata_, manner of flying, &c., i. 172, ii. 19.
_Corythaix Paulina_, plantain-eaters, superstitious dread of by the
natives, ii. 74.
_Corythornis cyanostigma_, kingfisher, ii. 121.
Cotton growth at Cazengo, ii. 105.
Creepers, description of, i. 31, 45.
Crime, punishment for in Angola, ii. 46.
Crows (_Corvus scapulatus_), ii. 215.
Cuacra, cannibalism at, ii. 155.
Cuio Bay, ii. 198.
_Cursorius Senegalensis_, ii. 19.
Customs of natives of the interior, ii. 99.
_Cynocephalus sp._ of dog-faced monkey, ii. 194.
D
Dances of the natives, ii. 137.
Dande River, ii. 15.
Dead, “drying” of the, i. 275.
_Decamera Jovis-tonantis_, hard-wood shrub, preservative against
lightning, ii. 99.
Diamba, hemp for smoking, ii. 26, 257.
Dias, Captain, governor of Barra do Bengo, i. 80.
Dirty habits of the natives, ii. 259.
Dish, Angola native, i. 305.
Dog’s sense of smell when nearing a negro, i. 36.
Dombe Grande, rush of water down the Luache, i. 49.
----, district of, ii. 196.
Dondo town, ii. 130.
Dress of the kings, i. 260.
---- natives, i. 263.
Drunkenness of Englishmen, ii. 243.
Dyes and paints, ii. 299.
Dysentery, native treatment of, ii. 252.
E
Egg-trade, i. 209.
Egito river, ii. 169.
Eland steak, a breakfast of, ii. 224.
Engongui signal-bells, i. 203.
Entuchi, shrub, used for curing headache, ii. 251.
Epsom-salts, ii. 262.
_Eriodendron anfractuosum_, cottonwood tree, ii. 86.
_Erythrophlœum Guineense_, action of poison extracted from, i. 61.
Euphorbia tree, i. 24;
abundance of, from River Congo to Mossamedes, 27;
in Ambriz, 29.
_Eusemia ochracea_, moth, i. 158.
F
Fairs, i. 209.
Falls of Cambambe, ii. 133.
Farofa, preparation, i. 291.
Farinha de pao, preparation, i. 290.
Fedegozo (_Cassia occidentalis_) as a substitute for quinine, ii. 249.
Fetish, as a punishment to drunkards, i. 117.
“Fetishes” of the negro, fetish men, &c., i. 243-253.
Fetish-house, ii. 7.
Fever, its prevention and cure, ii. 246;
native treatment of, 249.
Fevers at Bembe, i. 227.
Fish, mode of cooking at Loanda, ii. 30.
---- caught at Loanda, ii. 31.
---- and fisheries between Benguella and Mossamedes, ii. 206.
Food, abundant growth at Cazengo, ii. 105.
Frogs as food, i. 298.
Fruits, ii. 297.
Furniture of the natives, i. 282.
G
Gamboa, General, ii. 3.
Garapa, drink, i. 300.
Garlic as a food for hot climate, ii. 240.
Gigantic grasses, i. 33.
Giraul river, ii. 218.
Gold at Lombige, ii. 90.
Golungo Alto, ii. 85.
Gorilla and Chimpanzee, where found, i. 53.
Gourds of Cazengo and Pungo Andongo, ii. 104.
Grandy, Lieut., i. 162.
Grass, “Capim de faca” or knife-grass, i. 33;
description of burning, 39.
Ground-nut, analysis, ii. 110.
Gum-arabic at Mossamedes, ii. 218.
Gum Elemi, called “mubafo,” i. 206.
Gun-loading by the natives, i. 141.
Gypsum, ii. 16.
H
Habits and customs of natives in Angola, ii. 268.
Hammock, description of, i. 163.
Haricot-bean, i. 97.
Head, mode of shaving the, i. 269.
----, “inhabitants” of the, trap for catching, and professional
catchers, i. 269.
Herva Santa Maria (_Chenopodium ambrosioides_), ii. 250.
Hippopotami in the River Quanza, ii. 124.
Hornbill, the, ii. 73.
---- (_Toccus elegans_ and _Toccus Monteiri_), at Benguella, ii. 201.
Hot-spring at Dongo, ii. 162.
_Hydnora_, a Rafflesiaceous plant, ii. 207.
Hydraulic-press for baleing the baobab fibre, i. 125.
Hyenas steal the author’s sheep, ii. 81;
attacked by wolf-hounds, 225.
I
Import-duties, ii. 61.
India-rubber creeper, description of, i. 31, 137.
Indian-corn, i. 296.
Indolence of the Bunda-speaking natives, ii. 100.
Infundi, preparation, i. 288.
Ink, ingredients of native, ii. 98.
Insanity among the natives, i. 279.
Iron-smelting at Cazengo, ii. 95.
Ivory, i. 139.
J
Jasmine at Benguella, ii. 192.
Jasminum auriculatum, ii. 5.
---- multipartitum, ii. 5.
K
Kew Gardens, author’s collection of plants in the herbarium at,
i. 178.
Kimpoaca, aversion of natives to the landing of hydraulic press,
i. 126.
King Parrot, where found, i. 53,
Kingfishers, ii. 121.
Kinsao, mineral pitch at, i. 150.
L
_Landolphia, florida?_ the tree-creeper that produces indiarubber, i.
31, 137.
Language of the different races, ii. 96.
Lead ore, ii. 199.
Leeches, abundance of, ii. 266.
Lemur, _Galago Monteiri_, ii. 306.
Libollo country, ii. 145.
Libongo, ii. 9.
Lions at Carunjamba, ii. 209.
_Lissochilus giganteus_, found at Porto da Lenha, i. 82.
Little Fish Bay, i. 23.
Lizards, ii. 109.
Loanda, cause for change of vegetation, i. 28;
baptizing slaves at, 68.
----, death of a boy in market-place at, i. 72.
----, vegetation, ii. 18.
----, city of St. Paul de, ii. 20;
population, 22;
style of building, _ib._;
market of, 25;
custom of the ladies of, 33;
dress of the people, 35;
slavery in, 39;
vegetation, 44;
police of, 48;
lighting of the city, _ib._;
theatre at, _ib._;
morals, _ib._
Loangos or Loandos’ mats, i, 302.
Lobato, Senhor, ii. 63.
Lobito Bay, ii. 176.
Loranthus, seed of, used as bird-lime, ii. 205.
Luache river at Dombe Grande, i. 49.
----, quicksands at, ii. 197.
M
“Macotas,” or the council, i. 255.
Maculo, a disease peculiar to blacks, its treatment, ii. 252.
Malachite, ii. 161, 191.
----, how and where found, i. 191-195.
Malagueta pepper, i. 294.
Manatee, or woman-fish, ii. 17, 125.
Mandioca plant, cultivation of, i. 287;
preparation, 291, ii. 197.
Mangrove tree, ii. 117.
_Manis multiscutata_, ant-eating animal, ii. 278.
Manoel Vacca, notorious pirate, i. 92.
Maquata, the red gum-copal, i. 134.
Maracachão bird (_Pytelia elegans_), ii. 205.
Marble column at Santa Maria Cape, commemorating its discovery, ii.
216.
Marriage law of the natives, i. 264.
Massangano town, ii. 128.
Mateba palm, abundance of, from River Congo to Ambrizzette, i. 44.
Matuta, change of scenery and vegetation, i. 29.
----, visit to, i. 199.
Mineral pitch, i. 150.
Mirage at Mossamedes, ii. 231.
Mossamedes, i. 23, 27, 28.
---- (Little Fish Bay), ii. 217.
----, climate, society, &c., ii. 232.
Mosquitoes, i. 167.
Mourning of the natives, i. 277.
Mucelis, i. 28.
Mucoandos tribe, ii. 226.
Mucozo river, i. 47, ii. 66.
Mundombes, the inhabitants of Benguella, their clothing, vegetation,
mode of eating meat, &c., ii. 186;
their arms, 188.
Muinzus or pestles, i. 304.
Mule, dislike to being harnessed by a negro, i. 37.
Muqueca, its ingredients, ii. 239.
Muquices tribe, ii. 227.
_Mus Gambianus_, ii. 168.
Mushicongo negroes, customs of, i. 280;
mode of building their huts, 284;
furniture of the, _ib._
Musical instruments of the natives, ii. 139.
Mussera, town, i. 143.
Mussurougo tribe, pirates, i. 92;
ankle-rings worn by, 93;
customs of, 280.
Muxima town, ii. 122.
Muxixe tree, i. 29.
N
Native remedies for diseases, ii. 263.
Natives, custom of, in case of death, after the administration of
medicine, or after the performance of an operation, i. 73;
objection of to work for wages, 75;
fear of at sight of a steamer, 125;
customs of the, 257;
bed-clothing, 266.
Navigation of Rivers Dande, Bengo, &c., i. 47.
Nborotuto shrub, ii. 70.
Ncombo, or goat-root, used to flavour tobacco, ii. 270.
_Nectariniæ_, i. 99.
Negro cook making forcemeat balls, i. 36.
Negro, insensibility of the, i. 69-75;
ingratitude of the, 77;
character of the, 238;
absence of affection in the, 242;
social laws of the, 242;
absence of sympathy in the, 243;
absence of cruelty in the, 245;
“fetishes” of the, 246, 247;
toilet of, 263;
mode of shaving the head, 269.
Negroes, odour of, i. 36;
ankle-rings worn by, 94;
customs of, 181.
Ngilló, vegetable, i. 296.
Novo Redondo, i. 28.
---- natives of, ii. 155-159.
_Nymphœa dentata_ and _stellata_, water-lily, ii. 121.
O
Oil, dog-fish, ii. 207.
Oil-palm at Bembe, i. 32.
Ophthalmia, its rarity, ii. 258.
Orange River, i. 27.
Orchilla-weed, ii. 184.
Ordeal by poison, i. 61.
Ornaments of kings’ and macotas’ wives, i. 268.
Ox-bird (_Buphaga Africana_), ii. 204.
Oxen trained for riding, ii. 218.
P
Palm-chop, i. 97.
---- tree, mode of climbing, i. 97.
---- wine, i. 97.
Panda or wattled crane (_Grus carunculata_), ii. 203.
Paper-making, baobab-tree in its application to, i. 118.
Papyrus, growth of, i. 302.
Pedra grande, or “big stone,” ii. 221.
_Pentalobus barbatus_, beetle, i. 146.
Pepper, Chili, &c., i. 293.
Picnic at Boma, visit of the nine kings, i. 87.
Pirão, preparation, i. 291.
Pitch, mineral, ii. 9.
Plants used by natives for cure of dysentery or diarrhœa, ii. 252.
Plaster-of-paris, manufactured by author from gypsum-rock, ii. 200.
Polygamy among the natives, i. 263.
Porcupines, ii. 297.
Porto da Lenha, description of, i. 83.
---- Domingos, ii. 66.
Potato, sweet, i. 296.
Productions of Cazengo, ii. 105.
Products from River Congo to Ambriz, i. 119-141.
_Ptyelus olivaceus_, or spit-frog, ii. 108.
Pungo Andongo range, description of scenery, i. 31.
----, natives of, ii. 102.
Pungo fish, i. 142.
Purgatives used by the natives, ii. 262.
Q
Quanza River, i. 47, ii. 113.
“Queimada,” burning grass, description of, i. 39.
Quiavo, or Quingombó, i. 297.
Quiballa, i. 30;
description of country, 171.
---- to Bembe, i. 181-187.
Quifandongo, ii. 19.
Quileba, copper at, ii. 191.
Quilumbo, i. 185.
Quinbundo natives, ii. 146.
Quincollo, i. 236.
Quindas or baskets, i. 301.
Quingombe, i. 235.
Quinine--fedegozo used as a substitute by Portuguese, ii. 249.
Quioco bird, ii. 79.
Quipupa, spring of ferruginous water at, ii. 196.
Quiquanga, preparation, i. 289.
Quirandas, shell-bead ornaments, ii. 169.
Quissama country, ii. 144.
---- ladies, fashions of the, ii. 147.
R
Rain, fall of, i. 42.
Rat-catching, i. 298.
Rats, as food, i. 298;
at Libongo, ii. 8.
Root parasite, i. 198, ii. 207.
S
Salalé, or white ant, i. 299, ii. 277.
Salt, i. 147.
San Francisco River, ii. 196.
San Salvador, i. 225.
Sand-grouse--_Pterocles namaquus_, ii. 201.
Sangue-sangue, tall grass, ii. 250.
Sanseviera plant, i. 29, 45.
Santa Maria Cape, ii. 214.
Sarna, a kind of itch common among blacks, ii. 259.
Scents, ii. 299.
Scorpions, effects of their sting, ii. 170, 171.
_Scopus umbretta_, heron-like bird, ii. 73.
Senhor Chaves, i. 83;
organizes a picnic, 87.
_Sesamum indicum_ seed, i. 134.
_Sesbania punctata_, Pers., shrub common in marshes, ii. 176.
Sharks, absence of south of River Congo, i. 51.
Silva, Mr. Augustus Archer, accompanies author to Quanza, ii. 112.
Silver in Cambambe, ii. 62.
Skin-disease, treatment of, ii. 261.
Slave, author buys a, i. 77.
Slaves shipped in Angola, statistics of, i. 67;
treatment of in case of famine, 69;
native laws regarding, 76;
cost of, 205.
Slave-trade, i. 56;
explanation of in Angola, 58.
---- at Benguella, ii. 185.
Slavery, i. 56;
observance of laws, 59;
witchcraft in, 61;
ordeal by poison, _ib._;
in Loanda, ii. 39;
author’s views on abolition of, 41.
Sleep-disease, i. 143;
description of, 144.
Snakes, ii. 300.
Soba, a, visits the author, ii. 173.
---- Dumbo, formerly a powerful king, ii. 67.
_Solanum saponaceum_, fruit of the, used as soap, ii. 111.
Solé, bird, ii. 166.
Sounds of birds, &c., i. 304.
Sphynx moths, ii. 304.
Spit-frog, the, ii. 108.
Spring-bok, near Mossamedes, ii. 213.
_Sterculia tomentosa_, i. 29.
Sulphate of magnesia, ii. 220.
Sulphur at Dombe Grande, ii. 197.
Suspension-bridge at Novo Redondo, ii. 159.
T
“Tangandando,” india-rubber, i. 137.
Tobacco, its efficacy for inflammation of bowels, ii. 263;
its use by natives, 269.
Toilet of the negro, i. 263.
Trading between River Congo and Ambriz, i. 105.
Traps to catch “inhabitants” of the head, i. 269.
Travelling, mode of, i. 165.
_Treron calva_, pigeon, ii. 164.
Trial of a man for bewitching the spirit of his dead wife, i. 66.
_Trionyx nilotica_, tortoise, ii. 125.
_Turacus cristatus_, plantain-eater, ii. 86.
U
Uallua, drink, i. 300.
Ulcers, native remedies for, ii. 253.
Uzanzos, baskets or sieves, i. 304.
Uzus, or mortars, i. 304.
V
Vegetables, growth of, at Bembe, i. 225.
Vegetation of Angola, from Ambriz to Bembe, i. 29;
from River Congo to Mossamedes, 43.
Viuva, or long-tailed whydah-finch (_Vidua paradisea_), ii. 205.
_Voandzeia subterranea_, ii. 111.
Volcanic rocks, ii. 69, 220.
W
Wages of Englishmen in Africa, ii. 243.
Water, mode of getting, in dry season, i. 43;
finding of at Cambambe, 47;
curious deposits of ii. 221.
Watercress, ii. 93.
Wasps, ii. 287, 291.
_Welwitschia, mirabilis_, plant, ii. 229.
White men, reception of, by king, i. 257.
Wild-hemp smoking, ii. 257.
Witchcraft at Ambrizzette, i. 65.
Women’s work, i. 285.
Writing, style of employed by natives, ii. 315.
Z
Zebras at Benguella, ii. 194.
Zombo tribe, mode of dressing the hair, &c., i. 271.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS,
STANFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.
Transcriber’s Notes
A few minor errors in punctuation were fixed.
“Sanseviera Angolensis” changed to “Sansevieria Angolensis” in a few
locations throughout the text.
The index has been copied from the second volume into the first,
although it is not present in the original.