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lO'-hS. 




HARVARD 

COLLEGE 
LIBRARY 




AN ACCOUNT 



OP TUB 



Bi0(o^etie0 ot fbt ^oxtufsnt^t 



IN THE INTERIOR OF 



ANGOLA AND MOZAMBIQUE. 



FROM ORIOINAI. MANUSCRIPTS, 

BY T. E. BOWDICH, Esq. 



TO WHICH IS ADDED, 

A NOTE BY THE AUTHOR, 

ON A GEOGRAPHICAL ERROR OF MUNGO PARK, 

IN UIS I.AST JOURNAL INTO THE INTERIOR OF kVOUCk, 



. Honnon : 

PRINTED FOR JOHN BOOTH, DUKE STREET, 

PORTLAND PLACE. 

1824. 



/\j.\^10HS". X/ 



• ^' 



MMtVARP COLLEGE LIERA).^ 

CWNT OF SANTA (l;la.:.. 

COLLECT U.S 
eiFT OF 

»Hh K ft1£T30N, Jr. 



^9^X4/ 



Howlettand Bririimer, Printers, 
10« Frith Street, SohOi 



ADVERTISEMENT 



A PRELIMINARY remark has been thought requisite 
respecting this volume, which might be deemed posthumous, 
from the time la which it makes its appearance, whereas it 
was nearly ready for publication in the Summer of last 
year. Before Mr. Bowdich quitted France to proceed on 
his third, and, as it has proved, most unfortunate expe- 
dition, he applied to the African Association for pecuniary 
aid, which was cheerfully granted him. At Vienna, Paris, 
and Lisbon, the activity and spirit of curiosity that always 
governed him, enabled him to collect, from the most authentic 
sources, the materials which furnish the volume ; and, consi- 
dering them of importance^ they were forwarded to the As- 
sociation, in token of his gratitude for their kindness. By 
the Association they were given to the Publisher, who sent a 
portion of the manuscript immediately to the press ; but the 
Tables of Exports and Imports being in the Portuguese lan- 
guage, it was difficult to find a translator, and the difficulty 
was only surmounted a week or two before the melancholy 
intelligence arrived of the death of the enterprising Editor. 



11 ADVERTISEMENT. 

To this circumstance has the delay been solely owing. The 
value of the work must be decided upon by the public. 
The Narrative, however, it is prestimed, will not be found 
uninteresting ; great pains were taken by Mr. Bowdich with 
the Maps, which, as far as they go, are probably the best 
extant ; and the Tables cannot fail of being acceptable to 
all those who are desirous of information of that nature. 

The Publisher thinks it becoming to add, that the family 
of Mr. Bowdich have no interest whatever in the sale of the 
work : whether the result be profit or loss, it will concerD 
himself only, the property being exclusively his own. 

Duke Street, Portland Place, 
May, 1824. 



A HUP or THIS COAST ai 





HARVARD 

COLLEGE 
LIBRARY 



MEMOIR, &c. 



THE Portuguese settlements in Africa, 
from their antiquity, extent, and influence, 
have long excited the anxious curiosity of 
men of letters, no less than of philan- 
thropists ; while the latter wished to pos- 
sess information that might enable them to 
promote the moral improvement of a large 
portion of the great family of mankind, 
hitherto concealed from the knowledge of 
the rest of the world ; the former, in addition 
to that object, were desirous of enlarging 
the boundaries of science. From' the 



2 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

history of discoveries already made, and 
from the traces of Portuguese stations, 
reported to travellers, in the inland parts 
of the continent, it appeared evident that 
a map of the positions of those settlements, 
enlarged by such local intelligence, as 
the residents might have obtained in their 
trading journeys, and commercial inter- 
course with the countries still more re- 
mote, vrould materially contribute towards 
filling up the great blank in the geography 
of Western Africa. At all events, it was 
obvious that such a map would prove of 
essential service to those engaged in ex- 
ploring this part of the globe, whether 
private persons or public associations. 
But whilst other nations with a generous 
regard to the advancement of science, and 
a feeling concern for the civilization of 
Africa, freely published all the materials 
which they possessed, in illustration of this 



CONGO, ANGOLA^ AN13 BEKGUELA. 3 

great object of mquiry^ and; at the same > 
time ex^erted their constant efibrts to^in^' 
crease thetn ibr universal benefit, the go- 
vernment best qualified: to assist thdirrviewB^ i 
continued to ^pursue its selfish ^system of 
policy, by keeping locked up those valn^. 
able stores of information, the publicatioa 
of which .would have settled many doubtful 
questions in geography, and lessened the. 
difficulties of enteiprising teavellers. AUke 
insensible to the impulse' of benevolence 
and the interests, of learning, this state> 
refused to make known particulars^ Iromj 
the concealment of which it cofuld derive 
no advantage, and the disclosure of/ which 
wotild even have reflected honour upon, 
the national character. At length, what the 
government had so long declined doing, the 
good sense of scMne of the educated Por- 
tuguese^ > has partly accomplished, and the 
late political changes having had the effect 



4 COAST AND INTERIOR- OF 

of throwing open the national archives, it 
is to be hoped that Portugal will soon be 
brought not only to contribute to, but to 
take an active part in the improvement and. 
civilization of that great continent, where 
for centuries it has held so many ijnpor- 
tant possessions. 

In the course of my incessant resiearches 
for new information, respecting the geo- 
graphy and state of Africa, I fortunately 
became indebted to the friendship of M. 
d'Almeida, the Portuguese Charge d'Af- 
faires at Vienna, for an inestimable acqui- 
sition in the acquaintance of Count Sal- 
danha de Gama, then one of th Plenipo- 
tentiaries to the Congress there from the 
court of Lisbon. 

This nobleman, who had been . formerly 
Govemor General of Angola, met my in- 
quiries with all the readiness characteristic 
of those who are animated by a love of 



CONGO, ANGOI.A9 AND BENGUELA. 5 

science, and feel a lively zeal for the ex- 
tension of geographical discovery. It is 
to Count Saldanha's liberal interest in 
my pursuit that I owe the accompanying 
map, which till now only existed in manu- 
script, and was almost unknown even at 
Lisbon. In addition to this favour the 
Count imparted much valuable informa- 
tion, which has furnished the means of 
throwing light upon some points in regard 
to the interior of Africa. This map was 
constructed in 1790, by Lieutenant Colonel 
Furtado, officer of the Engineers, who 
was ordered to travel, and survey the coast 
from Mayumbo to Cape Negro, by the Ba- 
ron de Mossamedes, then Governor Gene- 
ral of Angola. While thus employed, the 
Colonel was enabled to correct the pre- 
vious maps, not only by his own immediate 
observations, and by the communications 
which he received from the commandants of 



6 C6Ad^ AND IVfTERIOR OF 

the inland fortresses of Encoche, Ambaca, 
I'uBgo, Andbiijo, and Caconda. His survey 
tras farther enldl-ged by the discoveries 
6f Ddn Jose Mendes, who had been sent 
on ati expedition to the south by the same 
Governor General, and the rotite of i<rhdS6 
iniission is also traced on the present map. 
M. Mollien visited a I^btttiguese esta^ 
blishment, one hundred and eighty miles 
iiiland from Bissao, and variotis niins of 
fortresses formerly held by them, were de- 
scribed to Golberry, as still ^existing in 
Bainbouk. Geographers, however^ became 
inuch more anxious to ascertain the exact 
distahce inland of the establishments in 
Congo, Angola, and Benguela, where the 
Portuguese had scarcely ever been disturb- 
ed,* and of which they are still the peace- 

* When the Dutch gained a temporary possession 
of St. Panl/in 1640, the Portuguese garrison retired 
to the islands above Muchima, and were under the 



CONGO^ ANGOLA, AND B£NGU£LA. 7 

able and unrivalled possessors. These set- 
tlements it is now known extend nearly 
three hundred miles from the Congo coast, 
about seveji hundred miles in the interior 
of Angola, and above two hundred miles 
behind Benguela. 

The chorographical information obtained 
by travellers during their excursions through 
a country, and their transit from one place 
to another, loses a great portion of its value, 
in point of perspicuity and utility, unless 
it be carefully reduced to a map ; and it 
must be allowed also, that wherq such a 
delineation is made with accuracy, a verbal 
description of the same route becomes un- 
necessary and tiresome. The detailed na- 

necessity of drawing all their supplies from the interior ; 
the enemy having occupied Esandeira^ an island at the 
month of the Coanza. The Portuguese squadron which 
retook St. Paul^ entered the harbour unexpectedly by 
the Bar of Curimba. 



8 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

ture of the map, which accompanies this 
iiketch, leaves me, therefore, but h'ttle to 
add to the memoir. 

The Portuguese force at Loando*, ac- 
cording to Count Saldanha's account, was 
always kept up, even when their settlements 
on the eastern coast, were almost wholly 
neglected. 

This military establishment was composed 
of one regiment of the line, one thousand 
strong, and three hundred cavalry who 
were mounted in the Brazils, and two hun- 
dred artillery. St. Paul contains about 
eight thousand inhabitants, who now reside 
for the most part in the lower town. The 
garrison of Benguela, consists of one 
hundred infantry and fifty artillery, together 
with troops of the line. Each of the forts 

^ The little island of Loando, which varies from one 
hundred to three hundred yards in breadth, is described 
as being equally salubrious and picturesque. 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 9 

of Massang^no, Encoche, and Caconda, 
has one hundred infantry; and the other 
forts sixty, all recruited among the natives, 
but commanded by Portuguese officers of 
the line. Besides these regular troops, a 
militia of the inhabitants of the neighbour- 
hood, armed by the government and offi- 
cered, by Portuguese residents, is kept up 
at each establishment, both in the interior 
and on the coast. With this militia, which 
amounts altogether to several thousands, 
conducted on such occasions by officers of 
the line, and other contingencies of native 
force, which the different states are bound 
to furnish, the government carries on what- 
ever wars it may be involved in against the 
Cassanges and other nations, who frequently 
bring into the hostile field armies of eigh- 
teen thousand men. 

The commercial establishments, called 
Fairs, or Feiras, two of which are seven 



10 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

hundred miles within land, are under the 
superintendance of the Portuguese resi- 
dent, who is stationed there for the purpose 
of keeping up a continual correspondence 
with the Governor General, and to prevent 
his countrymen, who frequent these markets 
periodically, from abusing the confidence 
of the natives, or offending them by any 
other injury. 

The most healthy of all the Portuguese 
settlements is Caconda, which is situated 
in the interior, in latitude 14 degrees 35 
nunutes, south ; and about 17 degrees east 
" of Greenwich. Its distance from Benguela 
is twenty days* journey, but those invalids 
who can bear the fatigue of travelling, are 
almost certain of a recovery, after their 
arrival and residing there some time. The 
country is elevated, the air pure and com- 
paratively cool, and the surrounding scenery 
rich and diversified; so that all travellers 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 11 

who have been there, concur in describing 
it as the most delightful spot they have 
either seen or heard of throughout Western 
Africa. The other settlements are all of 
them, more or less, unhealthy; the raini) 
being so very irregular, that sometimes they 
do not occur for the dpace of three years. 

t inade several inquiries about St Sal^ 
vador, the position of which is accurately 
laid down in the map. In answer to my 
que&tioiis Count Saldanha informed me that 
it had long since been found unnecessary 
to keep up a military force there ; that 
thie natives chose rather to visit the markets 
of Encoche and Loando, and that from the 
aristocratical and divided character of the 
Congo government, the Portuguese had no 
reason to apprehend a resistance to their 
authority, since all parties appealed to them 
as the arbiter of their diflferences. But 
though a garrison was no longer wanted at 



12 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

St Salvador, the establishment of Catholic 
missionaries is still maintained, and occa- 
sionally recruited from Italy* Though 
these missionaries, according to the descrip- 
tion of them given by Count Saldanha, are 
in general a very ignorant set of men, they 
possess so much influence over the King 
and the chiefs, as to be entrusted with the 
education of their sons and nephews, who 
for that purpose are sent to the convent of 
St, Paul- But in the time of the Count's 
administration, several of these youths were 
sent to Brazil for instruction, and the con- 
sequence was, that on their return, they 
proved more useful to the country, and more 
attached to the Portuguese interests, than 
those natives who were brought up under 
the resident missionaries. A son of the 
King of Dahomey, which monarch has a 
Portuguese mulatto for his secretary, was 
also sent to Count Saldanha's brother when 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA, 13 

governor of Bahia, for education. St, Sal- 
vador has either gone very much to decay, 
or, as is more probable, its real importance 
has been considerably over-rated ; notwith- 
standing which there are still two churches 
in the town, one belonging to the missiona- 
ries, and another which was built by the 
Jesuits before the suppression of that order. 
Other missionary stations, as the Carme- 
lite and Capuchin, will be observed in the 
map. About twenty years ago, the Portu- 
guese Bishop of St. Paul, who now lives, as 
Count Saldanha thinks, in one of the Azores, 
having had a dispute with the Governor 
General, made a pretence of visiting St. 
Salvador. 

There has never been any direct com- 
munication with Mozambique, and the first 
attempt to open one was made during the 
government of Count Saldanha. M. da 
Costa, a respectable Portuguese merchant. 



14 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

vfho fonnerljr commanded the militia in 
idbe interior, having retired from some dis- 
gust, went and established himself as a 
trader in Cassange., where he lived many 
years in perfect harmony with the natives. 
To this gentleman, Count SaJdanha, soon 
after his arrival at the seat of goverjoment 
in 18079 applied for ii^ormation respecting 
the practicability of employing an expe- 
dition on a route of discovery. 

After receiving several communications, 
iavourable to the abject he had in view, the 
Count authorised M. da Costa to send a 
Portuguese mulatto, stationed at one of the 
fairs in Cassange, accompanied by native 
guides and interpreters, to penetrate? if 
possible ito Moolcma, a country hitherto 
unknown to Europeans, except by the 
report of its populousness and power. The 
mulatto, ailer a journey of two months, from 
jthe southernmost ;feir in Cassange, reached 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 15 

the capital of Mooloaa, where he met with 
a Hfeeral reception from the monarch, 
Muata Janvo. This Muata, for that it 
seems is the titular name, lives at a con- 
siderable distance from his wife, who 
governs another state, perfectly indepen- 
dent of her husband, with whom she only 
resides on particular days of the year. The 
town of the Mooloaas is laid out in streets, 
which are watered daily, and there are 
held in it regular markets. A horrid prac- 
tice, of sacrificing from fifteen to twenty 
negroes every day, prevails both at the 
court of the Muafa and that of his wife. 
Their neighbours, on the south-east, pay 
them tribute in marine salt; and they 
described another country as dependent 
on them, to which a Portuguese officer had 
recently penetrated from the eastern coast, 
and died there. ITiis person was M. 
Lacerda, colonel of Engineers, and for- 



16 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

merly mathematical professor at one of 
the militarv schools, who had been nomi- 
nated governor of Sena, with the view of 
making astronomical observations and aid- 
ing discoveries in the interior of Africa on 
that side. In his first attempt he had not 
been able to advance beyond Tete ; but 
in the second he proceeded considerably 
farther, when, as already observed, he 
fell a victim to his exertions. 

The king of the Moolooas would not 
suffer the Portuguese envoy to pass through 
his territories, for the eastern coast, until 
an understanding had been settled between 
himself and the governor-general Count 
Saldanha, to whom accordingly two formal 
and distinct embassies were sent, one from 
the Muata and the other from his wife, 
bearing separate presents. These Africans 
were clothed for the most part in European 
manufactures, obtained from the Portu- 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 17 

guese settlements in Mosambique ; and 
Count Saldanha remarked that they were 
not only a much finer race of men than 
those in the vicinity of the coast, but that 
they were also more civilized and intelli- 
gent. They were highly gratified with their 
reception, and very much struck with the 
military parade and establishments at St. 
Paul, but the appearance of the town itself 
disappointed them, as th€y had been led to 
expect that it was larger than their own 
capital, instead of which they found it coa- 
siderably smaller. As they requested that 
a Portuguese mart or fair might be esta^ 
blished in Moolooa, similar to those in 
Cassange, Count Saldanha was encour 
raged to send another expedition with 
orders to proceed to Mosambique, there 
to embark, and retum by sea to Loanda. 
Unfortunately, however, this enlightened 
and enterprising governor being soon after- 



18 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

wards recalled, and sent on an embassy 
to Russia, the project from which so much 
benefit might have resulted fell to the 
ground, through the negligence of the 
Count's successor, and the opposition of 
the Cassanges to the proposed commercial 
intercourse with the Moolooas. 

Of the public spirit of Count Saldanha, 
and his qualifications for the situation he 
held in Africa, another instance shall here 
be related. Don Francis de Souza, who 
was governor-general in 1770, first enter^ 
tained thoughts of working the iron mines^ 
within the Portuguese government, the 
existence of whiqh had long been ascer- 
tained. Accordingly a small colony of 
miners was procured from Biscay and 
Swedeji, and considerable works were 
erected; but these were rendered almost 
useless by the frequent inundations of the 
river Lucala; besides which the greater 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 19 

number of the new settlers died, and tiie 
others fell into such a state of languor 

as incapacitated them for laborious exer* 
tions. The mines, therefore, continued to 
be neglected until the arrival of Count 
Saldanha, who being convinced of the im- 
possibility of working them by Europeans, 
engaged the Jova, or chief of the district, to 
supply native labourers for that purpose ; 
and desirous of overcoming the super- 
stition of the negroes, who believed, that 
the machinery and water-works attached 
to the mines were directed by the devil, his 
excellency agreed to receive &e tribute 
exacted in this quarter, entirely in iron 
bars. The tax levied upon every native 
province or district within the govemtnait 
of St. Paul, and which is applied to the 
support of the courts of justice and other 
public institutions, is commonly received 
in the Portuguese money, that has been put 



20 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

into general circulation by the activity 
of commerce, there being now no gold dust 
in this country. The proposal of the 
Count had the desired effect, and one hun- 
dred and fifty bars of iron were sent monthly 
to St. Paul. The governor as the reward 
of their industry, and an encouragement 
to perseverance, then permitted those na- 
tives of the district who worked the mines, 
to transport the surplus of their manufac- 
tured iron to the markets of the interior, 
free of duty. 

It is said that there are mines of copper 
in the inland parts of Angola; but the 
metal which the Cassanges sell to the Por- 
tuguese, comes from the Moolooa. Rich 
sulphur mines are found in Benguela, and, 
according to report, there are others at 
Cassandama. Those of Benguela furnish 
all that is sent to the Brazils. Petroleum 
is found in abundance at Dande. Ivory> 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 21 

wax,- palm and other oils, .&c- are also 
exported to the Portuguese settlements in 
South America. 

Just below St. Philip de Benguela, is a 
large salt pond, or rather lake, near the 
sea, and not far distant from the sulphur 
mines. At irregular periods this lake be- 
comes, greatly agitated, as though there 
were boiling springs beneath; the water 
acquires considerable heat, and the tem- 
perature of -the air on its banks suddenly 
increases to. such an oppressive degree, 
that the inhabitants of the villages are under 
the necessity of leaving their houses for a 
time, and retiring to some distance. The 
rapid evaporation attending this pheno- 
menon, gives out an. immense quantity of 
salt, which though collected by the natives, 
is,:incompfxon with the produce of the other 
saline springs, the property of the govern- 
, ment ; and, being . a profitable article of 



22 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

commerce with the interior, proves an im- 
portant source of revenue. 

Cab AS A, the ancient capital of Ginga, and 
said to contain the tombs of the different 
monarchs, is nearly two hundred miles from 
the fort of Pungo Andonjo, to which place 
M • de Scabra was exiled, when minister 
and secretary of state for Portugal, Cabasa 
lies nearly on the same meridian with the 
islands of Quindonga, of which possession 
was taken by a Portuguese force, during 
the government of Count Saldanha. These 
islands are in the district of Mattemba, 
which is separated from the territory of 
Ginga by the river Lunini, a branch of 
the Coango. The ancient capital of Cabasa, 
which thus lies between the Coanzo and 
Coango, is reported by the natives to be 
four days' journey north of the former, and 
three days' journey south of the latter river. 
According to the Portuguese traders. 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 23 

the Zayre, which in the interior bears the 
name of Coango, if traced from the ulti- 
mate point of Captain Tuckey's route, will 
be found to run along to the frontiers of 
Mokoko ; from thence it takes a southerly 
direction by Beuduque, a small province, 
three days' journey from St. Salvador, and 
by Goungo Batta to Mattemba, leaving 
Cabasa, as hath been already observed, 
three journeys to the south-west. In the 
judgment of M. de Silva, a Portuguese 
naturalist, who resided by orders of the go- 
vernment some years at Embaca, this river 
and the Coanza have the same origin, not far 
from Mattemba. The natives confirm and 
explain this opinion, by asserting that the 
two streams have their source in a great lake 
on the eastern limits of Cassange, adding 
also that there is in that quarter of the 
interior, a third river, called by them'Casati, 
which they say is still larger than the other 



24 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

two. The Coanza has been traced by the 
people of the country, to the distance of 
fifteen joumies from the Quindango islands, 
through the territories of the Moganguelas 
and Somghos, two dependencies of Cas- 
sange, but farther than this fhey have not 
ascertained its course. 

The . Hocangas are described by the 
Mexicongos, or the Congos of the interior, 
as a powerful nation, extending far within 
land from the eastern banks of the Coango, 
while beyond them are the dominions of 
another considiBrable tribe, called by the 
name of Amulaca. The Cassanges men- 
tion the Cachingas as being their northern 
arid the Domges as their eastern neigh- 
bours. These last, who are said to main- 
tain a trading connexion with the Portu- 
guese settlement of Mombaca, on the east- 
em coast, have constantly repelled the 
Cassanges in every attempt to invade their 



» 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 25 

territories, and to have defeated them in all 
the wars in which they hare been engaged. 
The prefix of Jaga of which the Cassanges 
are so proudly tenacious, that it forms a 
part of the regal title among them, denotes 
a race, who were originally nomadic war- 
riors; as the contradistinction of Jova, 
borne by the chiefs of other African tribes, 
indicates a stationary people, who live 
chiefly by cultivating their native lands. 

In the manuscript volumes, containing 
the official dispatches received and trans- 
mitted by the Baron Mossamedes, whilst 
captain-general of Angola, and which were 
entrusted to me by his son, the Count da 
Lapa, I met with the journal of Gregorio 
Mendes, who commanded an expedition 
for making discoveries in the interior of 
Angola and Benguela. The route pursued 
by Mendes and his associates is laid down 
in the accompanying map, and the following 



26 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

account of their journey, which was origin-^ 
ally addressed to a' council of officers at 
Benguela, under whose orders they acted, 
is of importance in a geographical point 
of view. 

On the 30ih of September 1785, the ex- 
pedition, composed of about thirty Euro- 
peans, and one thousand natives, marched 
in a south south-east direction to Quipapa, 
at which place is a hot and sulphureous 
spring, that is drank both by men and 
cattle. The next day the party continued 
their course to the south-east, and after 
winding along the foot of the mountainous 
ridge, whose summits opposed their pro- 
gress, they encamped in Dombo da Quin- 
zamba, intersected by the river Copororo, 
beyond which, the country becomes more 
elevated. On the second and third of 
November, the company halted to supply 
themselves with cattle, provisions, and 



tJONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 27 

vater. On the fourth they resumed their 
inarch in a course west south-west for two 
leagues, and then arrived at the Labata, or 
town of Mani Calunga, situated on the 
northern boundary of the state. The two 
following days they halted to examine the 
environs, at the distance of a league and a 
half from the river, which communicates 
with a lake of salt water, by means of a 
small stream running southward. 

The Copororo, when about four leagues 
from the sea, flows partly to the nortii-east, 
by a large forest, which in some places is a 
league in breadth, and capable of excellent 
cultivation, were the inhabitants actuated 
by a spirit of industry and improvanent 
The lands on the banks of this river are 
possessed by five native chiefs, the first 
next to the coast, is called Mueni Calga, 
^that is, "lord of the sea;^ the second 
Mueni Mama; the third Capembri; the 



28 COAST AND INTERIOR OF . 

fourth Mueni. Chela, and the fifth Mueni 
Quinzamba, who is nearest to Benguela. 
These Princes possess large quantities of 
. black cattle, sheep and goats, which though 
they refused to sell, they presented very 
freely, together with some fine maize and 
celery, to the Commander of the expedi- 
tion. 

On the seventh, the company crossed the 
Copororo, and marched three leagues and a 
quarter, but in a direction nearly south south 
west, to Macayo, close to the bed of aMry 
river, near which they found wells, from 
whence they obtained a supply of water. 
The day following they recommenced their 
journey in a hilly country, which exhibited 
evident traces of being inhabited by shep- 
herds, during the rainy season. After a 
toilsome march, continually ascending or 
descending, they encamped near a water, 
that had been deposited by the rain be- 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 29 

'tween stones, in an otherwise arid spot, 
wliere they found the remains of negro ca- 
bins and some of their flints. The latitude 
by observation this day was thirteen degrees 
five minutes south. Oh the ninth, they 
continued their course along the sides of a 
mountainous range, equally rugged and 
troublesome, passing in their route a dry 
'river, which terminates in a lake near the 
sea, but like most of tlie others, commu- 
nicating with it only in the rainy season- 
In the neighbourhood, however, was found 
tolerably good water. The observed lati- 
tude this day was thirteen degrees and nine 
minutes, south. Near this place, to the 
eastward, is an extensive forest, opposite to 
which on the south rises a lofty and impas- 
sable mountain, so that our travellers were 
obliged to take a circuitous course about 
it; The neighbourhood is occupied by 
insignificant chiefs, who manifested a re- 
luctance to all intercourse with strangers. 



30 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

Amongst them was a negro, who having fled 
thither from the vicinity of Benguela, had 
collected around him a number of other fu^ 
gitive slaves, together with some wandering 
savages. Though the commander of the 
expedition was unable to apprehend this 
negro, he succeeded in getting the Portu- 
guese authority acknowledged by the chidT 
of some villages, whose inhabitants were 
employed in fishing for Zimbos. 

While this friendly chief, who was dressed 
in cloth, furnished the expedition with 
guides ; some of his neighbours attempted 
acts of violence, which were easDy re- 
pressed. These petty Princes have a head 
among them, who is installed into his office 
by the Souva of Calunga; but none of 
them seem to have any ideas of commerce. 
The country in this part is very fertile ; and 
all the inhabitants speak a guttural lan- 
guage, which was perfectly understood by 
(he negroes attached to the expedition. 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 31 

Ob the tenth and eleventh, the company 
halted, for th^ purpose of opening a com- 
munication with the natives, and to bring 
them to an amicable intercourse, which 
efforts were partially successful. On the 
twelfth, they crossed a very difficult moun- 
tain, upon the sununit of which was found 
fL natural cistern of tolerable water ; and at 
Qight they rested on the plain below. The 
jnext day, they proceeded in a direction 
south west a quarter west, and arrived in 
the evening at a place in the latitude of 13 
degrees 29 minutes. Here, by the side of a 
rock, they discovered wells of excellent 
water and some leathern vessels near 
caverns, which had obviously been recently 
occupied by savages. On the fourteenth, 
they continued the same course, along a 
more level and equal country, till they came 
to the river Dongue Amuchito, which 
empties itself not far from the sea into a lake 



32 COAST AND INTERIOR OP 

of brackish water. Some sweet water how- 
ever was found in the wells sunk near the 
banks of the river, the sides of which were 
covered with wood. The latitude this day 
observed was 13 degrees 40 minutes. 

The commandant, having reason to ap- 
prehend some difficulty in pursuing a south- 
erly course, sent the marine officer who 
accompanied him, Manoel de Cruz, to as- 
certain the practicability of continuing that^ 
Kne of march ; and the report being un- 
favourable,^ the party ascended the moun^ 
tains on the side ne:st to them, and advanced 
more inland. Having consumed all the 
provisions that had been collected at Qui- 
mena, it was found necessary to send out, 
under the command of two native mula|;toes^ 
two foraging parties composed of seven 
hundred negroes, one hundred and twenty 
of whom were armed with muskets, to pro* 
cure cattle for a fresh supply during the 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGU^LA. 33 

rest of the march. On numbering the 
people who were with him, the com^an^f 
dant found that they amounted to one 
thousand and thirty eight, and that ihey 
consumed, with their attendants, on an 
average, ten oxen and thirty sheep every 
day. One of the parties brought with them 
a negress, whom they had taken by surprise^ 
and as the commandant thought she might 
prove serviceable, in giving a favourable 
report to her countrymen, he caused hertq 
be clothed and dismissed. But, though she 
had never seen linen before, she; could no^ 
bring herself to abandon her old habili-* 
ments of leather, but carried them off 
with her new garments. The party after-;^ 
wards took a, negro with his wife and 
son, who were also clothed, and acted as 
guides . to Mezaz, where they were dis'* 
missed. From this negro, they learned that 
his countrymen have no sort of govern; 



84 COAST AITD INTBRIO& OF 



ment) but are di^ersed among die moun^ 
taint, where they live in caves^ and subsist 
upon game voA reptiles, and the milk of 
thdr flocks ; forbearmg^ frcttn superstitious 
noticms, to kill any c£ their cattle^ rather 
llian do winch ibey will endure famine to 
eirtt^mity; but mh&A driven to necessity 
for provisions they make predatory excur^ 
MOttB into die neighbouring districts border* 
kkg ool Quimana. The expedition halted 
six 4ayB to collect die foraging parties, and 
to wait for the connng up of ei^ty negroes 
who had been left behind. Though die 
fittttier siK^ceeded in bringing off cattle, 
tibey experienced oonsiderable opposition 
l^rom the natives. 

On the twenty-firsft the march was re^ 
flamed, and tfiey passed the first small 
mountain of Dongue Amucheito. This 
iday they were joi&ed by the ^ghty negroes, 
and ^icamped near a dry river, ^oalled 



CONGO, A^fiPfcA, 45ri? ?i:iarpvELA. 96 

Cangala, where they sunk wellg, an^ foiind 
tolerable water. At this pUce the marine 
officer and sereral of i^ niea fell 9\ck i 
notwithstanding which the route W9» pur«* 
sued to apoiher dry river^ named Pandagoft^ 
where they encamped and found brackish 
water ; but die wells at tho distance of about 
a gun «hot from the banks afforded much 
better. The ground, which in this part is 
IsTeU is scantily productive of grais^s aj)d 
shrubs. r 

On the twmxiyr4MTd, the march va» «cmt 
tinued, and still in view of the sea, tiU 
coinmg to a gr^at mo^nigm, which vm im- 
passable l>0th to cattle mid men, the whol^ 
party passed to ti» ^stward of it, whes 
they discorered asiotiisf to the sontb, bdFing 
the appearance of a fmtre^, itoe foot o^ 
jrkack was washed by ithc war>es at i&0 poia* 
called Me^az, or the Tables. Not far froni 
this last mountain -is an exteosife foretst^ 



36 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

stretching far inland, and intersected by A 
dry river, which near the coast, has channels 
of communication with several lakes, some 
of salt and others of fresh water. The soil in 
these parts appeared to be fertile, and the 
scenery was pleasantly diversified with bean- 
tiful trees of a dark foliage, affording shel- 
ter to great numbers of large and small 
birds, which the Moombe negroes from 
Quilenga, are said to have been formerly 
in the practice of catching, for the purpose 
of selling them to the Portuguese in Ben- 
guela. ' 

The latitude of this place, which is called 
by the natives, Sinhe Tenh Ban, was ob- 
served to be fourteen degrees south. The 
inhabitants, like those previously met with, 
were scattered among the mountains in 
small tribes, but they had a tradition thiat 
their ancestors enjoyed something like a 
regular government ; and in fact, the peo- 



\ 



CONGO J ANGOLA, AND B£NGU£LA. 37 

pie were at this very time about to adopt 
the first step to civilization, by electing for 
their ruler, a decendant of one of (heir 
ancient r chiefs^ Twenty of their cabins 
were found towards the norths and. the ex? 
peditioa captured fourteen negroes, who, 
after being clothed, and instructed a little 
m husbandry, were dismissed with spades 
^d seeds for cultivation* These people 
had no idea of commerce, but subsisted 
entirely upon the piilk of their flocks, with 
wild fruits and fish* They appeared very 
fond of a particular root the property of 
which is said to abate thirst, rather than 
to satisfy hunger* One of the men was 
observed to have a knee buckle in his hair, 
entwined with small cord, which, accordmg 
to his owu account, he had obtained from 
his southern neighbours* . 
. The expedition halted here two days and 
SL halfi for the purpose of examining the 



40 * COAST AND IK*r£RIOR O^ 

of trees. On the thirtieth^ they penetrated 
between the mountains inland, being un4 

able to prosecute their route by the sea 

side, and after a, fatiguing march of seven 

leagues, with continual ascents and de^ 

scents, they reached a lake, from whence 

they saw the Angra do Negro, and here 

they Vere obliged to halt the whole of the 

fbllowing day. In the valley between the 

two mountains, notwithstanding the entu-e 

want of water, Ihere were several cabins, 

but the inhabitants had fled, and though 

the whole of the next day was spent in 

endeavouring to bring about an intercourse 

with them, the efforts proved ineffectual. 

On the first of November, they continued 

their rough march along this mountainous 

fcountry until evening, when they arrived 

at a dry river, where Miguel Pihhero, the 

miarine officer >ho had volunteered his ser^ 

yices oh this: expedition, died. The next 

day they halted near a dry lake, in the en- 



CONGO, AN^GOLA, AND BENGITELA. 41 

i^iroQS of which they procured some tolera- 
ble water by sinking wells. The sufferings 
which they had endured in their preceding 
inarches were rendered peculiarly severe^ 
by the necessity which they were almost 
constantly under of drinking brackish wa^ 
ten On the third, they marched to a diy 
river, through a more level country than 
they had hitherto passed, but which exhi- 
bited an appearance as if it had been 
burnt, and in several parts the soil was of 
a lively red colour. From the river of this 
place, ran a small branch or rivulet, into a 
lake between two mountains on the north 
and south. Here the party took an old 
blind negress, from whom they learned that 
ihe bay was about the distance of a league 
from them, and that the natives had lately 
killed there some white men. After march- 
ing about a league further, they arrived at 
a harbour, to which they gave the name of 



42 COA8T ANP INT£RIOiR OF 

Novo Porto de Mossamedes^ the Captam 
GeneraL This is situated in the midst of 
the bay or Angra do Negro^ and near the 
spot where the expedition encamped, is a 
rivulet which runs into the sea. A league 
fo the north of the Angra do Negro, is a 
river, which from its magnitude and adjoin, 
ing lakes is of soikie importance* One of 
th^se lakes oql the south is half a! league in 
circumference, and ebbs and flows like the 
Sea. The grounds about the river are 
moist, and capable of excellent cultivation* 
According to the Commandant's account, 
there was plenty both of stone and wood for 
building and supplying the fortress which 
was intended to be erected at the Fort of 
Mossamedes. The river abounded in iish, 
and its banks were inhabited by savages, 
who however had fled inland, fearing, as it 
should seem, that the expedition was comQ 
to avenge the murder that had been com^ 



COJfGO, AKGOLA5 AlTD BSNGUJCLA. 42 

mitted on the crew of a vessel recently: 
wrecked upon ihft coasts several relics of 
which were found in an adjacent village* 
The commandant upon this sent out two 
parties along the river that falls into the 
Angra do Negro, named Rio das Mortesj 
One of the parties captuted a very old and 
infirm native, who informed them fiiat the 
tribes were governed by chiefs, but were 
not numerous^ and that though they had 
lafge flocks of sheep they had iew cattle; 
TbB same old savage confessed that hk 
Countrymen lived principally by plunder, 
and he boasted that he had been himself a 
very skilful robber in hus earlier days. Tba 
other party came very neavly up with 1^ 
savages, who left two hundred sheep to 
occupy the attention a£ their puffisners^ 
whilst Ihey made o& with the rest Having 
halted few days, the expedition marched 
on the eighth, taking the old negro fbr 



44 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

a guide» and they continued th^ir progress 
three days, through a sandy country, making^ 
the distance of eleven leagues. The Ria 
das Mortes, two leagues from the coast, is 
choaked by numerous liarge trunks of trees,; 
collected in its inundations ; and at eight 
leagues distance, two chains of mountains 
rise with great regularity, forming peaks 
like pyramids, but destitute of defiles or 
passages. . In the sandy regipn at their feet 
deposits of rain water are' always to- be 
found, in natural cisterns overflowing the 
^oil. These mountains which are clothed 
with a variety of trees, rich in foliage, 
terminate in the country called Cobale, 
bordering on Oimba, which adjoins the 
provinces of Humbe and Chaungrp on the 
westem side of the river Cuneni. There is 
an immense forest in this part of Cobale, 
which furnished the trunks of trees carried 
pway by the Rio das Mortes. As the old 



CONGO; ANaOLA, ANB BENOUELA. 4& 

x^aptive was almost \iseless from his great 
age, and it being necessary to find other 
^ides, who could direct them to the neigh- 
bourhood where they were most likely to 
, surprize some of the inhabitants of the port 
of Mossamedes, the commandant detached 
two exploratory parties, the first by the 
Rio das Mortes, and the second by the 
dry river terminating in the former, and 
in a north-eastern direction, making a feint 
of following the latter with the whole body. 
The country here is fertile, and with little 
cultivation would support an immense 
population. The ground was much trod- 
den by the elephants, of whom great num« 
bers were seen, together with other animals 
of a large size. A halt took place until the 
ninth, in expectation of the return of the 
two parties, and in order to collect provi- 
sions, their stock being now exhausted. 
Here a corporal. Manual da Guerre, sue- 



46 COAST AND IVTiaiOR OF 

ceeded in taking 8om6 prisoners, with a 
considerable number of sheep and a few 
cows. The captives served a^ guides, and 
the expedition renewed their march on the 
following evening, pursuing the course of 
the river communicating with the Rio das 
Mortes, which they were informed terrain 
joated in Cobale. 

Having quitted this river, they encamped, 
fifter a march of two days, on another 
ymy large one, which empties itself into 
'the sea to the north of Angra. 

Although they found this part of the 
interior exceedingly inountainous, it af^ 
forded several passages, at the distaiuce of 
about twenty-six leagues from the coast, 
including windings, or about ^sixteen in a 
direct line. In this district, which abounded 
in cows and sheep, the negro called Meturo^ 
who had the chief hand in the inurder 
of JosQ da Sousa and Sepulveda, found 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENOUELA. 47 

refuge. He took up hi? habitation in a cave, 
where he defended himself with great reso- 
lution, and finally made his escape by 
favour of the labyrinth, abandoning in his 
flight not only a lea&em bag, containing 
the spoils of his unhappy victims, but alisio 
fiix hundred sheep, which proved a very 
fortunate acquisition to the captors. 
Though the object of the expedition was 
the investigation of these remote provinces, 
and not the pursuit of criminals, Ihe com- 
mandant gave out the latter as his princi- 
pal design, conceiving that the impression 
thereby produced, would be o£ service ia 
saving the lives of such unfortunate ma- 
rinei^ as might hereafter be shipwrecked 
on this inhospitable coast. The inhabitants 
of fliis part of Africa, who are called Me- 
muasehagues, live on beef, mutton, game, 
mSk, and fruits ; and tiieir cabins are made 
of straw, plastered over witii a nuxture of 



48 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

.earth and cow-dung/ which^ when hardened 
by the sun, proves an effectual security 
against the rains. On the twentieth and 
twenty-first the expedition was obliged to 
halt, their baggage being completely soaked 
through. On the twenty-second they marchr 
ed in the direction of the country of Bumbo, 
bordering partly on Jau, and partly on 
Canina or Gonga ; they then crossed the 
river which runs to the Rio das Mortes, and 
proceeded for two days along its banks, in 
which they found crystallized crusts of nitre 
among the sand. The water is brackish, 
but nourishes as fine cattle and sheep as 
any in the world. The latitude here wa? 
observed to be 14 degrees 40 minutes, 
south. When the prisoners were examined, 
whether they had any traditionary accounts 
of their ancestors having traded with white 
men, they gave sufficient assurance that 
no trace of such an intercourse had ever 



CONGO^ ANGOLA^ AND BENGUELA. 49 

been known among them, nor indeed had 
they the least idea of any other clothing 
than what was afforded by the skins of 
their sheep and cattle. These people are 
remarkable for general sjrmmetry of form 
and the just proportion of their limbs ; they 
wear ornaments in their, hair of sheep skin^: 
cut into strange figures^ haying the wool 
outside. Their women are very prolific. At 
this place, the old negro was set at liberty, 
having been first arrayed in cloth; and 
he always persisted in asserting that he had 
neither himself ever before seen white men, 
nor heard of any commerce having beea 
maintained with them by others. The na- 
tives here all speak a jargon or dialect cor- 
responding with that of the savages on the 
coast of Auyla, which, however, is easily 
intelligible to those who understand the 
Bunda language. 

On the twenty-third the expedition 

£ 



50 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

reached the country of Bumbo^ to which 
Jau is feudatory, and here they crossed the 
river that falls into the sea north of Angra. 
The commandant, in this part of his journal, 
observes, "If I were not afraid of fatiguing 
by the extent of my narrative, I might o£fer 
many reflections on this region, which has 
none like it in climate, fertility^ happy posi- 
tion, and agreeable landscapes, in all that 
part of western Africa known to the Portu- 
guese/^ The country consists of a semi- 
cu-cular chain of mountains, running be- 
tween the north-east and south-east, to a 
considerable extent; and inhabited by a 
numerous and hardy population. From 
the top of this ridge flowA a river which 
washes the base, aud is divided by arXii^cial 
cuts, into various branches, which fertilize 
extensive fields of ^ millet, maize, com, 
beans, massays, and large pls^ntations of 
tobacco, which last the natives prepare for 



> 



C6NOO> AKTGOliA^ AND BENGUELA. ^1 

'SDibaking by pressing the leaves between 
two^ stones. The soil^ which is naturally 
light; is manured With burnt straw. On 
this practice of irrigation the conunahdant 
niakes the following r^mark^ ^^ The art of 
dividio^ the waters. in which the Egyptians 
are our oldest ma^tefs^ suggested Itself to 
these; negroes firoin the isanle ciircumstances 
of their couhtry, biit it is the only instance 
of it, which I have met with duriilg rnjr long 
residence in Africa* The produce of th6 
earth corresponds with the pams taken by 
the inhabitants, who begin to sow imme- 
diately after reaping, arid have recourse 16 
their teseiToir^ for a necessary supi,ly of 
water, wKeii there is a defidency of raifc'^ 
Hiough trees are very abundant^ they are 
carefulof them, cutlifag ddwn therai^Uef oneii 
for innriedkte use,' and preserving the larger 
ones to furnish themselves with planks oc- 
casioDfally as a shdter from ' the sun- The 



/ . 



62 COAST AND INTERIOR OF ^ 

expedition would have been better supplied 
with provisions at this place, had it not been 
for the ravages committed by the people c£ 
an adjoining district, called Catalla, whose 
depredations were planned and carried on in 
conjunction with the souva of Auyla Ogon^ 
ga, for though that chief held the sovereignty 
over the inhabitants of Jau he could not 
endure that any of his vassals should be 
wealthier than himself; on which account 
he instigated attacks upon these provinces, 
to prevent them from becoming : too rich 
and powerful. This part of Bumbo, which 
beyond all doubt is the most pleasant and 
eBgible district for fl.e establhlunent of* 
commercial station, is twenty-eight leagues 
north of the port of Mossamedes ; and in 
the latitude of 14 degrees 2 minutes 
south. The river rises in a mountain on 
the east' north-east, and meanders south- 
east towards the sea, which it reaches • in 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND B£NGU£LA« 63 

\tbe latitude of. 14 degrees 57 minutes. ^ The 
banks of this stream are well peopled,: and 
have . numerpus villages, which were all 
forsaken by the inhabitants on the. approach 
of the expedition, and though a deputation 
was sent to them, the novel appearance of 
white men excited such terror, that no . in- 
ducement could prevail upon them to return. 
The party.remained here till the twenty- 
fifth, when, they took ten Mucuahangues, 
whose nation is governed by a nephew of 
the Jau. These . men . were carr3ring. salt 
from a salina, eleven journeys from Cape 
Negro; aujd after a. short detention were 
dismissed, together with two others belong- 
ing to Cobale,. having been previously 
d]:essed in garments of cloth. . In the night 
of the twenty-fifth .the expedition was 
attacked by a. discharge of arrows from the 
Jiativ6s, who. resided on the left ; the attack 
,was accompanied with loud cries, announc- 



54 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

iDg their intentioii of renewing the assault 
with more vigour the following day^ and it 
had the effect of throwing the people 
belonging to the expedition into some con« 
fusion, and one oflSicer was wounded ; upon 
which the commandant gave the aggressors 
to understand that though he had no desire 
of molesting them, yet as they had wantonly 
provoked hostilities, they must expect, on 
a continuance of them, to feel all the effects 
of European arms. On the twenty-sixth 
an embassy arrived from Muene Bumbo, 
consisting of five persons, one of whom 
was his son, another a Quissang or military 
officer, and the others senior members of the 
government. These deputies excused them^ 
selves for not having come earlier by saying 
that they were under some apprehensions 
of having incurred the resentment of the 
Commander of the expedition, and they 
wished him to believe that the object of 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 55 

their chief in sending them now, was to see 
how they would be treated. Having 
received their apologies, and willing to 
encourage an amicable intercourse by their 
means, the ciDmmandant dismissed them 
with presents of clothing, and red sashes- 
On the twenty-ninth they came again, saying 
that tbey could not persuade their monarch 
to admit the expedition to his presence ;; 
upon which a white man was offered as a 
hostage, but in answer to this, they said 
that a negro, belonging to Moindo das 
Cuandos, a people who had voluntarily 
accompanied the Portuguese in their enter- 
prise from Quimana, wduld be preferred 
to an European. This proposition bdng 
acceded to, it was notified the dame evening 
to the cotmlialidant, that he wodld be 
received in' due forni th6 next day, which 
ceremony iicCdrdingly took place with gre^t 
satisfaction on both sides, th*3 sable chief 



56 COAST AND INTERIOR 0^ 

shewing every mark of respect to his visitor, 
who clothed him in return. In mentioning 
this circmnstance the writer sa;ys, " I could 
not have rendered a greater service to 
my sovereign, in these parts, than thus 
gaining over their Souva, whose friend- 
ship and good disposition will make him 
very useful in an intercourse with our new 
establishment at Mossamedes ; and indeed 
it would be very desirable to settle a fac^ 
tory in this fertile country, which yields 
large supplies of ivory, wax, qattle, and 
provisions, besides slaves/' 

The Souva was so well satisfied with his 
visitors that he promised to apprehend the 
Mochuso, who was the author of the cruel- 
ties committed at Cape Negro, On the 
uorthern boundary of this part of Bumbo, 
the expedition encountered some barba- 
rous tribes, who annoyed them several 
nights by discharges of arrows. On the 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 67 

first of December they inarched six leagues, 
following the directions of the guides, 
voluntarily furnished them by the Souva ; 
but always keeping close to the chain of 
niiountains, from whence issued numerous 
streams that fertilized the plains, which 
were covered by a very thick population. 
Some of these peoplie had recourse* tb a 
bold stratagem for the purpose of destroy- 
ing the expedition, by sending a negro, 
who crept on all fours into the camp in' the 
night, with an intent to fire the powder. 
Being caught in the fact, he was hung up 
immediately on a tree, where the body was 
sufiered to remain three days, to strike 
terror into the natives. Their next march 
was to a large village, or Libata, as it is called 
here, situated on a mountain, half a league 
from which was a fine plantation, extending 
down the slope into the valley below, and 
affording an abundance of rich pasturage 



i 



58 COAST AKD INTERIOR OF 

for cattle, which, though afoundant, the 
natives obstinately refused to part with; 
and they even stole into the camp in the 
tii^t to carry off the few that remained of 
what had been presented to the command-- 
ant by their more generous neighbour^. 
The marauders were easily repulsed, and 
in their flight made hidedus outcries. The 
expedition rested here until the third, when 
it being found necessary to convince the in- 
habitants that they were not dreaded, on 
account of their strength or numberii, a 
party of four hundred men was sent to 
form an ambuscade, conducted by a guide 
from Bumbo. This detachment, depend- 
ing on their miiskets^ attacked a large body 
of the natives and drove them to the heights^ 
from whence they rolled doWn stones on the 
assaillantfi, who however succeeded in taking 
seventeen fine cows. On the fourth the 
march was continued along the foot of the 



CONGO^ ANGOLA, AND B£NGU£LA, 60 

i^iain of liiUs, inhabited by an active and 
bold race of negroes^ who were all robbers, 
though their country was very populous and 
^bounded in provi»ons. Here they found 
large quantities of fruit growing wild, and 
trees of an immense magnitude, on some 
of which the commandant made inscrip- 
tions. This province, which is called 
Otomba, lies in the parallel of 14 degrees, 
at tl^ distance <^ thirtyHsdx leagues from 
the s^; and is plentifully supplied with 
water of an excellent quality. On account 
of the heavy rains, a halt took place, till 
the sixth, when the expedition quitted the 
range of mountains, and encamped near 4 
river, which after intersecting the country 
of Jau, foHQS a kke in the latitude of 14 
degrees 4 minutes. !Nio attacks from the 
natives were experienced during the fourth 
and fifth, but on the evening of the sixth 
an assault was made for the purpose of 



60 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

carrying oflF the cattle that were grazing, 
and which were recovered with diflSculty, 

The eighth and ninth, were taken up in 
marching to Bimxiabas, but:the incessant 
rains obliged them to halt on the eleventh. 
As this part of the country was almost un- 
inhabited, in consequence of recent wars, 
ihey kept close to the chain of mountains 
whenever it lay in their power, on account 
of the accommodation which they aflforded, 
the sides being covered with trees, spring- 
ing as it were even from the clefts of ^ the 
rocks, while game of all kinds abounded 
under their shade. The Quissa river runs 
through this district to a lake in the latitude 
of 14 degrees 10 minutes, three days' jour-p 
ney on the route to Quilunga. On the 
twelfth, they took the direct course to the 
mountains of Bumbo, continuing their 
march, at the distance of about thirty-six 
leagues from the sea, till the fourteenth, when 



CONGO, ANGOLA,' AND.BENGUELA. 61 

they encamped at the foot of the ridge, and 
halted there till the nineteenth, while a party 
went in search of the inhabitants. All the 
country, however, between Bimxiabas and 
Bumbo, was . deserted ; though there was 
no. want of . pasturage, trees, or aromatic 
herbs.. Here the expedition crossed the 
river Mueni Camjbambo, which forms a 
conjunction with the. Senhebari ; and falls 
into the sea in the latitude of 14 degrees. 
From a mountain in latitude of IS degrees 
2 minutes spring two rivers, the Dongue, 
which flows to Mucheta, in 13 degrees 40 
minutes, and the Quimana, which has its 
mouth in the latitude of 13 degrees 19 
minutes* The plain on the summit ranks 
next to Bumbo for.fertihty and pleasant- 
ness. It is exceedingly populous, and go- 
verned by two chiefs ; one of whom rules 
ovar the savages as far as the coast, while 
th^ other has under his dominion the more 



62 COAST AtfD UttERtOa CfP 

tractable negroes of the mountamisi* Th€) 
ascent, however, is difi&cult^ add the eleva^ 
tion exceeds that of all the other high lands 
known in this part of Africa. From hence 
the sea is distinctly seen, and the ^r is so 
dear, that although it was now the middle of 
summer, the people of the expedition found 
it very cold. The chief, named Naquageli, 
who governed the Mocuandos of the coast, 
was but lately dead, and in consequence of 
the civil wars which ensued, his son had re- 
tired among the Quilengues. The other diief 
who reigned in this mountain, was clothed 
in form, by the commandant, who received 
a promise that he would from that time 
maintain an amicable connexion with the 
Portuguese settlements. These people, who 
possess vast numbers of cattle, live in vil- 
lages, and plant maize and pttke for their 
support. The expedition halted here until 
the twenty-first, to procure pro^ii^ioilis, form 



CONGO, AVGlOLA, ANXI B£NGUKLA. 6S 

a. friendly alliance with the^ chief of the 
mountainous district^ and to make obser^ 
vations on the country , which abounds in 
the natural riches of i pasturage and water^ 
Towards the north east are the Mondombes^ 
who Jie next to Benguela ; on the east are 
Quimana, and the people of Dongue^ Amur 
cheito^ Quilumata, and Lombombi ; and 
on the south east lie • Bimxial^s, and un* 
tenanted forests. 

On the twenty-second, the expediti(m 
descended the mountain^ in a march of five 
hours, travelling through a district inhabited 
by a people exceeding in superstition all 
that had been previously encountered. The 
next day only a short march was made, in 
consequence of a heavy thunder storm; 
but on the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth, 
they had two very long journeys, for the 
purpose of reaching Dombe de Quin^ 
zamba, where they finished the circle of 



64 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

exploration, and arrived at Benguela on 
the twenty-ninth of December, 1785. 

From an unpublished memoir of M. de 
Souzas, who was Governor General of An- 
gola, till the year 1780, and who had been 
stimulated by D'Anville, to extend disco- 
veries in that part of Africa, we learn that 
there . was no communication by land at 
that time, between Angola and Benguela. 
It is added, that the interior of the latter 
country is preferable to that of Angola, 
both. for commerce and salubrity ; and M. 
de.Souzas farther observes, that Sarzodas, 
a new settlement formed by himself inland 
of Caconda, was the nearest point to Tete, 
possessed by the Portuguese ; and that the 
river . Cunene, communicates with a large 
lake west of the Cuama. 

In. a dispatch from the Portuguese Secre- 
tary of State, Martinho de Mello Castro, 
to the Governor General of Angola, bear- 



CONGO,. ANGOL>A, AND BENGUELA. 05 

ilig date .March 8, 1784,* I fouDd an^ac- 
count of a Mission to St. Salvador,, the 
position of which . place, is , accurately . laid 
doMm in the map which accompanies ,this 
publication. As the narratiye throws some 
light upon. African geography, as well as 
upon. the. character of the inhabitants, of 
Congo, who have been brought over to the 
Christian faith, an abistract of it is here 
subjoined. 

The mission consisted of three ecclesias- 
tics of approved, character. Liborio. Graja, 
of the order of Saint Bento, who wasnomi: 

« 

nated Bishop. of Angola, and Vicar Gene- 
ral of Minao; Raphael, da Castelo de Vide, 
a priest ; Joao Gualberto de Miranda, 
of the. order, of Penitents ; , and. Doctor. 

* * ft 

* This paper in. the original, is entitled '' Instrnc- 
caoens geraes que se referem a ontras de das dos 
antecessores ;" i. e. *y General Instructions referring 
to those given to his predecessors." . . 

F 



66 GOA8T AKD INT£araR OF 

Aftdre Conto Goudiidio, of ihe faabit of St 
Peter. The following h taken firom the 
Journal of one of these missionaries, begun 
in July, 1781. 

They departed from Libohga, the utmost 
territory in the dominions of Angola, be*- 
yond the river Dande, and on the 5th of 
August, the same year^ entered the Mai^ 
quisate of Mustd or Muxicongo, which 
extends nearly to the river Loge. All th* 
inhabitants of &is district are of a tract- 
able disi^osition, aiid received the mis- 
MOiiari^ with every expression of regard 
and demonstration of joy^ The chief, who 
was natxifsd Don Alve^d Cardal da Silva, 
came to meet them wi& the greatest cor- 
diality and respect. He h represented as 
being a man of easy manners, much at- 
tached to the Portuguese government, con- 
versant with its language, and living on 
terms of friendly correspond^ce * witii the 



CONGO, ANQQhA, ANP BEKaV^LA. 67 

missionaries. , Their next journey wfts to 9. 
Banza or Fazenda, called But;nbe> "wkw^ 
they found a potentate of still greater, dligh 
nity^ who assumed the title of Captain' Ger 
neral of Jhe kiligdon]i.;of Congp,. This 
chief aJsOi ipame out, to. me^t and. welcome 
the missioAaides^ accokupiaaied by a great 
number of negroeSt some armed with mu^r*. 
quets, and others with bOws and arrows^ 
After ^xpeipi^cLcing a yeigr hpspital?le tre^Jl^^ 
ment^ they left tMs limzB. on the , 14th of 
August^ &r . the river XiOge, where thfi 
marquiaate of Mnsul tenninat^s^ a^id the 
dukedom of Bamba begins; They reaqhed 
the banks of thia river the same day, ai^i 
having passed it in a canoe, were received 
on tiieir Imiding by the ruler of the. district, 
who bears the title: of the Infanta^ He had 
a numerous train of attendants armed lil^e 
the preceding, and bdlfti he and his people 
behaved to the. missicmaries with th^ great^s| 



68 COAST A VD INTERIOR OF 

req>ect and veneration: Tbey were under 
die necessity of stopping here diree- or four 
days, on account of the quantity of their lug- 
gage, and dieir having only one small canoe, 
in which they at length embarked, and pro- 
ceeded along the river, the people accom- 
panying them on botii sides, and all singing 
hjrmns for their safety during the passa:ge. 
But tiiough the missionaries were treated with 
afiection, and even veneration, they were 
not exempt from mortifications, and had 
much trial of tiieir patience in tiie conduct 
of tiie negroes who were employed to carry 
tiieir baggage ; some not coming up in time, 
while otiiers dropped their burthens on the 
road, which occasioned great inconvenience, 
and aggravated the sufferings produced by 
illness and tiie inclemency of tiie weatiier. 
One tiling was observed, tiiat tiiough the 
negroes bore complaint and reproof very 
submissively, they did not alter their con- 



CONGO, AKGOLA, AND fi£NGU£LA. 69 

duct. Thus . iocommoded and , distressed, 
they passed through part of the territory 
of Bamba, and -arrived, at a large Banza, 
csiUed Quina, Mtbere they were lodged. by 
the Chief: and: Infanta, denominated . the 
Interpreter,^ or cMa^ter of. the Church,^ a 
title given to^ all .those, who write and speak 
the I^ortuguese language. . In their, way. to 
.this : place tbey- were met:.by a number of 
theinhabitstnts o£ both^sexes, who welcomed 
;th€tir airival with.continual shouting, and 
expressions, of religioussatisfaction. Here 
the Vicar General of, the. mission, . liborio 
da Graja^dii^d, and: his place was conferred 
on Brother Baphael da Castelo. de Vide. 
They remained fiftieen days at Quina, being 
visited by all the grandees of the district, 
and among the rest by the Regent of Bamba, 
the ducal title being, at that time, vacant 
All the^se persppag^s . sent presents .to . the 
/nissiQnaries,^, but .made many excuses tq 



70 COAST AitD iNfERIOR OF 

pnsrent ihem from proceeding, with the 
hope, of sdcuiing their residence among 
them for a longer period, assuring them 
lliat the people were not to be trusted, 
and that tbey must send to fhe King of 
Congo, in order to procure guides. Soon 
afterwards, however, seventy men were 
forwarded to them for this purpose, and 
accordin^y with that escort, .to which 6thiers 
iwere added, the missionaries renewed their 
journey ; but still experienced much trouble 
froin the delays and desettions of their con- 
^luctors. At last they reached a considera- 
Ider Banza, called pomma^ "vi^hose chief, in 
ad£tioh to his ititle of* Mat<![uis of Bemba, 
had been made^ %tA^t of the Order of 
j0hrkt, by Ae King of Congo : t>esides which 
he had also th^ difi^tinbtion t)f Captain of 
lire: JCfaurch^ an appellation very inuch va- 
lued by dieses {People; and which, there- 
fore, the Vicars Oefeeral tarke cstre to give 



CONGO^ ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 71 

ta those grandees .who endeavour to merit 
it by their reUgious. z^aJ. This marq»is, 
upon bemg informed of the approa^ch of 
the .missionaries^ ;6«nt an officer, with a 
number of peopfe carrying arms and mu- 
sical, instniments, to meet them in a large 
wood^ £rom whence they were conducted 
in a splendid manner to the Banza, whi^e 
they were well accommodated, the women 
and <!hildren weljcoming than with ^ Ave 
Maria/ which j^ieyjKing with great joy and 
deyotion. Shortiy after their arrival, they 
we«vfcited_bythed>ief,a»d«u>fl.erper. 
fionage of )iigh rank, iwlio ui^derstood For- 

N 

tugpese tolerably well; jand, on. their de- 
parture,; several, children were brought to 
receive tlje • sacrament jof baptism- From 
h&m^ tJs^Ly iiisere >acQ(MBpam to Apozanti, 
by another . ^grandee, who had likewise in 
his. train a.darge body <xf people playing 
cm. musical /instmuEieiits. This personage 



72 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 



> • 



after their arrival came again to wait upoiit: 
and welcome them, arrayed in his best ap- 
parel, which ceremonious mark of respect, 
is it seems customary amongst these people. 
In pursuing their route from hence the 
missionaries came to a river, so difficult f o 
pass, that the negroes had recourse to the 
expedient of putting the fathers into iheir 
fishing nets, which being raised on their 
shoulders, while others placed themselves 
underneath to keep the water from them, 
they were thus carried over safe and dry. 
Here they were met by two other persons 
of rank, who, as well as their people, re- 
ceived them with every demonstration of 
joy ; one of these grandees, caUed the Mar- 
quis of Quihdonque, sent them presents at 
the Banza^ where they were visited by the 
chief and many of his relations. In the 
same manner they were welcomed by two 
other chiefs the most noble and powerful' of 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 73 

all the district, who lodged them in a much 
better house than any they had hitherto 
entered. This was the: last Banza of the 
duchy of Bamba, which terminates at the 
great river called Biirge, the largest they 
had seen \ except the Zaire. On the last 
day of October, they crossed this river, and 
entered what was called the territory of the 
Queen, then continuing their journey, with 
considerat)le * inconvenience from bad wea- 
thier, sickness, and the ill conduct of their 
guides, they arrived at a Banza, the chief 
of which, named Don Alfonso, enjoyed the 
title of Marquis of Pemba. Here they 
were met, as they had been in other parts of 
their route; by many of the population, some 
armed, and others playing upon musical 
instruments, ' while the women and children 
chaunted hymns of thanksgiving. At this 
station the missionaries were detained three 
months; during which they made excursions 



74 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

into different parts of die country > baptising 
children, performing the ceremony of i mar- 
riagOt confessing p^iitaits, and adminis- 
tering the sacraments. Thay ako built a 
church of cane, which they oraamaited as 
decently as circumstajotces irould permit^ 
and in which the divine offices were atr 
tended by the people with great devotion. 
The missionaries add that Don Alphonso^ 
who was the youngest brother of the king 
of CongO) was by far the most polite, 
humble, and attentive of all the. chiefs they 
had ytherto met with in Ihe course of iheir 
journey. He had adopted the Porti^uese 
customs, spoke and wrote the language 
pretty rcorrectly, and appeared very /much 
attached to the church of vdbich he called 
himself inaster and interpreter. ^ From the 
Bdnsa of thisAprince they passed to another, 
belonging to ihe 'marquis of Pongo, called 
Don Andre, > who was brother to the king^ 



^ ' 



CONGO, ANaOLA, ANP BBNGUELA. 76 

and by whom they were received witii the 
same expressibns of cordiality; Here they 
remained two months, and then proceeded 
to Bmida, whose chief, Don Miguel, was 
likewise a prince of Congo, and bore the 
tide of captain of the church. They con- 
tinued with him more than two months, 
and while there, an drder came from the 
king to his brothers, dedring them to hasten 
the missldimries foi^ftrard, for that as he was 
about to enter his Capital, he did not like 
to do so, wididut receiving their bienedic- 
tion. The princes upon this held a consul* 
tation ^th themselves, the result of which 
w%ts ikat it wbuld not be advisable to let the 
missionaries go, until the king had entered 
his cstpital, when they would be more secure. 
In order to erpkin the reasons of this reso- 
lution, it will be necessary to give some 
account of the state of the kingdom of 
Congo at this time. Although the present 



76 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

monarch had succeeded td the crown by 
hereditary right, it happened that one of 
the governors had set up an opposition, to 
him, by pretending that the true king, Don 
Pedro the fifth, was still alive, and had 
appointed him regent of his dominions. 
False as all this was, it had so much effect 
that the fabricator of the imposture succeed- 
ed in gaining over to his interest a: consi- 
derable number of partizans, : with whose 
assistance he contrived to get posisession of 
St. Salvador, the capital of the kingdom, 
which place he strengthened with additional 
works, to' prevent the : entrance of . Don 
Jose, the lawfuLsoveriBign of Congo. Upon 
this the brothers of the: king, together with 
the grandees, who still retained their loyalty, 
united their forces against the usurper, an,d 
exerted themselves to. the utmost, in , uade-^ 
ceiving the people, who either were already 
or^tood in danger of being led away J?y the 



CONGO, ANOOIiA,,AND BENGUELA. 77 

imposture. It was at this crisis, when civil 
"mr divided Congo, iHiat Hie missionaries 
entered the country, having been pur- 
posely sent for by the royal brothers, who 
judged, and rightly as. the event, shewed, 
that their influence would be of consider- 
able moment in. restoring order, by placing 
the king upon, the throne of his ancestors. 
Finding that the, first application was not 
attended to with the promptness which the 
case seemed to require, they repeated their 
request, by sending an ambassador, who 
met the missionaries at the passage of the 
river Loge. It has already been stated 
that tiiey were, received with uncommon 
marks of respect by the princes, who, 
however, thought it expedient to place a 
strong guard over their visitors, lest the 
opptosite party should attempt to get pos- 
^ session of them, which it was well known 
they anxiously wished to do. This accounts 















78 COAST AKD INTERIOR OF 

also for the delays that took place during 
ffae journey, because as the passage of Ike 
missionaries necessarily led through that 
part of the country occupied by the Con- 
goese, who were in the interest of tho 
rebellious governor^ there was great danger 
inmaking their way to the residence of the 
king ; nor was it deemed prudent to ven-* 
ture thither till the royal forces were strong 
enough for their protection. In the interval^ 
and while the loyal party were making the 
requisite preparations to support their 
monarch, and secure the progress of the 
missionaries, upon whom so much de^ 
pended, the latter received a conmiuni-^ 
cation from the chiefs of the faction, 
endeavouring to justify their proceeding^ 
by plausible pretences, and to brmg ov^r 
these ecclesiastics to their interests. The 
brothers of the king, being present when 
the letter was delivered, became mucll 



CONGO, ^ANaOIAi A.N^0 BBNCfOELA. 79 

enraged^ ivand not content )wi1ii calling 
tfaeb oppon^^ts im^8tors and rebels^ they 
fell upon the messenger^ with a. determi^ 
natioit to take away his life^ which they 
would have accomplished had it not been 
for one JOdT the missionaries^ who raised the 
maniromthe ground, and conveyed him to 
his iown apartment for safety. In answer to 
the letter^ the missionaries^ observed that^ 
administers of the churchy they were not 
come to Congo to take part either with 
one side or the other in matters of a 
civil nature, < but merely to instruct the 
people in rdigious principles and duties ; 
and that wil^ regard to the divisions which 
unhappily existed in the country, it was 
their desire to, see justice and right prevail^ 
by^ the establishment of the lawful monarch* 
TMs r^y gave so much satis&ction to the 
chie£^ <of the royal party, who saw iii it a 
full assursmce of their success, that they 



\ 



80 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

sent away under a guard for his protection^ 
the . very messenger whom they had before 
endeavoured to destroy. 

This circumstance made the missionaries 
come . to. the resolution of hastening their 
inarch to the king, who had been waiting 
for them some months ; and accordingly 
they informed the princes and their adhe- 
rents that, whether accompanied by them 
or not, they should proceed without any 
farther delay. Upon this the whole party 
conunenced their journey, six hundred 
negroes, armed with muskets, having been 
previously mustered as a. guard for their 
security. On their arrival at that part of the 
country occupied . by the insurgents, and 
particularly on drawing near the capital, the 
escort, being fearful of an attack, divided 
themselves into two bodies, putting . the 
missionaries in the middle ; in which prde? 
they continued their march. A troop pf 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. ^1 

the other party did indeed come up, but 
instead of committing any act of hostility, 
they ran to the opposite bank of a river, 
which the missionaries were obUged to pass^ 
and there throwing themselves before them 
on their knees, craved their benediction. 

As this troop continued the same course, 
several messages passed between them and 
the king's brothers and chiefs, which last, 
always fearing some design to carry off .the 
missionaries, ordered their soldiers to remain 
under arms all night ; and seeing several 
of the opposite party coming to be baptized 
and to confess, they caused the tents to 
be suddenly struck, and the main body 
to march without delay. On the thirtieth 
of June they arrived at the Banza apppinted 
for them, and which was but a short way 
from the residence of the king, who sent 
them a message, saying, that as they must 
be fatigued with their journey, he should 
not expect them to visit him that day. 



84 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

fined to ihe principal grandees of the 
kingdom. The same honour was bestowed 
upon the interpreter of the confessions, 
who had attended upon the missionaries 
from their first entrance into the dukedom 
of Bamba ; and also upon the chief of the 
Banza, where the first audience had been 
given to them, and who was a relative of 
the king. 

It was now determined upon by the 
monarch, to proceed to St. Salvador, the 
ancient seat of the kings of Congo, which 
was; only at the distance of three leagues 
from his present residence; but previous 
to his departure, he despatched the con- 
ductor of the missionaries to Angola, to 
thank the governor in his name for sending 
them ; assuring his excellency that perfect 
friendship should be kept up between the 
two states, and informing him that a regu- 
lar ambassador would be sent as soon as his 



CONGO^ ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 85 

majesty was settled in the possession of Ym 
capital* 



Mention has abready been made of 
Colonel Lacerda, who was ordered by the 
Portuguese government to penetrate inland 
from Tete, and who died while engaged on 
that expedition. Count linharez, the 
ambassador irom the court of Jjisbon to 
that of Turin, was so kind as to commu- 
nicate to me a copy of the colonel's last 
dispatch addressed to Don Roderigo de 
Souza^ his excellency's father, who was 
them secretary of state. In this letter the 
colonel complains that the captain-general 
of Mozambique, refused to furnish hun 
with any assistance for the prosecution of 
his mission. The dispatch was dated from 
Tete in March 1798, and the colonel was 
Jto proceed in May, accompsmied by six 



86 ' COAST .AND INTERIOR OF 

officers and fifty soldiers. Enclosed was a 
deposition of Gonsalvo Gaetano F^eira^ 
a native of Goa, who had long carried on 
the gold trade in this part of the interior of 
Afrieoy and who ^ from his resolute * and 
daring conduct had obtained the appelk* 
torn of ^^Tiie Terror'' from the natives. 
This adyentuter, taking advantage of the 
letum of fifve hi^dred Movi^a > traders, liad 
seni his son to end€^a;vour by their means 
-to ascertain' the sources from whence tliey 
jdrew the gold of which they made traffic. 
¥oung Pereira departed from «^Mdringa, 
tiar^e days journey north of Tete, in cfom- 
painy tn& the Moviza trade^and^ several 
of his own slaves, in May 1796. They 
first passed through the doimfery of the 
Maravis, divided into the districts t'pfBeve- 
vende^ Mocende^>>and Mazavamba^ where 
they^old a considerable quantity of cloth- 
ing. From thence they proceeded to tiie 

* Vide Map at the end. 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 87 

batiks of the rapid river, Arooange, which 
according to the. report of some of the 
natives, communicates with the Zambe;^, 
nearZembo. Thus far they met with no 
obstacles, and were not even annoyed by 
the Maravis, who dre described as bdng 
robbers by profession, and who impede the 
commerce . with Tete very much, by their 
depredations on the caravans in their return 
from tJience. Should the dog of a tra- 
veller in passing through this country, but 
enter into a house, or give chase to one 
of Hieir domestic fowls, it would be con- 
sidered' as a crime, for which a heavy suni 
by way of fine would be exacted. Maize 
and game abound here, as also do black 
cattle, but they have neither sheep, goats, 
nor swine. Leaving some of his slaves to 
trade Qn the river, young Pereira entered 
the Mbviza territory, and at the end 0f 
eleven days, during which he travelled at' 



88 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

the rate of five or six hours in the twenty- 
four, he came to another river called by 
the Movizas, Zambeze, but which he was 
convinced could not be the stream of the 
same name that passes Tete, because this 
new Zambeze, as he terms it, flows in k 
different direction, and falls into another 
river of which notice will be taken here- 
after. He describes the Movizas as being 
a good, peaceable^ and industrious people, 
traiding chiefly in cloth. The principal 
articles of the tribute, which they pay 
to the Cazambe, are obtained by them 
from the Majaos, who procure them in 
Zanguebar, or as Pereira writes it Zinze- 
bar. All the ivory of this part of the 
interior passes through the hands of the 
Movizas, who, however, only sell a part of 
it at Mozambique. All these people had 
their teeth filedj but they refused Pereira 
permission to examine them, unless one of 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 89 

> 

liis own attendants^ would submit to the same 
operation. He concludes his account of 
the Movizasj, by saying that they were not 
io barbarous as the other negroes, whom he 
had met with, being in some degree civii- 
lized ; for which indeed an adequate reason 
may be easily assigned, in their attachment 
to commercial intercourse. 

On the other side of the Zambeze, Pereira 
and his party entered • the territory of the 
Ca^embe, which had been conquered for 
hinr by his father, the king of Moropooa. 
They were nineteen days in travelling from 
the river to the capital, during which they 
traversed some deserts, where they met with 
wild beasts i and according to Pereira's 
account they were nearly one whole day in 
passing a large lake, the water of which 
did not reach above their loins, because it 
Was carried off by two channels, the onfe 
communicating with the new Zambeze, 



90 



COAST AND INTERIOR OF 



fuid tbi other.tidth a very large river .called 
the Murusura^ on whose banks alahds the 
capital ; of }tbe . Gazembe. The MurusuriBty 
fvrhich flows' behind the^mmintains of ^Mu- 
idmbula^. ^directly north, of Sena, is. called 
by some of :the natiTesrtheNaDjaya^malQpey 
and by others the Shiree or. Kire, and re- 
ceives the new Zambezey;notiar: below the 
capital o£ the^ Gaz^nbe. ; Bereira and his 
:e6mpany were three:, days in sailing; along 
this i riiver > to the. capital, . sleeping : every 
night on one or other of > the islands with 
whkbit abounds. 

>The:, reception they experienced at the 
court, of the Gazembe, was of the most 
flattering tdes^cription^ and the , first tibing 
the^ nM>niirch did^ was to bestow upon them 
a> title, which, by .rendering tbdbr persons 
sac^ed^ Eecured .them f rom injury^and insult 
He next assigned them a plantation of ripe 
manioc or cassave^ as a maiatenan&er diHring 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 91 

tbar stay ; besides which they were pub- 
licly exempted from the customary punish- 
ments of that country, such as cutting off 
the ears, hands, and other members, inflicted 
for particular offences. 

Immediately on their arrival, a messenger 

was dispatched to the King of Moropooa^ 

informing him, that if he had ^eeh white 

men from "Angola, his ison, the Cazembe, 

had now received a visit of the like kind 

from Mozambique. This Prince, who liv^i 

in a style of great magnificence, has maiiy 

wives ; a silk robe with bnormous folds 

invests his person, and on his Head he wears 

a cap or bonnet, ornamented with a ited 

feather, beads, and fringe of gold and iil^ 

ver. He seldom makes his appearance in 

{^ubhc, except at his levees, on which iS)C- 

casion he presents to his chiefs, an ardent 

spirit extracted from maize, but thd qukn- 

lity circulated at th^e entertaitimehtsl is 



92 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

filed and moderate, for intoxication is here 
considered as so great a crime, that a par- 
ticular magistrate has the cognizance of it, 
with a power of punishing those who offend 
against sobriet3^ 

The sovereign keeps up so high a state, 
that even during the ceremony of receiving 
his foreign visitors, he remained most part 
of the time behind a curtain, as if his au-^ 
gust presence Was a favour to be witnessed 
only at intervals by the chosen few. Pereira 
observes, that the troops were remarkably 
well disciplined, and very orderly in. their 
behavioUt, the miUtary manoeuvres being 
directed by signs. The soldiers were all 
armed with long lances and short knives, of 
an oblong form like a guitar, the manufac-^ 
ture of the country ; the shields, which 
covered the whole body, were made of the 
bark of trees, and had the exterior surface 
covered with reeds^ cjlosely united to each 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 93 

odier. These shiel^is are of course very 
light, and were kept a long time under 
water previous to their being used. 

No bows w€re seen amongst these people, 
<iiat species of weapon being confined to 
their tributaries, the Movizas, who are 
always placed in front when engaged in 
action, the Cazembe's own people following 
them in ranks of three deep. 

The capital, which is under the direction 
of a police, is some miles in circumference ; 
surrounded by a thick high hedge, and a 
deep ditch, within which enclosure all the 
subjects of the Cazembe were compelled 
to reside at the beginning of his reign, on 
account of the wars in which he was en- 
gaged ; but since the complete establish- 
ment of his superiority over all his neigh- 
bours, that restriction is no longer enforced. 

The despotic authority of this potentate, 
extends, it is said, to such a degree over 



94 COAST AND INTERJOH OF 

the persons of his people, that even their 
very hours of amusement and rest, are 
prescribed by him at his, pleasure. It is 
not, therefore, surprising that he. should 
monopolize with only a small allowance to 
his nobles, the trade in ivary^ ^and the prdt 
duce of the mines in his kingdom. These 
last consist of iron and Copper, though the 
latter metal is found in greater abundajice 
farther inland. There is no gold in the 
Cazembi's territories ; and what is very 
remarkable, there was only one pig in his 
dominions, which animal had been recently 
sent as a present to the monarch,, by hu; 
«Mher. Almost all the slaves collected by 
the Cazembe and his people, are sent tQ 
Moropooa, and thence to Angola and Ben* 
guela. 

Pereira represents the people of this 
country as being very different from the 
negroes of the coast, for they spoke little^ 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 95 

were extremely civil, combed didr hair 
neatly, had some idea of harmony in their 
miisic^ and danced: without any. breach of 
modesty. One of their peculiarities was 
that of taking' up some dust from the ground 
and rubbing it upon the upper part of their 
arms, before they entered into conversat 
tion; but their reason for ^this customiis 

- 

not stated. ' They have small, idob whkh 
are hollow, for the<ionvenience of drinking 
their medicines out of them ; but they have 
neither sorcerers nor priesta, and were very 
indignant when- asked whetii^ such per^sons 
possessed any authority among tibiem^r It 
was admitted that during! one of their long 
and destructive wars, they had been. cori^ 
pelled to eat human flesh; but the case 
was solitary, and the effect not of choice 
but necessity. 

The Cazembe would not allow Pereira to 
leave his kingdom, except upon the con- 



96 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

dition, that he and his countrymen would 
visit it again, and he declared that if they^ 
did not he should consider them aa his 
enemies. Pereira and his companions suf- 
fered very much in their return, from the 
want of provisions, and by missing their 
route, they did not pass the great lake 
which they had before crossed. This man 
was afterwards attached to the expedition 
under Colonel Lacerda, who in his dispatch 
to the Ddinister, gave this farther information^ 
that an ambassador had arrived from the 
Cazembe, who furnished him with the fol- 
lowing itinerary, more south and direct 
than the route which had been -pursued by 
Pereira. 

1 day — Muenepanda. 

2-3 Through an uninhabited country. 

4-5 River B,oena« 

6 Caoonda. 

7 Maroovo, 

8 Capangara. 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 97 

9 day — To the foot of a mountaiii, near a little 

river called Mamuquenda. 

10 Shideia — Muyepo. 

11 Shipako. 

12 Chiramkepe. 

13 Rokooro River. 

14 Zambeze River. 

15 Moogronie. 

16 Camamgo. 

17 Sheera. 

18 Caramooga. 

19 Monguro. 

20 Makatupa. 

, 21 Parusoka. 

' 

22 Roanga River. 

23 Capangara. 

24 Roomooida. 

25 Mezamba. 

26 Through an uninhabited country. 

27 Tribe of Shikoon. 

28 Tribe of Inharuanga. 

29 Capremera. 

30 Through an uninhabited country. 

31 Sanza River. 

32 Mucanda. 

H 



98 COAST AKD INTERIOR OF 

S3 day--**Banichira. 

34 To the small river Booa. 

35 Tribe of Caravere. 

36 Roovooi river. 

37 Java ; five joameys firom Tete» and od 

the northern side of the Cuama. 

The ambassador^ on his arrival at Tete, 
immediately recognized the Portuguese 
flag, having seen the like, he said, at An- 
gola, the distance to which from his own 
country was, according to his account, three 
months, that being the space of time he 
took in making the journey. He asserted, 
that the river Lucala flows into the Coanza, 
and that canoes came from Angola to 
within a short distance of Moropooa. 
This ambassador farther st^'ted, that it was 
two montiis' journey from the capital of 
the Cazembe to that of Moropooa, and 
that on the route four rivers were to be 
passed upon rafts, namely, the Rooapoora, 
the Mafura, the Guarava, and the Rofoe, 



CONGO, ANGOLA ANDBENGUELA. 99 

each of which was as large as the ZambezeJ 
There is, however, according to his state- 
ment, only one nation in all that intenrening 
space, namely, the Varoondas, who reside 
upon the banks of those riversj where they" 
cultivate mai^e and cassava. He declared 
that the Cazembe had sent him on this 
mission, to procure information respecting 
what wrongs the Portuguese or native tra- 
ders had suffered, from the intermediate 
tribes ; also to propose a plan for clearing 
the passage at their mutual expehse; t6 
express a desire that a factory should be 
^tablished on the Rooanga river ; and to 
reconmiend, that traders in future, should 
only travel in large bodies. 

Colonel Lacerda likewise enclosed in his 
dispatches, the brief deposition of a Mo- 
viza, stating, that the whole country from 
Tete to the Arroanga river, belongs to the 
Maravis ; while the territory from this river 



lOO COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

to the frontier of the proper dominions of 
the Cazembe, appertain^ to the Movizas. 
The same person who described also the 
Coanza in Angola, asserted that he had 
traversed a large tract of desert country in 
going to Moropooa, and had found villages 
only on the banks of the four great rivers. 
In the thirteenth and fourteentii volumes 
of the " Investigador Portuguez," a pe- 
riodical pubUeation now discontinued, are 
some interesting historical notices upon 
Mozambique, and the country about Sena 
and Tete. The author, who was an old 
resident in that quarter, says, that Barreto, 
in 1570, fitted out an expedition at Sofala, 
in order to penetrate by the Mongas, to the 
gold mines of Manica, belonging to the 
Quitevo, or sovereign of Matapa, whose 
dominions at that period extended from 
Sofala to the river Cuama or Zambeze, and 
comprehended numerous districts. The 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. lOl 

king of Shikanga, who was a Mohammedan, 
and at variance with the Quitevo^ received 
Barreto courteously, and the Motapahs, 
finding, after some skirmishes, that they 
could not stand against the Portuguese and 
their new ally, retired to the mountains; 
Barreto, being disappointed in his search 
for the mines, and having lost a great many 
men, entered into a treaty with the Quitevo, 
by which he stipulated to deliver to him 
yearly, two hundred pieces of cloth, for the 
privilege of halving a free passage through 
his territory. In a second expedition, the 
same enterprising adventurer founded the 
settlement of Sena, and, for the first time, 
traversed the forests of Lupata, which cover 
a ridge of mountains, figuratively denomi- 
nated " the Spine of the World/' After 
this, he penetrated as far as Chicova, 
prompted by the expectation of finding 
in that direction a mine of silver, but being 



102 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

unsuccessfiil, he returned, built the fort of 
Tete» and sat ^own contented with the 
quiirt possession of the coast and the banks 
of liie .Cuama. We are also told, in the 
same account, that though the first Portu- 
guese missionary, Da Silva, was received 
favourably at thfe court of the Quitevo, in 
1571, he afterwards fell a victim to his own 
2seal and Mussulman intolerance. Manica, 
where a fair is annually held, and which is 
the principal mart for gold, is twenty jour- 
neys southrwest of Sena. At the beginning 
of the seventeenth century, the bare wash- 
ings of the environs of Ihis place, the 
natives being too indolent to work the 
mines, yielded one hundred thousand cru- 
zadoes of gold yearly ; and yet not one 
third of that amount is now produced. 
The country round Manica is devated, 
fertile, and full of cattle ; but it is subject 
very much to thunder storms, which the 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 103 

ifihabitants attribute to the quantities of 
metallic substances lying beneath the sur- 
face. The Portuguese barter here the 
cloths of Surat, together with coarse silks 
and iron, for gold, ivory, and copper. 

It is two hundred and forty seven miles, 
or twelve days' journey, from Quilimane to 
Sena, from which last establishment a yearly 
tribute is sent to Zimbao, the ancient 
capital of the Quitevo, the distance of 
which is fifteen days west from Sofala. 

The river Reizigo, which rises in the 
country of the Moravi, falls into the Cuama 
half a league below Tete ; and from this 
last place to Sena the distance, allowance 
being made for the windings of the stream, 
is about two hundred and thirty miles. To 
the north-east of the mountains of Lupata, 
is Jambara, a country that is perfectly in- 
dependent of the Portuguese, and very 
abundant in provisions and ivory. At a 



1U4 COAST. AND INTERIOR O^ 

remote distance westward from Chicova; 
are two other, sovereign states, called Tipooi 
and Mussangani. Zumbo, where the Por- 
tuguese have a factory, stands on the Cuama 
river, and is a montii^s journey from Tete ; 
during the first fifteen days travellers must 
go by land till they reach Chicova, in order 
to avoid a fall of water called Sacumbe, 
which thus far obstructs the navigation^ but 
afterwards the course is unimpeded. 

It appears from a valuable manuscript 
" on the State of the Portuguese Commerce 
at Mozambique,''* that the Quitevo or sove- 
reign of Motapa, made over one half of 
his dominions to Sebastian, king of Por- 
tugal, in consideration of present succour 
and future assistance ; but that in 17599 a: 

* The title of this manuscript is '' Do Estada em^ 
que ficavao os Negocios da Capitania de Mossambique 
no ^ fin de Nov. 1789, escripta em 1790, par Jeronimo 
Jose Nogueint de Andrade." 



CONGO^ ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 105 

civil war arose, which had the effect of 
dividing the empire into small principalities, 
whose continued hostilities with each other, 
leave no hope of a restoration of the an- 
cient government. This is stated to have 
been a severe blow to the Portuguese, who, 
being no longer connected with any great 
power in this part of Africa, find their 
commercial relations very precarious, and 
exposed to continual depredations. A 
Maravi chief, called the Ghangamera, 
availed himself of these distractions to as- 
sume the title of Quitevo ; but no security 
to trade resulted from this alteration, for 
being a robber by profession, as well as his 
people, it was impossible that any reliance 
could be placed on such a government. 
The immediate subjects of this chief are 
much devoted to him, but they pass their 
whole lives either in the indolence of sen- 
suality, or the activity of spoliation. They 



106 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

hold agriculture and commerce in con- 
tempt, and thinking themselves a distinct 
race, superior to the rest of mankind, they 
consider work as a degradation. Plunder, 
therefore, is their sole object, and for the ex- 
ercise of this calling, they take out a regular 
license from their sovereign, who makes it 
a considerable branch of his revenue. Six 
or seven of these desperadoes, who are 
called memhays, or soldiers, will, it is said, 
intimidate six hundred negroes of other 
tribes, and even strike terror into those who 
have lived long in the service of the whites- 
Such are the freebooters with whose aid the 
Changamera has succeeded in making all 
his conquests, and compelled the entire 
population of several districts to quit their 
habitations, and fly to the northern side of 
the Zambeze river* 

Fifty leagues from Tete is Dambarari, 
where formerly was held a considerable 



CONOO, AKGOL'A, AND BENGUELA. 107 

fair^ being then a very large and flourishing 
town, as its cemented but ruined walls 
still shew. The steeple of the church, and 
even the clock in it, are remaining, but the 
body of the sacred structure was destroyed 
by an ancestor of the Changamera, when 
he took the town, which, in consequence, 
became depopulated. Some of the Cana- 
rian inhabitants, a name given to the Por- 
tuguese mulattoes of Goa and their de- 
scendants, fled to Tete, others to ZuinbOj 
which though it has neither fortress nor 
cultivation, and is surrounded by forests, 
is a place of great resort on account of its 
fair. To this place is brought not only the 
principal part of the gold of the rich mines 
of Abutua, which are one hundred and 
twenty leagues distant to the westward in 
the territory of the Changamera, but also that 
from the mines of Femba and Murusura ; 
and what seems more extraordinary, con- 



hi 



108 COAST AND INT£RIOE OF 

aiderable quantities of ivory come hither 
from the Orange river. Besides these 
valuable articles of commerce, the horns 
of the rhinoceros, are also met with in great 
numbers in the market of Zumbo. In 
this part of the interior, the climate is very 
mild and salubrious, but the resident Portu- 
guese mulattoes are very unprincipled, and 
what is worse, if Andrade is to be credited^ 
they are countenanced in their criminal 
and rapacious conduct by the missionaries, 
who share in their spoils. There are 
copper and iron mines near Zumbo, also 
beds of coal,, various kinds of chrystals^ 
and an abundance of excellent timber. 

The author last quoted observes, that 
there can be no doubt of the existence of 
the silver mines of Chicova, and that they 
are ; very rich, he says, is proved by the 
massive lamps, contained in the churches 
near that settlement. It appears from a 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 109 

manuscript record, th^t Diego de Conti, 
between the years 1560 and 1570, made 
a series of experiments at Mozambique 
on specimens of silver ore brought from 
Chicova by Vasco F. Homem ; and the 
general result was, that the ore contained 
two parts of silver to one of a sandy stone. 
Small bars of gold are still brought from the 
interior to Tete. At this last place corn is 
cultivated to great advantage, and six 
thousand Portuguese bushels are annually 
exported from thence, but about due half 
of that quantity is obtained from the 
Maravis, who raise it for sale, and who 
manufacture their own spades, which they 
make of the iron found in their country. 
Sugar is also cultivated at Tete, the cane 
being indigenous, and so abundant, that the 
sixteen families, who were occupied in this 
branch of trade in the year 1806, made 
one hundred and 'fifteen arrobas, or about 



110 COAST AND. INTERIOR OF 

thirty-three hundred weighty of white sugar, 
and five hundred and sixty-nine arrobas, 
or upwards of one hundred and sixty 
hundred weight, of brown sugar. Cofiee, 
cotton, and indigo, which last is the most 
common of all the plants, are also natives 
of this country. Tobacco and rice are cul* 
tivated in greater quantities at Quilimane, 
but those of Sena are of a better quality. 
Cassava is abundant, but it grows wild, 
and is not made an artide of culture, . as 
cabbages, lettuces, spinach, pease, beans, 
yams, and potatoes are, as well as several 
plants which produce oil, particularly the 

- N 

ricinus. There are also reared here both 
for immediate and commercial purposes, a 
variety of medicinal plants, such as rhubarb, 
jalap, and senna, and others that are used 
in dying.* The wild bees afford large 

* See Dote at the end. 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUBLA. lil 

quantities of honey and /wax ; besides which 
articles, the oil and the tusks of the hippo-* 
potwius are collected here for exportation. 
Copper is plentifullysupplied from Moviza, 
Zumbo, and Inhambene. Though salt-* 
petre abounds in the crown lands, it is 
neglected^ These lands inTete, Sena, and 

Quilimane, produced in 1806, a yearly 
revenue of 2,900,000, reis, since which 
thirteen other districts have been added 
by conquest ; ten were taken from the 
Jazora or queen of a territory in the Maravi 
country, north of the Cuama, and one 
from the chief of Beve, who, as well as the 
former, had given offence by harbouring 
ftigitive slaves. These new lands which 
are exceedingly fertile, have been parti- . 
tioned out among different famiUes, who 
pay for them an annual rent to the crown. 
The Portuguese population and influence 
have been farther increased in this part of the 



1112 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

interior^ by a grant of lands to every native 
woman, who marries a Portuguese. All 
that part of the country bordering on the 
river Zambeze is rendered very healthy, by 
a refreshing wind, which blows daily from 
the south; so that the only malady of 
moment prevailing here is an intermittent 
fever. In 1806 there were not above five 
hundred free residents, professing the 
Christian religion, in Quilimane, Tete, 
Sena, Zumbo, and Manica, while on the 
other hand there were 10,867 ftigitive slaves, 
and 10,960 natives who were bom in slavery. 
This country possesses numerous sources 
of trade, and the Cuama, Shireis, Reizigo, 
and Arvanha rivers, afford ample and noble 
means for the extension of inland navi- 
gation. 

The miUtary force, at the different esta<>* 
blishments is as follows : at Tete, two com- 
panies, amounting to ninety-four men ; at 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENOUBLA. US 

Sena, one, consisting of forty-nine; at- 
Quilimane, one, amounting to. seventy-two ; 
at Zumbo, one, of thirty-seven in number ;, 
and at Manica, One company of twelve 
only; making in all but two huiidred and 
sixty-four soldiers, in the different garrisons. 
There ought to be five regiments of militia 
on foot, in addition to the regular troops, 
but they are at present very incomplete 
and badly disciplined. The military 
governors have the regulation of every 
thing, but they are assisted by civil judges, 
who are accoiiritable for their conduct to 
the auditor-general at Mozambique. ^ ^ 
Andrade in his Memoir, asserts, that in 
consequence of the contraband trade, which 
is ' carried on with the Isle of France, the 
Portuguese colonies do not receive more 
than six', hundred slaves out of the entire 
number, amounting from four to five thou- 
saind annually supplied by the interior. In 



114 COAST AND INTEKIOR OF 

the export list of Quilimane, for the year 
18069 we find an entry of one thousand 
and eighty slaves for Mozambique, and 
four hundred and four forthe Isle of France. 
in 1818 there were eight thousand one 
hundred and sixty-four slaves exported from 
Mozambique, the duty on which number 
amounted to 52,815,600 reis. 

The salary of the captain-general of 
Mozambique is 2,400,000 reis, and that of 
the bishop, who is a sufiragan of the arch* 
bishop of Goa, is 1,600,000 reis. The 
garrison consists of a battalion of about 
two hundred infantry, one hundred artilleiy^ 
and two hundred and fifty sepoys (stationed 
at Mossorul) besides militia. 

The bay and river of Mocambo in the 
country of Jancul, bordering upon Mossorul 
on the south, form a spacious harbour, 
capable of receiving large ships ; and at 
this place the whale fishery is carried on to. 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND B£NGU£LA. 115 

great advantage. Sofala is a small port^ 
into which only small vessels can eoter, and 
yet the establishment here consists of a go«^ 
vernor^ a judge, a major, and an adjutant, 
with a company of soldiers. Inhambene 
is a fine port, but it is undefended by any 
fortress; the civil settlement and military 
force are the same here as at Sofala ; and 
they have succeeded in opening an inland 
communication with Tete, and the bay of 
XiOrenzo-Marques. The latter harbour is 
very capacious and secure, the climate 
remarkably healthy, and the country rich 
in the produce of gold, copper, iron, and 
ivory ; but it is said that no slaves are to be 
purchased here, as it is a species of traffic 
which the natives hold in abhorrence. This 
port is also left in a very defenceless state ; 
there being only a rude redoubt, and forty 
soldiers for its security. 
The government of Cabo del Gado com* 



116 COAST AND INT£RIOR OF 

prebends the islands of Querimba. one of 
which named Ibo, is the residence of the 
governor, with one hundred and fifty 
soldiers, and an administrator of the 
finances. These islands were formerly very 
productive, but owing to the continual 
depredations of the Jacalvas of Mada- 
gascar, they have been reduced to a desert. 

The custom-house duties^ and other 
revenues of Mozambique produced, in 
the year 1 816, which was a fair average^ 
46,408,265 reis ; the total expenses of the 
establishment were 128,853,781, including 
the pay of the troops (which was 27,471,1S4 
reis,) and that of the civil officers and 
clergy, (19,231,362 reis.) 

I am indebted to the Viscoimt Santarem 
for a sight of the custom-house reports of 
the exportations and importations, between 
Lisbon and the colonies of Western Africa^ 
as given in the Appendix, but since the 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 117 

principal commerce is carried on between 
Angola and the Brazils, there are, of course, 
no returns of the same at Lisbon, and there- 
fore we have not the means of estimating 
the total amount of the products and 
supplies. 

I am obliged to the Count Linharez for 
the perusal of a manuscript memoir of 
D'Anville which embodies all the informa- 
tion imparted to him by the Portuguese 
government, through their ambassador at 
the French court, M. da Cunha, in order 
that he might construct a distinct map of 
this part of Africa. 

The following extracts are the most im- 
portant parts of this memoir ; but it must 
be borne in mind, during the perusal, that 
the dismemberment of the empire of Mo- 
fapa had not at this time taken place. It 
is remarked that in the months of March, 
April, and May, the current from Ca]:>e 



1 18 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

Lopez runs towards the south, so that it is 
easy to sail down that coast ; but as during 
the other seasons, the current runs to the 
north, while the sea is driven by the wind 
in the opposite quarter, the navigation to 
the south can only be effected against wind 
and tide. There are two rainy seasons, 
the great one lasts five months, viz. April, 
May, June, July, and August, during which 
it rains almost every day, and this forms 
the winter of those countries. During the 
months of September and October, the 
rain is less frequent, and that season may 
be considered as the spring; from that 
time to the end of March there is no rain 
whatever. 

The kingdom of Loando is very consi- 
derable, and tiie inhabitants pretend that 
their ancestors were called Bramas. From 
the other natives we leam that the country 
was formerly divided among several distinct 



« 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 119 

tribes, who were all cannibals, like their 
neighbours of the interior ; and lived in 
a constant state of hostility with each othen 
After a long war betwieen the different 
chiefs, Mani-Loango, or Prince Loango^ 
proved the strongest, and succeeded in 
reducing all the rest to his authority. 

Between Cape Sette and Cape Lope^, 
are the provinces of Gobbi and Can^ma ; 
the former is very much intersected by lakes 
and marshes, and the principal town is one 
day's journey from the sea. Next to Ma- 
jumba, is the province of Calungo, which is 
both large and considerable. Two leagues 
to the south of the mountains of Loando is 
the mouth of the river Quila, which aftef 
meandering through a very fertile country, 
discharges itself into the sea with a great 
noise. This river forms the boundary of 
Calungo, and divides it from the province of 
Loango, where the capital of the kin^om 






120 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

of Loando is situated^ called in the negrd 
language Boarie, but more commonly 
Loango. This city stands in. four degrees 
and a half of south latitude, and at the. dis- 
tance of one league and a half from the sea- 
It is large and the seat of royalty. The 
other provinces of Loando, are Piri, which 
also is considerable, and Loando Mogo ; 
and there is another province adjoining the 
latter, which is divided among petty chiefs, 
who acknowledge the king of Loango as 
their superior. These . negroes trade in 
ivory, also in copper, tin, lead and iron, 
which they obtain from mines at some ^ dis- 
tance ; but the copper they get in the moun- 
tains of Sundy, one of the dependencies of 
Congo. The ivory, which is very beautiful, 
they procure in Pakameala, or Bokkemale, 
at the distance of one hundred and fifty 
leagues, east or. north-east of the coast. 
The trade between Loando and Tombo^ 







CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 121 

Sundy and Mousol, the capital of the An- 
zicaino, would be much more flourishing, 
were is not that the Jagas, who are both 
robbers and cannibals, infest the roads. 

The air is so unwholesome in Pombo, 
that if a stranger travels by moonlight, 
his head swells to a considerable size. The 
natives of this district carry on a very ex- 
tensive traffic with several countries, and 
even to a considerable distance. They 
purchase slaves and Matomba stuff's in 
Fungeno, a kingdom lying to the east of 
Cundi and Ocango, and which is said to be 
tributary to Macecoi, whither also the inha* 
bitants of the great state of Niniamai are 
reported to resort for trade. The Portu- 
guese send their Pomberos, for the pur- 
chase of slaves and ivory, into Anzico 
and Mossol ; the former kingdom, which 
is very powerful, being situated to the 



122 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

north of the Zayre^ behind Loango and 
Congo. 

The great river which has its source in 
Manica is navigable, and the natives who 
live at some distance, transport upon it 
their merchandize into that country, which 
is about setenty leagues from the sea. 
At the upper part^ only two days' journey 
from the fronti^s of Mianica, is the city 
where the Quiteve or king of the river, and 
of the country of Sbfala resides. It is 
called Zimbao, that being the distinctive 
appellation in this country for the capital 
of every kingdom, where the sovereign 
holds his court. The Portuguete have two 
fairs in Manica, for the convenience of 
trade, and where the merchants of Sofala 
and Sena carry on their traffic, or in their 
own language where they " purchase gold.'* 
On the bordensi of tibie great river last men* 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 123 

tidned are two empires, the territories of 
the one extending along its banks from 
the sea, to a great distance are called 
Botonga, and those of the other, which are 
situate north and east of the rirer, go under 
the general name of Bororos. The princi^ 
pal island of the Zambeze is near Sena, 
and called Imbragona : it is ten leagues in 
length and one and a half in its greatest 
breadth : very fertile, but subject to inun^- 
dations from the overflowing of the riven 
Sena is between forty and fifty leagues dis- 
tant from the kingdom of Manica, the 
intervening soverei^ties being Baroe and 
Macumbe, which lie opposite to Sena.. 
On the other side of the Zambeze, seven or 
eight leagues inland^ is a very high mouil«* 
tain, well peopled and fertile, called Cfaing, 
at the foot of which flows a beautiful stream^ 
said to be an arm of the Suabo. a riv^ WBXh 



124 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

celebrated in this part of the world, and bj 
which the Caflfres and Portuguese of Sena 
carry on their commerce. This river falls 
into the Zambeze ten leagues below Sena. 
The fort of Tete is said to be sixty leagues 
from Sena ; and at about half the distance, 
the river has forced a way through a chain of 
lofty mountains, which are four or five leagues 
broad and extend to a great length, whence 
the Caffres.call them Lupata, or the spine 
of the world. Bordering upon Sena on 
the southern bank of the river is the small 
nation of the Mongas, whose king has 
always preserved himself independent of the 
empire of Motapa. Opposite to this state, 
and at the foot of the mountains eastward of 
the river, is a lake, called Rufumbo by the 
Cafixes : it is three miles in circumference, 
and in the middle of it is a very high and 
steep island. 
From Tete we penetrate into the interior 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 125 

of Motapa, and enter the kingdom of 
Munhai, which is the patrimony of the 
hereditary prince. The remoter territories of 
Motapa are comprehended under the gene- 
ral name of Mocararya, distinguishing that 
only which borders upon the river by the 
appellation of Botonga. Mocarai'ya ex- 
tends into the kingdoms of Manica, Sofala, 
and Sabia, which are dismemberments of 
the Motapan empire, and were formerly all 
united to Mocararya, till the emperor 
thought proper to erect them into separate 
governments for his three younger sons^ 
and the names adopted by the descendants 
are said to have been those of the princes, 
who founded the kingdoms. 

Of two fairs, which we are told have 
no longer an existence, one was Luanza, 
about thirty-five leagues to the south 
of Tete, between two small rivers, that 
form a junction and then ' fall into the, 



126 C08AT AND INTERIOR OF 

Man^ora^ which discharges its collected 
waters into the Zambeze. The second 
was Bocuto, thirteen leagues from Luanza 
in a straight line, and situated, like that 
place, between two streams that unite 
with the Mangora, at the distance of about 
half a league from the town. In these 
places, gold and provisions were formerly 
plentiful ; and in both the religious order of 
Dominicans once had churches. At the 
distance of fifty leagues from Tete, ten from 
Bocuto, and half a day's journey from the 
Mazzora^ stands the village of Massapa, 
which was once the principal of the Portu-* 
guese fairs ; and though it is no longer so, an 
officer of that nation still resides there with 
the title of captain of the ports ; because 
opposite to this place are the gold mines. 
Near this is the great mountain, of Fura, 
which is so abundant in the precious 
metal, that some have affirmed it to>be the 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. iSt 

Ophir, from whence Solomon drew his 
wealth. However this may be, it must be ob- 
served:that at the presenlrday, hewn stones 
may be. traced in the mountain of Fura, 
which were formerly, it is said, piled upon 
each other with great art, and yet without 
lime. .This in the interior of Cafiraria, is tlie 
more extraordinary, and worthy of notice, 
because ill that country all the buildings, 
and even the palaces, not excepting those 
of Motapa, are constructed only of wodd 
and clay. It is, Cherefore, evident that this 
mountain was at some remote period, fre-- 
quented and. tenanted by tribes more 
powerful and skilful than the pres^it inha- 
bitants ; and probably long before it was 
known to the Arabs of Quiloa and Mozam- 
bique, who were the predecessors of the 
Portuguese in the commerce of the country. 
From the mountain of Fura flows the 
river Mazaras, which in its course carries 



1%/^ CQA3X AUD XlfTBKlOB. QB 

^wngfild mxtd with: its. tfand. At thirty^ 
fi?9 l^i^es : distbBce. firoia 'Massa()a is the 
9cjte of Dambarad;^ whiiph -wa^ once a faii^ 
fojc.gpld{ and fouriday^' journey beyond it 
%9j&fi north is:aoother rained seat of trade, 
c^U^d Li^el These two: placeis were de- 
8trpy0d;ia Hb^emher I6939 by a Cafii^e 
general, naiaed:Ghangamera- 
, J^<md the dountryof mhies is the kidg-^ 
dQQii of Chieoya; which : aibpniids in pro-* 
yi^ns^ thoughiWfiNDdk. scarce^ owing td 

the gc»erAljatenpi(m0f;i3)c^e fields a 
tqrag^ fot\ oattLsi} To the west ol? this 
teriitory^ace Rupaindeand Shangra^ fiett 
to whidi ibt i ^lei lacge kihgdam of Abatua^ 
Intef$a»iedding;thet^Zabibfz6 :fr<)ni Tete, 
^ yre. are ticAd^ there is a irillage^named ikn^ 
pango, situated iat 89rae distance abo vie that 
place, «ad on the same J^ank of the riven 
Ott conditiuing our course nae Teach the 
kingdom of Jamube, where it is said, the 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 129 

Jesuits have a church. At this part of the 
river, and at the distance of thirty leagues 
from Tete, is a rock which crosses the 
channel, and completely interrupts navi- 
gation. Similar impediments occur from 
the quantity of rocks, for the space of 
twenty leagues, but at Chicova the river 
again becomes navigable, though to what 
extent is unknown, and it is only conjec- 
tured that the source is very remote. The 
kingdom of Chicova, which lies north-west 
of Motapa, along the Zambeze, is famous 
for its rich silver mines, though Francisco 
Barreto, the first settler, could not disco- 
ver them. The state of Motapa is flou- 
rishing on the Materam side of the river ; 
but it is surpassed by Abutua which runs, 
it is said, to the confines of Angola. In 
this kingdom is a large river, probably 
the Cumene, which rises east of Benguela, 
and by which the western negroes, sup- 

K 



130 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

posed to be natives of that country, or An- 
gola, descend to a particular station. Hav- 
ing traced the empire of Motapa, which 
in foUowing the Zambeze from the sea, 
is on the left of that river, we arrive at 
that of BororQs on the right. On this side of 
the Zambeze are two considerable states, 
opposite to the forts of Sena and Tete ; 
the first is the nation of the Zimbas or 
Mazimbas, whose extensive territories lie 
chiefly towards the north ; the other king- 
dom to the westward is Mumbo ; and one 
of its villages, over against Tete, is called 
Chic6ringo. At a great distance north- 
east of the latter fort of the Portuguese, 
is a considerable river, bearing the name 
of Mangaza, and remarkable for a salt 
spring which flows into it. The empire 
of the Bororos, it should seem, is com- 
posed of several petty sovereignties, and it 
has been lately asserted that the principal 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 131 

of these takes its name from a town called 
Maravi, which is little more than sixty 
leagues north of Tete. At the short dis- 
tance of half a league from this town is 
a lake, which winds in a north north-east 
direction, being four or five leagues wide, 
and in some places more ; but its length 
far exceeds the breadth, as it is known to 
reach Mombaca, and there is reason to 
suppose that it extends still farther. It is 
observable that the negroes, or the Moors, 
on the coast of Melinda, have mentioned 
a great lake, the position of which, ac- 
cording to their account, corresponds pretty 
nearly with the situation which this lake 
occupies in several maps ; the probability, 
therefore, is that they are one and the same. 
However this may be, some idea may be 
formed of the extent of the present lake, 
from the conjecture of Jesuit missionaries 
that it communicates with Abyssinia. Fa- 



132 COAST AND INTERIOR OF 

ther Luis Marianna, of that order, who for- 
merly resided at Tete, recommended an 
expedition of discovery on this lake, in 
a letter addressed to the government at 
Goa, and which is still preserved among 
the public archives of that city. 

In this paper he says, that the route 
was practicable, because the banks of the 
lake abounded in millet, and provisions, 
as well as in ivory ; and that almadies or 
canoes may be easily procured ; that fish 
is plentiful ; and that the general depth of 
the water is from eight to ten Mioms. It 
was only necessary for the expedition, he 
says, to have five or six bales of cloth, 
a quantity of glass beads, and about forty 
persons, in an equal proportion of whites 
and blacks. Lastly, it was recommended 
that the navigation should commence in 
March, April, or May, because in that 
season the westerly winds prevails on the 



CONGO, ANGOLA, AND BENGUELA. 183 

lake, as well as on the coast of Mozam- 
bique. In addition to the inducements for 
such an undertaking, it was stated that 
numerous uninhabited isles are scattered 
along the lake, which would afford occa- 
sional shelter to those who engaged in the 
attempt to explore it. 

Another curious circumstance respect- 
ing this lake is, that it has been pointed 
out in the western part of Africa, by the 
native merchants of Pombo do Congo, the 
farthest country of Congo. According to 
their account, about sixty days' journey 
from their residence, and by constantly 
keeping to the east, they came to a great 
body of water, interspersed with a pro- 
digious number of islands; which, how- 
ever, these travellers represent as being 
peopled by negroes, with whom men of 
a brown colour came to traffic from the 
east. They add also that this great lake 



134 CONGO^ &c. 

is to the east of the kingdom of Nineanai, 
the sovereign of which, who calls himself 
Manu-Emugi, is a neighbour of Macoco. 
Fifteen days' journey from Maravi, is the 
kingdom of Massy, and about fifteen more 
journies beyond that, on approaching the 
height of Mombuca, is the kingdom of 
Ruengas. 



NOTES. 



On the Plants of Mozambique. 

THE list of plants found in Mozambique by Loureiro, 
daring his short stay there, and published in his ** Flora 
Chinensis/^ is incomplete in number, for it compre- 
hends only forty-three species; besides which, it is so 
defective in other respects, particularly in omitting the 
season when they were found, the extent of surface 
traversed in collecting them, and the heights where 
they grew, that nothing satisfactory can be gathered 
from the descriptions, nor an adequate idea be formed 
of the greater divirions of the vegetable productions in 
thb country. The number of families amounts, accord- 
ing to this naturalist, to twenty-two, besides a few 
genera, of which no description occurs in the botanical 
works I possess, or too concise an one to refer them to 



136 ON THE PLANTS OF MOZAMBIQUE. 

any natural order. The greater number of species are 
oontained in the RubracesB and Leguminos», of which 
last it is remarkable that there are neither Acacise nor 
Mimosse. The Corypha appears to be the only palm 
hitherto found elsewhere in Africa; and the Borassus 
of Mozambique has probably been conveyed thither 
from India. It is singular that no comparison can be 
made between this list, and that of the plants of Congo, 
where we might naturally look for a similarity. Indeed 
the vegetation at Mozambique, with the exception of 
about four genera, seems to assume a totally different 
character from what distinguishes the western side of 
the same continent. 



. '-.■ ."■' ■ '• •■■■■w.v" •"* 'r li.'i'j iNuiiM^ « Hji^i LwmiiminivHfpiiipi^ MM - j y iw ^w ^g n ^ 



I 

\ 



O^ Me Bunda Language. 



IT is said that the Buuda langaage,* which is most 
general on the side of Angola, originated in Casdange, 
and that it was afterwards introduced by invaders 
into the districts of Ambaca, Qnilongo, Icolo, and 
Bengo. This tradition receives support from the cir- 
cumstance, that whilst the language is so widely 
spread through the countries of the interior, it only 
extends along the coast, between forty and fifty leagues, 
or from the river Lifune to the Coanza. The name 
also furnishes a corroboration of this account, for 
Abundo or Bundo, denotes a conqueror, both in the 
dialect of Congo, and that of Angola, whereas the 
designation of the kingdom, near the coast where it is 
the vernacular tongue is Dongo; and the people of 
Congo, who assert that they were the nation originally 
dispossessed of that part of the country, still call 
theinselves Mucha Congo, or Acha Congo, which 

* See Camiecattim's Introductions to his Grammar and to his 
Dictionary. 



140 ON THE BUNDA LANGUAGE. 

The Congoese is the vernacular tongue, from the 
river lifune to CSape Catherine, lying north of the 
kingdom of Loango, throughout the whole of which 
country it is also spoken, as the Portuguese ascer- 
tained in their expedition by land to Cabonda in 
1784. 

The principal characteristic of the Bunda language 
is, that the singular and plural of their nouns, and the 
voices, tenses, and persons of their verbs, are distin- 
guished by prefixes instead of terminations. Diminu- 
tives are formed by placing ca before a word, as caconga, 
a little kingdom, camanat a little son. An augmenta- 
tion is expressed by a repetition of the latter syllable 
of the adjective, as riata quine-ne, a great man, riata 
quinene-nene^ a very great man. Sometimes superiority 
is denoted by the adjective fmiene, " the same ;" — as 
riata muene, '* he is the same man," meaning that he is 
J uniform in all things. The article in this language 

varies in case and number, but not in gender, as 
6 riata, " the men," rio riata, " of the men ;" co mala, 
** the men," quia mala, ** of the men ;" ria mugatta, 
" of the women," co agatta, " the women." The 
nouns have six cases, and the demonstrative pronouns 
five, all of which are distinguished by the article. 



ON THE BUNDA LANGUAGE. 141 

The verb has a distinct, active, and passive voice, 
three conjugations, four moods, a gerund, and a 
declinable participle. The indicative has a present, 
perfect, and future tense ; and the subjunctive the 
same, virith the addition of a second future. Little use 
is made of the neuter verb, cuia ; but the language 
is abundant in prepositions, adverbs, and conjunc- 
tions. 

The missionary Cannecattim, who was a man of very 
superior endowments, composed a Grammar of the 
Bunda Language, which is very complete, and occupies 
one hundred and forty-eight pages, with a compendious 
Dictionary of the Sonho dialect of the Congo Tongue, 
in about seventy pages. His Dictionary of the Bunda 
Language, is also a small quarto, and contains seven 
hundred and twenty pages, having each three columns 
of words, the first, Portuguese, the second, Latin, and 
the third, Bunda.* 



* The titles of these works are CoUec^as de Observac6es 
Grammaticaes Sobre a Lingua Bunda ou Angolense, Lisboa, 
1805. Diccianario da Lingua Bmida oa Angolense, per Fr. 
Cannecattim, Prefeito das Missoes de Angola e Congo. Lidboa, 
1804. 



142 ON THE BUNDA LANGUAGE. 

Cannecattim in his mission to Mahnnga, where he 
converted to the Christian Faith, the, king Quissequi 
and all his family, learnt that in the Moolooa country, 
were several extensive lakes, and deep rivers which 
were navigated by the people, who lived on the north- 
eastern parts of that territory ; he was also informed 
that Mousol the capital of Makoko, sometimes called 
Anzico after its king, is about three hundred leagues 
from the coast. The same author says, that it is one 
hundred and eighty leagues from St* Paul to Cahenda, 
the farthest religious establishment of the Portuguese 
inland, and lying on the southern frontier of Mahunga ; 
but he adds that they have a factory or fair in Cassange 
at the distance of five hundred leagues from the former 
settlement. It was generally asserted and believed that 
two soldiers had deserted from the garrison at Benguela, 
and made their way inland to Mozambique. 

As the slaves from Moolooa, the position of which 
has been corrected by Count Saldanha's mission, acquire 
the Bunda language, almost immediately on their arrival 
in Angola, there can be no doubt of its bearing a 
near affinity to their native tongue. The Bunda is 
also the language of Libolo, but the Quisamas speak 
that of Benguela, which although radically different 



ON THE BUNDA LANGUAGE. 143 

contains an intermixture of Bunda words ; and the 
term Bengnela for instance signifies in Bunda, *' de- 
fence." libolo and Quisama were formerly united 
under the title of the kingdom Matamao. 



.r, 



APPENDIX 



ON THE TRADE OF LISBON, 



WITH THE 



PORTUGUESE SETTLEMENTS, 



IN AFRICA, 



IN THE YEARS 1803 and 1804. 



Alluded to in page 116. 



148 



IMPORTS ftom ANGOLA into LISBON, in the Year 1B08. 



Reis. 
Brought over .2,336,00^ 




-v.>. -• 



Carried forward 2,386^0 



149 



EXPORTS from LISBON to ANGOLA; in (be Yew 1809.- 



y. 



• I 



Reis. 
Brought over 130,539,222 
Silks amounting to 1,835,890 

NATIONAL MANUFACTURES. 

Reis. 

Cotton Cloths* 11,833,000 

Woollen Cloths . . • . 4,900,100 

8,193 Varas of Linen Cloth . . . 3,073,200 

3,107 Covados Silks 1,090,740 

Gold and Silver ornaments . 50,400 

Sundries t ....... 15,935,215 

36,882,655 

In 1804, 45,691,565. 

FROM ASIA. 

2,452 Pieces Borralhos 480 to 960 1,455,360 

10,421 Cad6as 1,600 to 6,000 39,869,800 

1,889 Nankeens 1,600 to 5,400 3,069,400 

13,027 Chillas, & Coromandeis 62,549,000 

3,138 Prin. Calic. 800 to 1,500 4,097,400 

1,645 Blankets .... 2,000 3,290,000 

1,313 Pounds Spices 1,617,600 

587 Pieces Garrazes . . 5,000 2,935,000 

Carried forward 118,883,560 , 169,257,767 
In 1804, 260,541,020. 



*2,427 Pieces Nankeens 970,920 tl,916 Assorted Hats 2,244,300 

32,579 Yds. Prtd. Cftls. 784 Arrobas Gunpow. 12,320,000 

180 to 440 8,425,390 Glass 631,420 

4,109 Assorted Hand- SuntlricK 733,495 

kerchiefs 1,210,300 15,935,21^ 

Sundries 1,217,390 



11,8^,000 



15Q 



IMPORTS fimn ANGOLA into LISBON, in the Year 1803. 



Brought over 2,836,000 




Carried forward 2,$b6«000 



161 



VXPOKtS from LISBON Ur ANOOLA, m tbe Tettr IMO. 

Reis. 
Brought over 1(19,2579767 
Reis. 
Asiatic Articles . , . . 118,883,660 
tft ,JI7^ Huidkerchiefs, viz : 

23,999 Fine do. 400 to 600 . ^ ^^ ^^^ 

^ ? 26,084,860 

63,974 Commoii 200 to 350 .- 5 ' ' 

Earthenware, value .... 849,900 

18,133 Pieces Cloths for the Slave 

Markets 21,671,600 

6,856 Pieces Stripes and Linens . 11,062,100 

13,287 Zuartes 3,300 to 4,800 . . 61,205,100 

Sundries 1,121,200 

240,878,320 

METALS. 

3,794 Pounds Copper basons . 495 1 ,878,030 
286^ Quint8.of assorted Lead. 8690 2,489,685 

2,159 Muskets 4,000 8,636,000 

* Hardware ...... 10,651,400 

r- 23,655,115 

In 1804, 41,347,880. 
Drugs amounting to 1,572,120 

Carried forward 435,363,322 



*8,028 Doz. Knives and Forks 4,875,600 

44} Quintals of Iron in Bars 535,500 

545 Dozens of Razors . . 852,800 

Sundry Articles of Haidware 4,387,500 



10,651,400 



152 



IMPOETS firom ANGOLA to USBON, in the Year 1803. 

Reis. 
Brought over 2,336,000 
Balance of commerce between Lisbon and Angola, 
and in favomr of the former, owing to exciess of ' 
exportation, via 476,i63,01» 




480,780,012 



* ■ \ 



153 

I 

EXPORTS from LISBON to ANGOLA, in the Year 1803. 

Brought over 4S5^de&,S22 

SUNDRY GOODS. 

25,606 Bundles Glass beads, &c. . . 36,488,750 

778 Doz. looking glasses^ assorted . 1,194,000 

1,985 Reams of Paper 800 to 4,000 . 1,929,550 

Ready made Clotiung . . . 1,550^800 

Sundries 4,256,590 

45,425,690 

In 1804, 62,548,120. 



480,789,012 



164 



IBfPORTS from CAPE D£ VERD to LISBON, in the 

Year 1803. 

lUif. 

4,e00 Arrobas of Barilla, at 1000 4,600,000 

14 Ajrobas of Wax 7,000 •«..•. 96,000 

Balance of TVade between Lisbon and Cape de 
Verd, in faTOur of the former, owing to excess 
of exportation 2,343,930 




7,041,930 



155 



EXPORTS from LISBON to CAPE DE VERD, in the 

Year 1803. 

ReU. Reis. 

10 Pipes of Brandy, at . 169,000 1,590,000 

8 Wine .... 72,000 576,000 

Sundry Provisions 375,000 

2,541,000 

Woollens, 739 Covados of Serge, &c 991,700 

Woollens, value of 168,010 

Silks amounting to 147,240 

NATIONAL MANUFACTURES. 

Cotton Cloths 161,200 

Sundries, 62 Hats, Buttons, &c. . • . 135,160 

296,360 

FROM ASIA. 
75 Boxes of Tea and 42 Pieces of Sundry Goods . 256,600 

METALS. 

200 Quintals of Iron, in bars, and other Hardware 1,880,530 
Sundry Goods, value of 759,890 



7,041,930 



156 



IMPORTS from BISSAO, CACHEU, and BENGCJELLA 

to LISBON, in the Year 1803. 

There were no direct entries. 



c 



157 



EXPORTS from XISBOX to BISSAO, CACHBU, and 

BENGUELLA, in the Year 1803. 

PROVISIONS. 

Reis. Reis. 

219 Pipes of Brandy, at . 159,000 34,821,000 

130 Arrobas of Chocolate . 9,600 1,248,000 

160 Barrels of Molasses . . 13,200 1,980,000 

21 Pipes of VTine . . . 72,000 1,512,000 

Sundry Provisions 2,009,050 

41,570,050 

Gold and Silver ornaments 1,369,950 

WOOLLENS. 

29,350i Yards of Baize, at . . 650 19,077,825 

339 Dozen of Caps, . . 3000 1,017,000 

Sundry Serges . : . . . 713,800 

20,808,625 

LINENS. 
1,311 Pes. of Frh. Cloth 2,310 to 5,000 3,073,590 
German Cloths, Ducks, <&;c. . 1,352,450 

4,426,040 

SILKS. 

Value of this Article 151,200 

NATIONAL MANUFACTURES. 

Cotton Cloths, Printed Calicoes, &c. 5,142,460 
Woollens, Coarse Cloths, &c. . . . 1,279,900 

Sundry Goods* 16,458,240 

22,880,600 

Carried forward 91,206,465 

•752 Hats 537,600 

957 Arrobas of Gunpowder .... 15,312,000 
Sundry Goods ..*.... 608,640 

16,458,240 



168 



IMPORTS fk«Bi BIB8AO, OACHBU, aod BENGVBU^ 

to LISBON, in dM Year 1809. 



160 



EXPDBTO from US90N to BISSAO> GACH3BU, add 

BBNGUBI.LA, in die Year 1803. 

Reis. 
Brought over 91,206^465 

FROM ASIA. 

Reis. 

273 Pieces of Bafetds at 3,800 1,037,400 

6,235 Cad6as 1,600 to 5,000 30,533,800 

540 Cassodis 2,200 . . 1,188,000 

1,037 Printed Calicoes 1,000 to 3,500 1,720,000 

6,935 Chillas and Coromandels . . 33,899,800 

1,785, Quilts, 4, at 4,000 ... > ^ , 

? 3,502,000 
1,781, at 1,200 to 2,000 3 ' 

21,545 Handkerchiefs 200 to 480 . . 7,661,860 

8,653 Pieces of Cloth for the Slave 

Market 10,323,400 

10,945 Zuartes . . 3,300 to 4,800 50,500,000 

Sundry Goods 4,819,320 

145,185,580/ 

METALS. 

2,538 lbs. of Pewter Basons, at 495 1,256,310 
35^ Quintals assorted Lead 8,690 308,495 
7,316 Muskets and Pistols .... 29,556,800 
1,824 Quintals of Iron, in Bars, and 

Anchors 12,767,100 

3,990 Fra^ados 700 2,793,000 

Sundry Hardware 3,706,400 

50,388,105 

Drugs amounting to * . • . 440,790 

Carried forward 287,220,940 



160 



IMPORTS <rom BI8SA0, CACBEU, and BENOUELLA, 

to LiaeON, in the Year 180S. 

Reis. 
Balance of Trade between Lisbon, and the aforesaid 

places, and in favour of tbe former . . . 346|231,870 



346,231,870 



161 



EXPORTS from LISBON to BISSAO, CACHEU, and 

BENGUELLA, in the Year 1803. 

Reis. 
Brought over 287,220^940 

SUNDRY GOODS. 

Reisi 
25,015 Bundles of Glass Beads, drc. . 11,197,250 

900 Bottles 4,000 3,600,000 

1,073 Reams of Paper 300 to 2,000 2,037,200 
269 Arrobas of British Gunpowder 

1,100 2,959,000 

Cloths <& Household Pumiture 1 ,118,180 

Other Sundry Goods .... 1,532,900 

14,064 Arrobas of Tobacco . 2,600 36,566,400 



59,010,930 



346,231,870 



M 



I6i 



COMMERCE of LISBON, ^th the Markets of WESTERN- 
AFRICA, in the Year 1603. 



Reifl. 



Balance of Trade between Lisbon, and the abore 

places, and resulting in favor of the former . 8t7,028,812 




827,028,812 



The Trade carried on with the African settlements, is always in our 
favor, the balance being for us, as may be seen by the balance from 
1796, up to the present time. It ought nevertheless to be observed, that 
a real entry is wanting from Angola, Bissao, and Cacheu, in conse- 
qnence of these places carrying on their Slave Trade through Rio de 
Janeiro, Bahla, and Maranham, from whence some articles are received, 
such as ivory, wax, &c. without any distinction having been made of 
them. The greatest export articles, are Asiatic goods, amounting nearly 
to a million, and this export was less compared with 1802, to the amount 
of 100,000 cruzados. 



163 



OOMMERCE of LISB0t7, with the Markets of WESTERN 

AFRICAi in the Year 1803. 

Reisi Reis. 

With Angola, being amount of Exports 

from Lisbon , . 480,789,012 

By value of Imports 2,336,000 

478,463,012 

With Cape de Verd, being the amount 

of Exports from Lisbon .... 7,041,930 

By Imports 4^098,000 

— 2,343,930 

With Bissao, Benguella, and Cacheu, 

by amount of Exports 346,231»870 



827,028,812 



The Exports from Lisbon to the settlements in Western Africa, 
amounted to 2,085,000 cmzados, and 02,812 reis ; and the Importation 
from Africa to Lisbon, to 17,000 cmzados, and 234,000 reis; the balance 
resulting in favor of Lisbon, being 2,067,000 cmzados^ and 228,812 reis 
equal to OQJ per cent. 



164 



TRADE of LISBON, with the ASIATIC SETTLEMENTS 

Generally, in the Year 1803. 

IMPORTS from ASIA into LISBON. 
ASIATIC PRODUCE. 

Reis. Reis. 

159,896 Pds. of Cinnamon 55 to 150 20,555,280 

282,581 Tea 

35,787 Gunpowder Tea, at 600 1 ^^^ ^«« „^^ 
^ ^ > 139,933,320 

246,794 Common Tea, at • 480 5 

1,035,698 Pounds of Pepper 100 103,569,800 
5,378^ Quintals of Salt- 
petre . . 5,000 26,892,500 
14,600 Arrobas of Rice 500 7,300,000 

2,417 • Cotton 3,840 9,281,280 

Drugs, value of . . . 7,753,055 

Sundries 2,948,000 



- 318,233,235 




Carried forward 318,233,235 



165 



TRADE of LISBON, with the ASIATIC SETTLEMENTS 

Generally, 'm the Year 1803. 

EXPORTS from LISBON to ASIA. 
PROVISIONS. 

Reis. Reis. 

24 Pipes of Brandy, at 159,000 3>816,000 

116 Ahnudes of Oil . . 4,800 556,800 

200 Arrobas of White Sugar 3,390 678,000 

84 Arrobas of Chocolate 9,600 806,400 

Sorted Pork 1,857,220 

1,696 Dutch and 

Parmesan Cheeses . . 1,107,200 
654 Almudes of Vinegar 1,200 784,800 

446 Pipes of Wine . . 72,000 32,112,000 

Sundries 507,340 

r 42,225,760 

GOLD AND SILVER. 

Cash remitted in Portuguese cur- 
rency, for the purchase of 

Goods 80,000,000 

In Articles for ornament . . . 344,100 

In hard Dollars 867,500,000 

947,844,100 
Bills drawn upon Rio Janeiro, to 

which place Four Vessels 

repaired, calculated at the 

rate of 200,000 cruzados 

each 320,000,000 

1,267,844,100 

Carried forward 1,310,069,860 



400) 
^^^} 163,018,106 



166 



TRADE of USBON, with the ASIATIC SETTLBIMEBNTS 

Generally, in the Year 1803. 

IMPORTS from ASIA into LISBON. 

Reis. 
Brought over 318,933,23ai 

ASIATIC MANUFACTURES. 

Rds. 
274,691 Pes. of Baf^tas, at 2,400 659,2^,400 

136,881 Cadeas, 680 to 9,200 128,890,080 

368,742 Nankeens 

327,919 Common, at 400 

40,823 Fme, 700 at2, 

98,098 Cassas, 2,200 

to 40,000 559,842,800 

25,719 Chillas 1,800 to 2,200 55,028,600 

100,778 Printed Calicoes, 

&c. 400 to 700 62,779,300 
4,798 Quilts . 400 to 10,000 4,438,520 

70,029 Garrazes 1,800 126,052,200 

1,312,176 Handkerchiefs 

6,665 Fine . • 400 to 800 > 

, o^e en. r. -•^^x « rlB9,045,080 

1,305,511 Coarse . 100 to 300 3 

China, value , . , . 105,914,870 

2,359 Pieces of Perica6s 1,400 

to 3,000 3,742,600 

56,522 Cloth for the 

Slave Market . . . 33,913,500 

35,039 Zuartes, 1,600 

to 2,575 88,055,845 

Sundry Cloths 

Japanned Articles, &c. . 8,132^000 

2,188,111,895 



Carried forward 2,506,345,130 



167 



TRADE of LISBON, wHh the ASIATie SETTLEMENTS 

Generally, in the Year 1803. 

EXPORTS from LISBON to ASIA. 

Rei8« 
BroHght over 1,310,069,860 
Woollen Stuffs, 11,787 Coyados of Baize, &c. • . 7,974,350 

Linens 262,200 

Silks, 340 Coyados of Camblet, <&c 452,800 

PRODUCE OF NATIONAL MANUFACTURES. 

Silk Ribbons 270,000 

Gold and Silver ornaments . . . • 950,860 

Sundries, 855 Hats, &c 1,911,940 

3,132,800 

METALS. I, 

27^ Quintals of Steel, at . 14,000 385,000 

1,250 Musquets 4,000 5,000,000 

2,871 Quintals of Iron in bars 7,000 20,097,000 

Small Hardware 994,295 

26,476,295 

Drugs amounting to 1,028,560 



\ 



Carried forward 1,849,396,865 



I«8 



TRADE of LISBON, with the ASIATIC SETTLEMENlTS 

Generally^ in the Year 1803. 

IMPORTS from ASIA into USBON, 

Reis. 
Brought oyer. 2|506,345,13O 




2,506,345,130 



The Imports from the Asiatic Settlements into Lisbon, amounted to 
6,265,000 cruzados, and 345,130 reis; and the Exports for Asia to 
3,648,000 cruzados, and 294,802 reis ; leaving a balance against Lisbon, 
of 2,617,000 cruzados, and 50,328 reis, equal to 41] per cent 



169 



TRADE of LISBON, with the ASIATIC SETTLJ^MENTS 

Generally, in the Year 1803. 

EXPORTS from LISBON to ASIA. 

Reis. 
Brought over 1,349,396,865 

SUNDRY ARTICLES. 

Reis. 
2,177 Pounds of Coral 

1,952 Round, at . . . 5,500 7 

225 Ordinary . . . 4,800 3 '^^'^^^'^^ 

Books, value 818,487 

1,792 Bundles > ^, „ ^ 

1,294 Arrobas } ^^"^^ ^^*^" • »>221,550 
44,437 Reams of Paper, at 2,000 

to 4,000 87,428,000 

' Sundries 813,900 

110,097,937 

1,459,494,802 
Balance of Commerce between Lisbon, and the 
Settlements in Asia, being in favor of the 
latter 1,046,850,328 

2,506,345,130 



The above is the greatest Importation that has taken place since the 
year 1796; and although certain circumstances prevent this trade from 
becoming of greater advantage to Portugal than it is, nevertheless we 
derive from it an increase to our Navy, and an employment in the 
printing of goods; we procure spices, which we re-export to foreign 
countries, and we put a stop to the heavy importation of German cloths 
from Hamburgh, by the adoption of pur own printed cottons, and some 
otherarticles weaved in our manufactures, all which are in great demand 
for our American and African Settlements. 

The prices at which the goods and other articles coming from Asia^ 
are charged, comprehend only their prime cost in the markets in which 
tfiey were purchased, exclusively of excessive freights, insurances, and 
commissions, which charges are to the advantage of the Trade of Lisbon. 



17Q 



TRADE of LISBON, with the Markets of ASIA, In Hk^ 

Year 1804. 

IMPORTS from ASIA into LISBON. 

Reis. 
2,169,263,324 



2,169,263,324 



In 1:804, the Portuguese procured Moea Co£fee from Asia, and the 
following is the list of Drugs. 

Indigo* 

Assafoetida. 

Sulphur. 

Gum Arabic. 

Ginger. 

Incense. 

Myrabolam. 

Columbo Root. 

Rhubarb. 

Tamarinds. 
I took tiie opportunity of copying this report of their commerce with 
Ana, tbinkiilg it might be interesting* 



171 



TBAPB^ USBONi with the Marketa of A&lAf m die 

Year 1804, 

EXPORTS from LISBON to ASIA. 

Reis* 

1,868,129,040 
DRUGS. 

Amount thereof • r » • 4,274,570 

SUNDRY GOODS. 

Reis. 

Glass Beads, &c 4 9,249,050 

4,044 Pounds of Coral 

3,889 Round ditto, at . 6,000 "> ^ 

' . ^ .'^^ ? 24,109,000 

155 Common • . • 5,000 5 

Books 710,200 

$22,644 Reams of Paper 2,000 to 7,000 32,138,000 

Sundry Goods 3,445,660 

69,651,910 

1,942,056,420 

Balance of Commerce between Lisbon and the Set- 
tlements in Asia, and in favor of the latter, 
owing to excess of Exportation • . • • 227,206,904 

2,169,263,324 



The Importations from Asia in general into Lisbon, were 5,423,obo 
crazados, 63,324 reis; and the Exports to Asia were 4,855,000 cruzados, 
and 56,420 reis, leaving a balance against Lisbon, and in favor of the 
Asiatic settlements, of 568,000 cruaados, 6,904 reis, equal to 10} pw cent. 

The prices at which the goods and other articles coming from Asia are 
■charged, comprehend only their prime cost in the markets in which they 
were purchased, and exclusive of excessive freights, ins^iruices, and 
commissions, which charges are io the advantage of the Trade of Lisbob. 



172 



COBIMERCE of tke KmODOM of PORTUGAL, widi the 
SETTLEMENTS m WESTERN AFRICA, in the Year 1804. 

Reis. 
Balance of Trade between Portugal, and Western 

Africa, and m farour of the former . . B76|251,710 



876,261,710 



The exports from Portugal to the settlements in Western Africa, 
amponted to 2,261,000 cruzados, and 380,750 reis; and the imports 
from Africa into Lisbon to 71,000 crazados, and 129,040 reis ; leaying 
a balance in fayor of Lisbon of 2,190,000 cruzados, and 261,710 reis, 
equal to 9^ per cent 



173 



COMM£R<p£ of Ae KINGDOM of PORTUGAL, widi th^ 
SETTUaMENTS in WESTERN AFRICA, in tbe Year 1804. 

Reifl. Reifl* 

With Angola, amount of Exports from 

Lisbon and^ Oporto • • . • 586,978,145 

Amount of Imports 7,307,800 

579,670,345 

With Cape de Verd, amount of Exports 

from Lisbon and Oporto . . • 34,037,510 

Amount of Imports 8,961,240 

25,076,270 

With Bissao, Benguella, and Cacheu, 

amount of Exports .... 283,765,095 

By Imports 12,260,000 

271,505,095 



876,251,710 



The following Note by Mr. Bowdich^ upon an 
error in Park's last Journaiy having nwer been 
published^ and being of considerable importance 
to African Geography y the Editor has thought 
right to introdtcce it in the present Work. 



In M. Walckenaer's Recherches sur rjfrique,* we find 
the following observations: " Je remarque dans ce journal 
'^ una inadvertance qui a 6chapp6 d I'auteur et aux 
" 6diteurs ; il y a. (p. 7.) un r6cit de ce que Mungo Park 
'* a fait le 31 Avril : le mois d'Avril n'a que 30 jours,^ 
p. £72. This is mentioned merely as a matter, of 
curiosity. It did not occur to M. Walckenaer, that the 
results of Park's calculation of the observations for 
latitude inade^ subsequently to that period^ were all 

* Recherches G^ographiques sur Tlnt^rieur de TAfrique 
Septentrionale, coroprenant I'Histoire des Voyages, entrepris ou 
ex6cut6s jusqu'a ce jour, &c. &<;. Didoty Paris, 1821. 



176 ON AN ERROR IN PARK's LAST JOURNAL. 

affected by the error of hb having continued to reckon 
his time one day too late, and, consequently to take 
in every instance a wrong declination out of the Nau- 
tical Almanack. The important position of Sego, for 
instance, and all that part of the course of the Niger, must, 
in consequence, be lowered more than a third of a degree. 
Park's last mission took place in 1805, but the journal 
was not published until 1815. The whole route from 
Pisania, t. e. from his point of departure, is erroneously 
lud down in the map constructed to accompany it, and 
it has been copied in all the maps of Africa, which have 
been published in Europe since that period, and in M. 
Walckenaer's amongst the number. 
Referring to Park's journal we find, 
April 28tli. Set out for Pisania, &c.* 
Sgth. Visited Camilla, &c. 
30th. Schooner arrived, &c. 
3 1 St. Purchased asses, &c. 
May 1st. Tied and marked the bundles, &c. p. 8. 
2nd. Purchased more asses and a bullock, &c. 
3rd. Finished packing, &c. 
4tli. Left Pisania, &c. 
And thus he continues accounting for, and recording the 

* Page 1, of the first or 4to. edition. 



t>N AN i:ilEOB IN PARBf 8 LAST JOURNAL* 177 

circumsfeaces c^ eoery day up to the end of his jouniey^ 
wtthoHt a single onuasioa, tso that it is evident he never 
con^edod-ar even inspected bit emir* 

l^tfm ittpiHMiQ ihMwe arei not, aivare of dus mistake 
ia Park'st ; JoimialiL wluchi has dma; remained' fnr ^several 
y#aiii)4wdiseoi^^edf>the:TCi7:.ficst'ja^onoimod olwer* 
fBtiaA<May 15di^j^4fl)hetn9S lIt&^mateiice:of a eoii* 
4udeid>k firi^rkabiteirh^BTOvor;«(tl^ 
tbedata^of ;diis. otefiration^ >biial jnendj totes^ :^f fhat at 
lKdliefs'',W<ell|;(3( hours narcksioHhrwestward df the 
NeaiiUcQVthelati:1iyfin8r«id!t.jQfi &e;iHe<m.ii^ \4^SiS 
AST N/' Rennell determined ttlits part of :.the.Neaulico 
the same which* Park crossed in bis route home in ITdSy 
to be about 13^ l^" N. but Park's ob^i^ation of laititttdis 
carries it up to \i?9A' 46" t. r. into Soota Tm-ra. Now 
this is proved to bean errors before we discover die entry 
of the. :3l3t of Aprils frooLtwa palpable contradictioas 
and severtd iiiq[^birible.consei}ttenees. 

The.first contradiotion is, that it makes, this part of 
Paric'a.hoineward route in 1796; north, instead of south 
of his outward route in the same year^ for the Kolor of 

* Map of Park*]B rdut& Proeeedings^f the Afrkan Associalion, 
voL L p.^dd. 

N 



178 ON AN ERROR IN PARk's LAST JOURNAL. 

the latter, which appears to be very nearly on the same 
meridian as the Neaulico, was determinecl by Park's otipn 
astronomical observation to be in 13^ 49'*- It is not pos- 
sible that Park could hare imagined that he was travelling 
thirty-four miles soudi of his outward route, when he was 
really almost a degree to the north of it ; for it requires 
that Park in returning to Pisania should have re^crossed his 
outward route without knowing it ; and that Karia Taura, 
the experienced conductor of the slave cara^n, should 
have been so ignorant of the direct route to the market, 
as to have made a considerable and unnecessary circuit 
northwards by Foota Torra. - 
. The second contradiction which the admission of Park's 
latitude of Walters' Well subjects his own account to, 
is, that he must have been travelling N. E. from Pisania, 
or direct to the Senegal, when his compass, and his own 
previous knowledge of the route shewed, him that* he 
was proceeding S. E. or towards the source of the "Niger; 
for we are to recollect that Park's repeated astronomical 
observations in his first journey determined Pisania to be 
in 1S<> 35' t. 

♦ " Proceedings," vol. I. p. 448. 
t " Proceedings," vol. I. p. 443. 



ON AN ERROR IN PARK's LAST JOURNAL. 179 

When, iembarrassed by these contradictions, we turn to 
p. 7 (of the 1st or 4to. edition of his journal), we find 
diat Park has reckoned on the 31st of April, inserting the 
circumstances of that day, and of every other which 
followed it, without the least suspicion of the error he had 
committed. It is clear that his first observation, involv- 
ing the contradictions just submitted, instead of being 
made on the morning of the l6th of May (or during the 
night of the 15th by astronomical reckoning), was made 
twenty^four hours, or one day later, and that he conse- 
quently applied a wrong declination. Now* the moon 
passed the meridian of Paris on the l6th of May at 
14h 45'* • it must therefore have passed the meridian of 
Park's' place of observation (according to his account 
of his longitude, as determined the nejit day by observa- 
tion)f about 15', or one hour later: the' difference be- 
tween the moon s declination on die 15th (the day taken 
by Park) and the l6th (the day he ought to have taken), 
at iiiidnight, is 42' S : the difference between the moon's 
declination at twelve and eighteen hours on the l6th, 
is 21', so that we have to subtract 45' from Park's re- 
sult or calculation, which lowers Walters' Well, from 

* Cod. des Temps J 805. 
t Journsil, 4to edition, p. 24. 



180 OF AN ERHOR IN J^AltK^S fiAST JOURITAS^ 

}^38'46''to 15^4d'4^'; ml eopsequentlj (reckoning feft 
miles difference of latitude is a S. W* course on hia three 
hoars* mardi the next morning to the Neaulico) placesr 

ft 

the point of passage of that river in 13^ S^ 4ff',.or be- 
tween fifteen and nxteen miles south of Kolor, insteaiA 
of forty nules north of it. We thus verify Park's formes 
account, and Major Rennell's conclusions within a few 
miles, instead of sbowmg the former to have been contra^* 
dktory, and the latter absurd*^ . 

Reading a little further we find (p. d^V that Park made 
the latitude of Bee Creek 13^ 3£^ 45" by observation, and 
after two marches in a varied countsy (since he mentions' 
that he descended into a valley of Shea Uees,) found hits^ 
self precisely in the same latitude withm 45"*,. fos. he 
determined that of Badoo, where he halted the secobd day^ 
to be 13® 32,'^ 45^; this of course is highly improbable. 
We apply the proper declination (that of the £7ih instead 
of the 26th) to the observation at Bee Creek^ and it givea 
13® 42" instead of 13® 32^^45'',, and ^^ discover that in^ 

^ ''On working these beiurings e^er again, it iappeared that 
^ Mr. Park had made a mfstake; • ... • . • I mention ffaht, ta 
'< show that he has acted fairly,, in exposing bis whole process^ 
" and even his errors." RenDell,.iB the " Proceedings," vol. !• 
p. 465. 



> • 



ON AK ERROR IN PAB&'s I^AST JOI^KNAL. ISl 

calculating the obserratipo at IS^doQ, JPvk^ by; ili^JHitake, 
took the right declinndoD*, t. f. the ^SKh/mtenl: iot ihe 
$l8tb, so that his result ,15^ S9f%oiif>go^, iPVt.Uiiis we 
£nd that he made between Q zvA lOimles diffsmce of 
latitude, instead of AS" in the two daya* niarch*.. 

I will trouble the reader with .d^ ooe more lof thcr 
numerous contmdictions which ougbt t^ have /led th» 
constructor of the map to haye fliuspe^ted^aJMl looked foj 
some such error as has been now discover^* Qn tbedtk 
of July, by Park's reckoiiiuig, h^ made this latitude of 
Boolin Coomber, 13^ 1 1' by'obserratiop y h» marched the 
next day^in a difficult country, ^^ p^rdy oyer « ridge of 
^ rocks which formed the oidy passage across a chain of 

^ Thb mistake of Park's on the right side, has escaped the 
ehsenration oC the editor, whe detected one ef a^aiaiilar nature,, 
(p. 196.) and by eonrecting it, as he iaiagined, intiodi^ced an 
error in Park's calcukition from whieh it had aeeidentally escaped* 
According to the Con. des Temps (for I have not the opportunity 
of Gonsolting the Nautical Almanack), the son's declination for 
the 29fh of May, 1805, was 21 deg. 36 min. 1 see. Park has taken 
31 deg. 37 min. 30 see. his longitude leqmred a eerrectien off 
ahout 25 sec. only, in the Paris declination, so that he ought to 
have taken 21 deg. 36 min. 30 sec. The decUnatieik of the d8tb, 
was 21 deg. 26 min. 7 sec. 



182 ON AN ERROR IN TARK's LAST JOURNAL 

'^ hilb/' for the last ^' six miles on a rocky and almost 
^ impassable road,'' and a little before sunset reached 
Saboosera, die latitude of which he determined by a meri- 
dian altitude of the moon^ to be 13^ 50' : so that in this 
very difficult, and consequently slow day's march, he made 
good a difference of thirty^ne miles in latitude alone. 
By allowing such absurdities as these to remain unexa- 
mined and unexplained, we make Park, one of the most 
accurate of travellers, guilty of inconsistencies as gross as 
Governor Dalzel,' who allowed 108> miles for the differ- 
ence of latitude, between Grigevee and Abomy ; whilst 
he admitted the distance by route, to be only ninety-six 
miles*; or as M. Molliene,who travelled forty and forty- 
five miles a day, and made good ninety miles in one direct 
bearingf. 

Our first question is, how can these contradictions have 
escaped the editor, or rather, how can he have reconciled 
them in the construction of the route on the map f But we 
learn from the preface, that the editor (a gentleman of 
superior knowledge and judgment) unfortunately did 

• Bowdich's " Essay on the Geography ofN. W, Africa.'^ Parij*, 
1821, p. 68. 

t Bowdich's ^' British and French Expeditions to Teembo, 
with Remarks on Civilization in Africa." Paris, 1821, p. 42, p. 40. 



ON AN ERROE IN PARK's LAST JOURNAL. 183 

not undertake that part of the work^ but that Major 
Kenneirs notes, together nvith Park's journal, '^ were 
** placed in the hands of a respectable artist, employed by 
*^ the publisher to construct the map intended to illustrate 
'^ the work ; at whose request the following statement 
'' respecting certain difficulties which have occurred in its 
'^. construction, is subjoined." 

'^ In compiling the map of Mr. Park's route, in 1805, 
'^ much difficulty has arisen from the bearings of places 
.^' not being mentioned in the journal ; and also in con- 
^ sequence of there being occasionally great differences 
'^ between the latitudes and longitudes of places accord- 
'^ ing to the astronomical observations, and the distances 
^ computed according to the joumies. Considerable 
** pains have been taken to reconcile these differences, 
''but the general result has been, that it was found 
** necessary in adhering to the astronomical observations, 
"to carry Mr. . Park's former route in 1796 further 
'' north, and to place it in a higher latitude than that in 
*' which it appears in Major Rennell's map, annexed to 
'* the former volume of Travels." 



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ON AN ERROR IN PARK's LAST JOURNAL. 185 

The latter observatioiiSy being made so near die equinox^ 
are materially changed by the correction, and Sego is so 
important a point in African geography, that the correc- 
tion of an error of 25^ in its latitude, should not be post- 
poned. 

The discovery of the error in the journal has thus 
enabled us to correct the astronomical observations of the 

« 

second journey, to do aiyay the apparent contradictions 

and improbabilities of Park's last account, and to confirm 

» 

the astronomical observations of his former route ; but 
the three or four observations'^ of longitude offer an 
inexplicable difficulty. They were determined by the 
eclipses of Jupiter's satellites, and the day they are 
noted to have been observed in his journal, is the same as 
that which is assigned in the ^* Connoissance des Temps,'' 
and of course, in the Nautical Almanac. How is this 
to be explained i The error of a day in the reckoning 
stands confessed in the journal; unless it is admitted 
and calculated on. Park's narration presents impossibi- 
lities, and the astronomical observations of his former jour- 
ney are all one degree more or less in error ; on the other 
hand, if we admit the error thus betrayed by the account 
and observations, and confessed in the journal, ^ark 

o ^ 



186 ON AN ERROR JN PARK's LAST JOURNAL: 

must have been deceived in the eclipses of the sa- 
tellites, and could not have witnessed them at the time 
he thought he did. 



FINIS. 



Howleu and Brimmer, Printcrt, lo, Friib SUeet, Soho.