The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Strange Adventures of Andrew Battell by Andrew Battell.

Sir Clements Markham, K.C.B., F.R.S., Pres. R.G.S., President.
The Right Hon. The Lord Stanley of Alderley, Vice-President.
Rear-Admiral Sir William Wharton, K.C.B., Vice-President.
Commr. B. M. Chambers, R.N.
C. Raymond Beazley, M.A.
Colonel G. Earl Church.
Sir W. Martin Conway.
F. H. H. Guillemard, M.A., M.D.
Edward Heawood, M.A.
Dudley F. A. Hervey, C.M.G.
E. F. Im Thurn, C.B., C.M.G.
J. Scott Keltie, LL.D.
F. W. Lucas.
A. P. Maudslay.
E. J. Payne, M.A.
Howard Saunders.
H. W. Trinder.
Charles Welch, F.S.A.

William Foster, B.A., Honorary Secretary.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION.

OUR Englishmen are known to have visited Angola towards the close of the sixteenth century, namely, Thomas Turner, Andrew Towres, Anthony Knivet and Andrew Battell. All four were taken by the Portuguese out of English privateers in South-American waters, and spent years of captivity as prisoners of war; happy, no doubt, in having escaped the fate of many of their less fortunate companions, who atoned with their lives for the hazardous proceedings in which they had engaged.

Thomas Turner,1 although he furnished Samuel Purchas with a few notes on Brazil, never placed on record what happened to him whilst in Portuguese Africa. Towres was [Pg x] sent to prison at Rio de Janeiro for the heinous offence of eating meat on a Friday; he attempted an escape, was retaken, and condemned to spend the rest of his captivity in Angola. He died at Masanganu, as we learn from Knivet. Knivet himself has left us an account of his adventures in Angola and Kongo; but this account contains so many incredible statements that it was with some hesitation we admitted it into this volume, as by doing so we might be supposed to vouch for the writer’s veracity.

Andrew Battell, fortunately, has left behind him a fairly circumstantial record of what he experienced in Kongo and Angola. His narrative bears the stamp of truth, and has stood the test of time. It is unique, moreover, as being the earliest record of travels in the interior of this part of Africa; for, apart from a few letters of Jesuit missionaries, the references to Kongo or Angola printed up to Battell’s time, were either confined to the coast, or they were purely historical or descriptive. Neither F. Pigafetta’s famous Relatione del Reame di Congo, “drawn out of the writings and discourses of Duarte Lopez,” and first published at Rome in 1591, nor the almost equally famous Itinerarium of Jan Huyghen van Linschoten, of which an English translation appeared as early as 1598, can be classed among books of travel.2 Samuel Braun, of Basel, who served as barber-surgeon on board Dutch vessels which traded at Luangu and on the Kongo, 1611-13, never left the coast.3 Nor did Pieter van der Broeck, who made three voyages to the Kongo between 1607 and 1612 as supercargo of Dutch vessels, penetrate inland.4 Nay, we are [Pg xi] even able to claim on behalf of Battell that he travelled by routes not since trodden by European explorers.

Of Andrew Battell’s history we know nothing, except what may be gathered from his “Adventures,” and an occasional reference to him by his friend, neighbour, and editor, the Rev. Samuel Purchas. He seems to have been a native of Leigh, in Essex, at the present day a mere fishing village by the side of its populous upstart neighbour Southend, but formerly a place of considerable importance. As early as the fifteenth century it could boast of its guild of pilots, working in harmony with a similar guild at Deptford Strond, the men of Leigh taking charge of inward bound ships, whilst Deptford provided pilots to the outward bound. Henry VIII incorporated both guilds as the “Fraternity of the Most Glorious and Indivisible Trinity and of St. Clement;” and in the venerable church of St. Clement, at Leigh, and the surrounding churchyard may still be seen monuments erected in honour of contemporaries of Battell who were Brethren of the Trinity House; among whom are Robert Salmon (born 1567, died 1661) and Robert Chester (died 1632). But there is no tombstone in memory of Andrew Battell; and if a memorial tablet was ever dedicated to him, it must have been removed when the church was renovated in 1837. Nor do the registers of the church afford a clue to Battell’s death, for the earliest of these documents only dates back to the year 1684. At the present time no person of the name of Battell lives at Leigh.

Samuel Purchas was Vicar of Eastwood, a small village two miles to the north of Leigh, from 1604 to 1613. Battell returned to Leigh about 1610, bringing with him a little negro boy, who claimed to have been kept a captive by a gorilla (see p. 55). Purchas had many conferences [Pg xii] with Battell, and the information obtained in this manner was incorporated by him in Purchas His Pilgrimage, the first edition of which was published in 1613,5 and will be found in this volume, pp. 71-87. Battell’s papers, however, only reached Purchas after the author’s death, and were first published by him in Hakluytus Posthumus, or Purchas His Pilgrimes, in 1625.6 There is reason to fear that Purchas did not perform his duties as editor, as such duties are understood at the present day. As an instance, we notice that Battell distinctly told his editor in private conference (see p. 83) that in his day nothing was known about the origin of the Jagas, expressly denying that Duarte Lopez could have any information about it; yet, elsewhere (p. 19), Battell is made responsible for the statement that they came from Sierra Leone. Nor is it likely that Battell ever mentioned a lake Aquelunda (p. 74), for no such lake exists; and Purchas’s authority for its supposed existence is once more Duarte Lopez or Pigafetta.

Moreover, there is some ground for supposing that Purchas abridged portions of the MS.; as, for instance, the account of the overland trading trip to Kongo and Mbata. Perhaps he likewise rearranged parts of his MS., thus confusing the sequence of events, as will be seen when we come to inquire into the chronology of Battell’s travels.

There exists no doubt as to the object with which Abraham Cocke sailed for the Plate River in 1589. Philip of [Pg xiii] Spain had acceded to the throne of Portugal in 1580, and that prosperous little kingdom thus became involved in the disaster which overtook the Armada, which sailed out of Lisbon in May, 1588. English skippers therefore felt justified in preying upon Portuguese trade in Brazil, and intercepting Spanish vessels on their way home from the Rio de la Plata. We do not think, however, that we do Abraham Cocke an injustice when we assume him to have been influenced in his hazardous enterprise quite as much by the lust of gain as by patriotism.

The determination of the chronology of Battell’s adventures presents some difficulty, as his narrative contains but a single date, namely, that of his departure from England on May 7th, 1589. There are, however, incidental references to events the dates of which are known; and these enable us to trace his movements with a fair amount of confidence, thus:—

1. Having left Plymouth in May, 1589, we suppose Battell to have reached Luandu in June, 1590.

2. His journey up to Masanganu, his detention there for two months, and return to Luandu, where he “lay eight months in a poor estate” (p. 7), would carry us to the end of June, 1591.

3. Battell tells us that the Governor, D. João Furtado de Mendonça, then employed him during two years and a half trading along the coast. This, however, is quite impossible: for Mendonça only assumed office in August, 1594; but, as he is the only Governor of Battell’s day who held office for a longer period than two and a half years—his term of office extending to 1602—and as Battell is not likely to have forgotten the name of an employer who gave him his confidence, we assume that he really did make these trading trips, but at a subsequent period. Purchas may be responsible for this transposition.

4. He made a first attempt to escape (in a Dutch vessel), [Pg xiv] but was recaptured, and sent to Masanganu, where he spent “six miserable years,” 1591-96.

5. Second attempt to escape, and detention for three months in irons at Luandu, up to June, 1596.

6. Campaign in Lamba and Ngazi (see p. 13, note). After a field service of over three years, Battell was sent back to Luandu, wounded. This would account for his time up to 1598 or 1599.

7. I am inclined to believe that, owing to the confidence inspired by his conduct in the field, the Governor now employed him on the trading ships referred to above.

10. Battell joins the Jagas, and spends twenty-one months with them. Incidentally he mentions that the chief, Kafuche, had been defeated by the Portuguese seven years before that time (he was actually defeated in April, 1594).

11. Battell was at Masanganu when João Rodrigues Coutinho was Governor (Coutinho assumed office in 1602).

12. Battell was present at the building of the presidio of Kambambe by Manuel Cerveira Pereira in 1604; and stayed there till 1606, when news was received of the death of Queen Elizabeth, and he was promised his liberty. The Queen died March 24th, 1603.

14. The Governor having “denied his word,” and a new Governor being daily expected, Battell secretly left the city, spent six months on the Dande, and was ultimately landed at Luangu. (The new Governor expected was only appointed in August, 1607; and his arrival was actually delayed.)

Great pains have been taken by me with the maps illustrating this volume; and, if the outcome of my endeavour does not differ in its broad features from the maps furnished by M. d’Anville, in 1732, to Labat’s Relation Historique de l’Éthiopie Occidentale, this should redound to the credit of the great French geographer, but should not be accounted a proof of lack of industry on my own part. Still, my maps exhibit an advance in matters of detail, for our knowledge of the country has increased considerably since the days of d’Anville. They would have proved still more satisfactory had the Portuguese thought it worth while to produce a trustworthy map of a colony of which they had claimed possession during four centuries. It seems almost incredible that even now many of the routes followed by the Conquistadores and missionaries of old cannot be laid down upon a modern map for lack of information. Sonyo, for instance, through which led the high road followed by soldiers, traders, and missionaries going up to San Salvador (the present route leaves the Kongo River at Matadi), is almost a terra incognita. I am almost ashamed to confess that I have even failed to locate the once-famous factory of Mpinda; all I can say is, that it cannot have occupied the site assigned to it on some Portuguese maps.

I need hardly say that modern research lends no support to the extravagant claims of certain geographers as to the knowledge of Inner Africa possessed by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century. Pigafetta’s fantastic map, with its elaborate system of lakes and rivers, merely proves the utter incapacity of its author to deal with questions of critical geography. This has long since been recognised. The map which accompanies Isaac Vossius’s De Nili et aliorum Fluminum Origine (Hagae Com., 1659) only shows one lake in Inner Africa, which borders on “Nimeamaie vel Monemugi,” and may without hesitation be identified with our Nyasa: for the Monemugi (Muene [Pg xvi] Muji) is the chief of the Maravi or Zimbas. The “Iages, gens barbara et inculta,” are placed right in the centre of Africa. The “Fungeni,” which are shown as neighbours of the “Macoco,” ought to have been placed to the west of Abyssinia, as they are the Funj, or Fung, of the Egyptian Sudan. If Ludolfus had carried out his intention of compiling a map of the whole of Africa (in 1681), these extravagancies of early map-makers would have been exposed more fully long since.7

In collecting materials for the maps and for the notes illustrating Battell’s narrative, I felt bound to consult all accessible literary sources dealing with the history and geography of Kongo and Angola. Whilst ploughing my way through this mass of material, it struck me that a concise history of these African countries, from the time of their discovery to the end of the seventeenth century, might form an acceptable appendix to Battell’s Adventures, and at the same time increase the bulk of the volume dedicated to him to more respectable proportions. Much material of use for such a purpose has seen the light since the publication of J. J. Lopes de Lima’s historical sketches. Yet I am bound to confess that the result of all this tedious labour is disappointing. I may have been able to rectify a few dates and facts; but much remains to be done before we can claim to be in possession of a trustworthy history of that part of Africa. Possibly my little sketch may rouse a Portuguese into taking up the work of the late Luciano Cordeiro. Many documents not yet published should be discoverable in the archives of Portugal, Spain, and Luandu.8

The spelling of the proper names mentioned by Battell is retained, as a matter of course; but it is obvious that in the historical appendices the various ways in which native names are spelt had to be reduced to a common system. Much might be said in favour of accepting the Portuguese manner of spelling, but after due consideration I decided to adopt the system now generally followed (even by a few Portuguese writers), viz., that all vowels should be sounded as in Italian, and the consonants as in English, with the only exception that the letter g should always be hard. I therefore write Sonyo, instead of Sonho, Sogno, or Sonjo, as the name of that district is spelt according to the nationality of the writer. In transcribing the native names I have had the unstinted assistance, among others, of the Rev. Thomas Lewis, of the Baptist Missionary Society; yet I am fully aware that the spelling adopted for many names is at least doubtful, if not absolutely incorrect. This arises quite as much from a defective hearing on the part of my authorities, as from the illegibility of many early manuscripts or the carelessness of copyists. All such doubtful cases are dealt with in the Glossary and Index.

In conclusion, I feel bound to acknowledge with gratitude the kindly assistance rendered me by Mr. R. E. Dennett, who is spending a life-time in Luangu; Mr. R. C. Phillips, who is thoroughly acquainted with the Lower Kongo; the Rev. Thomas Lewis, of the Baptist Missionary Society; Captain Binger, of the French Foreign Office; and last, not least, our ever-obliging Secretary, Mr. William Foster.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Alguns Doc.—Alguns documentos do archivo nacional da Torre do Tombo ácerca das navegações e conquistas Portuguezas. Lisboa (Impr. nac.), 1892.

A Collection of documents, 1416-1554, edited by José Ramos-Coelho. See Index sub Angola, Kongo, Manicongo.

Paiva Manso.—Historia do Congo, obra posthuma do (Dr. Levy) Visconde de Paiva Manso. Lisboa (Typ. da Acad.), 1877.

The volume for 1883 contains documents now in the Bibliothéque Nationale (instructions given to B. Dias, 1559; Letters of F. Garcia Simões, F. Balthasar Barretta, and other Jesuits).

Memorias do Ultramar, Viagens explorações e conquistas do Portuguezes. Collecção de Documentos por Luciano Cordeira. Lisboa (Impr. nac.) 1881.

(a) 1574-1620. Da Mina ao Cabo Negro segundo Garcia Mendes Castello Branco (the writer of these reports was one of the companions of Paulo Dias de Novaes).

(b) 1593-1631. Terras e Minas Africanas segundo Balthazar Rebello de Aragão. (He went out to Africa in 1593).

(c) 1617-1622. Benguella e seu sertão per um Anonymo. (The author of this account of the conquest of Benguella may possibly have been Manuel Cerveira Pereira).

(d) 1607. Estabelecimentos e Resgates Portuguezes na costa occidental de Africa por um Anonymo.

D. Lopez.—Relatione del Reame di Congo e delle circonvicine contrade tratta dalli Scritti e ragionamente di Odoardo Lopez, per Filippo Pigafetta. Roma, 1591.

This work has been translated into Latin, German, Dutch, French and English, but has not hitherto found a competent editor. I quote the English translation by Mrs. M. Hutchinson, published at London in 1881.

Duarte Lopez went out to Kongo in 1578; and the bulk of this volume is based upon information imparted to his editor when he was in Rome in 1591. Pigafetta has most unwisely expanded the information thus obtained into a description of the greater part of Africa.

Cavazzi.—Istorica descrizione de’ tre regni Congo, Matamba, e Angola, accuratamente compilata, dal P. Gio. Antonio Cavazzi da Montecuccolo. Bologna, 1687.

Cavazzi, a Capuchin, visited Kongo and Angola twice (1654-67, 1670-??) and died at Genoa in 1693. This bulky folio only deals with his first visit, and was edited by P. Fortunato Alamandini, of Bologna. Labat (“Relation historique de l’Éthiopie,” Paris, 1732) has given a useful version of it in French, which must, however, be used with some caution. It is by far the most important work we have at the hand of one of the early Catholic missionaries. W. D. Cooley’s observation (“Inner Africa Laid Open,” London, 1852, p. 3), that the works published up to the time of Cavazzi “would hardly furnish twenty pages of sound geographical intelligence,” can apply only to what they say of Inner Africa; whilst Lopez de Lima (“Ensaios,” p. xi) is hardly justified in calling Cavazzi a “fabulista,” unless that opprobrious term be confined to what the friar relates of the miracles wrought by himself and others.

Dapper.—Nauwkeurige beschrijving der Afrikaansche gewesten van Olf. Dapper. Amst., 1668.

This is a very careful compilation; more especially interesting, as it contains information on the country collected during the Dutch occupation (1642-48), not to be found elsewhere.

Cadornega.—Historia das guerras de Angola (Historia General Angolana), por D. A. de Oliveira Cadornega, in 1680-82.

Cadornega, a native of Villa Viçosa, accompanied D. Pedro Cezar de Menezes to Angola in 1639, and died at Luandu in 1690. His work (in three volumes) only exists in MS. in the library of the Academy of Sciences, Lisbon, and in the Bibliothéque Nationale, Paris. I have not been able to consult it with the minuteness which it deserves. A rough copy of a considerable portion of it is to be found in the British Museum (Add. MS. 15,183, fol. 33). Copious extracts from it are given by Paiva Manso and D. José de Lacerda (“Exame das Viagens do Dr. Livingstone,” Lisbon, 1867).

Catalogo.—Catalogo dos Governadores do Reine de Angola (Collecçao de Noticias para a historia das nações ultramarinas publicada pela Academia real das Sciencias, tome III, pt. 2). Lisboa, 1826.

This is an anonymous compilation, continued to the year 1784. J. C. Feo Cardozo, in his “Memorias contendo a biographia do Vico-Almirante Luiz da Motta Feo e Torres,” Paris, 1825, also printed this chronological history, and continued it to the year 1825. He has added the map drawn in 1790 by Colonel L. C. C. Pinheiro Furtado. The “Catalogue” is useful, but it is not free from very serious errors.

Bentley.—Dictionary and Grammar of the Kongo Language, by the Rev. W. Holman Bentley. 1887.

Cordeiro da Matta.—Ensaio de Diccionario Kimbundu-Portugueze coordenado par L. D. Cordeiro da Matta. Lisboa, 1893.

Lopes de Lima, ensaio.—Ensaios sobre a Statistica das possessões Portuguezes (III. Ensaio sobre a Statistice d’Angola e Benguella), por José Joaquim Lopes de Lima (Imp. nac.), 1846.

This is a fundamental work. The historical account is contained in the Introduction and in chap. v.

Lopes de Lima, an. mar.—Descobrimento, posse, e conquista do reino do Congo pelos Portuguezes no Seculo xvi, por J. J. Lopes de Lima (“Annaes maritimos e coloniaes,” Lisboa, 1845, pp. 93-108).

Lopes de Lima.—Successos do Reino do Congo, no seculo xvii, pelo J. J. Lopes de Lima (ibid., pp. 194-99).

THE STRANGE ADVENTURES
OF
ANDREW BATTELL OF LEIGH IN ESSEX,
SENT BY THE PORTUGALS PRISONER TO ANGOLA,
WHO LIVED THERE, AND IN THE ADJOINING
REGIONS, NEAR EIGHTEEN YEARS.

§ I.

Andrew Battel, his Voyage to the River of Plate, who being taken on the coast of Brasill, was sent to Angola.

[From the Thames to Cape Palmas.]

N the year 1589, Abraham Cocke 9 of Limehouse, began his voyage toward the River of Plate, with two pinnaces 10 of fifty tons apiece: the one was called the May-Morning, the other the Dolphin.

We sailed from the river Thames the twentieth of April; and the six and twentieth of the same month we put into [Pg 2] Plimmoth [Plymouth], where we took in some provision for the voyage. The seventh of May we put to sea, and with foul weather were beaten back again into Plimmoth, where we remained certain days, and then proceded on our voyage: And running along the coast of Spain and Barbary we put into the road of Sancta Cruz,11 and there set our Light-horse-man 12 together which we carried in two pieces. Abraham Cocke made great account hereof, thinking that this boat should have made his voyage. This done, we put to sea, and running along the coast of Guinea we were becalmed, because we were so near the coast.

[St. Thomé and the Gulf of Guinea.]

Here our men fell sick of the scurvy, in such sort, that there were very few sound. And being within three or four degrees of the equinoctial line we fell with the Cape de las Palmas, where we had some refreshing, wherewith our men recovered. The people of the Cape de las Palmas [Cabo das Palmas] made much of us, saying that they would trade with us; but it was but to betray us, for they are very treacherous, and were like to have taken our boat, and hurt some of our men. From this Cape we lay south-west off;13 but the current and the calms deceived us, so that we were driven down to the isle of St. Thomé,14 thinking [Pg 3] that we had been further off to the Sea than we were. And being in distress for wood and water, we went in on the south end between San Tome and the islands das Rolas,15 where we rode very smooth, and with our light-horse-man went on shore, thinking to have watered, but we found none in the island. Here we had great store of plantains and oranges. We found a village of negroes, which are sent from San Tome, for the Portugals of San Tome do use, when their slaves be sick or weak, to send them thither to get their strength again. For the islands are very fruitful, and though there be no fresh water, yet they maintain themselves with the wine of the palm-trees. Having refreshed ourselves with the fruit of this island, we burned the village. And running on the east side of San Tome we came before the town;16 but we durst not come near, for the castle shot at us, which hath very good ordnance in it.

Then we lay east and by south toward the main, and in four and twenty hours we had sight of the Cape de Lopo Gonsalves:17 and being within three leagues of the said cape we cast about and stood again toward the island of San Tome, and turned up on the west side of the island; and coming to a little river, which runneth out of the mountains, we went on shore with our Light-horse-man, with six or seven butts to fill with water. But the governor had ambushed one hundred men of the island; and when we [Pg 4] were on shore they came upon us, and killed one of our men and hurt another: wherefore we retired to our boat and got aboard.

[Across the Atlantic to the Brazils.]

Then Abraham Cocke determined to fetch the coast of Brasil, and lay west-south-west into the sea: and being some fifty leagues off, we fell into a shoal of dolphins,18 which did greatly relieve us, for they did follow our ship all the way, till we fell [in] with the land, which was some thirty days. And running along the coast of Brasil till we came to Ilha Grande,19 which standeth in five [sic] degrees southward of the line, we put in betwixt the island and the main, and haled our ships on shore, and washed them, and refreshed ourselves, and took in fresh water. In this island are no inhabitants, but it is very fruitful. And being here some twelve days there came in a little pinnace which was bound to the River of Plate, which came in to water and to get some refreshments: and presently we went aboard, and took the Portugal merchant out of the pinnace, which told Abraham Cocke, that within two months there should two pinnaces come from the River of Plate, from the town of Buenos Aires.

[The Rio de la Plata.]

From this town there come every year four or five caravels to Bahia 20 in Brasil, and to Angola in Africa, which bring great store of treasure, which is transported overland out of Peru into the River of Plate. There Abraham [Pg 5] Cocke, desirous to make his voyage, took some of the Dolphin’s men into his ship, and sent the Dolphin home again, which had not as yet made any voyage. This Portugal merchant carried us to a place in this island, where there was a banished man,21 which had planted great store of plantains, and told us that we might, with this fruit, go to the River of Plate: for our bread and our victuals were almost all spent.

With this hard allowance we departed from this island, and were six-and-thirty days before we came to the Isle of Lobos Marinos,22 which is in the mouth of the River of Plate. This island is half a mile long, and hath no fresh water, but doth abound with seals and sea-morses,23 in such sort that our light-horseman could not get on shore for them, without we did beat them with our oars: and the island is covered with them. Upon these seals we lived some thirty days, lying up and down in the river, and were in great distress of victuals. Then we determined to run up to Buenos Aires, and with our light-horseman to take one of the pinnaces that rid at the town. And, being so high up the river as the town, we had a mighty storm at south-west,24 which drove us back again, and we were fain to ride under the Isla Verde 25—that is, the green island—which is in the mouth of the river on the north side.

[A Prisoner of the Portuguese.]

Here we were all discomforted for lack of victuals and gave over the voyage, and came to the northward again, to the isle of Sant Sebastian, lying just under the tropic of Capricorn.26 There we went on shore to catch fish, and some went up into the woods to gather fruit, for we were all in a manner famished. There was at that time a canoe fraught with Indians, that came from the town of Spiritu Sancto.27 These Indians landed on the west side of the island, and came through the woods and took five of us, and carried us to the River of Janeiro [Rio de Janeiro]. After this mischance our captain, Abraham Cocke, went to sea, and was never heard of more.28

[Transported to Angola—A Voyage to the Zaire.]

When we that were taken had remained four months in the River of Janeiro, I and one Torner 29 were sent to Angola in Africa, to the city of Saint Paul,30 which standeth in nine degrees to the southward of the equinoctial line. Here I was presently taken out of the ship and put into prison, and sent up the River Quansa,31 to a town of garrison, which is 130 miles up the river. And being there two months the pilot of the governor’s pinnace died: then I was commanded to carry her down to the city, where I presently fell sick, and lay eight months in a poor estate, for they hated me because I was an Englishman. But being recovered of my sickness, Don John Hurtado de Mendoça,32 who then was governor, commanded me to go to the river of Congo, called Zaire, in a pinnace, to trade for elephants’ teeth,33 wheat,34 and oil of the palm-tree. The river Zaire 35 is fifty leagues from the city, to the northward, [Pg 8] and is the greatest river in all that coast. In the mouth of that river is an island, called the Isle de Calabes, which had at that time a town in it. Here we laded our pinnace with elephants’ teeth, wheat, and oil of the palm, and so returned to the city again.

§ II.

His trading on the coast; offer to escape; imprisonment; exile; escape and new imprisonment; his sending to Elamba and Bahia das Vaccas; many strange occurrences.

[Trading in Loango.]

When I was sent to Longo [Loango], which is fifteen leagues to the northward of the River Zaire, and carried all commodities fit for that country, as long glass beads, and round blue beads, and seed beads, and looking-glasses, blue and red coarse cloth, and Irish rugs, which were very rich commodities. Here we sold our cloth at a great rate, for we had for one yard of cloth three elephants’ teeth, that weighed 120 pounds; and we bought great store of palm-cloth 36 and elephants’ tails.37 So, in little time we laded our pinnace. For this voyage I was very welcome to the governor, who promised me my liberty if I would serve him. So I went in his pinnace two years and a half upon the coast.

[An Attempted Escape.]

Then there came a ship of Holland to the city, the merchant of which ship promised to carry me away. And, when they were ready to depart I went secretly on board, but I was betrayed by Portugals which sailed in the ship, [Pg 10] and was fetched on shore by sergeants of the city and put in prison, and lay with great bolts of iron two months, thinking that the governor would have put me to death. But at last I was banished for ever to the Fort of Massangano, to serve in the conquest of those parts. Here I lived a most miserable life for the space of six years without any hope to see the sea again.

[A Second Attempt at Escape.]

In this fort there were Egyptians and Moriscoes that were banished as myself. To one of these Egyptians 38 I brake my mind, and told him that it were better for us to venture our lives for our liberty than to live in that miserable place. This Egyptian was as willing as myself, and told me he would procure ten of his consorts to go with us. So we got three Egyptians and seven Portugals. That night we got the best canoe that we could find, and went down the river Cuanza, and being as far down as Mani Cabech,39 which is a little lord in the province of Elamba [Lamba], we went on shore with our twelve muskets, powder and shot. [Pg 11] Here we sunk our canoe, because they should not know where we went on shore. We made a little fire in the wood, and scorched Guinea wheat,40 which we [had] brought from Massangano, to relieve us, for we had none other food.

As soon as it was night, we took our journey all that night and the next day, without any water at all. The second night we were not able to go, and were fain to dig and scrape up roots of trees, and suck them to maintain life. The third day we met with an old negro which was travelling to Mani Cabech. We bound his hands behind him, and made him lead us the way to the Lake of Casansa.41 And, travelling all that day in this extreme hot country we came to the Bansa [mbanza], or town, of Mani Casansa, which lyeth within the land twelve leagues from the city of San Paulo. Here we were forced to ask water, but they would give us none. Then we determined to make them flee their houses with our shot; but seeing that we were desperately bent they called their Lord, Mani Casansa, who gave us water and fair speeches, desiring us to stay all night, only to betray us; but we departed presently, and rested that night in (sic) the lake of Casansa.

The fourth day, at night, we came to the river which is towards the north,42 and passed it with great danger. For there are such abundance of crocodiles in this river that no man dare come near the riverside when it is deep. The fifth day, at night, we came to the river Dande, and travelled so far to the eastward that we were right against [Pg 12] the Serras, or mountains of Manibangono,43 which is a lord that warreth against the King of Congo, whither we intended to go. Here we passed the river, and rested half the night. And being two leagues from the river we met with negroes, which asked us whither we travelled. We told them that we were going to Congo. These negroes said that we were in the wrong way, and that they were Masicongos,44 and would carry us to Bambe,45 where the Duke of Bambe lay.

So we went some three miles east, up into the land, till we perceived that we were in the wrong way, for we travelled by the sun, and would go no further that way, and turned back again to the westward; they stood before us with their bows, arrows and darts, ready to shoot at us. But we, determining to go through them, discharged six muskets together and killed four, which did amaze them, and made them to retire. But they followed us four or five miles, and hurt two of our company with their arrows. The next day we came within the borders of Bamba, and travelled all that day. At night we heard the surge of the sea. The seventh day, in the morning, we saw the captain of the city come after us with horsemen and great store of negroes. Hereupon our company being dismayed, seven of our faint-hearted Portugals hid themselves in the thickets. I, and the four Egyptians, thought to have escaped, but they followed us so fast that we were fain to go into a little wood. As soon as the captain had overtaken us he discharged a volley of shot into the wood, which made us lose one another.

[Surrenders to a Portuguese Captain.]

Thus, being all alone, I bethought myself that if the negroes did take me in the woods they would kill me: wherefore, thinking to make a better end among the Portugals and Mulatoes, I came presently out of the wood with my musket ready charged, making none account of my life. But the captain, thinking that we had been all twelve together, called to me and said: “Fellow Soldier, I have the governor’s pardon; if you will yield yourselves you shall have no hurt.” I, having my musket ready, answered the captain that I was an Englishman, and had served six years at Massangono, in great misery; and came in company with eleven Portugals and Egyptians, and here am left all alone; and rather than I will be hanged, I will die amongst you. Then the captain came near unto me and said: “Deliver thy musket to one of the soldiers; and I protest, as I am a gentleman and a soldier, to save thy life for thy resolute mind.” Whereupon I yielded up my musket and myself.

Then the captain commanded all the soldiers and negroes to search the woods, and to bring them out alive or dead, which was presently done. Then they carried us to the city of San Paulo, where I and the three Egyptians lay in prison three months with collars of iron, and great bolts upon our legs, and hardly escaped.

[A campaign in Lamba.]46

At that time the governor sent four hundred men, that were banished out of Portugal, up into the country of [Pg 14] Elambe. Then I was with proclamation through the city banished for ever to the wars, and marched with them to Sowonso,47 which is a lord that obeyeth the Duke of Bamba; from thence to Samanibansa, and then to Namba Calamba, which is a great lord, who did resist us. But we burnt his town, and then he obeyed us, and brought three thousand warlike negroes to us. From thence [we marched] to Sollancango, a little lord, that fought very desperately with us, but was forced to obey; and then to Combrecaianga,48 where we remained two years. From this place we gave many assaults and brought many lords to subjection. We were fifteen thousand strong, and marched to the Outeiro,49 or mountain, of Ingombe. But first we burnt all Ingasia, which was his country, and then we came to the chief town of Ingombe, which is half a day’s journey to go up.50

This lord came upon us with more than twenty thousand bows, and spoilt many of our men. But with our shot we made a great spoil among them, whereupon he retired up into the mountain, and sent one of his captains to our general, signifying that the next day he would obey him. The next day he entered our camp with great pomp, with [Pg 15] drums, petes,51 and Pongoes,52 or waits, and was royally received; and he gave great presents, and greatly enriched the general, and them which marched up. Upon the top of the mountain is a great plain, where he hath his chief town; very fresh, full of palm-trees, sugar-canes, potatoes, and other roots, and great store of oranges and lemons. Here is a tree that is called Engeriay,53 that beareth a fruit as big as a pome-water,54 and hath a stone in it, present remedy (sic) for the wind colic, which was strange to the Portugals. Here is a river of fresh water, that springeth out of the mountains and runneth all along the town. We were here five days, and then we marched up into the country, and burned and spoiled for the space of six weeks, and then returned to Engombe again, with great store of margarite stones,55 which are current money in that land. [Pg 16] Here we pitched our camp a league from this pleasant mountain, which remained twelve months: but I was shot in my right leg, and many Portugals and Mulatoes were carried to the city to be cured.

[A Voyage to Benguella.]

Then the governor sent a fregatte to the southward, with sixty soldiers, myself being one of the company, and all kinds of commodities. We turned up to the southward until we came into twelve degrees. Here we found a fair sandy bay. The people of this place brought us cows and sheep, wheat 56 and beans; but we staid not there, but came to Bahia das Vaccas: that is, the Bay of Cows, which the Portugals call Bahia de Torre,57 because it hath a rock like a tower. Here we rode on the north side of the rock, in a sandy bay, and bought great store of cows, and sheep—bigger than our English sheep—and very fine copper. Also, we bought a kind of sweet wood, called Cacongo,58 which the Portugals esteem much, and great store of wheat and beans. And having laded our bark we sent her home; but fifty of us staid on shore, and made a little fort with rafters of wood, because the people of this place are [Pg 17] treacherous, and not to be trusted. So, in seventeen days we had five hundred head of cattle; and within ten days the governor sent three ships, and so we departed to the city.

In this bay may any ship ride without danger, for it is a smooth coast. Here may any ship that cometh out of the East Indies refresh themselves. For the Portugals carracks 59 now of late come along the coast, to the city, to water and refresh themselves. These people are called Endalanbondos,60 and have no government among themselves, and therefore they are very treacherous, and those that trade with these people must stand upon their own guard. They are very simple, and of no courage, for thirty or forty men may go boldly into the country and fetch down whole herds of cattle. We bought the cattle for blue glass beads of an inch long, which are called Mopindes,61 and paid fifteen beads for one cow.

This province is called Dombe,62 and it hath a ridge of high serras, or mountains, that stretch from the serras or mountains of Cambambe, wherein are mines, and lie along the coast south and by west. Here is great store of fine copper, if they would work in their mines; but they take no more than they wear for a bravery. The men of this place wear skins about their middles and beads about their necks. They carry darts of iron, and bow and arrows in [Pg 18] their hands. They are beastly in their living, for they have men in women’s apparel, whom they keep among their wives.

Their women wear a ring of copper about their necks, which weigheth fifteen pound at the least; about their arms little rings of copper, that reach to their elbows; about their middle a cloth of the Insandie tree, which is neither spun nor woven;63 on their legs rings of copper that reach to the calves of their legs.

§ III.

Discovery of the Gagas: their wars, man-eating; overrunning countries. His trade with them, betraying, escape to them, and living with them; with many strange adventures. And also the rites and manner of life observed by the Iagges or Gagas, which no Christian could ever know well but this author.64

[A Second Voyage to Benguella.]

In our second voyage, turning up along the coast, we came to the Morro, or cliff of Benguelle,65 which standeth in twelve degrees of southerly latitude. Here we saw a mighty camp on the south side of the river Cova.66 And being desirous to know what they were, we went on shore with our boat; and presently there came a troop of five hundred men to the waterside. We asked them who they were. Then they told us that they were the Gagas, or Gindes, that came from Sierra de lion [Serra Leôa],67 and [Pg 20] passed through the city of Congo, and so travelled to the eastward of the great city of Angola, which is called Dongo.68 The great Gaga, which is their general, came down to the waterside to see us, for he had never seen white men before. He asked wherefore we came. We told him that we came to trade upon the coast. Then he bade us welcome, and called us on shore with our commodities. We laded our ship with slaves in seven days, and bought them so cheap that many did not cost one real, which were worth in the city [of Loanda] twelve milreis.

“He, in discourse with me, called them Iagges, and their chief the great Iagge. I think he writ them Gagas for Giagas, by false spelling.”]

[Among the Jagas.]

Being ready to depart, the great Giaga staid us, and desired our boat to pass his men over the river Cova, for he determined to overrun the realm of Benguele, which was on the north side of the river Cova. So we went with him to his camp, which was very orderly, entrenched with piles of wood; we had houses provided for us that night, and many burthens [loads] of palm-wine, cows, goats and flour.

In the morning, before day, the general did strike his gongo,69 which is an instrument of war that soundeth like a bell, and presently made an oration with a loud voice, that all the camp might hear, that he would destroy the Benguelas, with such courageous and vehement speeches as were not to be looked for among the heathen people. [Pg 21] And presently they were all in arms, and marched to the river side, where he had provided Gingados.70 And being ready with our boat and Gingados, the general was fain to beat them back because of the credit who should be first. We carried over eighty men at once, and with our muskets we beat the enemy off, and landed, but many of them were slain. By twelve of the clock all the Gagas were over.

Then the general commanded all his drums, tavales,71 petes, pongos, and all his instruments of warlike music to strike up, and gave the onset, which was a bloody day for the Benguelas. These Benguelas presently broke, and turned their backs, and a very great number of them were slain, and were taken captives, man, woman and child. The prince, Hombiangymbe, was slain, which was ruler of this country, and more than one hundred of his chief lords, and their heads presented and thrown at the feet of the great Gaga. The men, women and children that were brought in captive alive, and the dead corpses that were brought to be eaten, were strange to behold. For these Gagas are the greatest cannibals and man-eaters that be in the world, for they feed chiefly upon man’s flesh [notwithstanding of their] having all the cattle of that country.

They settled themselves in this country and took the spoil of it. We had great trade with these Gagas, five [Pg 22] months, and gained greatly by them. These Gagas were not contented to stay in this place of Benguela, although they lacked almost nothing. For they had great store of cattle and wheat, and many other commodities; but they lacked wine, for in these parts there are no palm-trees.

After the five months were expired they marched toward the province of Bambala,72 to a great lord that is called Calicansamba, whose country is five days up into the land. In these five months’ space we made three voyages to the city of San Paul, and coming the fourth time we found them not.

[March into the Interior.]

Being loth to return without trade, we determined to go up into the land after them. So we went fifty on shore, and left our ship riding in the Bay of Benguela to stay for us. And marching two days up into the country we came to a great lord which is called Mofarigosat; and coming to his first town we found it burnt to the ground, for the Gagas had passed and taken the spoil. To this lord we sent a negro which we had bought of the Gagas, and [who] lived with us, and bid him say that he was one of the great Gaga’s men, and that he was left to carry us to the camp. This lord bade us welcome for fear of the great Gaga, but he delayed the time, and would not let us pass till the Gaga was gone out of his country. This lord Mofarigosat, seeing that the Gagas were clear of him, began to palter with us, and would not let us go out of his land till we had gone to the wars with him, for he thought himself a mighty man having us with him. For in this place they never saw [a] white man before, nor guns. So we were [Pg 23] forced to go with him, and destroyed all his enemies, and returned to his town again. Then we desired him that he would let us depart; but he denied us, without we would promise him to come again, and leave a white man with him in pawn.

[Left as an Hostage.]

The Portugals and Mulatos being desirous to get away from this place, determined to draw lots who should stay; but many of them would not agree to it. At last they consented together that it were fitter to leave me, because I was an Englishman, than any of themselves. Here I was fain to stay perforce. So they left me a musket, powder and shot, promising this lord, Mofarigosat, that within two months they would come again and bring a hundred men to help him in his wars, and to trade with him. But all was to shift themselves away, for they feared that he would have taken us all captives. Here I remained with this lord till the two months were expired, and was hardly used, because the Portugals came not according to promise.

The chief men of this town would have put me to death, and stripped me naked, and were ready to cut off mine head. But the Lord of the town commanded them to stay longer, thinking that the Portugals would come. And after that I was let loose again, I went from one town to another, shifting for myself within the liberties of the lord. And being in fear of my life among them I ran away, purposing to go to the camp of the Gagas.

[He joins the Jagas.]

And having travelled all that night, the next day I came to a great town which was called Cashil, which stood in a mighty overgrown thicket. Here I was carried into the town, to the lord Cashil. And all the town, great and [Pg 24] small, came to wonder at me, for in this place there was never any white man seen. Here were some of the great Gaga’s men, which I was glad to see, and went with these Gagas to Calicansamba, where the camp was.

This town of the lord Cashil is very great and is so overgrown with Olicondie [baobab]73 trees, cedars,74 and palms, that the streets are darkened with them. In the middle of the town there is an image, which is as big as a man, and standeth twelve feet high; and at the foot of the image there is a circle of elephants’ teeth, pitched into the ground. Upon these teeth stand great store of dead men’s skulls, which are [were] killed in the wars, and offered to this image. They used to pour palm oil at his feet, and kill goats, and pour their blood at his feet. This image is called Quesango,75 and the people have great belief in him, and swear by him; and do believe when they are sick that Quesango is offended with them. In many places of this town were little images, and over them great store of elephants’ teeth piled.76

The streets of this town were paled with palm-canes, very orderly. Their houses were round like a hive, and, within, hanged with fine mats very curiously wrought. On the south-east end of the town was a mokiso [mukishi] which had more than three tons of elephants’ teeth piled over him.

From this town of Cashil I travelled up into the country with the Gagas 77 two days, and came to Calicansamba, where the great Gaga had his camp, and was welcome to him. Among the cannibal people I determined to live, hoping in God that they would travel so far to the westward that we should see the sea again; and so I might escape by some ship. These Gagas remained four months in this place, with great abundance and plenty of cattle, corn, wine, and oil, and great triumphing, [Pg 26] drinking, dancing, and banquetting, with man’s flesh, which was a heavy spectacle to behold.

At the end of four months they marched towards the Serras, or mountains of Cashindcabar, which are mighty high, and have great copper mines, and they took the spoil all the way as they went. From thence they went to the river Longa,78 and passed it, and settled themselves in the town of Calango,79 and remained there five or six months. Then we arose and entered into the province of Tondo,80 and came to the river Gonsa [Coanza],81 and marched on the south side of the river to a lord that was called Makellacolonge, near to the great city of Dongo. Here we passed over mighty high mountains, and found it very cold.

Having spent sixteen months among these cannibals, they marched to the westward again, and came along the river Gonsa, or Gunza, to a lord that is called Shillambansa,82 uncle to the King of Angola. We burnt his chief town, which was after their fashion very sumptuously builded. This place is very pleasant and fruitful. Here we found great store of wild peacocks,83 flying up and down the trees, in as great abundance as other birds. The old lord Shillambansa was buried in the middle of the town, and had a hundred tame peacocks kept upon his grave, which peacocks he gave to his Mokeso, and they were called [Pg 27] Angello Mokeso,84 that is, the Devil’s or Idol’s Birds, and were accounted as holy things. He had great store of copper, cloth, and many other things laid upon his grave, which is the order of that country.85

From this place we marched to the westward, along the river Coanza, and came right against the Serras or mountains of Cambambe, or Serras de Prata.86 Here is the great fall of water, that falleth right down, and maketh a mighty noise that is heard thirty miles. We entered into the province of Casama,87 and came to one of the greatest Lords, which was called Langere. He obeyed the great Gaga, and carried us to a Lord called Casoch,88 which was a great warrior, for he had some seven years before overthrown the Portugals camp, and killed eight hundred Portugals and forty-thousand negroes, that were on the Portugals side. This Lord did stoutly withstand the Gagas, and had the first day a mighty battle, but had not the victory that day. So we made a sconce of trees after their fashion, and remained four months in the wars with [Pg 28] them. I was so highly esteemed with the great Gaga, because I killed many negroes with my musket, that I had anything that I desired of him. He would also, when they went out to the wars, give charge to his men over me. By this means I have been often carried away in their arms, and saved my life. Here we were within three days’ journey of Massangano, before mentioned, where the Portugals have a fort: and I sought means, and got to the Portugals again with merchant negroes that came to the camp to buy slaves.

[Military Organisation of the Jagas.]

There were in the camp of the Gagas twelve captains. The first, called Imbe Calandola,89 their general, a man of great courage. He warreth all by enchantment, and taketh the Devil’s counsel in all his exploits. He is always making of sacrifices 90 to the Devil, and doth know many times what shall happen unto him. He believeth that he shall never die but in the wars. There is no image among them, but he useth certain ceremonies. He hath straight laws to his soldiers: for, those that are faint-hearted, and turn their backs to the enemy, are presently condemned and killed for cowards, and their bodies eaten. He useth every night to make a warlike oration upon an high scaffold, which doth encourage his people.

It is the order of these people, wheresoever they pitch their camp, although they stay but one night in a place, to [Pg 29] build their fort, with such wood or trees as the place yieldeth: so that the one part of them cutteth down trees and boughs, and the other part carrieth them, and buildeth a round circle with twelve gates.91 So that every captain keepeth his gate. In the middle of the fort is the general’s house, intrenched round about, and he hath many porters to keep the door. They build their houses very close together, and have their bows, arrows, and darts standing without their doors; and when they give alarm, they are suddenly all out of the fort. Every company at their doors [gates?] keep very good watch in the night, playing upon their drums and tavales.92

[A River of Gold.]

These Gagas told us of a river that is to the southward of the Bay of Vaccas,93 that hath great store of gold: and that they gathered up great store of grains of gold upon the sand, which the fresh water driveth down in the time of rain. We found some of this gold in the handles of their hatchets, which they use to engrave with copper; and they called it copper also, and do not esteem it.

[Palm Wine.]

These Gagas delight in no country, but where there is great store of Palmares, or groves of palms. For they delight greatly in the wine and in the fruit of the palm, which serveth to eat and to make oil. And they draw their wine contrary to the Imbondos.94 These palm-trees are six or seven fathoms high, and have no leaves but in the top: and they have a device to go up to the top of the tree, and lay no hands on it, and they draw the wine in the top of the tree in a bottle.

But these Gagas cut the palm-trees down by the root, which lie ten days before they will give wine. And then they make a square hole in the top and heart of the tree, and take out of the hole every morning a quart, and at night a quart So that every tree giveth two quarts of wine a day for the space of six and twenty days, and then it drieth up.

[Jaga Raids.]

When they settle themselves in any country, they cut down as many palms as will serve them wine for a month: and then as many more, so that in a little time they spoil the country. They stay no longer in a place than it will afford them maintenance. And then in harvest-time they arise, and settle themselves in the fruitfullest place they can find; and do reap their enemy’s corn, and take their cattle. For they will not sow, nor plant, nor bring up any cattle, more than they take by wars.95 When they come into any country that is strong, which they cannot the first day conquer, then their General buildeth his fort, and remaineth sometimes a month or two quiet. For he saith, [Pg 31] it is as great wars to the inhabitants to see him settled in their country, as though he fought with them every day. So that many times the inhabitants come and assault him at his fort: and these Gagas defend themselves and flesh 96 them on for the space of two or three days. And when their General mindeth to give the onset, he will, in the night, put out some one thousand men: which do ambush themselves about a mile from their fort. Then in the morning the great Gaga goeth with all his strength out of the fort, as though he would take their town. The inhabitants coming near the fort to defend their country, being between them, the Gagas give the watchword with their drums, and then the ambushed men rise, so that very few escape. And that day their General overunneth the country.

[Dress and Ornaments.]

The great Gaga Calando 97 hath his hair very long, embroidered with many knots of Banba 98 shells, which are very rich among them, and about his neck a collar of masoes,99 which are also shells, that are found upon that coast, and are sold among them for the worth of twenty shillings a shell: and about his middle he weareth landes, which are beads made of the ostrich eggs.100 He weareth a palm-cloth about his middle, as fine as silk. His body is carved and cut with sundry works, and every day anointed with the fat of men.101 He weareth a piece of copper cross [Pg 32] his nose 102, two inches long, and in his ears also. His body is always painted red and white. He hath twenty or thirty wives, which follow him when he goeth abroad; and one of them carrieth his bows and arrows; and four of them carry his cups of drink after him. And when he drinketh they all kneel down, and clap their hands and sing.103

Their women wear their hair with high trompes full of bamba [mbamba] shells, and are anointed with civet.104 They pull out four of their teeth, two above and two below, for a bravery. And those that have not their teeth out are loathsome to them, and shall neither eat nor drink with them. They wear great store of beads about their necks, arms, and legs; about their middles, silk cloths.

[Infanticide.]

The women are very fruitful, but they enjoy none of their children: for as soon as the woman is delivered of her child, it is presently buried quick [alive], so that there is not one child brought up in all this generation.105 But when they take any town they keep the boys and girls of thirteen or fourteen years of age as their own children. But the men and women they kill and eat. These little boys they train up in the wars, and hang a collar about their necks for a disgrace, which is never taken off till he proveth himself a man, and bring his enemy’s head to the [Pg 33] General: and then it is taken off and he is a freeman, and is called Gonso or soldier.106 This maketh them all desperate, and forward to be free, and counted men: and so they do increase. In all this camp there were but twelve natural Gagas that were their captains, and fourteen or fifteen women. For it is more than fifty years since they came from Serra de Lion, which was their native country. But their camp is sixteen thousand strong, and sometimes more.107

[Human Sacrifices.]108

When the great Gaga Calandola undertaketh any great enterprise against the inhabitants of any country, he maketh a sacrifice to the Devil, in the morning, before the sun riseth. He sitteth upon a stool, having upon each side of him a man-witch: then he hath forty or fifty women which stand round about him, holding in each hand a zevra [zebra]109 or wild horse’s tail, wherewith they do flourish and sing. Behind them are great store of petes, ponges, and drums, which always play. In the midst of them is a great fire; upon the fire an earthen pot with white powders, wherewith the men-witches do paint him on the [Pg 34] forehead, temples, ’thwart the breast and belly, with long ceremonies and inchanting terms. Thus he continueth till sun is down. Then the witches bring his Casengula,110 which is a weapon like a hatchet, and put it into his hand, and bid him be strong against his enemies: for his mokiso is with him. And presently there is a man-child brought, which forthwith he killeth. Then are four men brought before him; two whereof, as it happeneth, he presently striketh and killeth; the other two he commandeth to be killed without the fort.

Here I was by the men-witches ordered to go away, as I was a Christian, for then the Devil doth appear to them, as they say. And presently he commandeth five cows to be killed within the fort, and five without the fort: and likewise as many goats, and as many dogs, and the blood of them is sprinkled in the fire, and their bodies are eaten with great feasting and triumph. And this is used many times by all the other captains of their army.

[Burial of the Dead.]

When they bury the dead they make a vault in the ground, and a seat for him to sit.111 The dead hath his head newly embroidered, his body washed, and anointed with sweet powders. He hath all his best robes put on, and is brought between two men to his grave, and set in seat as though he were alive. He hath two of his wives set with him, with their arms broken, and then they cover over the vault on the top. The inhabitants when they die are buried after the same fashion, and have the most part [Pg 35] of their goods buried with them. And every month there is a meeting of the kindred of the dead man, which mourn and sing doleful songs at his grave for the space of three days, and kill many goats, and pour their blood upon his grave, and palm-wine also; and use this ceremony as long as any of their kindred be alive.112 But those that have no kindred think themselves unhappy men, because they have none to mourn for them when they die. These people are very kind one to another in their health; but in their sickness they do abhor one another, and will shun their company.

§ IV.

His return to the Portugals: invasions of diverse countries; abuses; flight from them and living in the woods diverse months; his strange boat, and coming to Loango.

[João Rodrigues Coutinho’s Campaign, 1602.]

Being departed from the Gagas I came to Masangano, where the Portugals have a town of garrison. There was at that time a new Governor, which was called Sienor Iuan Coutinho,113 who brought authority to conquer the mines or mountains of Cambamba; and to perform that service the King of Spain had given him seven years’ custom off all the slaves and goods that were carried thence to the West Indies, Brazil, or whithersoever, with condition that he should build three castles, one in Demba,114 which are the salt mines, the other in Cambamba, which are the silver mines, and the other in Bahia das Vaccas, or the Bay of Cows.

This gentleman was so bountiful at his coming that his fame was spread through all Congo, and many mulatoes and negroes came voluntarily to serve him. And being some six months in the city he marched to the Outaba of Tombo,115 and there shipped his soldiers in pinnaces, and went up the river Consa or Coanza, and landed at the [Pg 37] Outaba of Songo,116 sixty miles from the sea. This lord Songo is next to Demba, where the salt-mines be. In this place there is such store of salt that most part of the country are perfect clear salt, without any earth or filth in it, and it is some three feet under the earth as it were ice; and they cut it out in stones of a yard long, and it is carried up into the country, and is the best commodity that a man can carry to buy anything whatsoever.

Here the Governor staid ten days, and sent a pinnace to Masangano for all the best soldiers that were there. So the captain of the castle sent me down among a hundred soldiers, and I was very well used by the Governor; and he made me a sergeant of a Portugal company, and then he marched to Machimba,117 from thence to Cauo, and then to Malombe, a great lord. Here we were four days, and many lords came and obeyed us. From thence we marched to a mighty lord called Angoykayongo,118 who stood in the defence of his country with more than sixty thousand men. So we met with him, and had the victory, and made a great slaughter among them. We took captives all his women and children, and settled ourselves in his town, because it was a very pleasant place, and full of cattle and victuals. And being eight days in this town the Governor sickened and died, and left a captain in his room to perform the service.

[Manuel Cerveira Pereira carries on the war.]

After we had been two months in the country of Angoykayongo we marched towards Cambambe, which was but three days’ journey, and came right against the Serras da Prata, and passed the river Coanza, and presently overran the country, and built a fort hard by the riverside. Here I served two years.

They opened the silver-mines, but the Portugals did not like of them as yet, because they yielded small share of silver.119

This new upstart governor was very cruel to his soldiers, so that all his voluntary men left him; and by this means he could go no further.

At this time there came news by the Jesuits that the Queen of England was dead, and that King James had made peace with Spain.120 Then I made a petition to the Governor, who granted me licence to go into my country; and so I departed with the Governor and his train to the city of St. Paul. But he left five hundred soldiers in the fort of Cambambe, which they hold still.121

[A Trading Trip to Congo.]

Then I went with a Portugal merchant to the province of Bamba, and from thence to the Outeiro [“hill”], or city standing upon a mountain of Congo,122 from thence to Gongon 123 [Pg 39] and Batta,124 and there we sold our commodities and returned in six months to the city [Loanda] again.

[Final Escape from Captivity.]

Then I purposed to have shipped myself for Spain, and thence homewards. But the Governor denied his word, and commanded me to provide myself within two days to go up to the Conquest again. This Governor had served his three years,125 and the citizens looked every day for another out of Portugal. So I determined to absent myself for ten or twenty days, till the other Governor came, and then to come to the city again. For every Governor that cometh maketh proclamation for all men that be absent, to come with free pardon.

The same day, at night, I departed from the city with two negro boys that I had, which carried my musket and six pounds of powder, and a hundred bullets, and that little provision of victuals that I could make. In the morning I was some twenty miles from the city, up along the river Bengo, and there I staid certain days, and then passed Bengo and came to the river Dande, which is to the northward, purposing to know what news was in the city, for I was near the highway of Congo. And one of my negroes inquired of those that passed, and brought me word that it was certain that the new Governor came not that year.

Now I was put to my shifts, whether I would go to the [Pg 40] city again and be hanged, or to stay and live in the woods, for I had run away twice before. So I was forced to live in the woods a month, betwixt the rivers of Dande and Bengo. Then I went to Bengo again, to Mani Kaswea, and passed over the river, and went to the lake of Casansa.126 Here is the greatest store of wild beasts that is in any place of Angola. About this lake I staid six months, and lived only upon dried flesh, as buffes [buffaloes], deer, mokokes,127 impolancas,128 and roebucks, and other sorts, which I killed with my musket, and dried the flesh, as the savages do, upon an hurdle, three feet from the ground, making underneath it a great fire, and laying upon the flesh green boughs, which keep the smoke and heat of the fire down, and dry it. I made my fire with two little sticks, as the savages used to do. I had sometimes Guinea wheat [maize] which my negro boy would get of the inhabitants for pieces of dried flesh.

This lake of Casanze doth abound with fish of sundry sorts. I have taken up a fish that hath skipped out of the water on shore, four feet long, which the heathen call Sombo.129

Thus, after I had lived six months with the dried flesh and fish, and seeing no end of my misery, I wrought means to get away.

In this lake are many little island that are full of trees called Memba [bimba]130 which are as light as cork and as soft. Of these trees I built a lergado [Jangada], with a [Pg 41] knife of the savages that I had, in the fashion of a box nailed with wooden pegs, and railed round about, because the sea should not wash me out; and with a blanket that I had I made a sail, and prepared three oars to row withall.

This lake of Casanza is eight miles over, and issueth into the river Bengo. So I entered into my gingado [Jangada], and my two negro boys, and rowed into the river Bengo, and so came down with the current twelve leagues to the bar. Here I was in great danger, because the sea was great; and being over the bar I rode into the sea, and then sailed afore the wind along the coast, which I knew well, minding to go to the kingdom of Longo [Loango], which is towards the north; and being that night at sea, the next day I saw a pinnace come before the wind, which came from the city, and was bound to San Thomé, and she came near to me. The master was my great friend, for we had been mates together, and for pity’s sake he took me in, and set me on shore in the port of Longo, where I remained three years, and was well beloved of the king, because I killed him deer and fowls with my musket.

§ V.

Of the Province of Engoy [Ngoyo], and other Regions of Loango, with the Customs there observed by the King and People.

[Kabinda.]

From the Point of the Palmar [Ponta do Palmar],131 which is the north side of the river Zaire, is the port of Cabenda [Kabinda],132 where many ships use to water and refresh themselves; and it is five leagues northwards. This place is called, Engoy [Ngoyo], and is the first province of Longo [Loango], and is full of woods and thickets. And seven leagues northwards of that place is the river Cacongo,133 a very pleasant place and fruitful. Here is great stock of elephants’ teeth, and a boat of ten tons may go up the river.

The Mombales 134 have great trade with them, and pass the river Zaire in the night, because then it is calm, and carry great store of elephants’ teeth to the town of Mani Sonna [Sonyo], and sell them in the port of Pinda to the Portugals, or any other stranger that first cometh.135

At four leagues from Cacongo is the river of Caye, or Longo Leuyes.136 This town of Caye [Kaia] is one of the [Pg 43] four seats or lordships of Longo. And then the Angra, or Gulf, das Almadias.137 In this gulf, or bay, are great store of canoes or fishermen, because the sea is smoother there than upon the coast. And two leagues northward is the port of Longo [Loango]. And it is a sandy bay, and a ship may ride within a musket-shot of the shore in four or five fathoms.

[The Capital of Loango.]

The town of Mani Longo is three miles from the waterside, and standeth on a great plain. This town is full of palm and plantain-trees and very fresh, and their houses are built under the trees. The streets are wide and long, and always clean swept. The King hath his houses on the west side, and before his door he hath a plain, where he sitteth, when he has any feastings or matters of wars to treat of. From this plain there goeth a great wide street, some musket-shot from the place; and there is a great market every day, and it doth begin at twelve of the clock.

Here is great store of palm-cloths of sundry sorts, which is their merchandizes; and a great store of victuals, flesh, hens, fish, wine, oil, and corn. Here is also very fine log wood,138 which they use to dye withall—it is the root of the log wood which is the best—and molangos139 of copper. Here [Pg 44] is likewise great store of elephants’ teeth, but they sell none in the market-place.

[A Royal Audience.]

The King hath ten great houses, and is never certain to be found but in the afternoon, when he cometh to sit. And then he keepeth always [to] one house. The house is very long, and at twelve of the clock it is full of noblemen. They sit upon carpets upon the ground. The house is always full of people till midnight.

The last king, Gembe [Njimbe],140 never used to speak in the day, but always in the night. But this king speaketh in the day: howbeit he spendeth most of the day with his wives. And when the king cometh in he goeth to the upper end of the house, where he hath his seat, as it were a throne. And when the king is set, they clap their hands and salute him, saying in their language: Byani Pemba, Ampola, Moneya, Quesinge.141

[The King’s Wives.]142

On the south side of the king’s houses he hath a circuit [compound] or village, where his wives dwell, and in this circuit no man may come on pain of death. He hath in this place one hundred and fifty wives and more. And if any man be taken within this circuit, if he be with a woman, or do but speak to her, they be both brought into the market-place and their heads be cut off, and their bodies quartered, and lie one day in the street. The last king Gymbe [Njimbi], had four hundred children by his women.

[The King Drinks!]

When the king drinketh he hath a cup of wine brought, and he that bringeth it hath a bell in his hand, and as soon as he hath delivered the cup to the king, he turneth his face from the king and ringeth the bell; and then all that be there fall down upon their faces, and rise not till the king have drunk. And this is very dangerous for any stranger that knoweth not the fashions, for if any seeth the king drink he is presently killed, whatsoever he be. There was a boy of twelve years, which was the king’s son. This boy chanced to come unadvisedly when his father was in drinking. Presently the king commandeth he should be [Pg 46] well apparelled and victuals prepared. So the youth did eat and drink. Afterward the king commandeth that he should be cut in quarters and carried about the city, with proclamation that he saw the king drink.143

[The King at Dinner.]144

Likewise for his diet, when it is dinner-time, there is a house of purpose, where he always eateth, and there his diet is set upon a bensa,145 like a table. Then he goeth in, and hath the door shut. So when he hath eaten, then he knocketh and cometh out. So that none see the king eat nor drink. For it is their belief, that if he be seen eating or drinking, he shall presently die. And this is an order with all kings that now are, or shall succeed, unless they abolish this cruel custom.

[The King as a Rain-maker.]

The king is so honoured as though he were a god among them, and is called Sambe and Pongo,146 that is God. And they believe that he can give them rain when he listeth. So once a year, when it is time to rain, that is in December, the people come to beg rain and bring their gifts to the king, for none come empty.147 Then he appointeth the day, [Pg 47] and all the lords far and near come to the feast with all their troops, as they go in the wars. And when all the troops of men be before the king, the greatest Lord cometh forthwith his bows and arrows, and sheweth his skill with his weapon; and then he hath a merry conceit or jest that he speaketh before the king, and kneeleth at his feet; and then the king thanketh him for his love; and in like manner they do all.

The king sitteth abroad in a great place, and hath a carpet spread upon the ground, which is some fifteen fathoms about, of fine ensacks,148 which are wrought like velvet, and upon the carpet his seat, which is a fathom from the ground. Then he commanded his Dembes [Ndamba]149 to strike up, which are drums, so great, that they cannot carry them, and others that are very great. He hath also eight Pongos,150 which are his waits, made of the greatest elephants’ teeth, and are hollowed and scraped light, which play also. And with the drums and waits they make an hellish noise. After they have sported and shewed the king pleasure, he ariseth and standeth upon his throne, and taketh a bow and arrows in his hand, and shooteth to the sky; and that day there is great rejoicing, because sometimes they have rain. I was once there when the king gave rain, and it chanced that day to rain mightily, which made the people have a great belief in their folly.151

[Albinos.]

Here are sometimes born in this country white children, which is very rare among them, for their parents are negroes. And when any of them are born, they are presented unto the king and are called Dondos [Ndundu].152 These are as white as any white man. These are the king’s witches, and are brought up in witchcraft, and always wait on the king. There is no man that dare meddle with these Dondos. If they go to the market they may take what they list, for all men stand in awe of them. The King of Longo had four of them.

[The Nkishi, or Fetishes.]

The king also is a witch, and believeth in two idols which are in Longo. The one is called Mokisso à Longo, the other is called Checocke.153 This last is a little black image, and standeth in a little house at a village called Kinga, which standeth in the landing-place of Longo. This house of Checocke standeth in the highway, and they that go by clap their hands, which is the courtesy of the country. Those that be craftsmen, as fishermen, hunters, and witches, do offer to this idol, that they may have good luck. This Checocke doth sometimes in the night come [Pg 49] and haunt some of his best beloved: sometimes a man, sometimes a boy or a woman. And then they be frantic for the space of three hours; and whatsoever the frantic person speaketh, that is the will of Checocke. And they make a great feast and dancing at his house.154

There is another Mokisso which is also in Kinga, and it is called Gomberi. It is the name of a woman, and is in a house where an old witch dwelleth, and she is called Ganga Gomberi, which is, the Priest of Gomberi. Here once a year is a feast made, and Ganga Gomberi speaketh under the ground.155 And this is a common thing every year. I have asked the negroes what it was, and they told me that it was a strong Mokisso that is come to abide with Checocke.

[Children are born White.]

The children in this country are born white, and change their colour in two days to a perfect black. As, for example, the Portugals, which dwell in the kingdom of Congo, have sometimes children by the negro women, and many times the fathers are deceived, thinking when the child is born it is theirs, and within two days it proveth the son or daughter of a negro; which the Portugals do greatly grieve at, for they rejoice when they have a mulato child, though it be a bastard.

[The Royal Princes.]

The town of Longo [Loango] standeth in the midst of four Lordships, and is governed by four Princes, which [Pg 50] are the King’s sisters’ sons, for the King’s sons can never be kings. The first is Mani Cabango,156 the second Mani Salag, the third Mani Bock, the fourth Mani Cay. This Mani Cay is next to be king, and hath his train and court as a Prince. And when the King dieth he cometh presently into the seat of the King. Then, Mani Bock cometh to Cay, Mani Salag cometh to Bock, and Mani Cabango cometh to Salag. And then they provide another to go to Cabango, so there be four Princes that wait on the King when their turns come.

[The Kings Mother.]

The mother of these Princes is called Mani Lombo,157 and she is the highest and chief woman in all the land. She maketh choice of her husband, and when she is weary of him she putteth him away, and taketh another. Her children are greatly honoured, and whosoever passeth by them kneel down and clap their hands, which is the courtesy of the country.

[Palm Cloth.]158

The men in this kingdom make good store of palm-cloth of sundry sorts, very fine and curious. They are never idle: for they make fine caps of needlework as they go in the streets.

[The Royal Tombs.]

There is a place two leagues from the town of Longo, called Longeri,159 where all their kings be buried, and it is compassed round about with elephants’ teeth pitched in the ground, as it were a Pale, and it is ten roods in compass.

[Europeans Committed to the Sea.]

These people will suffer no white man to be buried in their land,160 and if any stranger or Portugal come thither to trade, and chance to die, he is carried in a boat two miles from the shore, and cast into the sea. There was once a Portugal gentleman, that came to trade with them, and had his house on shore. This gentleman died, and was buried some four months. That year it did not rain so soon as it was wont, which beginneth about December, so that they lacked rain for some two months. Then their mokisso told them that the Christian, which was buried, must be taken out of the earth, and cast into the sea; and within three days it rained, which made them have a great belief in the devil.

§ VI.

Of the Provinces of Bongo, Calongo, Mayombe, Manikesocke, Motimbas: of the ape-monster Pongo: their Hunting, Idolatries, and divers other observations.

[Bongo.]

To the eastward of Longeri is the Province of Bongo, and it bordereth on Mococke, [of which] the great Angeca 161 is king. In this place is great store of iron, and palm-cloth, and elephants’ teeth, and great store of corn.

[Cango.]

To the north-east is the great province of Cango,162 and it is fourteen days journey from the town of Longo. This place is full of mountains and rocky ground, and full of woods, and hath great store of copper. The elephants in this place do excel, and there are so many that the people of Longo hath great store of elephants’ teeth, and bring them to the port of Longo.

[Calongo.]

To the northwards of Longo, three leagues, is the river Quelle:163 and on the north side is the province of Calongo [Chilunga]. This country is always tilled, and full of corn, [Pg 53] and is all plain and champaign ground, and hath great store of honey. Here are two little villages that show at sea like two hummocks,164 which are the marks to show the port of Longo; and fifteen miles northward is the river Nombo,165 but it hath no depth for any bark to go in. This province, towards the east, bordereth upon Bongo; and towards the north upon Mayombe, which is nineteen leagues from Longo along the coast.

The province of Mayombe is all woods and groves, so overgrown that a man may travel twenty days in the shadow, without any sun or heat. Here is no kind of corn nor grain, so that the people liveth only upon plantains and roots of sundry other sorts, very good, and nuts; nor any kind of tame cattle, nor hens. But they have great store of elephants’ flesh, which they greatly esteem, and many kinds of wild beasts; and great store of fish. Here is a great sandy bay, two leagues to the southward of Cape Negro, which is the port of Mayombe. Sometimes the Portugals take logwood 167 in this bay. Here is a great river called Banna.168 In the winter it hath no bar, because the general winds cause a [Pg 54] great sea; but when the sun hath his south declination, then a boat may go in, for then it is smooth because of the rain. This river is very great, and hath many islands, and people dwelling in them. The woods are covered with baboons, monkeys, apes and parrots, that it will fear any man to travel in them alone. Here also are two kinds of monsters, which are common in these woods, and very dangerous.

[Gorillas and Chimpanzis.]169

The greatest of these two monsters is called Pongo [Mpungu] in their language, and the lesser is called Engeco. This Pongo is in all proportions like a man, but that he is more like a giant in stature than a man; for he is very tall, and hath a man’s face, hollow-eyed, with long hair upon his brows. His face and ears are without hair, and his hands also. His body is full of hair, but not very thick, and it is of a dunnish colour. He differeth not from a man but in his legs, for they have no calf. He goeth always upon his legs, and carryeth his hands clasped upon the nape of his neck when he goeth upon the ground. They sleep in the trees, and build shelters from the rain. They feed upon fruit they find in the woods and upon nuts, for they eat no kind of flesh. They cannot speak, and have no more understanding than a beast.

The people of the country, when they travel in the woods, make fires when they sleep in the night. And in the morning, when they are gone, the Pongoes will come [Pg 55] and sit about the fire till it goeth out, for they have no understanding to lay the wood together. They go many together, and kill many negroes that travel in the woods. Many times they fall upon the elephants, which come to feed where they be, and so beat them with their clubbed fists and pieces of wood that they will run roaring away from them.

Those Pongoes are never taken alive, because they are so strong that ten men cannot hold one of them, but yet they take many of their young ones with poisoned arrows. The young Pongo hangeth on his mother’s belly, with his hands clasped fast about her, so that when the country people kill any of the females, they take the young one which hangeth fast upon his mother. When they die among themselves, they cover the dead with great heaps of boughs and wood, which is commonly found in the forests.

“He told me in a conference with him that one of these Pongos took a negro boy of his, which lived a month with them, for they hurt not those which they surprise at unawares, except they look on them, which he [the boy] avoided. He said, their height was like a man’s, but their bigness twice as great. I saw the negro boy.

“What the other monster [the Engeco] should be he hath forgotten to relate, and these papers came to my hand since his death, which otherwise, in my often conferences, I might have learned. Perhaps he meaneth the Pigmy Pongo-killers mentioned.”]

[Hunting Dogs.]

The Morombes 170 use to hunt with their country-dogs, and kill many kinds of little beasts, and great store of pheasants. But their dogs be dumb, and cannot bark at all.171 They hang wooden clappers about their necks, and [Pg 56] follow them by rattling of the clappers. The huntsmen have Petes [whistles], which they whistle their dogs withall. These dogs, in all this country, are very little, with prickt ears, and are for the most part red and dun. The Portugal mastiff dog, or any other great dog, are greatly esteemed because they do bark. I have seen a dog sold up in the country for thirty pounds.

[The Maramba Fetish.]172

In the town of Mani Mayombe is a fetish called Maramba, and it standeth in a high basket made like a hive, and over it a great house. This is their house of religion, for they believe only in him, and keep his laws, and carry his reliques always with them. They are for the most part witches, and use their witchcraft for hunting and killing of elephants and fishing, and helping of sick and lame men, and to forecast journeys, whether they shall speed well or evil. By this Maramba are all thefts and murders tried, for in this country they use sometimes to bewitch one another to death. And when any dieth, their neighbours are brought before the Maramba; and if it be a great man that dieth, the whole town cometh to swear. The order is, when they come before Maramba, to kneel and clasp Maramba in their arms, and to say: Emeno, eyge bembet Maramba, that is, “I come to be tried, O Maramba.”173 And if any of them be guilty, they fall down [Pg 57] stark dead for ever. And if any of them that swear hath killed any man or child before, although it may be twenty years past, he presently dieth. And so it is for any other matter.

From this place, as far as it is to Cape de Lopo Gonsalves, they are all of this superstition. I was twelve months in this place, and saw many die after this sort.

These people be circumcised,174 as they are through all Angola, except the kingdom of Congo, for they be Christians. And those that will be sworn to Maramba 175 come to the chief Gangas, which are their priests or men-witches, as boys of twelve years of age, and men and women. Then the Gangas put them into a dark house, and there they remain certain days with very hard diet. After this they are let abroad, and commanded not to speak for certain days, what injury soever they be offered, so that they suffer great penury before they be sworn. Lastly, they are brought before Maramba, and have two marks cut upon their shoulders before, like a half moon, and are sworn by the blood that falleth from them, that they shall be true to him. They are forbidden some one kind of flesh and some one kind of fish, with many other toys [trifles]. And if they eat any of this forbidden meat they presently sicken, and never prosper.176 They all carry a relique of Maramba in a little box, and hang it about their necks, under their left arms.

The Lord of this province of Mayombe hath the ensign or shape of Maramba carried before him, and whithersoever [Pg 58] he goeth; and when he sitteth down it is set before him; and when he drinketh his palm-wine the first cup is poured at the foot of the Mokiso or idol, and when he eateth anything, the first piece he throweth towards his left hand, with enchanting words.

[Sette.]

From Cape Negro northward is a great Lord called Mani Seat,177 which has the greatest store of elephants’ teeth of any Lord in the kingdom of Longo, for his people practice nothing else but to kill elephants. And two of these negroes will easily kill an elephant with their darts. And here is great store of logwood.

[Mani Kesock.]178

There is another Lord, to the eastward, which is called Mani Kesock, and he is eight days’ journey from Mayombe. Here I was with my two negro boys to buy elephants’ hairs and tails. And in a month I bought twenty thousand, which I sold to the Portugals for thirty slaves, and all my charges borne.

From this place I sent one of my negro boys to Mani Seat with a looking-glass. He did esteem it much, and sent me four elephants’ teeth (very great) by his own men, and desired me to cause the Portugals, or any other ship, to come to the northward of the Cape Negro, and he would make fires where his landing place is, for there was never yet any Portugal or other stranger in that place.179

[Pygmy Elephant-Hunters.]

To the north-east of Mani Kesock are a kind of little people called Matimbas,180 which are no bigger than boys of twelve years old, but are very thick, and live only upon flesh, which they kill in the woods with their bows and darts. They pay tribute to Mani Kesock, and bring all their elephants’ teeth and tails to him. They will not enter into any of the Marombos 181 houses, nor will suffer any to come where they dwell; and if by chance any Maramba, or people of Longo [Loango], pass where they dwell, they will forsake that place and go to another.

The women carry bow and arrows, as well as the men, and one of these will walk in the woods alone, and kill the Pongos [gorillas] with their poisoned arrows. I have asked the Marombos whether the elephant sheddeth his teeth or no, and they say no! But sometimes they find their teeth in the woods, but they find their bones also.

[Poison Ordeals.]

When any man is suspected of any offence he is carried before the king, or before Mani Bomma [Mamboma],182 which is, as it were, a judge under the king. And if it be upon matter that he denieth, and cannot be proved but by their oath, then the suspected person is thus sworn: they have a kind of root which they call Imbondo [mbundu].183

This root is very strong, and is scraped into water. The virtue of this root is, that if they put too much of it into water, the person that drinketh it cannot void urine, and so it striketh up into the brain, as though he were drunk, and he falleth down, as though he were dead. And those that fall are counted as guilty, and are punished.184

“He told me that this root makes the water as bitter as gall (he tasted it), and one root will serve to try one hundred. They which have drunk and made water are cleared, before which, if dizziness take them, they cry: Undoke, Undoke,185 and presently execute them. See my Relations, b. 7 c. 10, which I writ from his mouth.186 Neither may this be ascribed to the virtue of the herb, but to the vice of the Devil, a murderer and his instrument, the Ganga or priest.187 And therefore that conjecture seems unprobable. For how could an ordinary trial of life where are so [Pg 61] many so perilous; and therefore curious (more than) spectators, nor perceive this in so long and frequent experience, which costs so many their dearest friends their dearest life? I think rather that this was the transcriber’s conjecture. I remember no such scruple in his narrations to me. Who knows not the Devil’s ambition of Deity, and cruel misanthropy or man-hating? This is his apish imitation of Divinity, and those rites prescribed for trial in the case of jealousy, Numbers, v.188 In Guinea like trial is made by salt, and also by the Fetisseroes pot. In Benomotapa by water also; in the Maramba trial before [mentioned (see p. 56)], and Motamba trial by hot iron in Angola;189 the ploughshares in olden times with us; and the trial of witches in the East parts by water, etc., were not unlike in deceivable superstition.”]

[Death and Witchcraft.]190

In this country none of any account dieth but they kill another for him, for they believe they die not of their own natural death, but that some other hath bewitched them to death. And all those are brought in by the friends of the dead which they suspect, so that many times there come five hundred men and women to take the drink made of the foresaid root Imbonda [mbundu]. They are brought [Pg 62] all to the high street or market-place, and there the master of the Imbonda sitteth with his water, and giveth everyone a cop of water by one measure; and they are commanded to walk in a certain place till they make water, and then they be free. But he that cannot urine presently falleth down dead, and all the people, great and small, fall upon him with their knives and beat and cut him into pieces. But I think the witch that giveth the water is partial, and giveth to him whom he will have to die, the strongest water, but no man can perceive it that standeth by. And this is done at the town of Longo almost every week in the year.

§ VII.

Of the Zebra and Hippopotamus; The Portugal Wars in those parts; the Fishing, Grain, and other things remarkable.

[Domestic Animals.]

In this kingdom there is no kind of tame cattle but goats, for none other cattle will live here. Oxen and kine have been brought hither, but they presently die. The hens in this place do so abound that a man may buy thirty for the worth of sixpence in beads.191

[Wild Birds.]

Here is store of pheasants, and great plenty of partridges and wild fowl. Here is a kind of fowl that lives in the land bigger than a swan, and they are like a heron, with long legs and long necks, and it is white or black, and hath in her breast a bare place without feathers, where she striketh with her beak. This is the right Pelican, and not those sea-birds which the Portugals call pelicans, which are white and as big as geese, and these abound in this country also.

[The Zebra.]

Here is also the zevera or zebra, which is like a horse, but that his mane, his tail, his strakes and divers colours down his sides and legs do make a difference. These zeveras are all wild and live in great herds, and will suffer a man to come within shot of them, and let them [Pg 64] shoot three or four times at them before they will run away.192

[The Hippopotamus.]

Moreover, there are great store of sea or river horses, which feed always on the land, and live only by grass, and they be very dangerous in the water. They are the biggest creature in this country, except the elephant. They have great virtue in the claws of their left forefoot, and have four claws on every foot, like the claws of an ox. The Portugals make rings of them, and they are a present remedy for the flux.

[Portuguese dealings with the Natives.]

The Portugals make war against the negroes in this manner. They have out of Congo a nobleman, which is [Pg 65] known to be a good Christian and of good behaviour. He bringeth out of Congo some one hundred negroes that are his followers. This Macicongo [mwishi-Kongo]is made Tandala,193 or general over the black camp, and hath authority to kill, to put down Lords and make Lords, and hath all the chief doings with the negroes. And when any Lord cometh to obey he first cometh to Tandala and bringeth his present, as slaves, kine and goats. Then the Tandala carrieth him before the Portugal Governor, and bringeth two slaves for the Governor’s page, before he goeth in. Then he must have a great gift for the Governor, which is sometimes thirty or forty slaves, besides cattle. But when he cometh before the Governor he kneeleth down and clappeth his hands, and falleth down with his face upon the ground, and then he riseth and saith: “I have been an enemy, and now I protest to be true, and never more to lift my hand against you.” Then the Governor calleth a soldier, which hath deserved a reward, and giveth the Lord to him. This soldier seeth that he have no wrong; and the Lord acknowledgeth him to be his master, and he doth maintain the soldier and maketh him rich. Also, in the wars he commandeth his master’s house to be built before his own, and whatsoever he hath taken that day in the wars, he passeth [divideth] with his master. So that there is no Portugal soldier of any account, but hath his negro sova, or Lord.194

[Fishing.]

They use upon this coast to fish with harping irons, and wait upon a great fish that cometh once a day to fish along the shore, which is like a grampus. He runneth very near the shore and driveth great shoals of fish before him; and the negroes run along the shore as fast as they are able to follow him, and strike their harping irons round about him, and kill great store of fish, and leave them upon the sand till, the fish hath done feeding; and then they come and gather their fish up.

This fish will many times run himself on ground, but they will presently shove him off again, which is as much as four or five men can do. They call him Emboa, which is in their speech a dog, and will by no means hurt or kill any of them.195

Also, they use in the bays and rivers, where shoal water is, to fish with mats, which are made of long rushes, and they make them of an hundred fathoms long. The mats swim upon the water, and have long rushes hanged upon one edge of the mat, and so they draw the mat in compass, as we do our nets. The fishes, fearing the rushes that hang down, spring out of the water and fall upon the mat, that lyeth flat on the water, and so are taken.

[“Corn.”]

They have four sorts of corn in Longo. The first is called Masanga,196 and it groweth upon a straw as big as a reed, and hath an ear a foot long, and is like hempseed. The second is called Masembala.197 This is of great increase, for of one kernel there springs four or five canes, which are ten foot high, and they bear half a pint of corn apiece. This grain is as big as tares, and very good. Thirdly, they have another that groweth low like grass, and is very like mustard-seed: and this is the best.198 They have also the great Guinea wheat, which they call Mas-impoto.199 This is the least esteemed.

[Ground-nuts.]

They have very good Peason [peas], somewhat bigger than ours, but they grow not as ours do; for the pods grow on the roots, underneath the ground, and by their leaves they know when they be ripe.200 They have another kind of Peason, which they call Wando.201 This is a little tree, [Pg 68] and the first year that it is planted it beareth no fruit; but after, it beareth fruit three years, and then it is cut down.202

[Plantains, or Bananas.]

Their plantain trees bear fruit but once, and then are cut down, and out of the root thereof spring three or four young trees.

[Bees and the Baobab.]

They have great store of honey, which hangeth in the Elicondy trees.203 They gather it with a hollow piece of wood, or chest, which they hang in the top of the tree, and once a year it is full, by smoke rewarding the laborious creatures with robbery, exile, death.

This Alicunde or Elicondi tree is very tall and exceeding great, some as big as twelve men can fathom, spreading like an oak. Some of them are hollow, and from the liberal skies receive such plenty of water, that they are hospitable entertainers of thousands in this thirsty region. Once have I known three or four thousand remain at one of these trees, and thence receiving all their watery provision for four and twenty hours, and yet not empty. [Pg 69] The negroes climbed up with pegs of hardwood (which that softer easily receiveth, the smoothness not admitting other climbing), and I think that some one tree hold forty tuns of water.

This tree affords not less bountiful hospitality to the back than belly, yielding (as her belly to their bellies, so) her back to their backs; excepting that this is better from the younger trees, whose tenderer backs being more seasonable for discipline, are so soundly beaten (for man’s fault, whence came the first nakedness), whereby one fathom cut from the tree is extended into twenty, and is presently fit for wearing, though not so fine as the Iuzanda204 tree yields. This tree yields excellent cloth from the inner bark thereof by like beating.]

[Palm Trees.]

Of their palm trees, which they keep with watering and cutting every year, they make velvets, satins, taffetas, damasks, sarsenets, and such like; out of the leaves, cleansed and purged, drawing long threads and even, for that purpose. They draw wine (as it is said) from the palm-tree. There is another kind of palm-tree which beareth a fruit good for the stomach and for the liver, and most admirable.205

[A Crocodile Story.]

One crocodile was so huge and greedy that he devoured an Alibamba,206 that is, a chained company of [Pg 70] eight or nine slaves, but the indigestible iron paid him his wages, and murdered the murderer, found afterwards in his belly. I have seen them watch their prey, hauling in gennet, man, or other creature, into the water. But one soldier thus wrapt in shallower water drew his knife, took his taker in the belly, and slew him.

[The End.]

ON THE

RELIGION AND THE CUSTOMS

OF THE PEOPLES OF

ANGOLA, CONGO AND LOANGO.

The following notes on the religion and customs of the Negroes of Angola, Congo and Loango, are taken from Book vii, chapters ix and x, of Purchas His Pilgrimage, or Relations of the World and the Religions observed in all Ages and Places discovered from the Creation unto this Present. London (H. Fetherstone), 1617. This account is a compilation. Purchas quotes, among others, Duarte Lopez, De Barros, Osorio, Marmol, and Du Jarric. In what follows, we confine ourselves to the oral information which Purchas received from his friends or acquaintances, Andrew Battell and Thomas Turner.

Chap. IX, § I.—Angola.

[The Slave Trade.]

ASTER THOMAS TURNER, one that had lived a long time in Brasil, and had also been at Angola, reported to me 207 that it was supposed eight and twenty thousand slaves (a number almost incredible, yet such as the Portugals told him) were yearly shipped from Angola and Congo, at the Haven of Loanda.208 He named [Pg 72] to me a rich Portugal in Brasil, which had ten thousand of his own, working in his Ingenios209 (of which he had eighteen) and in his other employments. His name was John du Paus, exiled from Portugal, and thus enriched in Brasil.210 A thousand of his slaves at one time entered into conspiracy with nine thousand other slaves in the country, and barricaded themselves for their best defence against their master, who had much ado to reduce some of them into their former servitude.

[Fetishes.]

To return to Angola, we may add the report of another of our countrymen, Andrew Battell (my near neighbour, dwelling at Leigh, in Essex) who served under Manuel Silvera Pereira,211 Governor under the King of Spain, at his city of St. Paul, and with him went far into the country of Angola, their army being eight hundred Portugals and fifty thousand Naturals. This Andrew Battell telleth that they are all heathens in Angola. They had their idols of wood in the midst of their towns, fashioned like a negro, and at the foot thereof was a great heap of elephants’ teeth, containing three or four tuns of them: these were piled in the earth, and upon them were set the skulls of dead men, which they had slain in the wars, in monument of their victory.212 The idol they call Mokisso [Mukishi], [Pg 73] and some of them have houses built over them. If any be sick, he accounteth it Mokisso’s hand, and sendeth to appease his angry God, with pouring wine (which they have of the palm tree) at his feet.213 They have proper names of distinction for their Mokissos, as Kissungo, Kalikete, etc., and use to swear by them, Kissungo wy, that is, by Kissungo.214

[Trial by Ordeal.]

They have another more solemn oath in trial of controversies: this trial is called Motamba,215 for which purpose they lay a kind of hatchet, which they have, in the fire, and the Ganga-Mokisso, or Mokisso’s Priest,216 taketh the same red-hot, and draweth it near to the skin of the accused party; and if there be two, he causeth their legs to be set near together, and draweth this hot iron without touching between them; if it burns, that party is condemned as guilty, otherwise he is freed.

[Burial.]217

For the ceremonies about the dead, they first wash him, then paint him, thirdly apparel him in new clothes, and then bring him to his grave, which is made like a vault, after it is digged a little way down, undermined, and made spacious within; and there set him on a seat of earth, with [Pg 74] his beads (which they use on chains and bracelets for ornament), and the most part of his goods, with him in his last home. They kill goats and shed the blood in the graves, and pour wine there in memorial of the dead.

[Dogs.]218

... Andrew Battell saith that the Dogs in these countries are all of one sort, prick-eared curs of a mean bigness, which they use also to hunt with, but they open not (for they cannot bark), and therefore they hang clappers made of little boards about their necks. He hath seen a mastiff sold for three slaves....

[Quizama.]

This kingdom [of Angola] hath many lordships subject thereto, as far as the sea-coast as Cape Negro. Towards a lake called Aquelunda 219 lieth a country called Quizama, the inhabitants whereof being governed after the manner of a commonwealth, have showed themselves friendly to the Portugals, and helped them in their wars against Angola. The houses in Angola are made in fashion like a bee-hive.

[Women and the Moon.]

The women at the first sight of the new moon, turn up their bums in despite, as offended with their menstruous courses, which they ascribe unto her.

The men sometimes, in a valorous resolution, will devote themselves unto some haughty attempt in the wars; and, taking leave of the king, will vow never to return until they bring him a horse-head, or some other thing, very dangerous in the enterprise, and will either do it or die. Horse-tails are great jewels, and two slaves will be given for one tail, which commonly they bring from the River of Plate, where horses are exceedingly increased and grown wild. They will, by firing the grass round about, hem the horses about with a fiery circle, the fire still straightening and growing nearer till they have advantage enough to kill them. Thus have the European cattle, of horse and kine, so increased in the other world, as they spare not to kill the one for their hides, and the other for their tails.

Chapter IX, § II.—Of Congo.

[A Crocodile Story.]221

... Andrew Battell told me of a huge crocodile which was reported to have eaten a whole Alibamba, that is, a company of eight or nine slaves chained together, and at last paid for his greediness: the chain holding him slave, as before it had the negroes, and by his undigestible nature devouring the devourer; remaining in the belly of him after he was found, in testimony of this victory. He hath seen them watch and take their prey, haling a gennet, man, or other creature into the water. A soldier thus drawn in by a crocodile, in shallower waters, with his knife wounded him in the belly, and slew him.

Chapter IX, § III.—Of their ... Strange Trees....

Having stated that they use in Congo to make “clothes of the Enzanda tree,222 of which some write the same things that are reported of the Indian fig-tree,” that it sends forth a hairy substance from the branches, which no sooner touch the ground but they take root, and grow up in such sort, that one tree would multiply itself into a wood if nature set not some obstacle (a marginal note adds that “Andrew Battell saith that the tree which thus strangely multiplieth itself is called the Manga tree”223). Purchas continues as follows:—

“But more admirable is that huge tree called Alicunde,224 of which my friend Andrew Battell supposeth some are as big (besides their wonderful tallness) as twelve men can fathom. It spreads like a oak. Some of them are hollow, and the liberal clouds into those natural casks disperse such plenty of water, that one time three or four thousand of them, in that hot region, continued four and twenty hours at one of these, which yielded them all drink of her watery store, and was not emptied. Their negroes climbed up with pegs 225 (for the tree is smooth and not therefore otherwise to be climbed, and so soft that it easily receiveth pegs of harder wood, driven into her yielding substance with a stone), and dipped the water, as it had been out of a well. He supposed that there is forty tuns of water in some one of them. It yielded them a good opportunity for honey, [Pg 77] to which end the country people make a kind of chest, with one hole in the same, and hang it upon one of these trees, which they take down once a year, and with fire or smoke chasing or killing the bees, take thence a large quantity of honey.226 Neither is it liberal alone to the hungry or thirsty appetite, but very bountifully it clothes their backs, and the bark thereof, which, being taken from the younger Alicundes [nkondo], and beaten, one fathom which they cut out from the tree will by this means extend itself into twenty, and presently is cloth fit for wearing, though not so fine as that which the Inzanda227 tree yieldeth. [It serves them also for boats, one of which cut out in proportion of a scute 228 will hold hundreds of men.”]229 In a further marginal note Purchas adds: “These boats, saith Andrew Battell, are made of another tree, for the Alicunde is of too spongy a substance for that purpose.”

Chapter X, § I.—Of Loango.

[Offerings.]

... Andrew Battell lived among them [the Bramas of Loango]230 for two years and a half. They are, saith he, heathens, and observe many superstitions. They have [Pg 78] their Mokissos or images [nkishi] to which they offer in proportion to their sorts and suits;231 the fisher offereth fish when he sueth for his help in his fishing; the countryman, wheat; the weaver, Alibungos,232 [that is] pieces of cloth; others bring bottles of wine; all wanting that they would have, and bringing what they want, furnishing their Mokisso with those things whereof they complain themselves to be disfurnished.

[Funeral Rites.]

Their ceremonies for the dead are divers. They bring goats and let them bleed at the Mokisso’s foot, which they after consume in a feasting memorial of the deceased party, which is continued four or five days together, and that four or five several times in the year, by all his friends and kindred. The days are known, and though they dwell twenty miles thence, yet they will resort to these memorial exequies, and, beginning in the night, will sing doleful and funeral songs till day, and then kill, as aforesaid, and make merry. The hope of this maketh such as have store of friends to contemn death; and the want of friends to bewail him makes a man conceive a more dreadful apprehension of death.233

[Prohibitions—Taboo.]

Their conceit is so ravished with superstition that many die of none other death. Kin234 is the name of unlawful and [Pg 79] prohibited meat, which, according to each kindred’s devotion, to some family is some kind of fish; to another a hen; to another, a buffe [beef]; and so of the rest: in which they observe their vowed abstinence so strictly that if any should (though all unawares) eat of his Kin, he would die of conceit, always presenting to his accusing conscience the breach of his vow, and the anger of Mokisso. He hath known divers thus to have died, and sometimes would, when some of them had eaten with him, make them believe that they had eaten of their Kin, till, having sported himself with their superstitious agony, he would affirm the contrary.

They use to set in their fields and places where corn or fruits grow, a basket, with goat’s horns, parrot’s feathers, and other trash: this is the Mokisso’s Ensign, or token, that it is commended to his custody; and therefore, the people very much addicted to theft, dare not meddle, or take anything. Likewise, if a man, wearied with his burthen, lay it down in the highway, and knit a knot of grass, and lay thereon; or leave any other note (known to them) to testify that he hath left it there in the name of his idol, it is secured from the lime-fingers of any passenger. Conceit would kill the man that should transgress in this kind.235

In the banza [mbanza], or chief city, the chief idol is named Chekoke.236 Every day they have there a market, and the Chekoke is brought forth by the Ganga, or priest, to keep good rule, and is set in the market-place to prevent [Pg 80] stealing. Moreover, the king hath a Bell,237 the strokes whereof sound such terror into the heart of the fearful thief that none dare keep any stolen goods after the sound of that bell. Our author inhabited in a little reed-house, after the Loango manner, and had hanging by the walls, in a cloth case, his piece, wherewith he used to shoot fowls for the king, which, more for the love of the cloth than the piece, was stolen. Upon complaint, this bell (in form like a cow-bell) was carried about and rung, with proclamation to make restitution; and he had his piece next morning set at his door. The like another, found in a bag of beans of a hundred pound weight, stolen from him, and recovered by the sound of this bell.

[Poison Ordeal.]238

They have a dreadful and deadly kind of trial in controversies, after this manner: there is a little tree, or shrub, with a small root (it is called Imbunda) about the bigness of one’s thumb, half a foot long, like a white carrot. Now, when any listeth to accuse a man, or a family, or whole street, of the death of any of his friends, saying, that such a man bewitched him, the Ganga assembleth the accused parties, and scrapes that root, the scrapings whereof he mixeth with water, which makes it as bitter as gall (he tasted of it); one root will serve for the trial of a hundred men. The Ganga brews the same together in gourds, and with plantain stalks hitteth everyone, after they have drunk, with certain words. Those that have received the drink walk by, till they can make urine, and then they are [Pg 81] thereby free’d. Others abide till either urine frees them, or dizziness takes them, which the people no sooner perceive but they cry, Undoke, Undoke,239 that is “naughty witch”; and he is no sooner fallen by his dizziness, but they knock him on the head, and dragging him away, hurl him over the cliff. In every Liberty 240 they have such drinks, which they make in case of theft, and death of any person. Every week it falls out that some or other undergoes this trial, which consumeth multitudes of people.

[Albinos.]241

There be certain persons called Dunda [ndundu], which are born by negro parents, and yet are, by some unknown cause, white. They are very rare, and when such happen to be born, they are brought to the king, and become great witches: they are his councillors, and advise him of lucky and unlucky days for execution of his enterprises. When the king goes any whither the Dundas go with him, and beat the ground round about with certain exorcisms before the king sits down, and then sit down by him. They will take anything in the market, none daring to contradict them.

[The Gumbiri Fetish.]

Kenga is the landing-place of Loanga. They have there an idol called Gumbiri, and a holy house called Munsa Gumbiri,242 kept and inhabited by an old woman, where once a year is a solemn feast, which they celebrate with drums, dances, and palm-wines; and then, they say, he speaketh under the ground. The people call him [Pg 82] Mokisso Cola,243 or a strong Mokisso, and say, that he comes to stay with Chekoke, the idol of the banza. That Chekoke is a negro image, made sitting on a stool; a little house is then made him. They anoint him with Toccola [tacula],244 which is a red colour made of a certain wood, ground on a stone, and mixed with water, wherewith they daily paint themselves, from the waist upwards, esteeming it a great beauty; otherwise they account not themselves ready. It is for like purposes carried from hence to Angola.

[Possessed of the Fetish.]

Sometimes it falls out that some man or boy is taken with some sudden enthusiasm, or ravishment, becoming mad, and making a whooping and great clamours.

They call them Mokisso-Moquat245 that is, taken of the Mokisso. They clothe them very handsomely, and whatever they bid in that fit (for it lasteth not very long), they execute as the Mokisso’s charge.

[The Maramba Fetish.]246

Morumba247 is thirty leagues northwards from hence, in the Mani Loango’s dominions, where he [Battell] lived nine months. There is a house, and in it a great basket, proportioned like to a hive, wherein is an image called Morumba, whose religion extendeth far. They are sworn to this religion at ten or twelve years old; but, for probation are first put in a house, where they have hard diet, and must be mute for nine or ten days, any provocation to [Pg 83] speak notwithstanding. Then do they bring him before Morumba, and prescribe him his Kin [kina], or perpetual abstinence from some certain meat. They make a cut in his shoulder like to a half moon, and sprinkle the blood at Morumba’s feet, and swear him to that religion. In the wound they put a certain white powder in token of his late admission; which, so long as it continueth, doth privilege him to take his meat and drink with whomsoever he pleaseth, none denying him the same, at free cost.

They also have their fatal trials before this image, where the accused party, kneeling down and clasping the hive, saith: “Mene quesa cabamba Morumba,” signifying that he comes thither to make trial of his innocence;248 and if he be guilty he falls down dead; being free he is free’d.

Andrew Battell saith he knew six or seven, in his being there, that made this trial.

Chap. X, § III.—Of the Giacchi, or Iagges.249

[Origin of the Jagas.]

... Andrew Battel lived (by occasion of the Portugals treachery) with the Iagges a longer time than ever any Christian or white man had done, namely, sixteen months, and served them with their [his] musket in the wars; neither could Lopez (saith he) have true intelligence whence they came,250 for the Christians at that time had [Pg 84] but uncertain conjectures of them: neither after had the Portugals any conversing, but by way of commerce; but he, being betrayed, fled to them for his life, and after, by stealth, escaped from them: the only European that ever lived in their camp.

He saith they are called Iagges by the Portugals, by themselves Imbangolas*251 (which name argues them to be of the Imbij and Galæ before mentioned) and come from Sierra Liona;*252 that they are exceeding devourers of man’s flesh, for which they refuse beef and goats, whereof they take plenty. They have no settled habitation, but wander in an unsettled course.

[Infanticide among the Jaga.]

They rise in harvest, and invading some country, there stay as long as they find the palms, or other sufficient means of maintenance, and then seek new adventure. For they neither plant nor sow, nor breed up cattle, and, which is more, strange, they nourish up none of their own children, although they have ten or twenty wives a man, of the properest and comeliest slaves they can take. But when they are in travail they dig a hole in the earth, which presently receiveth in that dark prison of death the newborn [Pg 85] creature, not yet made happy with the light of life. Their reason is that they will not be troubled with education, nor in their flitting wanderings be troubled with such cumbersome burthens.253

Once, a secret providence both punisheth the father’s wickedness, and preventeth a viperous generation, if that maybe a prevention where there is a succession without generation; and as Pliny saith of the Esseni (lib. v, c. 15), Gens æterna est in qua nepto nascitur. For of the conquered nations they [the Jaga] preserve the boys from ten to twenty years of age, and bring them up as the hope of their succession, like Negro-azimogli,254 with education fitting their designs. These wear a collar about their neck in token of slavery, until they bring an enemy’s head slain in battle, and then they are uncollared, free’d, and dignified with the title of soldiers; if one of them runs away he is killed and eaten; so that, hemmed in betwixt hope and fear, they grow very resolute and adventurous, their collars breeding shame, disdain, and desperate fury, till they redeem their freedom as you have heard.

Elembe,255 the great Iagge, brought with him twelve thousand of these cruel monsters from Sierra Liona, and after much mischief and spoil settled himself in Benguele,256 twelve degrees from the Zone southwards, and there breedeth and groweth into a nation. But Kelandula, sometime his page, proceeds in that beastly life before mentioned, and the people of Elembe, by great troops, run to him and follow his camp in hope of spoil.

[Human Sacrifices.]

They have no fetissos, or idols. The great Iagge, or Prince, is master of all their ceremonies, and a great witch. I have seen this Kelandula (sayth our author) continue a sacrifice from sun to sun, the rites whereof are these: himself sat on a stool, in great pomp, with a cap adorned with peacocks’ feathers (which fowls, in one country called Shelambanza,257 are found wild; and in one place, empaled about the grave of the king, are fifty kept and fed by an old woman, and are called Ingilla Mokisso, that is, Birds of Mokisso).258 Now, about him thus set, attended forty or fifty women, each of them waving continually a zebra’s tail in their hands. There were also certain Gangas, priests or witches. Behind them were many with drums and pipes, and pungas259 (certain instruments made of elephants’ teeth, made hollow a yard and a half, and with a hole like a flute, which yield a loud and harsh sound, that may be heard a mile off). These strike and sound, and sing, and the women wave (as is said) till the sun be almost down. Then they bring forth a pot, which is set on the fire with leaves and roots, and the water therein, and with a kind of white powder the witches or Gangas spot themselves, one on the one cheek, the other on the other; and likewise their foreheads, temples, breasts, shoulders, and bellies, using many enchanting terms, which are holden to be prayers for victory. At sunset a Ganga brings his Kissengula,260 or war-hatchet, to the Prince (this weapon they use to wear at their girdles) and putting the same in his hands bid him to be strong, [that] their God goes with him, and he shall have victory. After this they bring him four or five negroes, of which, with a terrible countenance, the [Pg 87] great Iagge with his hatchet kills two, and the other two are killed without the fort. Likewise, five kine are slain within, and other five without the fort; and as many goats and as many dogs, after the same manner.

This is their sacrifice, at the end whereof all the flesh is, in a feast, consumed. Andrew Battell was commanded to depart when the slaughter begun, for their devil, or Mokisso (as they said) would then appear and speak to them.261

This sacrifice is called Kissembula262 which they solemnise when they undertake any great enterprise. There were few left of the natural Iagges, but of this unnatural brood the present succession was raised.

APPENDIX I.

ANTHONY KNIVET IN KONGO AND ANGOLA:

BEING

Extracts from “The Admirable Adventures and Strange Fortunes
of Master Antonie Knivet, which went with Master
Thomas Candish in his Second Voyage to the South
Sea, 1591,” published in Purchas His Pilgrimes,
Part IV, lib. vi, c. 7. London, 1625.

Introduction.

ASTER ANTHONY KNIVET joined the second expedition of Thomas Cavendish, which left England in August, 1591. He seems to have served on board the Roebuck, of which vessel one Cocke was captain. Nothing in his narrative enables us to identify this Cocke with the Abraham Cocke of Limehouse, who was “never heard of more” after he parted from Battell on the coast of Brazil in 1590, nor with the Abram Cocke who, according to Knivet, put in at the Ilha Grande in 1598, in the hope of making prizes of some of the richly-laden Spanish vessels returning from the Rio de la Plata. Battell, surely, may be supposed to have been acquainted with the fate of his old shipmate, whilst Knivet gives no hint that the Abram Cocke of the Ilha Grande [Pg 90] was the captain of the Roebuck, to whom he was indebted for his life when Cavendish was about to throw him overboard in Magellan’s Strait. It is, however, just possible that there was but one Abraham Cock, who had not been heard of for some time when Battell returned to England about 1610.263

When Cavendish returned from Magellan’s Strait, he put Knivet and nineteen other sick men ashore near St. Sebastian, to shift for themselves. Knivet was ultimately taken by the Portuguese; but they spared his life, and he became the “bond-slave” of Salvador Corrêa de Sá, the Governor of Rio de Janeiro; and apart from the time he spent among the cannibal Indians, and on a voyage to Angola, he remained with his master to the end, and returned with him to Portugal in 1599.

My friend, Colonel G. Earl Church, to whom I applied for an opinion on the trustworthiness of Knivet’s statements with regard to Brazil, writes as follows:—

“Yesterday morning I spent at the R. Geo. Soc., refreshing my memory of Knivet’s extraordinary adventures. One must read them always bearing in mind the romantic spirit of the age in which they were written, and the novel surroundings in which every adventurer found himself in the New World. Giving due weight to all this, I find Knivet’s relation of his voyages singularly truthful, so far as my knowledge of Brazil goes. What he states, excepting in two or three minor particulars, clashes with no geographical, descriptive, or historical point with which I am familiar, and he often throws in a sentence which relates to facts which no man could invent, and which makes his narrative impressive with truthfulness. I utterly discard Cavendish’s opinion of his men and companions for Cavendish appears to have been one of the most cold-blooded [Pg 91] freebooters who ever cut a throat or raided a settlement or scuttled a prize.”

I regret not being able to write in terms equally favourable of what Knivet claims to have experienced during his visit to Angola and Kongo. Knivet says that he ran away from bondage on June 27th, 1597, and that he reached the “port of Angola” after a perilous voyage of five months, that is in November. He then sailed up the Kwanza, and reached Masanganu, where he remained three months, when he was arrested in consequence of a requisition of his master and sent back to Brazil, which he must have reached before June, 1598. We should be quite prepared to accept this part of his story if his description of Masanganu did not show that he can never have been there. Knivet, however, is not content with such modest honours, but claims to have resided for some time at the court of the King of Kongo, and to have fallen in the hands of the Portuguese when on his road to Prester John’s country. By them he was carried to Masanganu, where he lived three months. These two accounts are absolutely irreconcilable. As to the author’s astounding geographical misstatements, I refer the reader to the notes appended to his narrative.

First Account (Purchas, pp. 1220-2).

Continually I desired my master to give me leave to get my living, intending to come into my country, but the Governor would not let me go from him. When I saw no means to get leave of my master, I determined to run away to Angola, for to serve the King as a soldier in Massangano till such time that I might pass myself to the King of Anyeca,264 which warreth against the Portugals, [Pg 92] and so have come through Prester Johns country into Turkey.

On the seven and twentieth day of June, 1597, I embarked myself unknown to my master, in a small ship of one Emanuell Andrea, for to come for Angola. In this voyage we were driven so near the Cape of Good Hope that we thought all of us should have been cast away, the seas are there so great; and by reason of the current they brake in such sort that no ship is able to endure. There we brake both our main mast and our mizzen. It pleased God to send us the wind Eastward, which brought us to our desired harbour [of] Angola.265 We had been five months in our voyage, and by that means other ships that departed two months after us were there before us.

When I heard that there were ships of the River of Ienero [Rio de Janeiro], I durst not go ashore for fear of being known of some of the Portugals. The next day after that we came into the harbour, there came a great boat aboard us, to ask if we would sell any Cassava meal. We told them we would, and asked them whither they went with their boat. They answered, that they tarried for the tide to go up to the River of Guansa [Kwanza] to Masangano. Then I thought it a fit time for my purpose, and so embarked myself in the bark. The Portugals marvelled to see me go willingly to Masangano; for there men die like chickens, and no man will go thither if he can chose.

Nine days we were going up the River of Guansa [Kwanza], in which time two Portugal soldiers died; the country is so hot that it pierceth their hearts. Three days after I had been in Masangano, Don Francisco de Mendosa Fortado,266 the Governor of the city of Kongo, having [Pg 93] received a letter from Salvador Coria de Sasa [Salvador Corrêa de Sá], who was his great friend, sent a Pursuivant for me, who brought me by land through the King of Kongo’s country, and in six days we came to a town called Saint Francis 267 (where the Governor was), hard by the kingdom of Manicongo.

When I came before the Governor he used me very kindly in words, and asked me what I meant, to cast myself away wilfully in Masangano. Then I told him how long I had served Salvador Coria de Sasa; and in how many dangers I had been for him and his Son, without ever having any recompence of any of them, and therefore I thought it better to venture my life in the King’s service, than to live his Bond-slave. The Governor commanded me to be carried to Angola, and charged a pair of bolts to be put upon my legs, because I should not run away.

About a fortnight after I was sent back again in a Carvell [caravel] of Francis Lewes, and in two months we arrived in the River of Jenero [Rio de Janeiro], and I was carried with my bolts on my legs before the Governor; when he saw me he began to laugh and to jest with me, saying that I was welcome out of England. So, after many jests he spake, he bade pull off my bolts from my legs, and gave me clothes and used me very well.

Second Account (Purchas, pp. 1233-7).

Angola is a kingdom of itself in Ethiopia, where first the Portugals did begin to inhabit: The country of Angola cometh along the coast; as Portugal doth upon Spain, so doth Angola run upon the Kingdom of Longa [Luangu] and Manicongo.

In Angola the Portugals have a City called the Holy Ghost,268 where they have great store of Merchandise, and the Moors do come thither with all kind of such things as the country yieldeth; some bring elephant’s teeth, some bring negro slaves to sell, that they take from other kingdoms which join hard by them; thus do they use once a week, as we keep markets, so do all the Blackamoors bring hens and hogs, which they call gula,269 and hens they call Sange,270 and a kind of beast that they take in the wilderness, like a dog, which they call ambroa:271 then they have that beast which before I have told you of, called gumbe, which is bigger than a horse.272

The Blackamoors do keep good laws, and fear their King very much; the King is always attended with the nobles of his realm, and whensoever he goeth abroad, he has always at the least two hundred archers in his guard, and ten or twelve more going before him, singing and playing with pipes made of great canes, and four or five young Moors [Pg 95] coming after him as his pages. After them follow all his noblemen.

When there falleth out any controversy among them, they crave battle of the King, and then they fight it out before him. They come before the King and fall flat on their breasts; then they rise up and kneel upon their knees, stretching out their arms crying, Mahobeque benge, benge;273 then the King striketh them on the shoulders with a horse-tail; then they go to the camp, and with their bows they fight it out till they kill one another. After the battle is done, if any liveth, he that liveth falleth down before the King in the same manner as he did when he went to the field; and after a long oration made, he taketh the horse-tail from the King’s shoulder, and waveth it about the King’s head, and then layeth it on his shoulder again, and goeth away with great honour, being accompanied with all the nobles of the Court. The Moors of Angola do know that there is a God, and do call God Caripongoa,274 but they worship the sun and the moon.

The country is champaign plain, and dry black earth, and yieldeth very little corn; the most of anything that it yieldeth is plantons [plantains], which the Portugals call baynonas [bananas], and the Moors call them mahonge275 and their wheat they call tumba,276 and the bread anou; and if you will buy any bread of them, you must say, Tala cuna auen tumbola gimbo; that is, Give me some bread, here is [Pg 96] money.277 Their money is called gullginbo,278 a shell of a fish that they find by the shore-side; and from Brazil the Portugals do carry great store of them to Angola.

These Moors do esteem very much of red, blue and yellow cloths. They will give a slave for a span of cloth in breadth, I mean, and the length of it, of the breadth of the piece; those pieces of cloth they wear about their middles, and under it they hang the skin of a great weasel before them, and another behind them, and this is all the garments that they wear. A weasel in their language is called puccu.279 You can do a Blackamoor no greater disgrace than to take away his skin from before him, for he will die with grief if he cannot be revenged.

The Portugals do mark them as we do sheep, with a hot iron, which the Moors call crimbo.280 The poor slaves stand all in a row one by another, and sing Mundele que sumbela he Carey ha belelelle,281 and thus the poor rogues are beguiled, for the Portugals make them believe that they that have not the mark is not accounted a man of any account in Brazil or in Portugal, and thus they bring the poor Moors to be in a most damnable bondage under the cover of love.

The country of Angola yieldeth no stone, and very little wood: the Moors do make their houses all covered with earth. [Pg 97] These houses are no bigger than a reasonable chamber, and within are many partitions, like the cabins of a ship, in such sort that a man cannot stand upright in them. Their beds are made of great bulrushes sewed together with the rinds of a tree. They do make cloth like spark of velvet (but it is thinner) of the bark of a tree, and that cloth they do call mollelleo.282

The elephants do feed in the evening and in the morning in low marshes, as there be many. The Moors do watch which way they come, and as soon as the elephants are at meat, they dig great holes in the ground, and cover them with sticks, and then they cover the pits with earth; and when they have made all ready they go to the elephants and shoot at them with their arrows; and as soon as the elephants feel themselves hurt, they run at whatsoever they see before them, following after the Blackamores that chase them. Then they fall into the deep pits where, after they are once in, they cannot get out.

The Moors of Angola are as black as jet; they are men of good stature; they never take but one wife, whom they call mocasha.283 These Moors do cut long streaks in their faces, that reach from the top of their ears to their chins. The women do wear shells of fishes 284 on their arms, and on the small of their legs. The law amongst them is, that if any Moor do lie with another’s wife, he shall lose his ears for his offence. These Moors do circumcise their children, and give them their names, as we do when we baptize.

Angola may very easily be taken, for the Portugals have no forts to defend it of any strength.

The King 285 of Congo is the greatest King in all Ethiopia; [Pg 98] and doth keep in the field continually sixty thousand soldiers, that do war against the King of Vangala,286 and the King of Angola; this King is a Christian, and his brother-in-law of arms with the King of Spain. His servants of his house are most of them all Portugals, and he doth favour them very much.

The King is of a very liberal condition, and very favourable to all travellers, and doth delight very much to hear of foreign countries. He was in a manner amazed to hear how it was possible Her Majesty [Queen Elizabeth] had lived a maiden Queen so long, and always reigned in peace with her subjects. When I was brought before the King, and told him of my country, what plenty of things we had, if the Portugals had not liked of it, they would interrupt my speech, and the King would show himself very angry, and tell them that every man was best able to speak of his country, and that I had no reason but to tell him that which was true.

The King of Congo, when he goeth to the camp to see his army, rideth upon an elephant in great pomp and majesty; on either side of the elephant he hath six slaves. Two of them were kings, that he himself had taken in the field; all the rest were of noble birth; some of them were brothers to the King of Ancica, and some of them were of the chiefest blood of the great King of Bengala. These noble slaves, at every command of the King of Congo, do fall flat on the ground on their breasts. When the King doth ride, as you have heard, they carry a canopy, as it were a cloth of state, over his head. His two secretaries, the one a nobleman of Spain, the other a Moor, do ride next after him. Before him goeth at the least five hundred archers which are his guard; then there followeth a Moor, which [Pg 99] doth nothing but talk aloud in praise of the King, telling what a great warrior he hath been, and praising his wisdom for all things that he hath accomplished very honourably to his great fame of such as knew him.

When this King of Congo cometh to his host, all the soldiers, as he passeth, fall flat on their faces to the ground. He never cometh into his host after any battle, but he dubbeth at the least twenty Knights Portugals, and as many Moors, giving them very great living according to their callings, and the service that they have done. The brother of this King was in Spain at my coming from thence for ambassador from his brother.287

Here the Portugal Captain would have taken me perforce, to have been a common soldier, but the King commanded that they should let me go whither I would, and my determination at that time was to have gone for the country of Prester John [Abyssinia], for I had a great desire to see the River of Nilo and Jerusalem (for I accounted myself as a lost man, not caring into what country or kingdom I came) But it was not the will of God that I should at that time obtain my desire, for travelling through the kingdom of Congo, to have gone to the kingdom of Angila,288 it was my fortune to meet a company of Portugal soldiers that went to a conquest that the King of Spain had newly taken, called Masangana; which place is on the borders of Anguca. Here they made me serve like a drudge, for both day and night I carried some stone and lime to make a fort.

It lyeth right under the Line, and standeth in a bottom [Pg 100] in the middle of four hills, and about are many fogges [bogs] but not one river.289 It is the unfirmest country under the sun. Here the Portugals die like chickens. You shall see men in the morning very lusty, and within two hours dead. Others, that if they but wet their legs, presently they swell bigger than their middles;290 others break in the sides with a draught of water. O, if you did know the intolerable heat of the country, you would think yourself better a thousand times dead, than to live there a week. There you shall see poor soldiers lie in troops, gaping like camelians [camels?] for a puff of wind.

Here lived I three months, not as the Portugals did, taking of physick, and every week letting of blood and keeping close in their houses when they had any rain, observing hours, and times to go abroad morning and evening, and never to eat but at such and such times. I was glad when I had got anything at morning, noon, or night; I thank God I did work all day from morning till night; had it been rain or never so great heat, I had always my health as well as I have in England.

This country is very rich. The king had great store of gold 291 sent him from this place: the time that I was there, the King of Angica had a great city at Masangana; which city Paulas Dias, Governor of Angola, took and situated there; and finding hard by it great store of gold, fortified it with four forts, and walled a great circuit of ground round about it, and within that wall; now the Portugals do build a city, and from this city every day they do war against [Pg 101] the King of Angica, and have burnt a great part of his kingdom.

The Angicas 292 are men of goodly stature; they file their teeth before on their upper jaw, and on their under jaw, making a distance between them like the teeth of a dog; they do eat man’s flesh; they are the stubbornest nation that lives under the sun, and the resolutest in the field that ever man saw; for they will rather kill themselves than yield to the Portugals. They inhabit right under the line, and of all kinds of Moors these are the blackest. They do live in the law of the Turks, and honour Mahomet. They keep many concubines, as the Turks do; they wash themselves every morning upwards, falling flat on their faces towards the east. They wear their hair all made in plaits on their heads, as well men as women; they have good store of wheat, and a kind of grain like vetches, of which they make bread: they have great store of hens like partridges, and turkeys, and all their feathers curl on their backs. Their houses are like the other houses of the kingdoms aforenamed.

And thus I end, showing you as brief as I can, all the nations and kingdoms, that, with great danger of my life, I travelled through in twelve years of my best age, getting no more than my travel for my pain. From this kingdom, Angica, was I brought in irons again to my master, Salvador Corea de Sasa, to the City of San Sebastian in Brazil, as you have heard.

APPENDIX II.

A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF KONGO

TO THE

end of the seventeenth century.

The Early History of Kongo.

F traditions may be accepted where written history fails us, the foundation of the Empire of Kongo lies back no further than the middle of the fifteenth century.

The founder of the dynasty and first King of Kongo—Ntotela ntinu nekongo—was Nimi a Lukeni, the son of Nimi a nzima and of Lukeni lua nsanzi, the daughter of Nsa ku ki-lau. His father appears to have been a mere village chief in Kurimba (Corimba),293 a district of the kingdom of Kwangu. He had established [Pg 103] himself at a ferry on a great river (nzari), now known to us as the Kwangu, and levied a toll upon all travellers who crossed the stream. One day the young man’s aunt came that way, and claimed exemption on the ground of being the old chief’s sister. Her brother was absent, and not only was the claim denied, but young Nimi a Lukeni, notwithstanding that she was with child, caused her to be disembowelled. The younger members of his clan looked upon this act of brutality as one of bravery, and shielded him against his father’s just wrath. He then placed himself at their head, assumed the title of ntinu (king), and started westward upon a career of conquest.

The country he was about to invade was inhabited by a people kindred to those of Angola and of the country to the north of the Zaire, split up into numerous small clans 294 ruled by independent kinglets. This, no doubt, would account for the rapidity and the extent of his conquests, which have been matched however, in our own days, by the Makololo.

Having defeated Mbumbulu mwana Mpangala of Mpemba-kasi, he founded his capital—Mbazi a nkanu—295 upon a rock within that chief’s territory. By degrees he extended his conquests southward to the Kwanza and even beyond, installed his uncle Nsa ku ki-lau as ruler of [Pg 104] the important province of Mbata, bestowed large territories upon others of his adherents, and even restored some of their father’s territories to the children of the Mwana Mpangala. His “sons,” attended by the great Nganga Ngoyo, he sent across the Zaire, and they became the founders of the “kingdoms” of Kakongo and Luangu; whilst a third son, by a slave woman, is supposed to be the ancestor of the “counts” of Sonyo or Soyo.296 Anciently the King of Kakongo, before he assumed his kingship, was bound to marry a princess of the blood royal of Kongo, whilst he of Luangu married a princess of Kakongo; yet the ruler of Luangu was highest in rank, for he enjoyed the title of nunu (“aged person”), whilst his brother of Kakongo had to be contented with the inferior title of nkaji (“spouse”). The Kings were elected by the feudal princes, but their choice was limited to the sons of princesses, as in a great part of negro Africa.297

Of the early institutions of Kongo we know next to nothing, though we may presume that the law of succession was originally the same there as in the sister-states to the north, for the first Ntotela was succeeded by two nephews [Pg 105] (Nanga kia ntinu and another, whose name has not reached us). But even thus early, and anterior to the introduction of Christianity, the old law of succession was broken through, for Nkuwu a ntinu, the fourth Ntotela, was a son of Ntinu Nimi a Lukeni, and was succeeded by a son of his own, Nzinga a Nkuwa, the first Christian Ntotela, better known in history as John I.

If Dapper may be believed, it was the custom to bury twelve virgins with the earlier kings—a distinction much sought after, as in other parts of Africa; but the people of Kongo have never been charged with cannibalism, nor its rulers with the bloody rites practised by the Jaga.

Cão’s Discovery of the Kongo, 1482.298

It was towards the end of 1482, that the natives at the mouth of the River Kongo for the first time saw rising above the horizon the white wings of a European vessel, ascending, as it were, from the Land of Spirits; and we can imagine their surprise when they for the first time beheld the bleached faces of its inmates. Yet they came on board, offering ivory in exchange for cloth. The interpreters from the Guinea coast who were with Cão naturally failed to make themselves understood, but they learnt from signs that far inland there dwelt a powerful king. Cão at once despatched some Christian negroes in search of this potentate. They were the bearers of suitable presents, and were instructed to assure the King of the friendly intentions of his visitors, whose only desire it was to trade with him.

Before continuing his voyage, Cão set up the first of the stone pillars, or padroes, which he had on board. He then sailed south along the coast, noting its prominent [Pg 106] features, but curiously missed the Kwanza or River of Angola, although its clayey waters discolour the sea for ten or fifteen miles. On a low foreland, Cabo do Lobo,299 ten miles beyond the cliffs named by him Castello d’Alter Pedroso, he set up a second pillar, to mark the furthest point reached by him.

On again returning to the Kongo, he was annoyed to find that his messengers had not returned; and as he was naturally anxious to make known in Portugal his discovery of a magnificent river and a powerful kingdom, he left them behind him, and seized instead four unsuspecting visitors to his ship as “hostages;” giving their friends to understand that they should be restored to them after the lapse of fifteen months, when they would be exchanged for his own men. These latter appear to have been treated with distinction at first, but when the King heard of Cão’s high-handed proceedings he refused to admit them any longer to his presence, and even threatened them with death, should his own people not be restored.

Among the hostages carried off by Cão there was a man of some distinction in his own country, Nsaku (Caçuto) by name, who picked up Portuguese quickly, and much pleased King John by the information he was able to give. He, as well as his companions, were much petted in Portugal, and, in defiance of all sumptuary laws, were dressed in fine cloths and silks.

Cão himself, soon after his arrival, in April, 1484, was appointed a cavalier in the Royal household, granted an annuity of 18,000 reals, and on the 14th of that month he was “separated from the common herd,” and granted a coat-of-arms charged with the two pillars erected by him during this memorable voyage.

Cão’s Second Voyage, 1485-6.

Cão’s departure on a second voyage was much delayed, either because the King’s Council were opposed to these adventures, which strained the resources of a small kingdom like Portugal, or—and this is more likely—because it was desired that a change in the Royal Arms, which was only made in June, 1485, should be recorded on the stone pillars which Cão was to take with him.

Great was the rejoicing when Cão’s “fleet” appeared in the Kongo, and the hostages, loud in praise of the good treatment they had received, were once more among their friends. Cão at once forwarded rich presents to the King, with an invitation to throw aside all fetishes, and to embrace the only true and saving faith; promising that, on his return from a voyage to the south, he would personally visit the capital of his kingdom. This promise Cão was not permitted to fulfil, for having set up a pillar on Monte Negro (15° 40´ S.) and another on Cape Cross (21° 50´),300 he died a short distance beyond. Of the details of his death we know nothing.301 It seems, however, that the loss of their commander induced a speedy return home: for Cão’s vessels must have arrived in Portugal before August, 1487, as in that month Dias sailed on his famous voyage, taking with him the negroes whom Cão had kidnapped to the south of the Kongo, with a view to their learning Portuguese, and being employed as interpreters in future voyages.

Cão, therefore, never saw the King of Kongo; and there are good grounds for believing that Nsaku who was sent by [Pg 108] the King to Portugal to ask for priests, masons, carpenters, agricultural labourers, and women to make bread, only reached Europe in one of Dias’s vessels, in December, 1488. Nsaku, most certainly, was first introduced to King John at Beja, in January, 1489, when he and his companions were baptised, the King himself, the Queen, and gentlemen of title acting as sponsors.(312) He was sent back to the Kongo with Don Gonçalo de Sousa, in December, 1490, about two years after he had been baptised.302

The Embassy of 1490-1.303

Don João de Sousa, the ambassador, left Portugal on December 19th, 1490, with a fleet commanded by Gonçalo de Sousa, as captain-major. Among the pilots were Pero d’Alemquer and Pero Escovar, men famous in the maritime history of Portugal. Ten Franciscan Friars 304 went out with this fleet, and so did Nsaku, the ambassador of the King of Kongo. The plague was raging at Lisbon at the time, and before the vessels reached the Cape Verde Islands, this dreaded disease had carried off João de Sousa (the ambassador), the captain-major, and many others. Ruy de Sousa, a nephew of the captain-major, was then chosen to take the place of D. João de Sousa.

After a voyage of a hundred days the vessels reached the Kongo, and the Mwana of Sonyo and his son, who [Pg 109] had already been instructed in the Christian doctrine by a priest from S. Thomé, were baptised on Easter Sunday, April 3rd, 1491, and were thenceforth known as Don Manuel and Don Antonio da Silva; for it was the practice of the Portuguese, from the very beginning, to bestow Portuguese names and titles upon the negroes who submitted to the sacrament of baptism.

This ceremony performed, Ruy de Sousa started for the King’s capital,305 which he reached on April 29th. The King received him seated on a platform, in a chair inlaid with ivory. He wore a loin-cloth, presented to him by Cão, copper bracelets, and a cap of palm-cloth. A zebra tail depended from his left shoulder—a badge of royalty.306

The King was about to join his son Mbemba a Nzinga, Duke of Nsundi, who had taken the field against the Bateke;307 but before doing so he was anxious to be baptised. The foundations of a church having been laid on Rood Day, May 3rd,308 the King and his Queen were baptised at once by Frei João de Santa Maria, and were named Don João and Donna Leonor, after the King and Queen of Portugal.

The King, marching for the first time under the banner of the Cross, and supported by the firearms of his [Pg 110] Portuguese allies, came back a victor to his capital. His eldest son and many nobles were then baptised.

When Ruy de Sousa departed, he left behind him Frei Antonio 309 with other priests, and gave instructions for an exploration of the Kongo river above the cataracts, which do not appear to have been acted upon. He also founded a factory near the mouth of the Kongo, where the enterprising people of S. Thomé had already established commercial relations, although formal permission to do so was only granted them by King Manuel on March 26th, 1500. Dom Pedro, a cousin of the King of Kongo, accompanied him, with nine attendants, who, having been taught to read and write, returned to their native country with D. João Soares, early in 1494.310

The missionaries lost no time in preaching the doctrines of their Church; but whilst Don Affonso proved an ardent Christian, who recklessly destroyed all fetishes discovered in his province of Nsundi, the King himself soon grew lukewarm, owing to the priests’ interference with polygamy and other valued social institutions. In the country at large, the heathen still held their ground.

D. Affonso I, 1509-1540.311

And thus it happened that when João I died in 1509, the chiefs favoured his second son, Mpanzu a nzinga,312 a heathen, whilst the dowager queen and the Count of Sonyo [Pg 111] took the part of the elder brother. Don Affonso, immediately on hearing of his father’s illness, hurried up to the capital, accompanied by only thirty-six Christians. He found that his father had died. His brother approached with a mighty army, but five flaming swords seen in the heavens on the eve of battle gave courage to his small following, whilst a white cross and the appearance of St. James at the head of the celestial host struck terror into the hearts of the assailants. They fled in a panic.313 Mpanzu himself was taken, wounded, and decapitated.

Order having been restored throughout the country, King Affonso availed himself of the presence of Gonçalo Rodriguez Ribeiro, who had come from Portugal with a number of priests, and was about to return to that country, to send an embassy to Pope Julius II and King Manuel.314 The head of this mission was Don Pedro (de Castro?), a cousin of the King (who was accompanied by his wife), and with him went D. Manuel, a brother of the King, and D. Henrique, a son. The presents conveyed to Portugal included seven hundred copper bracelets, elephant tusks, slaves, parrots, civet cats and other animals, and native cloth. D. Henrique remained behind at Rome, where he was ordained and created Bishop of Utica in 1518.315

The mission sent by King Manuel in return was far-reaching in its effects upon the political development of [Pg 112] Kongo.316 Of its magnitude we may judge when we learn that it embarked in five vessels. Its leader, Simão da Silva, dying on the road to S. Salvador, his place was taken by Alvaro Lopes, the Royal factor. In his company were priests, experienced soldiers, masons and carpenters to build churches and a royal palace, and a lawyer (leterado) to explain the law books which figured among the royal gifts, besides horses, mules, cloth, banners, church furniture and images. The ambassador was instructed to explain the management of the royal household in Portugal, and King Affonso quickly learnt the lessons he received, and at once introduced the Portuguese titles of Duke, Marquis, and Count. The ambassador likewise had with him an elaborate coat-of-arms for the King,317 and twenty less ambitious heraldic designs for his principal noblemen; and the monarch himself adopted a title closely imitated from that of his “brother” of Portugal.318 The ambassador was likewise instructed to make inquiries about the origin of the Kongo in a lake, and to bring home cargoes of slaves, copper and ivory.

The King was delighted with all these gifts, not being aware that by accepting them he virtually acknowledged himself to be a vassal of the King of Portugal; and he published a long manifesto to his people, in which he dwelt upon his past career, the blessings of the Christian faith, and the honours now done him. He actually read the six bulky folios, but he told Ruy d’Aguiar (in 1516) that if complicated laws like these were to be introduced in his dominions, not a day would pass without a legal offence of some kind being committed.319

The intercourse between Kongo and Lisbon must have been very active in those days. We learn, for instance, that in 1526 the King asked for physicians and apothecaries, and in 1530 he forwarded to his “brother” Manuel two silver bracelets, which he had received from Matamba. Many young Kongoese were sent to Portugal to be educated; but, to judge from a letter written by the King in 1517, the results were not always very gratifying.320 Nay, he accuses Antonio Viera, to whom he entrusted twenty young relations to be taken to Portugal, of having parted with several among them to Mpanzu-alumbu, his enemy, and of having left others behind him at S. Thomé.321 A second embassy left Kongo in 1540, to do homage to Pope Paul III. It was headed by D. Manuel, a brother of the King, who had been a member of D. Pedro’s mission. King Affonso expected the King of Portugal to pay 3,000 cruzados towards the expenses of this mission, in consideration of the large profits which he derived from the trade with Kongo.322

As a member of the Church militant, King Affonso deserved well of the priesthood. He ruthlessly ordered all [Pg 114] fetishes to be destroyed throughout his dominions, but supplied their place with images of saints, crosses, agni dei, and other ecclesiastical paraphernalia, which he held to be more effectual. The clergy were numerous in his day, and in addition to secular priests included Franciscans, Dominicans and Austin Friars. They were wealthy, too, for lands and slaves had been given them, and Christian churches arose even in remote parts of the country. A Franciscan friar, Antonio de Dénis (known in the world as D. Diogo de Vilhegas) had been appointed Bishop of S. Thomé and Kongo,323 and took possession of his see in 1534, on which occasion exceptional honours were shown him. He was a man of energy and much sincerity, but, unhappily for his Church, survived only a few years. On his death-bed he desired that D. Henrique, the King’s son, whom he himself had ordained a priest, when in Rome, and whom the Pope (as already mentioned) had created Bishop of Utica in 1518, should succeed him in the episcopal chair. The Pope, however, before he would consent to the appointment of a native, desired personally to inquire into the matter. D. Henrique went to Rome, but died on the voyage home, in 1539 or earlier.

King Affonso deserved his reputation as a zealous Christian, and had certainly proved himself a good friend to the regular and secular clergy who undertook to convert his people. Yet, as early as 1515, he had occasion to call upon the King of Portugal to aid him in suppressing the irregularities of these “unworthy preachers of the Holy Catholic Faith,” whose inordinate desire of power and covetousness brought scandal upon the Church, and promised little for the future.324 Towards the close of his [Pg 115] reign, in 1540, one of these priests, Frei Alvaro, actually attempted to assassinate the King, in church, and after Mass!325

The Portuguese living at the time in Kongo were placed under a royal factor and a Corregedor (magistrate), and enjoyed ex-territorial jurisdiction. They had a factory at Mpinda, at the mouth of the Kongo, where the King of Portugal levied heavy duties. The commercial relations do not appear to have been at all times of the most friendly nature. In 1514 the King complained that Fernão de Mello, the Governor of S. Thomé, traded with the Mpangu-lungu 326 who were his enemies; and in 1526 he remonstrated against the conduct of the Portuguese slave-merchants. Indeed, so preposterous were the claims put forward by the Portuguese officials, that King Affonso, in 1517, humbly begged to be allowed to employ a ship of his own when trading; or, at least to be exempted from paying the heavy duties exacted by a foreign, albeit suzerain, power upon the outlanders trading in his kingdom. These ill-advised exactions explain, too, why trade gradually deserted the Kongo, and sought more favourable openings to the south, at Luandu, as is shown by an inquiry held in 1548.327

The Portuguese made an effort to exploit the mineral wealth of the country. Ruy Mendes, the “factor of the copper mines,” is stated to have discovered lead; and Gimdarlach (Durlacher?), a German “fundidor,” in 1593 discovered copper, lead, and silver. The King, however, would not allow the mines to be worked, for he feared that such a concession might cost him his kingdom.

Proposals for the exploration of the interior were made, but bore no fruit. Gregòrio de Quadra, who had spent several years as a prisoner among the Arabs, was sent to Kongo in 1520, with instructions to make his way thence to the country of Prester John. The King refused his consent; Quadra returned to Portugal, and died a monk.328 Balthasar de Castro, the companion of Manuel Pacheco in Angola, desired to explore the upper Kongo in 1526; but neither his scheme nor that of Manuel Pacheco himself, who was to have built two brigantines, seems to have been carried out.

Of the domestic wars corned on by the King, we know next to nothing. Angola and Matamba seem to have been virtually independent in his day, though the island of Luandu, with its valuable cowry-fishery, was held by him and his successors until 1649. He conquered, however, Mpanzu-alumbu (Mpangu-lunga?)329 on the lower Kongo, a district inhabited by a predatory tribe.330 That his successes in these “wars” were due to his Portuguese mercenaries and their fire-locks is a matter of course.

Don Affonso died in 1540, or soon afterwards, leaving behind him a son, D. Pedro, who succeeded him, and three daughters.331

D. Pedro and his Successors, 1540-1561.

Pedro I had been educated in Portugal, and is described by Cavazzi as a wise prince who had inherited all the virtues of his father, and was a great friend of the missionaries. His reign was apparently a short one,332 and he was succeeded by a cousin, D. Francisco, who only reigned two or three years, and left the kingdom to a son,333 D. Diogo.334 Duarte Lopez describes this prince as a man of noble mind, witty, intelligent, prudent in council, an upholder of the missionaries, and at the same time a great warrior who, in the course of a few years, conquered many of the neighbouring countries. His “wars” certainly did not enlarge the borders of his kingdom, and the only war we know of ended in disaster. The Portuguese at S. Salvador, jealous of the growing commercial importance of Luandu, had persuaded the King to send an army against Ngola Mbandi, they themselves furnishing an auxiliary corps. The Kongoese, in spite of this, were defeated on the river Dande (about 1556); and Ngola not only appealed to Portugal for protection, but also allied himself with the Jagas, with whose aid he invaded Kongo (in 1558).

Nor were the relations of D. Diogo with the missionaries quite as friendly as Lopez would lead us to believe. As early as 1549, D. Diogo complained of the overbearing [Pg 118] conduct of the Jesuits who had arrived in that year in the company of D. João Baptista, the Bishop of S. Thomé;335 the priests, on their side, accused the King of having shown little respect to the bishop, and of having ordered them to be pulled out of their pulpits, when they denounced his vices and those of his people.336 The Jesuits may have been over-zealous in the performance of what they conceived to be their duty, and too prone to meddle in politics; but they seem to have led clean lives, which cannot be said of all of their clerical brethren. When D. Gaspar Cão,337 the Bishop of S. Thomé and Kongo, a man who took the duties of his office seriously, visited S. Salvador, these priests openly defied his authority. But after several of the recalcitrant priests had been deported to Portugal, whilst others had left voluntarily with such wealth as they had been able to amass, discipline was re-established.338

A Reign of Anarchy, 1561-1568.

When Diogo died, about 1561, the Portuguese residents endeavoured to secure the throne for one of their own creatures, and caused the duly elected favourite of the people to be assassinated. As a result, the people of S. Salvador rose upon the Portuguese, many of whom were killed, not even priests being spared. The accounts 339 of [Pg 119] this period of disorder are too confused to enable us to be certain even of the names of the reigning kings. D. Affonso II, a son (probably illegitimate) of D. Diogo, ascended the throne of his father, but was murdered by his brother, D. Bernardo, who appears to have been the candidate favoured by the Portuguese. He at once sent Father Estevão de Laguos on an embassy to Queen Catherine of Portugal, who, in a letter dated June 26th, 1562,340 congratulated him upon his accession, whilst gently chiding him for the murder of his brother. This King was evidently friendly disposed towards the Portuguese; and Antonio Vieira, a negro, who had visited Portugal as member of an embassy, when writing to Queen Catherine in April 1566,341 suggested that he might be induced to allow the mines of copper and tin to be worked. D. Bernardo is stated by the Duke of Mbamba to have fallen in a war with the Anzicas, “in defence of Christianity and the Fatherland.” He was succeeded by D. Henrique, a brother of D. Diogo, who, after a short and troubled reign, died of a wound received in a battle, either against some revolted vassals,342 or fighting the Anzicanas.343 He was the last king of the original dynasty, for Alvaro I, his successor, was only a step-son.

D. Alvaro I and the Ayaka, 1568-1574.344

D. Alvaro, immediately on his accession, sent an embassy to Portugal, to apologise for the massacre of [Pg 120] many Portuguese during the reigns of his predecessors, which he excused on the ground of the vices and abuses of the clergy. These excuses were apparently accepted in Portugal, fortunately for D. Alvaro, for the very next year the dreaded Ayaka 345 invaded his kingdom by way of Mbata; and, being worsted, the King fled with his adherents to the Hippopotamus Island,346 on the lower Kongo, where they suffered many hardships, and whence he appealed piteously to the Portuguese for help. This help was not denied him. Francisco de Gouvea, corregedor of S. Thomé, in 1570, hastened to his aid with six hundred Portuguese, expelled the Ayaka, reinstated the King in his capital, and built a wall round S. Salvador for greater security. The King fully recognised the value of the service that had been rendered him, for Paulo Dias de Novaes told Garcia Mendes 347 that he acknowledged himself a vassal of Portugal;348 and as neither gold or silver had been discovered in his country, he agreed to pay a tribute in njimbos, which he actually did for a few years.

No sooner was Alvaro once more seated securely upon his throne than he sent the Count of Sonyo against Ngola (1572). Several encounters took place in Musulu and Mbuila (Ambuila); but in the end Ngola was allowed to retain his father’s conquests, the river Dande being fixed upon as the boundary between the two kingdoms. Kongo, [Pg 121] however, retained possession of the valuable island of Luandu.

Among other events of this reign we should mention a second visit of D. Gaspar Cão, the bishop, shortly before his death (in 1574); and the scandal caused by the burial of a notorious infídel, D. Francisco Mbula matadi, in the church of S. Cruz, the roof of which was taken off by night, and the body, carried away by the Devil!349

D. Alvaro only enjoyed his prosperity for a short time, for when Paulo Dias landed at Luandu, in 1575, he was already dead.350

D. Alvaro II, 1574-1614.

Alvaro II, a son of Alvaro I, is described by Bishop D. Manuel Baptista as a “zealous Christian, father and friend of all;”351 but it is evident that he looked not with overmuch favour upon the Portuguese residents in his country, and he is charged, in a memoir addressed by Domingos d’Abreu Brito to King Philip I, in 1592 with having plotted with the kings of Ndongo and Matamba against the Portuguese. An army which he sent ostensibly to the aid of the Portuguese in 1583 retired, apparently without striking a blow, whilst he furnished a contingent to the forces of Matamba which invaded Angola in 1590. He hindered, by specious excuses, the completion of a stone fort at Mpinda, which had been commenced in 1609 by Antonio Gonçalves Pitta, until all the workmen had died. He favoured Dutch traders to the great detriment of the [Pg 122] Portuguese; and we know from Samuel Braun,352 that an effort was made in 1612 to expel the Dutch from the Kongo, and that it would have been successful, had not the natives sided with these heretical enemies, whose dealings appeared to them to be more generous. Moreover, the King, although he had promised Sebastian da Costa (1580) that he would allow the supposed silver mines to be sought for, eventually refused his consent.353

Turning to Church affairs, we hear of the usual applications for missionaries, and of several episcopal visitations by D. F. Antonio de Goiva (1578), D. Manuel de Ulhoa, D. Miguel Baptista Rangel, and D. Manuel Baptista. D. Manuel de Ulhoa presided over a synod at S. Salvador, in 1585, and laid down statutes for the government of his see. D. Miguel Baptista Rangel was the first Bishop of Kongo, which had been separated from the diocese of S. Thomé by a Bull of May 20th, 1596. His successor, D. Manuel Baptista, resided for several years in Kongo, where he died in 1621; and a letter addressed to King Philip II, in 1612,354 speaks of the results of over a century of missionary effort as insignificant, and describes the people as incurable barbarians, full of vice.

D. Pedro II Affonso, 1622-1624.

Bernardo II, a son of Alvaro II, only reigned for a few months, for he was killed by his brother, Alvaro III, and a complaint addressed to him by the Governor of [Pg 123] Angola about the admission of heretical Dutchmen to trade in Sonyo was answered by his successor. This Alvaro III, the fratricide, is nevertheless described by Cavazzi as having been “wise, modest, courageous, and above all a zealous Christian.” It was during his reign, in 1619, that the Jesuits founded a college at S. Salvador. A proposed mission of Italian Capuchins came to nothing, for King Philip of Spain, by royal letters of September 22nd, 1620, forbade foreign missionaries to enter Portuguese colonies without first obtaining a royal license.355 Alvaro III died on May 26th, 1622, and was succeeded by D. Pedro II Affonso, whom Cavazzi describes as a son of Alvaro III; whilst a Jesuit canon of S. Salvador,356 who wrote an interesting life of this prince in 1624, makes him out to have been a son of Mbiki a ntumba, Duke of Nsundi, and a descendant, in the female line, of the first King of Kongo. If this biographer can be trusted, he was a man of much promise, and of a mild, forgiving temper; for although the Duke of Mbamba had sought his life, he conferred upon him the marquisate of Wembo. His reign was a short and troubled one. In August, 1622, the Duke of Mbata had been killed by rebels, and his vassal, the King of Kwangu (Ocango), had suffered a defeat. João Corrêa de Souza, the Governor of Angola, summoned him to surrender Luandu Island and all the copper mines; and this being refused, the Portuguese under Luiz Gomez, aided by the Jagas, crossed the Dande at Ikau and invaded Nambu a ngongo, and (in December) also Mbumbi, where the Duke of Mpemba and many others were killed and eaten by the Jagas, in spite of their being Christians. The people of the invaded districts revenged themselves by killing the Portuguese [Pg 124] living in their midst, the King vainly endeavouring to protect them. These invaders had scarcely been driven off, when Captain Silvestre Soares, with a body of Jagas, entered Ngombe and Kabanda. But that which gave most pain to the King was the destruction of the kingdom of Bangu, and the murder of its King by the Jagas, with the aid of the King of “Loango,” which was the “trunk and origin of the kingdom of Kongo.”357 In the midst of these afflictions, the King was rejoiced to learn the arrival of D. Simão Mascarenhas at Luanda; but he met with an accident, and died on April 13th, 1624, after a short reign of less than two years, and mourned by six sons and two daughters.358

D. Pedro’s successors, 1624-1641.

Garcia, the eldest son of D. Pedro, when elected was only twenty years of age, He was succeeded by D. Ambrosio, in October, 1626, whose reign, up till March, 1631, was one continuous warfare with his powerful vassals. The country became unsafe, and the Portuguese retired for a time from S. Salvador. Alvaro IV, a son of Alvaro III, made himself master of the kingdom, and retained possession until his death, February 25th, 1636. He was succeded by his son, Alvaro V, who, doubting [Pg 125] the loyalty of his half-brothers, the Duke of Mbamba and the Marquis of Kiowa, made war upon them, was defeated and taken prisoner, but liberated. Unmindful of the generosity of his opponents, he once more tried the fortune of battle, was taken again, and executed (in August, 1636). The Duke of Mbamba was unanimously elected in his place, and reigned, as Alvaro VI, until his death on February 22nd, 1641. He waged two unsuccessful wars against the Count of Sonyo, in 1636 and again in 1637; and was obliged to surrender the district of Makuta (Mocata) to his adversary.

Garcia II Affonso, o Kimbaku, 1641-1663,359

the half-brother and old companion in arms of Alvaro VI, took possession of the throne at a critical time; for in August of the year of his accession, the Dutch captured Luandu, and the fortunes of the Portuguese were at the lowest ebb. The Dutch lost no time in sending an embassy to Kongo (1642),360 and these new allies lent him their assistance in a small war against Mwana Nsala, who had defied the royal authority.361 But they declined to give effective help against a more powerful vassal, the Count of Sonyo, as it might have interfered with their trade interests on the Lower Kongo.362 The King’s army was defeated twice on April 29th, 1645, when Affonso, the King’s son, was taken prisoner, and again in July 1648, in the forest of Mfinda angulu. Meanwhile the Dutch had broken the padrão set [Pg 126] up by Cão at the mouth of the Kongo; they had re-named S. Antonio’s Bay after their river Pampus at Amsterdam; had gone to S. Salvador; and at least one of them, Johan Herder,363 had travelled far inland, and visited the Mwana Nkundi on the Kwangu. The heretical tracts and books which they liberally distributed were in due course burnt by the Capuchin friars.

Portugal was, moreover, irritated by the admission of Italian and Castilian Capuchins, a batch of whom, headed by P. Bonaventura of Alessano,364 arrived at S. Salvador, on September 2nd, 1645, without having previously called at Lisbon. This first mission was followed by three others in 1648, 1651 and 1654,365 and mission stations were established in Mbata, in Nkusu, Nsundi, Mpemba, Mbwela, and Wembo (Ovando).366 Among the more noteworthy missionary travels of the time was that of P. Girolamo of Montesarchio, who visited Konko a bele (Concobello), in 1652.367

Even greater offence was given to Portugal by a mission which the King despatched to Rome in 1646, and which arrived there, by way of Holland, in May, 1648. P. Angelo de Valenza, the head of this mission, had been instructed to beg the Pope to appoint three bishops for [Pg 127] Kongo, Matamba and the Makoko’s country, without reference to the claims of Portugal. This the Pope declined to do; but to show his pleasure at receiving this mission, he had a medal struck in memory of its visit, with the inscription “Et Congo agnovit Pastorem,” and sent the King a Royal crown blessed by himself. The King, however, when his mission returned (1651), and when he heard that the Pope had refused to change Kongo from an elective into a hereditary monarchy, grew wroth. He openly renounced Christianity, forbade the Capuchins to preach the word of God, and recalled his native ngangas. But when some bags containing relics and ornaments, which the King had taken out of the churches, were miraculously spared by a fire which broke out in his palace, he reconsidered his position. A reconciliation with the Capuchins was effected, and soon afterwards the King, in penitential robes, actually marched at the head of a procession which had been organised to turn away a threatened plague of locusts; he allowed himself to be crowned by P. Giannuario of Nola, in the name of his Holiness, and took an active part in the celebration of the Pope’s jubilee.368

Meanwhile the Portuguese had recovered Luandu, and the King was called upon to pay the penalty for having made friendship with the Dutch heretics, and admitted foreigners as missionaries. Bartholomeu de Vasconcellos invaded Kongo. The King at once sent P. Domingos Cardoso, a Jesuit, and the Capuchin Friar Bonaventura Sardo, to Luandu, where they had an interview with the Governor (on February 19th, 1649), and preliminary terms of peace were arranged.369 The treaty was reported upon by [Pg 128] the Conselho Ultramarino, and confirmed in 1651 at Lisbon, whither Friar Bonaventura 370 of Sorrento had gone to do homage to the King of Portugal, on behalf of the Prefect of the Capuchins, as also to plead the cause of his Order in reference to the proposed treaty. The terms of this treaty, as modified, were as follows:—Castilians or Dutchmen not to be permitted to reside or travel in Kongo nor their ships to be admitted, unless provided with a Portuguese passport; the Capuchin friars to communicate with Rome only by way of Luandu or Lisbon, and no Castilians to be admitted among them; the Kings of Kongo and Portugal to mutually assist each other if attacked by an enemy; an ambassador of the King of Kongo to take up his residence at Luandu, as also a royal prince, as hostage, or in his absence two or three men of rank; compensation to be granted for all the losses suffered by the Portuguese since the arrival of the Dutch, and fugitive slaves to be surrendered; Portuguese merchants to be exempted from the payment of tolls; a site to be granted at the mouth of the Kongo for a fortress; all gold and silver mines to be ceded to the crown of Portugal, and the country to the south of the river Dande to be ceded absolutely; and finally the King of Kongo to acknowledge himself a “tributario” of Portugal.

The King seems to have long hesitated before he ratified this treaty, for in 1656, Diogo Gomes de Morales was ordered to invade Kongo to enforce it, and was on the point of crossing the river Loje into Mbamba, when he was recalled, as envoys from the King had arrived at Luandu, definitely to arrange the terms of peace.

During the later years of his life, D. Garcia once more fell away from his Christian teachers, whom he accused of being influenced by political motives. Suspecting the Duke of Mpemba of a desire to deprive his son of the succession, he had him executed; and when the native diviners accused his eldest son, Affonso, of aiming at his life, he had his second son elected as his successor. He died in 1663.

D. Antonio I, 1663-66.

D. Antonio had been enjoined by his dying father to avenge the humiliation forced upon him by the Portuguese. He inaugurated his reign by killing his own brother and other relatives, whom he suspected of disloyalty. The warnings of heaven—fiery balls, an earthquake, which destroyed part of his capital, a plague, which decimated the population—were disregarded by him.

He very soon found himself involved in a war with the Portuguese, who claimed possession of the mines which had been promised by treaty, and complained of raids made upon friendly chiefs. On July 13th, 1665, the King called upon his people to rise in defence of their country and liberty.371 His diviners had promised him an easy victory. The Portuguese had recently been reinforced from Brazil, yet the army which they were able to put into the field only numbered four hundred Europeans, with two field guns and six thousand negroes. It was commanded by Luiz Lopez de Sequeira, the captain-major, with whom were Manuel Rebello de Brito, Diogo Rodriguez de Sá, Simão de Matos and Antonio Araujo Cabreira, the serjeant-major. The hostile forces met on January 1st, 1666, at Ulanga, near the Pedras de Ambuilla.372 Antonio, [Pg 130] seeing the small force opposed to him, hoped to gain an easy victory; but the Portuguese, formed in square, resisted the onslaught of his hosts for six hours. At last the King left the ranks, desirous of a personal encounter with Lopez de Sequeira; but he was shot down, his head was cut off, and stuck upon a pike. His followers fled in dismay. The missionaries assert that the Virgin Mary, with her Child, was seen to stand by the side of the Portuguese leader, directing the battle, and that a fiery rain fell upon the idolaters.373

The Governor of Angola, in commemoration of this victory, built the chapel of N.S. da Nazareth at Luandu, whilst the King of Portugal amply rewarded the victors.

A Time of Anarchy, after 1666.

We are indebted to Pedro Mendes for an account of the history of Kongo from the death of D. Antonio in 1666 to the beginning of the eighteenth century.374 During that time, according to this authority, there were fourteen Kings of Kongo, of whom four were beheaded (or killed) by the Musurongo, five by the Ezikongo, three died a natural death, and two were survivors when he wrote, namely, D. Pedro IV, at Salvador, and D. João at Mbula.375 At one time there were actually three kings in the field.

Alvaro VII, a royal prince who had passed his early life in retirement, but who, on being raised to the throne, turned out a monster of iniquity, was killed by his own subjects, abetted by the Count of Sonyo (1666), under whose auspices took place the election of his successor, [Pg 131] D. Alvaro VIII (1666-70), who was in turn removed by the Marquis of Mpemba. Alvaro VIII 376 had allowed the Portuguese to search for gold, but this search turned out as fruitless as the search for silver at Kambambe. Meanwhile D. Affonso III Affonso had been proclaimed at Kibangu, the new capital (1667), whilst D. Pedro III nsukia ntamba was put up as an opposition King in Mbula. The latter defeated his rival, who fled beyond the Mbiriji (Ambriz), and died there (of poison?). His widow, D. Anna, a daughter of a former King, Garcia, retired to Nkondo (Mucondo), and survived her husband until 1680. The people proclaimed D. Garcia III nenganga mbemba377 his successor, whilst the opposition, at the old capital (S. Salvador), declared D. Daniel de Guzman, descendant of Mpanzu (Alvaro I), to be the rightful King. D. Daniel took the field against D. Garcia III, but, before he reached the residence of that King, he was overtaken by D. Pedro of Mbula; his army was dispersed, and himself beheaded. His children sought refuge with the Count of Sonyo, and by treachery they succeeded in getting D. Pedro into their power, and killed him. The people of Mbula thereupon raised his brother, D. João, to the throne, who survived until after 1710. S. Salvador, after D. Daniel had deserted it, became the haunt of wild beasts.

Meanwhile D. Rafael, Marquis of Mpemba, who had been proclaimed King some time anterior to this, had been obliged to seek refuge among the Portuguese, and his reinstatement was one of the objects of the disastrous expedition of 1670,378 by which it was sought to punish Count Estevão da Silva of Sonyo for his desecration of Christian churches and the ill-treatment of Portuguese traders: or, rather, his dealings with heretic competitors.

João Soares de Almeida, the commander of this expedition, had with him five hundred Portuguese, supported by a strong force of native allies, among whom was a Jaga Kalandula. He won a battle, in which Estevão was killed; but Pedro, the brother of the unfortunate Count, rallied the forces of Sonyo, unexpectedly fell upon the Portuguese near the Mbiriji (Ambriz),and scarcely a man among them escaped. Count Pedro then expelled the Italian Capuchins, who were supposed to be friendly to Portugal, and invited in their stead Belgian members of the same Order, who arrived in September, 1673, under the lead of P. Wouters. But, having been accused of stopping the rain, and having in reply excommunicated the Count, they were speedily expelled.379 Peace between Sonyo and Portugal was only restored in 1690, when the former promised to abolish idolatry and to sell no slaves to heretics.

It was about this period (between 1669 and 1675) that Francisco do Murça, the captain-major of Dande, visited S. Salvador, and proceeded thence to Mbata and the Kwangu, where he was told that this river flowed through the kingdom of the Makoko, and entered the sea at Mpinda, a fact long before known to the missionaries. These latter had not quite abandoned the Kongo, notwithstanding these troubles, and in 1668 the Capuchins still occupied their monasteries at the capital of Mbamba and at Mpembu;380 whilst Girolamo Merolla (1682-88) and Antonio Zucchelli steadily laboured (1700-02) in Sonyo and Luangu.381

D. Andre succeeded D. Garcia, but died after a [Pg 133] short reign. D. Manuel nzinga elenge, a descendant of Mpanzu, was duly elected, but expelled by the sons of the late D. Garcia, who raised Alvaro IX to the throne in his stead. This prince was never recognised by the Count of Sonyo, who looked upon D. Manuel, who had sought refuge with him, as the legitimate King. He was reinstated by him for a time, but ultimately fell into the power of his enemies, and was beheaded.

Alvaro IX was succeeded in 1694 by his brother Pedro IV nsanu a mbemba, also known as agoa rosada,382 who once more returned to the ancient capital. He and D. João of Mbula were the only Kings alive in 1701, when the Capuchin Friar Francisco de Pavia, and his colleague Friar João Maria went throughout the kingdom of Kongo, preaching peace, and calling upon the leading men to recognise D. Pedro as their King; and thus put an end to quarrels which had distracted the country for an entire generation.

A Retrospect.

And if we ask to what extent, and in what manner, have the natives of Kongo been benefited by two centuries of contact with the civilisation of Europe, and of missionary effort, we feel bound to admit that they have not been benefited at all—either materially or morally. On the contrary. There were, no doubt, a few earnest men among the missionaries, and the Church of Rome deserves some credit for the zeal with which she addressed herself to the object of converting the natives. At the same time it cannot be denied that the instruments she employed, the methods she pursued, and the surrounding circumstances, were not favourable to success. And success there has [Pg 134] been none—at least, none of an enduring nature—notwithstanding the boastful, if not absolutely mendacious, reports of her missionaries. The assertion that there was a time when the whole of Kongo had become Roman Catholic must raise a smile on the face of those who have attentively studied the missionary reports. There were eleven churches and a crowd of priests at the capital; but the outlying provinces were but poorly attended to. The number of missionaries, even including the native helpers, was never large enough to administer, even to a tithe of the population, those rites and sacraments, which the Roman Catholic Church professes to be of essential importance.383

I quite agree with the Rev. J. Leighton Wilson, when he says that the “great spiritual edifice” [raised by the missionaries] has not only “crumbled into the dust, but it has left the unfortunate inhabitants of that country in as deep ignorance and superstition, and perhaps in greater poverty and degradation, than they would have been if Roman Catholicism had never been proclaimed among them.”384 Father José Antonio de Souza, who resided at S. Salvador from 1881-87, and was subsequently created Bishop of Mozambique, virtually admits this, for he says: “Christianity did not penetrate deeply; it passed over the country like a heavy rain, which scarcely wetted the surface of the land, and left the subsoil absolutely dry and sterile.”385 He adds significantly: “By the side of the missionary stood [Pg 135] the slave-trader.” And surely it was the export slave trade, created by the cupidity of the Portuguese, but shared in by Dutch, French and English, which undermined the prosperity of the country, and decimated its population. And the missionaries never raised a protest against this traffic, although it was against the tenets of their Church,386 for they profited by it. The only thing which they did for the wretched slaves was to endeavour to secure, as far as possible, that they should not fall into the hands of heretics; so that at least their souls might be saved, whatever became of their bodies.

APPENDIX III.

A LIST OF THE KINGS OF KONGO.

(NTOTELA NTINU MAKONGO.)

17. Alvaro III Mbiki a mpanzu, Duke of Mbamba, son of No. 15, 1615 to May 26th, 1622.

18. Pedro II Affonso Nkanga a mbiki, son of Mbiki an tumbo, Duke of Nsundi, grandson of a daughter of No. 7, 1622 to April 13th, 1624.

19. Garcia I Mbemba a nkanga, Duke of Mbamba, son of No. 18, April 1624, to June 26th, 1626.

32. Daniel de Guzman Nemiala nia gimbuilla (?), a descendant of No. 14, 1678-80.

37. Pedro IV, Nsanu a mbemba (Agoa rosada), brother of No. 36, acceded 1694, and was alive in 1710.

The dates given for Nos. 26-38, are for the most part very uncertain: Nos. 26, 28, 31, and 32 I believe to have resided at S. Salvador; Nos. 29, 30, 34, 35, 36 and 37, at Kibangu; Nos. 27 and 33, in Mbula.

APPENDIX IV.

A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF ANGOLA

TO THE

END OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

Early Portuguese Visitors.

The inhabitants of S. Thomé were granted permission in 1500 387 to trade as far as the Kongo river; but it is just possible that long before that time, and notwithstanding an interdict of 1504, they had felt their way southward along the coast, and had discovered that a profitable trade, not hampered by the presence of royal officials or “farmers,” might be carried on at Luandu, and up a river which, after the King of the country, was called the river of Ngola (Angola).

Several years afterwards, a representative of this Ngola, whilst on a visit at S. Salvador, suggested that missionaries should be sent to convert his master. King Manuel was nothing loth to act upon this suggestion, and entrusted Manuel Pacheco and Balthasar de Castro, both of whom were old residents in Kongo, with an expedition, whose [Pg 140] main object was to report on the missionary and commercial prospects in Ngola’s country, to inquire into the existence of reputed silver mines, and, eventually, to explore the coast as far as the Cape of Good Hope. On arriving at the bar of Ngola’s river (the Kwanza), B. de Castro was to go to the King’s court, where, if circumstances were favourable, he was to be joined by a priest. Pacheco himself was to return to Portugal, with a cargo of slaves, ivory, and silver.388

No report of this mission has hitherto seen the light; but we know that B. de Castro actually reached Ngola’s residence, and that he was retained there as a prisoner, until released in 1526, through the intervention of the King of Kongo. He reported that he never saw silver or precious stones anywhere in Angola.389

The Early History of Ndongo (Angola).

Ndongo is the original name of the vast territory now known as Angola, from the name or title of its ruler (Ngola) when first the Portuguese became acquainted with it. The early history of this region is involved in obscurity, but it seems that its chiefs at one time owed allegiance to the King of Kongo, whose authority was finally shaken off about the middle of the sixteenth century, the King only keeping possession of Luandu island and its valuable njimbu fishery.

Cavazzi, Antonio Laudati of Gaeta, Cadornega, and others, have published long lists of Kings of “Angola;” but nearly all the names they give are not those of the Kings, but the titles which they assumed,390 and by which [Pg 141] they were generally known. The full title of the King of Ndongo was Ngola kiluanji kia Samba,391 and that title is still borne by the present ruler, who claims to be a descendant of the kings of old, and whose Kabasa392 on the River Hamba (Va-umba or Umba) still occupies the locality assigned by the missionaries to Queen Nzinga’s Kabasa, where they built the church of S. Maria of Matamba.

Cavazzi’s Matamba, however, included the whole of Queen Nzinga’s kingdom, as it existed in his day, whilst the original Matamba, as also the country known by that name in the present day, had much narrower limits. It was originally tributary to Kongo, but one of its rulers assumed the title of Kambulu, that is, King, and renounced all vassalage to his former suzerain. It existed as an independent kingdom until 1627, when the famous Queen Nzinga took prisoner the dowager Queen, Muongo Matamba, and incorporated this ancient kingdom in her own dominions.393

It may have been a Ngola kiluanji, described by Cavazzi as the son of Tumba ria ngola and of a Ngola kiluanji kia Samba, who first invaded lower Ndongo, and assigned his conquest to one of his sons. But all is uncertainty, and there exists an inextricable confusion in the names of the Kings of upper and lower Ndongo as transmitted to us. [Pg 142] One thing, however, is certain, namely, that as early as 1520 the country down to the sea was held by a king bearing the name or title of Ngola.394

The First Expedition of Paulo Dias de Novaes, 1560.

In 1556 Ngola Ineve,395 being threatened by Kongo, sent an ambassador to Portugal asking for the establishment of friendly relations. This ambassador arriving in the year [Pg 143] of the death of King John III (1557), action was deferred until 1559, when three caravels were fitted out and placed under the command of Paulo Dias, a grandson of the discoverer of the Cape of Good Hope. Dias left Lisbon on December 22nd, 1559, and called at S. Thomé (where Bishop Gaspar Cão observed that the Jesuits, who accompanied Dias, would meet with no success as long as commercial intercourse was prohibited).396 Dias arrived at the bar of the Kwanza on May 3rd, and there waited patiently for six months, when Musungu, a native chief, made his appearance at the head of a crew of painted warriors, armed with bows and arrows. In his company Dias, accompanied by the Jesuit fathers and twenty men, travelled up the country for sixty leagues, when he arrived at the royal residence.397 The King, not any longer the Ngola who had asked for missionaries, but his successor,398 received his visitors kindly, but would net allow them to depart until they had helped him against one of his revolted Sobas, called Kiluanji kia kwangu by Garcia Mendes.399 Having rendered this service Dias was dismissed, but the Jesuits remained behind as hostages. Whilst Dias was absent in Europe, Ngola defeated an army sent against him, and thus compelled the [Pg 144] recognition of the Dande river as his boundary, the island of Luandu alone, with its productive njimbu fishery, remaining with Kongo. Ngola ndambi died (in 1568?) before Dias returned.

The Second Expedition of Dias, 1574.

After a considerable delay, Dias was sent out as “Conquistador” of the territory recently visited by him. He left Lisbon on October 23rd, 1574, with seven vessels and three hundred and fifty men, most of them cobblers, tailors, and tradesmen.400 Among his officers were Pedro da Fonseca, his son-in-law, Luis Serrão, André Ferreira Pereira, and Garcia Mendes Castellobranco, all of whom subsequently won distinction as “Conquistadores.” Three Jesuit fathers (with P. Balthasar Barreira as superior), and three Dominicans accompanied him. These latter, however, not finding the country to their liking, soon sought more comfortable quarters in Kongo. Dias was authorised to grant estates (including full seignorial rights) to all such among his companions as were prepared to build a small fort at their own expense.

In February, 1575, the fleet sighted the coast near the Kwanza, and passing over the bar of Kurimba cast anchor in the fine bay of Luandu, and on February 20th Dias laid the foundations of a church.401 The island, at that time, was inhabited by forty Portuguese who had come from Kongo, and a considerable number of native Christians. Its cowry fisheries yielded great profit to its owner, the [Pg 145] King of Kongo, who was represented by a governor.402 Not finding the site originally chosen for his capital to be suitable, Dias, in 1576, removed to what is now known as the Morro de S. Miguel, and he named the new colony “Reino de Sebaste na conquista de Ethiopia,” in honour of the King who fell gloriously at Al Kasr el Kebir, and its capital S. Paulo de Luandu.

Meanwhile the customary presents were exchanged with the King, whose name or title seems to have been Ngola a kiluanji. The King’s gifts included slaves, cattle, copper and silver bracelets, and aromatic Kakongo wood. The Cardinal King D. Henrique (1578-80) converted the silver bracelets into a chalice, which he presented to the church of Belem.

Friendly relations continued for three years. The King had been duly helped against his rebellious sobas; Pedro da Fonseca lived at the King’s residence as “ministro conservador” of the Portuguese, and a brisk trade seems to have sprung up with the new town of S. Paulo de Luandu, when it was insinuated to the King that the Portuguese ultimately intended to take possession of his country, and to sell his subjects abroad as slaves. The Catalogo traces these insinuations to the jealousy of a Portuguese trader “inspired by the Devil,” and although neither Garcia Mendes nor Abreu de Brito alludes to this infamy, their not doing so does not disprove the positive statement of the Catalogo.403 Moreover, whether the King’s mind was influenced by envoys from Kongo, or by a traitorous Portuguese, it must be admitted that the intentions of the Portuguese were not altogether misrepresented.

At all events, the results were immediately disastrous, for twenty Portuguese traders, who were at the King’s kabasa at the time, were murdered, together with one thousand slaves, and their merchandise was confiscated.

Dias in the Field, 1578-89.

Dias, before this happened, had already (in 1577) built the fort of S. Cruz,404 ten leagues up the Kwanza, and was at the time at a stockade on the Penedo de S. Pedro, still higher up on the river.405 When there, he was warned not to advance any further, and, suspecting treachery, he retired with his one hundred and fifty men to Kanzele (Anzele),406 where he entrenched himself (in 1578). Twenty days later he received news of the massacre. Dias at once hastened back to Luandu for reinforcements, the serjeant-major, Manuel João, meanwhile valiantly defending the stockade and raiding the neighbourhood.

In September, 1580, Dias again left Luandu with three hundred men. Slowly he proceeded along the Kwanza by land and in boats, punished the sobas Muchima, Kitangombe, and Kizua, in Kisama, and defeated the King’s army at Makunde,407 where he had his headquarters for two years, during which time his subordinates, João Serrão, Manuel João, and others, established his authority among the sobas of Kisama and Lamba (Ilamba).

In 1582 he removed to Masanganu, at the “meeting of the waters” of the Lukala and Kwanza. Determined to [Pg 147] capture the reputed silver mines of Kambambe, he set out with Luiz Serrão, eighty Portuguese, and a “guerra preta” of thirty thousand men. During his forward march he defeated the soba Mbamba Tungu; and at an entrenched camp at Teka ndungu, on February 2nd, 1584, he inflicted a crushing defeat upon the King’s forces; the Jesuit Father Balthasar Barreiro claiming no little credit for having contributed to this victory by his prayers.408 As a result of this success, many of the sobas declared in favour of Portugal, but so inconsiderable were the forces at the command of Dias that he could do no more than maintain his position at Masanganu. An army under the Duke of Mbamba, which had been promised to him, was never sent.409 Reinforcements, however, arrived in the course of 1584 and 1586,410 and Dias fought a battle on the Lukala. But his subordinates did not always meet with a like success; and João Castanhosa Vellez, with one hundred Portuguese, was completely routed by the soba Ngola Kalungu.411

As an incident of the governorship of Paulo Dias may be mentioned the building of a fort at Benguella velho, by his nephew, Antonio Lopes Peixoto, in 1587. Unhappily, fifty men of the garrison ventured abroad, unarmed, and fell in an ambush; and of the twenty who had remained in the fort, and who offered a stout resistance, only two escaped. As a matter of fact, the losses of human life in these native wars were very considerable.

Paulo Dias died in the midst of preparations for a fresh expedition against Ngola, in October, 1589, and was buried in the church of N. S. da Victoria, which he himself had built at Masanganu.412

Luiz Serrão and the Battle of 1590.

Luiz Serrão, having completed his preparations, started with an army numbering one hundred and twenty eight Portuguese musketeers (with three horses), and fifteen thousand native allies armed with bows. With this utterly insufficient force he crossed the Lukala, and then advanced to the east. On Friday, December 25th, 1590, when at Ngwalema a kitambu (Anguolome aquitambo) in Ari,413 he found himself face to face with the King of Matamba, whose army had been reinforced by Ngola, the King of Kongo, the Jaga Kinda,414 and others. Serrão desired to retire before this overwhelming host, but his subordinate officers, André Ferreira Pereira and Francisco de Sequeira, persuaded him to attack the enemy. He did so, on Monday, December 28th, 1590, and was defeated. The retreat was effected in good order. The vanguard of [Pg 149] forty musketeers was led by João de Velloria, then came the “guerra preta,” whilst Serrão himself commanded the rear, and fought almost daily with his pursuers. The camp at Lukanza, with its valuable contents, had to be abandoned. At length, on reaching Akimbolo,415 many leagues to the rear, the fugitives met Luiz Mendez Rapozo, who had come up from Luandu with seventy-eight men. At last they reached the old presidio of Mbamba Tungu and Masanganu; Manuel Jorge d’Oliveira was at once sent down to Luandu for reinforcements, and on their arrival the siege was raised. L. Serrão survived this disaster only for a month; and when he died, his officers elected Luiz Ferreira Pereira, the captain-major, to take his place. The sobas all around, and in Lamba and Ngulungu, headed by one Muzi Zemba (Muge Asemba), were in the field, but they were held in check by Pereira, and the Portuguese name continued to be respected.

The Jaga.

Jaga or Jaka is a military title,416 and by no means the name of a people. The predatory man-eating bands at whose head they invaded the agricultural districts towards the sea coast, included elements of all kinds, not unlike the bands of the “Zulu” of our own time; and hence, one of the names by which they became known in Angola was Bangala.417 I have already stated that I do not think that these military leaders, or Jaga, have anything to do with the tribe of the Ayaka to the east of Kongo. Still less can we adopt the monstrous notion that the various inland tribes who, in the course of the sixteenth century, [Pg 150] descended upon the coast of the most opposite parts of Africa, are to be identified with our Jaga. It was João Bermudes 418 who first identified the Galla of Abyssinia with the Sumba, who raided the coast of Guinea about 1570. Duarte Lopez (pp. 66, 67) would have us believe that the Jaga came out of Moenemuge (Mwene muji), and called themselves Agag.419 But the people of Mwene muji, or the land of the Maravi, are in reality the Zimbas, who raided Kilwa and Mombasa in 1589, whilst “Agag” looks to me like a corruption of Agau, which is the name of an Abyssinian tribe.420 And hence arises this absurd confusion of Father Guerreiro, who expects us to believe that the Jaga are known in Kongo as Iacas, in Angola as Gindes,421 in “India” (that is, on the East coast of Africa) as Zimbas, in Prester John’s country as Gallas, and in Sierra Leone as Sumbas! Battell, who reports facts and leaves hypotheses alone, confesses that in his day nothing was known about the origin of this dreaded people.422

We have already met with Jaga in Kongo, as allies of Ngola. In 1590 they were fighting Luiz Serrão as the allies of Matamba, and by 1600 they appear to have advanced as far as the coast of Benguella, where Battell joined them, and had an opportunity of gaining an intimate knowledge of their daily life, not enjoyed by any other traveller. H. D. de Carvalho 423 and A. R. Neves 424 have been [Pg 151] at the trouble of collecting such information on their origin as it is possible to gather after the lapse of three centuries. Entrusting ourselves to the guidance of the former of these authors, we learn that Kinguri, the son of the chief of the Bungo, in Lunda, was excluded by his father from the succession, in favour of his sister Lueji. Gathering around him his adherents, he left his native land to found a “state” elsewhere. He first settled in Kioko, then crossed the Upper Kwanza into Kimbundu (Binbundu of Bié), and reached Lubolo, where he made friends with the chief, Ngongo, whose daughter Kulachinga he married. He then crossed the Kwanza above Kambambe, entered into friendly relations with the Portuguese, visited the Governor, D. Manuel,425 and offered to fight on the side of the Portuguese. He was granted land at Lukamba,426 on the river Kamueji. Being dissatisfied with this land, on account of its sterility, he again turned to the eastward, and, crossing the Lui, finally settled in the country still occupied by his successors, who (according to Carvalho), were Kasanje, Ngonga ka mbanda, Kalunga ka kilombo, Kasanje ka Kulachinga, etc.427 Having settled down, Kinguri invited his father-in-law to join him, and his forces were subsequently increased by some discontented subjects of Queen Nzinga, led by Kalungu. His followers, being thus a mixture of many tribes, the Jagas were thenceforth chosen alternately among the three leading [Pg 152] families of Kulachinga (Kinguri’s wife), Ngongo and Kalunga.428

It is perfectly clear from this information, collected in Lunda and Kasanje, that it throws no light upon the original Jaga, although it may explain the origin of the Jaga still ruling at Kasanje.

The account given by Ladislaus Magyar 429 evidently refers to the same leader. According to him, a Jaga Kanguri settled in the country now occupied by the Sonyo three hundred years ago. His people were cannibals, but the more intelligent among them saw that this practice would ultimately lead to the destruction of the subject tribes upon whom they depended for support, and they founded the secret society of the Empacaceiros 430 for the suppression of cannibalism. Being worsted in a civil war, they crossed the upper Kwanza into Bié, whilst Kanguri turned to the north-west and settled in Kasanje.

Cavazzi seems to go further back, for he tells us that Zimbo, who was the first chief of the Jaga (Aiacca), invaded Kongo, whilst one of his chiefs, “Dongij” (Ndongo?), invaded Matamba, and that the bloody “kichile,”431 or customs, were introduced by Musasa the wife, and Tembandumba the daughter, of this “Dongij.” The daughter married Kulambo, whom she poisoned; he was succeeded by Kinguri, who was killed during an invasion of Angola, Kulachimbo a great warrior, Kassanje, and many [Pg 153] others; the last of whom, Kassanje ka nkinguri, was baptised in 1657.432

I confess my inability to evolve the truth out of these conflicting statements, and can only suppose that the title of “Jaga” was assumed by the leaders of predatory hordes of very diverse origin, in order to inspire terror in the hearts of peaceful tribes; just, as in more recent times, certain tribes in East Africa pretend to be Zulu for a like reason.

D. Francisco and D. Jeronymo d’Almeida, 1592-1594.

The new Governor, D. Francisco d’Almeida, arrived at S. Paulo, on June 24th, 1592, accompanied by four hundred foot-soldiers and fifty African horse, all picked men. Among the volunteers attending him were his brother, D. Jeronymo, Luis Lopez de Sequeira and Balthasar Rebello de Aragõa;433 and perhaps also Domingos d’Abreu de Brito, who, in a “Summario e descripção do Reino de Angola,” presented to King Philip I, proposed an expedition across Africa, and the protection of the road to be opened by a chain of forts.434

The new Governor, immediately on his arrival, found himself face to face with a religious difficulty. The Jesuits, ever since the days of Dias, expected to be consulted in all government business. They desired to be appointed “preceptors” (amos) of the native chiefs, their aim being evidently to create a theocratic government, such as they established subsequently in Paraguay. They [Pg 154] “used their spiritual influence to induce the conquered sobas to refuse obedience to the civil powers;” and when d’Almeida made use of the authority conferred upon him at Madrid in order to crush this “nascent theocracy,” he was excommunicated.435 He certainly was unequal to cope with these domineering priests. Disheartened, he threw up a charge to which he felt unequal, and took ship for Brazil (April 8th, 1593).436

D. Jeronymo, at the urgent request of the Camara, took up the reins of government, and being of a more conciliatory nature than his brother, made peace with the Jesuits, and was thus able to take the field. He started with four hundred men and twenty horses, and received the submission of the sobas of Kisama, excepting the most powerful among them. On reaching the salt mines of Ndemba 437 he founded a “presidio,” and garrisoned it with one hundred men. On his way to the silver-mines of Kambambe he was struck down with fever, and returned to Luandu, leaving Balthasar d’Almeida de Sousa and Pedro Alvares Rebello in command of the troops. They were imprudent, and on April 22nd, 1594, fell into an ambush prepared for them by the powerful chief Kafuche kabara (Cafuxe cambara). Only the captain-major, thanks to the swiftness of his horse, and a few men, escaped this disaster.438

João Furtado de Mendonça, 1594-1602.

D. Jeronymo was on the point of hurrying up with reinforcements when João Furtado de Mendonça arrived at Luandu (August 1st, 1594). He brought with him, not only four hundred men with thirty horses, but also twelve European women,439 the first ever seen in Luandu, in whose honour the town was decorated.

One of the most memorable events of his governorship was a campaign which he conducted up the river Mbengu. Starting at the worst time of the year (in March, 1496), he quickly lost two hundred men by fever. Having brought up fresh recruits from Luandu, he avenged himself for a disaster brought about by his own ignorance, by an exceptional severity in his treatment of the “rebels,” many of whom were blown from guns. This expedition kept the field for several years, and proceeded as far as Ngazi (Ingasia), the chief of which district was called Ngombe—the bullock.440

Meanwhile, João de Velloria,441 the captain-major, had severely punished the rebellious sobas of Lamba. Masanganu was once more blockaded by the King Ngola (1597), until relieved by Balthasar Rebello de Aragão. On again [Pg 156] descending the Kwanza, he built a presidio in the territory of the chief Muchima, in Kisama (1559).442

The Campaign of 1602-3.443

A new Governor, João Rodrigues Coutinho, arrived early in 1602. He was acceptable to the Jesuits, and soon won the hearts of the people by his liberality. He had been authorised by the King to bestow five habits of the Order of Christ, dub five knights, and appoint thirty King’s chamberlains (moços da camara). Seven years’ receipts of the export duty on slaves were to be devoted to the building of forts at the salt mines (Ndemba), Kambambe, and in Benguela.

Six months after his arrival, the Governor took the field against the powerful chief Kafuche. His force was the most formidable that had ever been at the disposal of a Governor, numbering no less than eight hundred Portuguese. It was joined at Songo by a portion of the garrison of Masanganu. Unhappily, the Governor died before coming in contact with the enemy, and appointed Manuel Cerveira Pereira as his successor. Battell calls this man an “upstart,” and he certainly had many enemies; but he is well spoken of by the Jesuits, and was an able soldier. On August 10th, 1603, he inflicted a crushing defeat upon Kafuche, at Agoakaiongo,444 on the very spot where, seven years before, the Portuguese had met with a great disaster. Overcoming the stout resistance of the chiefs of the Museke,445 he arrived at the head of the navigation of the Kwanza, and there, at Kambambe, he founded the Presidio da N.S. do Rozario (1604). Having punished [Pg 157] several of the neighbouring chiefs, including Shila mbanza (Axilambanza), the father-in-law of King Ngola, and left João de Araujo e Azevedo 446 in command of the new presidio, Pereira returned to the coast.

S. Paulo de Luandu had by that time grown into a fine town, where commerce flourished. Unfortunately for the lasting prosperity of the colony, human beings constituted the most valuable article of export, and the profits yielded by this slave trade attracted Dutch and French interlopers, notwithstanding a royal decree of 1605, which excluded all foreign vessels from the vast territories claimed by Portugal. In 1607 there were four “Presidios” or forts in the interior, namely Muchima, Agoakaiongo, Masanganu, and Kambambe.447

D. Manuel Pereira Forjaz and Bento Banha Cardoso, 1607-15.

We have already stated that Manuel Cerveira Pereira had many enemies, and when D. Manuel Pereira Forjaz, the new Governor, arrived towards the end of 1607, very serious accusations must have been brought against the former, for he was at once sent back to Lisbon. There, however, we are bound to assume that he refuted these accusations, for otherwise it is not likely that he would have been re-appointed Governor eight years afterwards: unless, indeed, he had friends at court who profited by his delinquencies. Forjaz himself showed to little advantage. He superseded the commandant of Kambambe by one of his own creatures, and the fort would certainly have been taken by the sobas who blockaded it, had not Roque de S. Miguel and Rebello de Aragão hastened to its relief. Forjaz, moreover, is accused of having imposed an annual [Pg 158] tax upon the sobas, yielding from twelve to thirteen thousand cruzados, which seem to have found their way into his own pockets, and those of his favourites.448 When he suddenly died in his bed, on April 11th, 1611, the bishop and the leading men called upon the captain-major, Bento Banha Cardoso, to take charge of the government. Cardoso was a man of enterprise, and successful in his undertakings, but cruel. In 1611 he defeated King Ngola. The sobas Kilonga and Mbamba Tungu, who fell into his hands, were beheaded, as were also several of their makotas. To avenge these executions, fourteen sobas of Ngola and Matamba made an attack upon Kambambe in the following year; and although that place was valiantly defended until relieved, it took a year before order was restored in the surrounding district. To keep these sobas in check, a fort (Mbaka) was built on the river Lukala (1614), eight leagues from Masanganu.449 In Kisama, the territory of Nambua ngongo (Nabo angungo) was raided in the same year.

An Attempt to Cross Africa.

Before proceeding with our account, there remains to be noticed a serious attempt to cross the whole of Africa from the west coast to “Manomotapa,” on the Zambezi, which was made by Balthasar Rebello de Aragão, by order of D. Manuel Pereira Forjaz. Rebello de Aragão himself furnishes a very short account of this expedition,450 from which we learn that he discovered copper and iron, and was told that there was also silver. The natives bred cattle and cultivated the land, and they told him of a lake, [Pg 159] in lat. 16° S., giving rise to many rivers, including the Nile. Unfortunately, when he had advanced one hundred and forty leagues from the sea, and eighty beyond the place he started from (Kambambe?), he was summoned back, as the fort just named was threatened by King Ngola.451

The Conquest of Benguella.

In 1615, Manuel Cerveira Pereira 452 returned to the scene of his former labours, with special instructions to take possession of Benguella, which for a considerable time past had been visited by trading vessels. But before he started upon this enterprise, he ordered his old comrade, João (or Paio?) de Araujo e Azevedo, to deal with Kakulu Kabasa,453 Mbumba (Bumba) a ndala, Kilomba kia tubia, and other revolted chiefs in Angola, whilst he himself penetrated into the country of the Kakulu Kahenda,454 who had given offence by assisting fugitive slaves and interfering with traders.

Having entrusted Antonio Gonçalves Pitta with the [Pg 160] government of S. Paulo, he left that place for the South, on April 11th, 1617, with four vessels, a patacho, and one hundred soldiers.455 Finding the site of the old fort near the Terra das duas Puntas unsuitable, he continued his voyage along the coast, until he came in sight of a “sombreiro,” overlooking the Bahia das Vaccas;456 and there he built the fort of S. Filippe de Benguella, which in course of time developed into a city of some importance. The sobas of Ndombe, of whose territory he had possessed himself, naturally objected to the presence of these uninvited strangers, but they were compelled to submit after five defeats. The Jaga on the river Murombo likewise gave in, after three months’ fighting, but soon afterwards broke the peace, and was executed. The chief Kalunga, at the mouth of the Koporolo (Kuporol), and the cattle-keeping Mukimba in the neighbouring hills, also submitted. It scarcely admits of doubt that Pereira, in the course of his many military excursions, discovered copper, sulphur and salt,457 but he was to benefit little by these discoveries. His harsh conduct and greed had estranged his people. Headed by a priest and by their officers, they mutinied, put their leader on board a patacho, and shipped him off to S. Paulo, where no notice was taken of his presence, the Governor being absent at that time, because of a native war (1618).458

Pereira once more returned to Madrid, and having explained matters to the satisfaction of the authorities, he was sent back, and again reached S. Felippe de Benguella on August 8th, 1620. He sailed north to Sumba mbela’s country, at the mouth of the river Kuvu. A couple of days inland he discovered more copper, three quintals of which he took to S. Paulo. He died in the midst of his labours. The Catalogo credits him with having gone inland as far as Kakonda.459

The Colonial Government.

We have already learned that the native sobas were handed over to the mercy of individual “conquistadores,” and Rebello de Aragão declares that these sobas were being “robbed and maltreated.” They were required by their masters to pay a tax in slaves, to furnish carriers, and render all kinds of services,460 without payment. In addition to this the Governor, D. M. P. Forjaz, imposed upon them a poll-tax, which produced from twelve to thirteen thousand cruzados (say £1,650 461) a year. Rebello de Aragão maintains that the native wars were largely due to this pernicious system, which enriched the Governor and his officials, whilst traders were made to suffer, and ceased to visit the “feiras” because of the extortionate demands made upon them. At Mpinda nearly all the “honest” trade had passed into the hands of the Dutch, because of the monopoly conferred upon Portuguese slave-dealers. He declares that a tax of 20 per cent. on the salt mined at [Pg 162] Ndemba would pay all the legitimate expenses of government; but that, although the export duty on slaves yielded from five to six thousand cruzados, there had not yet been built a decent house for the government offices.

Garcia Mendes Castellobranco, in a memoir 462 addressed to the King in 1620, is equally outspoken with regard to the treatment of the native chiefs, who, he maintains, ought not to be taxed more heavily than at the time when they were still subjects of a native king. He, too, refers to the salt mines as a source of revenue, recommends the levying of a toll at river crossings, and the expropriation of the uncultivated territory around S. Paulo.463

Many of these abuses may, no doubt, be traced to the demoralising influence of the slave-trade and the insufficient pay of the officials. A slave costing £3 7s. in the interior (or nothing, if taken in the course of one of the frequent slave raids) was sold for more than double that sum on the coast; and whilst money could be made thus easily the great natural resources of the country were neglected and the population—which, on the arrival of the Portuguese, is said to have been very considerable—shrank from year to year.464

The export duties on slaves and ivory were farmed out in 1607 to one Duarte Dias Enriques for twenty million reis annually (about £6,600).465

S. Paulo and Masanganu enjoyed municipal institutions at that time, but all outside these cities was ruled by military adventurers. The Governor (in 1607) was paid a [Pg 163] salary of £267, but the other officials were decidedly underpaid; and thus, almost of necessity, were driven to increase their incomes by illegitimate means.466

The War with Ngola nzinga mbandi.

Luiz Mendes de Vasconcellos, the new Governor, arrived in November, 1617, and almost immediately found himself involved in a war with the King of Ndongo. Nzinga mbandi ngola kiluanji,467 a great tyrant, had been “removed” by his indignant subjects shortly before the arrival of the new Governor. He left behind him three daughters, one of whom, born in 1582, became famous as Queen D. Anna de Souza Nzinga, and two sons, one by a legitimate wife, the other by a slave woman. It was the latter, Ngola nzinga mbandi,468 whom his partisans raised to the throne, which he reached through rivers of blood, among his victims being his own brother, a son of his sister, and many of the trusted councillors of his father. In 1618 the usurper took the field, intending to expel the Portuguese, who seem to have given provocation by shifting the old presidio of Mbaka (Ambaca) to a site much higher up the Lukala.469 The Governor, ably supported by his captain-major, Pedro de Souza Coelho, not only defeated the King, [Pg 164] but also captured his queen and many other persons of consideration. The King sued for peace, but as he failed to surrender the Portuguese whom he had taken prisoner, the war was renewed in 1619. His allies fared no better than the King himself. His vice-king of lower Ndongo, Ngola ari,470 was compelled to pay a tribute of one hundred slaves annually (in 1620); and while the Governor raided the territories of Kahibalongo, Ndonga, and Kasa, his lieutenant, Lopo Soares Laço, destroyed the kilombos of the sobas Ngunza a ngombe and Bangu.

It had been recognised by this time that many of these punitive expeditions were provoked by the lawless conduct of white traders, mulattoes and negros calçados (that is, shoe-wearing negroes), who went inland on slaving expeditions; and only Pumbeiros descalços, that is, native agents or traders not yet sufficiently civilised to wear shoes, should be permitted to do so in future.471

When King Ngola nzinga mbandi heard of the arrival of João Corrêa de Souza, the new Governor, in September, 1621,472 he at once sent his sister to Luandu to arrange terms of peace. This woman, then about forty years of age, proved an excellent diplomatist. When the Governor alluded to the payment of tribute, she declared that tribute could only be demanded from a conquered people, and the treaty ultimately signed was one of reciprocity: fugitive slaves were to be surrendered, and assistance to be given against common enemies.

Before this able ambassadress left Luandu, she was received into the bosom of Holy Mother Church, being baptised as D. Anna de Souza (1622); and on her return home she persuaded her brother to apply for the services of a priest, or Mamaganga.473 A priest was sent, but he was a native, who had been ordained at Luandu, and one of the King’s own subjects. The King looked upon this as an insult; he treated the priest with great indignity, and once more invaded the Portuguese territory. Thrice beaten, and deserted by his vassals, he fled to the island of Ndangi,474 in the Kwanza river, where he died of poison administered by his own sister Nzinga, who thus avenged the murder of her son (1623).

Queen Nzinga, 1623-1636.

Nzinga at once renounced Christianity, and the bloody rites of the Jaga were celebrated when she ascended her throne. She inaugurated her reign by the murder of her brother’s son, of his adherents, and her supposed enemies. Having reduced her own people to subjection, with the aid of the Jaga, she declared war upon Portugal. D. Felippe de Souza Ngola ari, the King of Ndongo recognised by the Portuguese, was at once ordered to defend the frontier, and, if possible, to invade the territories of his kinswoman. On consideration, however, it was thought best, in the interest of trade, to avoid a serious conflict. An officer was sent to the court of the Queen, offering to restore the lost provinces (and thus sacrificing their vassal D. Felippe), on condition of her acknowledging herself a vassal, and paying tribute. These [Pg 166] conditions were haughtily rejected, and the war began in earnest.

João de Araujo e Azevedo was placed at the head of the Portuguese invading force.475 He raided the country along the Lukala, and then turned back upon the Kwanza, occupied the islands of Ukole and Kitaka, and came up with the Queen’s camp at Ndangi Island. The Queen, having consulted the spirit of her brother Ngola mbandi,476 declined to risk a battle, and fled into Hako (Oacco). The Portuguese followed in pursuit, passing through Bemba, Malemba and Kipupa, and Little Ngangela (Ganguella); came up with the Queen’s forces in the territory of soba Matima (Mathemo), and inflicted a serious defeat upon them. Among the prisoners taken were the Queen’s sisters, Kambe and Funji, and many Makotas. The pursuit was continued as far as Kina grande in Ngangela, a deep and difficult gorge, into which some of the soldiers and the guerra preta descended by means of ropes. When the Queen fled to the kingdom of Songo, the Portuguese forces retired to the west (1627).477

The two princesses were taken to Luandu, where the Governor, Fernão de Souza, lodged them in his own [Pg 167] house. In baptism (1628), they received the names of D. Barbara and D. Engracia.

The Portuguese had no sooner retired than Queen Nzinga returned to Ndangi Island, and having been reinforced by several Jaga, she undertook the conquest of Matamba. At Makaria ka matamba she took prisoner the dowager-queen 478 Muongo Matamba, and her daughter. The mother was branded as a slave, and died of grief; but the daughter was taken into favour, and was baptised in 1667.

Having thus destroyed the ancient kingdom of Matamba, the Queen once more invaded Portuguese territory, but she turned back when she heard that the Jaga Kasanji was raiding her recent conquest, upon which he claimed to have prior rights.

At the same time she interfered continually with the commerce of the Portuguese with the interior; and it was only in 1636, when the Governor, Francisco de Vasconcellos da Cunha, sent D. Gaspar Borgia and Father Antonio Coelho on a mission to the Jaga in Little Ngangela, and to the Queen at her Kabasa, in Umba, that peaceable relations were established. The Queen, however, persistently refused to surrender her claims to the provinces of Ndongo which had been occupied by the Portuguese.

Minor Events, 1624-1641.

Punitive expeditions were frequent. In 1624 the Jaga Kasanji, who had taken advantage of the conflicts between the Portuguese and Queen Nzinga to rob Pumbeiros, was severely punished, and Captain Roque de Miguel returned from this expedition with a large number of captives, who [Pg 168] as a matter of course, were sold into slavery. During the provisional governorship of the bishop D. Simão de Mascarenhas 479 (1623-4), Lopo Soares Laço meted out punishment to the Jagas Nzenza a ngombe and Bangu-Bangu, and to the irrepressible Kafuche.480 A few years later, in 1631, the captain-major Antonio Bruto waged a successful war against rebellious sobas, and more especially impressed the natives by his victory over the dreaded Mbuila anduwa (Ambuila Dua), who held out for six months in a rocky stronghold deemed impregnable. The invasion of Kongo, in 1622, by order of Governor João Corrêa de Souza, who claimed the surrender of Luandu Island and of all the copper mines, has already been referred to (see p. 123).

Among the very few measures calculated to promote the material or moral interests of the colony may be mentioned the establishment of the three feiras, of Ndondo, Beja, and Lukamba, in 1625; the foundation of a Santa casa da misericordia (Poor-house and hospital) at S. Paulo de Luandu, by the bishop D. Simão de Mascarenhas; the compulsory cultivation of the banks of Mbengu (Bengo), when Luandu was threatened with famine owing to the non-arrival of provision ships from Brazil, in 1629;481 the [Pg 169] reform of the administration of the Royal revenue, by Fernão de Souza, in the same year; and the creation of a board of revenue (Junta da fazenda), charged with the collection of the tithes and of the tribute payable by the native chiefs, by Francisco de Vasconcellos da Cunha, in 1638.

The affairs of the missions will be dealt with subsequently, in a comprehensive manner, but a difficulty which arose in 1623 between the Governor, João Corrêa de Souza, and the Jesuits, may be dealt mentioned at once. In 1619, Gaspar Alvares,482 a wealthy merchant of Luandu, placed 20,000 cruzados at the service of the Fathers, in order that they might found a seminary 483 for the education of twelve natives. Subsequently he himself became a member of the Society of Loyola, and devoted the whole of his fortune, amounting to 400,000 cruzados, to its purposes. The Governor not unnaturally objected to this sudden enrichment of a Society which had always been a thorn in the side of the government. Alvares himself escaped to S. Salvador, but the Prefect of the Jesuits and three Fathers were sent as prisoners to Lisbon, where they were at once liberated; whilst the Governor himself, who arrived soon afterwards, perhaps with the intention of justifying his hasty proceedings, was thrown into prison, and died in the limoeiro in 1626.

The Dutch in Angola.

When Philip of Spain seized upon the crown of Portugal in 1580, that unfortunate country became at once involved in the troubles between Spain and the United [Pg 170] Netherlands. No sooner had the destruction of the Armada, in 1588, enabled the Dutch to take the offensive on sea, than they began to compete for a share in the trade of the Portuguese possessions. The Dutch at first kept on the defensive, but in 1598 they and the Portuguese came into hostile collision near the Ilha do Principe; and all efforts to exclude these noxious heretics from sharing in the trade of the Kongo proved futile, more especially as the natives themselves preferred their Dutch visitors to the masterful Portuguese.484

An armistice concluded in 1609 expired in 1621. The Dutch West-India Company was founded in that very year, and thenceforth the Dutch proceeded aggressively. In 1623 they burnt several patachos off the mouth of the Kwanza; in 1629 a Dutch squadron cruised during three months off the coast of Benguella and captured four Portuguese merchantmen, but failed to force their way into the harbour of Luandu. In 1633 two Dutch vessels menaced S. Felippe de Benguella, but were driven off by Lopo Soares Laço, after a stout fight, on November 15th. In 1637, Bartholomeu de Vasconcellos da Cunha, the Governor’s brother, captured a Dutch man-of-war of 24 guns. At that time the coast was being regularly patrolled by Portuguese men-of-war,485 and in 1638 the foundations of the Fort S. Miguel were laid on the Morro de S. Paulo, the original site of the city of S. Paulo.

When Portugal recovered her independence, in December, 1640, D. João IV of Bragança at once sent Tristão de Mendoza Furtado to the Hague, with instructions to demand a suspension of hostilities. The West-India Company, which profited largely from a state of war, [Pg 171] declared in favour of a definite treaty of peace, but objected to the conclusion of an armistice. The Portuguese envoy had no authority to sign such a treaty; but after protracted negotiations an armistice for ten years was signed on June 23rd, 1641, which was to take force outside Europe as soon as it became known there.

Meantime, the directors of the West-Indian Company had instructed Count John Moritz of Nassau to take advantage of the momentary weakness of Portugal, after her war of liberation, to seize all he could before the terms of the treaty became known.486 Count Moritz, being desirous to increase the supply of slaves for the plantations in Brazil, determined to seize upon Luandu. A fleet of twenty-one vessels was at once fitted out at Pernambuco, and placed under the command of Cornelis Cornelissen Jol, surnamed Houtebeen, or “Wooden leg.” It was manned by nine hundred sailors, and had on board two thousand troops, commanded by Jeems Hindersen. This formidable armament left Pernambuco in June 30th, 1641, sighted Cabo Negro on August 5th, and having captured the Jesus Maria, on a voyage from Madeira, was by her piloted into the harbour of Luandu. On August 24th the Dutch fleet unexpectedly appeared off S. Paulo, surprising its inhabitants in the midst of their rejoicings at the accession of the “liberator king.” S. Paulo, at that time, was a city of twenty thousand inhabitants, including three thousand Portuguese; but the Governor, Pedro Cezar de Menezes, though he was at the head of nine hundred white troops, offered only a feeble resistance; and, accompanied by many of the citizens, he withdrew to the river Mbengu, and subsequently to Masanganu. The booty [Pg 172] which fell into the hands of the Dutch included thirty ships and ninety-eight cannon.

They lost no time in gaining the goodwill of the neighbouring sobas, sent an embassy to the King of Kongo (see p. 125), and entertained offers of alliance from Queen Nzinga. Aki musanu (Aca mochana) and Nambu a ngongo (Nabo a ngongo), who had risen upon the Portuguese, were joined by one hundred and fifty Dutchmen, and thus enabled to overcome their enemies, whose leaders, André da Costa and João Vieira, they killed (1642).

In the following year (1643) information was received that the truce had been signed, but the Dutch director very naturally declined to surrender the town. He agreed, however, to suspend hostilities. Pedro Cezar had been instructed by his government to avail himself of the first opportunity to recover the city,487 and it was evidently with a view to this eventuality that he established a camp on the river Mbengu. The Dutch suspected his treacherous design, and at dawn on May 26th, 1643, they surprised his force. Many Portuguese were killed (including Antonio Bruto), while Pedro Cezar himself, Bartholomeu de Vasconcellos da Cunha, and one hundred and eighty seven soldiers were taken prisoner. The remainder escaped to Masanganu. The forces assembled there under the captain-major, Antonio de Miranda, were unable to retrieve this disaster, but the Governor, aided by friends, managed soon afterwards to escape.

But though unequal to meeting the Dutch in the field, the Portuguese were still able to enforce their authority upon the natives; and in 1645 Diogo Gomes de Morales led an expedition into Lubolo and Mbalundu (Bailundo), and reduced the kolombos of thirty “Jagas” to obedience.

In 1645, the Portuguese of Brazil, under the leadership of João Fernandez Vieira, rose upon their Dutch oppressors, and in the same year the Dutch occupied S. Felippe de Benguella. The garrison under Antonio Teixeira de Mendonça, the captain-major, and Antonio Gomez de Gouvea, an experienced sertanejo, or backwoodsman, retired northward along the coast. On reaching Kikombo Bay, on July 27th, 1645, they met there Francisco de Sotto-maior, just arrived from Rio de Janeiro with reinforcements. By advice of Gomez, the troops and stores were landed in Suto Bay, near Cabo ledo, and conducted by him in three detachments to Masanganu, without the Dutch becoming aware of their arrival. The Governor, Pedro Cezar de Menezes, returned by the same route to Rio, taking with him a cargo of slaves.

These reinforcements arrived just in time to be employed against Queen Nzinga. That lady had set a black and a white cock to fight each other, and the defeat of the white cock was looked upon by her as a favourable augury for venturing an attack upon Masanganu. But Gaspar Borges de Madureira fell upon her before her forces had been concentrated (January, 1646). She suffered a severe defeat, notwithstanding the presence of Dutch auxiliaries. Her sisters once more fell into the hands of the Portuguese. D. Engracia was strangled soon afterwards for an act of treachery, whilst D. Barbara was kept in honourable captivity until 1657.488

Meanwhile the Dutch had made preparations for an advance up the Kwanza. They had built Fort Mols at the mouth of the river, and another fort higher up. The Governor, Francisco de Sotto-maior, having died of fever in May, 1646, measures for a spirited defence were taken by the three captains-major, Bartholomeu de [Pg 174] Vasconcellos da Cunha, Antonio Teixeira de Mendonça, and João Juzarte de Andrada. Muchima, which had been furiously assaulted by the Dutch, was relieved by Diogo Gomes de Morales. But in the following year the Portuguese suffered a reverse at Kawala (Caoalla), and Masanganu itself was threatened by the combined forces of Queen Nzinga, Kongo, and the Dutch.

However a saviour was at hand in this extremity. On August 12th, 1648, Salvador Corrêa de Sá Benevides,489 with nineteen vessels, having on board nine hundred soldiers, cast anchor in the harbour of Luandu, and summoned the Dutch to surrender within forty-eight hours. On their refusal he landed his troops, and after a short bombardment of Fort S. Miguel, to which the Dutch had withdrawn, early on August 15th he delivered an assault, which cost him one hundred and sixty three men, but led to the surrender of a garrison numbering one thousand one hundred men, including French and German mercenaries. When these prisoners had been joined by the three hundred Dutchmen who were with Queen Nzinga, and the garrison of Benguella, which surrendered without a blow, they were shipped off to Europe. The city, in memory of the event, assumed the name of “S. Paulo da Assumpção de Loanda,” for it was on the Day of Ascension of the Virgin Mary that a seven years’ captivity ended. The anniversary of that event is celebrated to the present day by a religious procession.

Restoration of Portuguese Authority.

No time was lost in restoring the authority of Portugal throughout the colony. The King of Kongo was compelled to accept a treaty by which Luandu Island and the [Pg 175] whole of the country to the south of the Dande river were unconditionally surrendered, and other advantages held out (p. 128). Queen Nzinga, although she declined the overtures of Captain Ruy Pegado 490 for a formal treaty, retired inland, and gave no trouble for a number of years. As to the sobas of Lamba, Kisama, Lubolo, and the Modiku islands, they were visited by punitive expeditions commanded by Antonio Teixeira de Moraes, Diogo Mendes de Morales, Vicente Pegado de Pontes, and Francisco de Aguiar.

Order having been restored, the Governor, Salvador Corrêa de Sá, caused the ruined buildings to be repaired, and granted crownland to the inhabitants for houses and gardens. In a very short time prosperity returned, and the trade of Luandu was as flourishing as ever it had been.491

But although the Portuguese were masters on shore, the Dutch, and occasionally also French or English “pirates” frequented the coast. In 1650 Alvaro d’Aguiar defeated five of these interlopers, who had made prizes of two ships on a voyage from Brazil; in 1651 João Duque was killed in an action with Dutch men-of-war; in 1652 João de Araujo drove away the Dutch from Mpinda and Luangu; in 1658 the same officer made a prize of a English slaver off Benguella. A second English slaver was captured in 1659 by João Cardoso, who also captured a Dutch vessel off the Kongo in 1661. In 1662 the definite treaty of peace between Portugal and Holland was signed, and “pirates” are no longer heard of; although Dutch vessels provided [Pg 176] with passes, or favoured by the Governors, seem to have been admitted to Portuguese ports.

Queen Nzinga and Her Successors.

Queen Nzinga, after the return of her General from a raid on the territory of Mbuila (Imbuille), in 1655, whence he brought a miraculous crucifix, felt troubled in her conscience; and on consulting the spirits of five of her ancestors (see p. 166), she learned, to her no small terror, that they were suffering eternal torments, which she could only escape by once more embracing the Christian faith, and seeking the friendship of the Portuguese.492 Upon this advice she acted. The negotiations for a treaty were conducted by Captain Manuel Freis Peixoto and the Capuchin friar Antonio of Gaeta, who came to her Court for that purpose in 1657. Her sister, D. Barbara, was restored to her on payment of a ransom of two hundred slaves,493 and the river Lukala was thenceforth to form the boundary between the Queen’s dominions and those of the Portuguese. No tribute was to be paid by her. Friar Antonio had the honour of once more baptising this ancient lady, then seventy-five years of age, and also of marrying her, legitimately, to a slave-youth, Don Salvatore; while her sister, D. Barbara, allied herself unto D. Antonio Carrasco Nzinga a mona, a foster-brother of the Queen, and the General-in-Chief of her armies. A church, S. Maria de Matamba, was specially built for these interesting ceremonies. This remarkable woman died on December 17th, 1663, after Father Cavazzi had administered to her the last consolations of religion, and was buried in the church of St. Anna, which had been built within the precincts of the Royal palace.

When D. Barbara died, on March 24th, 1666, her husband, D. Antonio Carrasco Nzinga a mona, killed the legitimate heir, D. João Guterres Ngola kanini, and usurped the throne, but was himself slain in a battle against D. Francisco Guterres Ngola kanini, in 1680. The conqueror then attacked the allies of the Portuguese, robbed the pumbeiros, and beheaded the Jaga Kasanji (1682).494 Luiz Lopez de Sequeira at once took the field against him with five hundred and thirty infantry, thirty-seven horse, and ten thousand empacaceiros, and defeated him at Katole, a place within three days of the Royal kabasa. The King himself lost his life, but so did the leader of the Portuguese 495 and Vasco de Mello da Cunha. João Antonio de Brito, who took the command after his leader’s death, remained encamped for thirty days on the site of the battle; and finding that the enemies did not return, retired to Mbaka; from which we may judge that the Portuguese, too, suffered heavy losses. D. Veronica (or Victoria) Guterres, the sister of the late King, sued for peace, which was readily granted. Fresh complications threatened in 1689, when the Queen was charged—falsely, it appears—with having stirred up the soba Kahenda to rebel against his Portuguese masters; but matters were arranged through the intervention of bishop D. João Franco de Oliveira. No further trouble seems to have occurred with the successors of Queen Nzinga until 1744, when the Queen 496 provoked a war by killing a white trader and robbing pumbeiros: the result of which was the capture of her capital by [Pg 178] Bartholomeu Duarte de Sequeira, and the cession of the Kinalunga Islands to Portugal.497

The Last of the Kings of Ndongo, 1671.

We have seen that D. João de Souza Ngola ari had been installed as the first King of Ndongo, recognised by the Portuguese (see p. 164), about 1627, and had been succeeded by D. Filippe de Souza, who died in 1660, and by João II. The hope that this tributary would prove a staunch ally of the Portuguese was not to be realised, for immediately after the disastrous campaign against Sonyo (see p. 131), in 1670, D. João Ngola ari raised the standard of rebellion, and invaded the district of Mbaka. The Governor, Francisco de Tavora,498 a future Viceroy of India, who on account of his youth (he was only 23 years of age) and supposed prudence had been nick-named o menino prudente, despatched his captain-major, Luiz Lopes de Sequeira, to reduce the rebel to obedience. Ngola ari met with a defeat on the river Luchilu, close to the Pedras of Pungu a ndongo, which were considered impregnable. Yet, on a dark night, on November 18th, 1671, Manuel Cortes, the leader of the guerra preta, surprised this rocky stronghold. The King himself was taken, and beheaded as a traitor. Thenceforth there was no further need for punitive expeditions on a large scale.499

Relations with Kongo.

No sooner had the Portuguese regained possession of S. Paulo than the King of Kongo was called to account for having sided with the Dutch and favoured the operations of “foreign” Capuchins. A threatened invasion of his kingdom (1649) speedily led to the conclusion of a treaty of peace (see p. 126). But as the supposed gold and silver mines were not ceded, as promised, the Portuguese once more invaded the country, and in the bloody battle of Ulanga, in 1666, the King lost his life and crown (p. 129). From that time to the close of the century anarchy reigned in Kongo. The disastrous expedition against Sonyo in 1670 (see p. 131) was partly undertaken in order to support one of the many rival kings of that period.

Minor Punitive Expeditions, 1658-95.

João Fernandes Vieira, who had gained fame as the leader of the Portuguese patriots in Brazil, where the capture of Pernambuco had won him the surname of o hero de nossa edade, arrived as Governor on April 18th, 1658, and before the close of the year, a serious rebellion broke out in Upper Ngulungu. The captain-major, Bartholomeu de Vasconcellos, took the field, and compelled Ngolome a kayitu (Golome Acaita), to surrender his rocky stronghold after a siege of four months; Tanga a ngongo submitted quietly, but Kiluanji kia kanga (Quiloange Acango), faced the Portuguese four times, and then retired inland without yielding submission.

A second expedition, in the same year, traversed the districts to the south of the Kwanza.500 It started from [Pg 180] Masanganu, and having crossed the Kwanza into Hako was joined by Ngunza mbambe;501 it entered the district of Kabeza, where the Jaga of Rimba brought further reinforcements. Jaga Ngonga ka anga, the chief of Nsela (Shella), on the river Kuvu, surrendered his capital, Kangunza, by the advice of his diviners, without striking a blow, and submitted to be baptised. The expedition then returned to Mbaka by way of the river Gango and Tamba; whilst Cavazzi, who accompanied it as chaplain, took a more direct road through Kabeza.

After the great victory over the King of Kongo in 1666 (see p. 130), a detachment under Antonio da Silva was sent into the territory of the Ndembu Mutemu Kingengo, whilst another, under Diogo Gomes Morales, raided the villages of Nambua nongo, these chiefs having aided the defeated King.

Kisama, at all times an unruly district, and even now virtually independent, though situated on the sea and within easy reach of Luandu, has repeatedly given trouble to the Portuguese. In 1672, the sobas of the district unsuccessfully assaulted the fort at Muchima. In 1686 they blockaded that fort, until relieved by João de Figueiredo e Souza. In 1689, the sobas Kimone kia sanga and Muchima interfered with the free navigation of the Kwanza, and were punished by the Portuguese leader just named; and in 1695, the rebellion of the soba Katala brought into the field the captain-major, Manuel de Magalhães Leitão.

A rebellion in Lubolo, in 1677, was suppressed by Luiz Lopez de Sequeira. The soba Ngunga mbambe was killed, and his allies, Sakeda, Ngola kitumba, and Ngola Kabuku, were severely punished.

Far more serious was an expedition which the Governor, Gonçalo da Costa de Alcaçova Carneiro de Menezes, despatched against the ndembu Mbuilu (Ambuilla), who had expelled the Portuguese residents, robbed the Pumbeiros, and burnt the church. João de Figueireda e Souza, a trusted officer, was given the command; and notwithstanding that the garrison of Masanganu mutinied and refused to join him, he mustered, on May 25th, 1682, a formidable force of six hundred musketeers, forty-two horse, and a guerra preta of forty thousand men, with two field guns. Unfortunately, he lost precious time by lingering two months at Kamolembe, where many of his people died; and when at last ready to start, he heard that Mbuila had been reinforced by two “armies” sent to his aid by King Manuel of Kongo 502 and Queen Nzinga, and lost his head. Fortunately for the Portuguese a stroke of paralysis carried off this pusillanimous leader, and his place was taken by Pascoal Rodrigues, a man of much energy, who marched straight upon the mbanza of Mbuilu, and there achieved a great victory. Mbuilu fled to his neighbour and ally Ndamba (Dambe). The number of prisoners taken was so great that it was feared they might endanger the safety of their captors, and they were mercilessly beheaded, a nephew of Mbuilu alone being sent a prisoner to Luandu.503

When Pascaol Rodrigues fell ill, the Governor appointed João Baptista de Maia to succeed him. The troops passed the rainy season in barracks. On the return of fine weather, Mbuilu was pursued into the territory of Ndamba and killed. The mbanzas and over one hundred and fifty libatas were burnt. The Ndembu Kabanda, a partisan of [Pg 182] Mbuilu, was pursued by the sergeant-major, Lourenço de Barros Morim, and the leader of the guerra preta, Gonçalo Borges de Barros, and killed with many of his people. Another ndembu having been installed, and sworn allegiance to the King of Portugal, the army returned to Mbaka, and thence to Lembo near Masanganu. The victorious troops were refused admission into the latter, the garrison of which had mutinied. It was only after the Governor had promised a pardon to the offenders, with the exception of the leaders, that order was restored (1693).

Benguella.

S. Filippe de Benguella was founded in 1617 by Manuel Cerveira Pereira, and in 1661 its fortifications were rebuilt by Gaspar de Almeida Silva, whilst Manuel de Tovar Froes fought the neighbouring sobas. A further step in advance was taken in 1682, when the sergeant-major, Pedro da Silva, founded the presidio of Kakonda a velha, in the territory of the soba Bongo. Two years later, in 1684, this presidio was surprised by Bongo, and Manuel da Rocha Soares, its commandant, was killed. Carlos de Lacerda, who was despatched to avenge this outrage, being compelled to fall back before superior forces, João Bráz de Goes, the captain-major of Benguella, himself took the field. The Jaga, deserted by his people, sought refuge with Ngola njimbu (Golla Gimbo), but was pursued and captured,504 and the present presidio was built eighty miles further inland (1685), in the territory of the soba Kitata. An attempt made by the soba of Huambo (Hiamba), in 1698, to expel the Portuguese was frustrated by Antonio de Faria, its commandant. A more formidable attack by the neighbouring sobas, in 1718, proved equally ineffectual. The Portuguese had thus gained an advanced post nearly one [Pg 183] hundred and fifty miles from the coast, the possession of which opened up to them fresh sources for the supply of slaves, and contributed not a little to the growing prosperity of S. Filippe de Benguella.

Ecclesiastical Affairs.

The Jesuits were the earliest missionaries in Angola; but it would be in vain to look to them for any precise geographical or historical information, such as is furnished by members of the Society established in other parts of the world. They confined their activity to the seat of Government and its immediate vicinity, and Portuguese authors are severe upon their love of power and covetousness. Their relations with the Governors were on many occasions strained, but it cannot be asserted that the Jesuit Fathers were in every instance in the wrong.505 As an illustration of their masterfulness, the following incident may serve. In 1661, the Governor, João Fernandez Vieira, very properly ordered that pigs, should no longer be allowed to run about the streets of the capital. The Jesuits did not deign to take the slightest notice of this order; and when several of their slaves were arrested for disregarding it, they protested against this exercise of authority, and actually excommunicated the Governor. But the Governor was not to be frightened. He reported the case to his King, D. Affonso VI, and the King in a Royal rescript of December 9th, 1666, severely reproved the Jesuits for their insolence; and threatened, in case of similar conduct, to deprive them of the crown lands, and to take other legal measures against them.

Franciscans (Tertiaries of the Order of St. Joseph) followed the Jesuits in 1604. Then came the Capuchins, [Pg 184] for the most part Italians and Castilians, in 1651; and lastly barefooted Carmelites (Religiozos de S. Thereza). Of all these friars the Italian Capuchins alone appear to have done good work; and to members of their Order, and especially to Giovanni Antonio Cavazzi, of Montecuccoli, Antonio Laudati, of Gaeta, and Antonio Zucchelli, of Gradisco, we are indebted for much useful information regarding the people among whom they laboured. Many of the other friars seem to have been men whom their superiors in Europe were glad to part with; and the same may be said with reference to the secular clergy.

A report of the ecclesiastical affairs of Angola and Kongo, drawn up in 1694 by Gonçalo de Alcaçova Carneiro Carvalho da Costa de Menezes, by order of the Governor, presents us with a deplorable picture of the state of affairs in that year. Throughout the country there were only thirty-six friars 506 and twenty-nine secular clergy; and of these as many as twenty-nine had taken up their quarters in the capital. Of fifty churches and chapels, many were without priests, and had fallen into ruins. The village missions (missões das Sanzalas) had long been given up, and many baptised negroes had returned to the ancient superstitions. The author proposes the institution of a court of clerics, in order that all lapses of this kind might be punished in accordance with the “sacred canons.” A board of missions (Junta das missões), which had been created in 1693, and richly endowed,507 allowed things to drift. Lopes de Lima 508 ascribes the failure of the Christian missions, first, to the small number of missionaries and priests; secondly, to the corruption of the clergy; and thirdly, to the slave-trade.

Measures of Administration.

João Fernandez Vieira must be credited with the first serious attempt to organise the military forces of the country (1660), by raising a regiment, or terço, of infantry, for Luandu, and a company for each presidio. These “regulars” were to be supported by the guerra preta, or empacaceiros. A company of cavalry was added to the regular troops in 1672; and the exemption from every kind of military service conferred upon the inhabitants of Luandu since 1660 was partly abolished in 1695, and orders given for the organisation of a terço of ordenanças (militia) for Luandu, and of seventeen companies for the districts and presidios. The fortifications of Luandu had been much improved since the expulsion of the Dutch. The fort of S. Miguel, at Luandu, which was begun in 1638, had been completed by D. João de Lencastre in 1689; and at the close of the century there existed forts, sufficiently strong to resist native attack, at Muchima, Masanganu, Kambambe, Pungu a ndonga, Mbaka, S. Filippe de Benguella, and Kakonda.

The only measure bearing upon the civil administration of the country seems to have been the publication of a Regimento for the guidance of officers of revenue and of justice, in 1675. At the same time, an extra export-duty of ten testões 509 was ordered to be paid on every slave, the proceeds to go towards the dowry of Queen Catherine, the consort of Charles II of England.

The introduction of copper coins (makutas) into Luandu, in 1624, caused much dissatisfaction, and actually led to a mutiny of the troops, who not unnaturally felt agrieved at being expected to accept 200 reis in copper as an equivalent of a native cloth, up to that time valued at 700 [Pg 186] reis.510 The mutiny was suppressed, and the five ringleaders were executed. In the interior of the country, the ancient currency remained in force, larger amounts being paid in merchandise (fazenda de lei), whilst smaller sums were paid in zimbos (njimbu) or cowries, libongos (mbongo, plural jimbongo), or square pieces of native cloth, or blocks of rock-salt.

The only attempt at geographical exploration was that of José de Roza, who left Masanganu in 1678, for the lower Zambezi, but turned back after only a few days’ journey, owing to the hostility of the natives.

At the end of the seventeenth century, Portugal held sway over a territory of over fifty thousand square miles; she maintained fortified posts far inland; her traders had penetrated as far as the upper Kwanza; and on the coast she held the prosperous cities of S. Paulo de Luandu and S. Filippe de Benguella. But this prosperity depended almost exclusively upon the slave trade. Scarcely any attempt had been made to develop the great natural resources of the country, and even the food of the inhabitants was still largely supplied by the Brazils. The colonists introduced included too large a criminal element; the Government officials were more intent upon realising large fortunes 511 than permanently benefiting the country they had been sent to rule; and even among the preachers of the gospel were men quite unfit to hold the office which they filled. And this deplorable state of affairs continued long beyond the period with which we have dealt. Lopes de [Pg 187] Lima 512 calls D. Francisco Innocencio de Sousa Coutinho, who was appointed in 1764, the “first Governor who undertook to civilise this semi-barbarous colony; and who during his rule of eight years and a-half, did more in that sense than all his predecessors had ever thought of.” Up to his time, “Governors, captains, magistrates, men of the church and the cloister” were only intent upon dividing the spoils of office, and acted in the most scandalous manner.

APPENDIX V.

A LIST OF THE GOVERNORS OF ANGOLA,
1575-1702.

The date of arrival and departure are given, unless stated otherwise.

16. Fernão de Souza, appointed October 21st, 1623; in possession February, 1624, to 1630.

21.513 Bartholomeu de Vasconcellos da Cunha, Antonio Texeira de Mendonça, and João Juzarte de Andrada, the captains-major, 1646 to 1648.

28. Tristão da Cunha, August, 1666, to January, 1667; when the people compelled him to depart in the vessel in which he had come.

29.513 Antonio de Araujo e Azevedo, president of the Camara of Luandu, 1667 to 1669.

35. Gonçalo da Costa de Alcaçova Carneiro de Menezes, November 1st, 1691, to 1694.

MAP OF KONGO & ANGOLA
illustrating their
HISTORY TO THE CLOSE OF THE 17^TH CENTURY

FOOTNOTES:

1 Battell tells us (p. 7) that he and Thomas Turner were transported to Angola in the same vessel (1590). Purchas conferred with Turner after he had returned to England, and obtained from him an account of his travels, he having “lived the best part of two years in Brazil” (lib. vi, c. 8). Elsewhere we learn that he “had also been in Angola” (see p. 71).

This apparently straightforward information is quite irreconcilable with what we are told by Knivet; for Knivet says he met Turner at Pernambuco (about 1598); that he advised him to go to Angola; that Turner acted on this advice, and “made great profit of his merchandise, for which he thanked me when we met in England.” Concerning Knivet, see post, p. 89.

2 This description does not, of course, apply to his “Voyage to the East Indies,” but it does to his “Description of the whole Coast of Guinea, Manicongo, Angola, etc.”

3 His Schifffarten was first published at Basel in 1624. On this traveller, see an Abhandlung by D. G. Henning (Basel, 1900), who rather absurdly calls him the “first German scientific traveller in Africa.”

4 Vijf verscheyde Journalen ... Amsterdam [1620].

5 Subsequent editions appeared in 1614, 1617, and 1626.

6 Battell’s narrative was reprinted in Astley’s New General Collection of Voyages, vol. iii (1746), and Pinkerton’s Collection, vol. xvi (1813). Translations or abstracts were published in the Collections of Pieter van der Aa (Leiden, 1706-07); of Gottfried (Leiden, 1706-26); of Prévôt (Paris, 1726-74); in the Allgemeine Historie der Reisen (Leipzig, 1747-77), in the Historische Beschrijving der Reisen (The Hague, 1747-67), and by Walckenaer (Paris, 1826-31).

7 See “The Lake Region of Central Africa: a Contribution to the History of African Cartography,” by E. G. Ravenstein (Scottish Geogr. Mag., 1891).

8 Among documents, the publication of which seems desirable are Don G. Abreu de Brito’s Summario e Descripção do Reino de Angola, 1592; and Cadornega’s Historia (at least, in abstract).

9 Abraham Cocke had been in the Brazils before this voyage, for we learn from Purchas (bk. vi, Pt. IV, London, 1625, p. 1141) that George, Earl of Cumberland, who had left Gravesend on June 26, 1586, with three ships and a pinnace, fell in, on January 10, 1587, with a Portuguese vessel, a little short of the River Plate, and in her found “Abraham Cock, of Leigh, near London,” whom he brought home with him.

10 Pinnace: formerly applied to any small vessel, usually schooner-rigged; at present limited to a large rowing-boat carried by great ships.

11 Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands.

12 Light-horseman: a pinnace, a rowing-boat.

13 Vessels bound for Brazil usually cross the Equator about long. 22° W. If Captain Cock really intended to go direct to Brazil, he had no business at Cabo das Palmas. Can his voyage to S. Thomé really have been, as he says, an involuntary deviation from his direct course?

14 The island of S. Thomé was discovered by the Portuguese about 1472, and received its first settlers in 1486. In the course of the sixteenth century it suffered much from the depredations of French, English, and Dutch pirates, as also (1574) from a revolt headed by the Angolares: that is, the descendants of Angolan slaves who had swum ashore when the vessel which carried them was wrecked, in 1544, on the Sette Pedras, and had fled to the woods near. The Fortaleza de S. Sebastião was intended to defend the capital against piratical attacks. It was completed in 1575; but the Dutch, under Admiral Van der Dam, nevertheless sacked the city in 1600. Only four years before the author’s arrival, in 1485, the city had been destroyed by fire.

15 The Ilhéo das Rôlas (Turtle-dove Island) lies about a mile off the southern extremity of S. Thomé. It is of volcanic origin, rises to a considerable height, and is densely wooded. The inhabitants (about 100) are dependent upon the rain for their drinking water, for there are no springs. The chief articles of export are cacao and coffee.

16 That is, the Povoação of early days, on the Bahia de Anna de Chaves, incorporated in 1535 as the Cidade de S. Thomé.

17 Cabo de Lopo Gonçalves, thus named after its discoverer, Cape Lopez of our charts, in lat 0° 36´ S.

18 The “dolphin” of British sailors is the doirada, or gilthead, of the Portuguese (Coryphaena hippurus), and delights to swim in the shadow of the vessel.

19 The Ilha Grande lies in lat. 23° 10´ S., sixty miles to the west of Rio de Janeiro. It is about seventeen miles in length, lofty, and shelters a safe bay, surrounded with magnificent scenery.

20 S. Salvador, on the Bahia de todos os Santos, lat. 13° S.

21 That is, one of the “degradados” or convicts, whom it is even now customary to banish to the Colonies.

22 The Isla de Lobos Marinos (Seal Island) lies off Maldonado Point, and forms a conspicuous landmark for vessels approaching the Rio de la Plata.

23 The Seal (phoca vitulina, Linn.) and Otary (Otaria jubata, Desm.) have become very rare. The morse or walrus is found only in the Northern hemisphere.

24 These south-westerly winds are known as Pamperos. They are more frequent in winter. In summer they blow with greater force, but generally cease sooner.

25 Isla Verde can be no other than Flores, a small island further west than the Isla de Lobos.

26 The Ilha de São Sebastião, in lat. 23° 50´ S.

27 Espirito Santo, a town on the coast of Brazil, in lat. 20° 20´ S.

28 This capture must have happened at the end of 1589, or, at latest, early in 1590, yet Thomas Knivet, who only left England with Cavendish in August 1591, gives an account of the capture of five Englishmen (Purchas iv, 1625, p. 1220) which at the first glance seems to be a different version of this very incident. Knivet professes to have been at Rio de Janeiro at the time, two months after his return from Angola in 1598. He says: “There came a small man-of-war to Great Island [Ilha Grande, 70 miles west of Rio]; the captain’s name was Abram Cocke; he lay in wait for the ships on the River of Plate, and had taken them if it had not been for five of his men that ran away with his boat that discovered his being there; for within a sevennight after he was gone three caravels came within the same road where he was. These five men were taken by a Friar who came from S. Vincent, and were brought to the river of Janeiro. I being at this time in some account with the Governor favoured them as well as I could.” In the further course of his narrative Knivet names two of these five men, namely, Richard Heixt and Thomas Cooper. Thomas Turner is referred to elsewhere, but not under circumstances which would lead one to assume that he was one of the five. Battell is not mentioned at all.

Are we to suppose, then, that Captain Cocke was heard of once more, and that in 1599 he lost five men on the Ilha Grande, just as nine years before he had lost five on the island of San Sebastian? Such a coincidence is possible, but most improbable.

29 This Thomas Turner, or Torner, subsequently returned to England, and Purchas had speech with him.

30 São Paulo de Loanda, the capital of Angola, 8° 48´ S.

31 The Kwanza, the most important river of Angola, navigable from the sea as far as the rapids of Cambambe. The “town of garrison” was Masanganu, founded in 1582.

32 João Furtado de Mendonça only arrived at Loanda on August 1, 1594. He remained Governor until early in 1602, when he was succeeded by João Rodriguez Coutinho.

33 That is, the two incisors of the upper jaw, commonly known as “tusks.”

34 Battell’s “wheat” is masa-mamputo, or zea mayz. Elsewhere he speaks of “Guinea wheat,” and this might be sorghum or millet; but as he says that the natives call the grain “mas impoto,” there can be no doubt about its identity with masa-mamputo, the grão de Portugal, or maize, which, according to Ficalho, was imported from America.

35 The River of Congo is known to the natives as “Nzadi,” or “Nzari,” which merely signifies “great river “(Bentley’s Dictionary of the Congo Language). For Isle de Calabes we ought perhaps to read Ilha das Calabaças (Calabash Island). The position of this island I am unable to determine. Perhaps it is the same as an Ilheo dos Cavallos Marinhos (Hippopotamus Island), described by Pimentel as lying within the Cabo do Padrão, Congo mouth. Duarte Lopez (A Report of the Kingdom of Congo, drawn out of the Writings of Duarte Lopez, by F. Pigafetta, 1591. Translated by Margareta Hutchinson. London, 1881) says it was the first island met with on entering the Zaire, and that, although small, the Portuguese had a town upon it.

36 Palm cloth is made from the fronds of the ntera, or fan palm (Hyphæne Guineensis).

37 Dapper (Africa, Amsterdam, 1670, p. 520) tells us that the hairs from an elephant’s tail were highly valued by the natives, who wove them into necklaces and girdles; fifty of these hairs or bristles were worth 1000 reis! Duarte Lopez (Kingdom of Congo, London, 1881, p. 46) says that one such tail was equal in value to two or three slaves, and that native hunters followed the elephants up narrow and steep defiles, and there cut off the desired spoils. Battell himself (see p. 58) bought 20,000 (hairs) which he sold to the Portugals for thirty slaves.

38 The Egyptians were, of course, Ciganos, or gypsies. They appeared in Portugal in the beginning of the sixteenth century. A Royal order of 1526 ordered them to leave the kingdom, but appears to have had no more effect than a law of 1538, which, on account of the thefts of which they were accused, and their sorceries, threatened them with a flogging and the confiscation of their goods, if caught within the kingdom. This law was re-enacted in 1557, when the galleys were substituted for a flogging; and in 1592 a still more severe law was enacted, which threatened with death all those who should not quit the kingdom within four months. Battel’s associates were, no doubt, gipsies who had been sent as convicts to Angola (see F. A. Coelho, Os Ciganos de Portugal, Lisbon, 1892).

The Moriscoes are the Moors of Morocco. Early Portuguese writers refer to the men who had fought in Africa (Morocco) as Africanos, and Battell’s Moriscoes were in all probability Moorish prisoners of war, or Moors expelled from Portugal.

39 Mani or Muene, lord and even king, as Muene Putu, King of Portugal, but also applied to a mere village chief. The Cabech of Battell must have resided somewhere about Muchima, but on the right bank of the Coanza.

40 Battell’s Guinea wheat is masa-mamputo, or grão de Portugal, the zea mayz of botanists, which, according to Candolle and Ficalho, was introduced from America.

41 Kasanza’s lake can confidently be identified with the Lalama Lake of modern maps, south of the Rio Bengo, thirty-six miles due east of S. Paulo de Loanda. Ka is a diminitive; nsanza means village.

42 The river of Bengo or Nzenza, which enters the sea ten miles north-east of Loanda.

43 Mani Bangono’s district is not mentioned elsewhere. It cannot have been far from the sea.

44 Mushi or Mwishikongo, a Congo-man: plural, Eshi-Kongo.

45 Bamba, or rather Mbamba, the south-west province of Congo, extending to the lower Coanza.

46 Lamba, or Hamba, is bounded by the Bengo in the north, and by the Coanza and its tributary the Lucalla on the south. The “Governor” here referred to is João Furtado de Mendonça. Battell seems to have been among the reinforcements despatched after the disastrous campaign in the spring of 1596. The “General” of Battell was João de Velloria, a Spaniard, who was Capitâo mór do Campo.

47 The route followed by Battell is approximately indicated upon the map. Sowonso may be the same as Dapper’s Chonso or Douville’s Quionso, beyond Icolo. As to the other places along the route, I can suggest no identifications. Namba Calamba certainly has nothing to do with the Portuguese Fort Calumbu on the Coanza, built in 1571.

48 Kumba ria Kaiangu?

49 Outeiro (Portuguese), a hill.

50 Battell’s Ingasia is undoubtedly the Angazi or Engase of Duarte Lopez, a Bunda district subject to Bamba, which in Pigafetta’s map lies to the south of the river Bengo. Mendez de Castellobranco, p. 11, mentions Engombe (Ngombe). The name survives perhaps in the Ndembu Ngombe a Muquiama on the northern bank of the Bengo, who, according to J. V. Carneiro (An. do conselho ultramar., vol. ii, pp. 172 to 179, 1861), was in olden times dependent upon Congo. The name Ngombe (“ox”) is, however, a very common one.

51 The Pete, more correctly called Puita, or Kipuita, is a musical instrument described by Monteiro (Angola, vol. ii, p. 140), and in Cordeiro da Matta’s Diccionario, p. 29. It consists of a hollow wooden cylinder, one end of which is covered with sheepskin. A wooden stick is passed through the centre of this sheepskin, and a most hideous noise is produced by moving this stick to and fro.

52 The Pongo (mpunga) is an ivory trumpet.

53 Engeriay seems to be a misprint, perhaps for the Ogheghe of Duarte Lopez, which Ficalho identifies with Mung’eng’e (Spondias lutea) of Angola, called Gego by Lopez de Lima (Ensaios, vol. iii, p. 15). Dr. Welwitsch found the tree growing wild in the mountains of Benguella, whence it was transplanted to Loanda. It is valued for its wood, the shade it affords, and its fruit, which resembles a yellow plum, is of delicious flavour and esteemed as a remedy against bile (Ficalho, Plantas uteis, p. 126; Monteiro, Angola, vol. ii, p. 298). Purchas, in a marginal note, Bk. VII, c. 4, says that the Ogheghe “bears a fruit which is like a yellow plumme and is very good to eat, and hath a very sweet smell withall.” This information was given by Battell.

54 Pome-water, a kind of apple, called malus carbonaria by Coles (Nares’s Glossary).

55 Margarita is the Portuguese (and Latin) for pearl. Purchas may have suggested the word, whilst Battell simply referred to the cowrie currency of the country, or to a more valuable shell such as Cavazzi (p. 12) says was found near Cambambe, a collar of which had the value of a slave; or to a crystal found in Shela, and called “thunder-stone” by the natives. Mr. R. C. Phillips writes: “I have found that some kind of stone used to pass as money in the old slave times, say in 1850 or 1860, but I never saw one. These stones were of great value, and I have a vague idea they were called ‘agang.’”

56 The author’s “wheat” is maize (see p. 7).

57 This is undoubtedly the bay upon which Manuel Cerveira Pereira, in 1617, founded the city of S. Filippe de Benguella. The bay at that time was known as Bahia da Torre, or de S. Antonio. By its discoverers it seems to have been named Golfo de S. Maria. The “torre” is, of course, the Ponta do Sombreiro or S. Philip’s bonnet. Pimentel (Arte de Navegar, 1762, p. 276) locates a Bahia da Torre fifty miles to the south of Benguella Bay, which therefore corresponds to the Elephant Bay of modern maps, with its “mesa,” or table-mountain rising to a height of a thousand feet.

58 Cacongo (recte Kikongo), according to Welwitsch, is the wood of Tarchonanthes camphoratus. It is hard, of a greyish olive colour, and has the perfume of camphor. Its powder is esteemed as a tonic (Ficalho, Plantas uteis, p. 206).

59 Carraca, a vessel, generally of considerable burthen, and such as could be profitably employed in the Brazilian and Indian trade.

60 Ndalabondo seems to be the name of a person. The people in the interior of Benguella are known as Bi’nbundo.

61 Neither Mr. Dennett nor Mr. Phillips knows a bead of that name. Mpinda (plur. Zimpinda) means ground nut.

62 For an account of Dombe, which lies to the south of St. Filip de Benguella, see Capello and Ivens, From Benguella to the Territory of Yacca, London, 1882, vol. i, p. 308; and Serpa Pinto, How I Crossed Africa, London, 1881, vol. i, p. 46. Copper ore abounds in the district, and a mine, four miles inland, was recently worked by the Portuguese (Monteiro, Angola, London, 1875, vol. ii, p. 198).

63 That is, bark-cloth made of the inner bark of the nsanda, Banyan or wild fig-tree, or Ficus Lutata (see Pechuel Loesche, Loango Exped., vol. iii, p. 172).

64 Purchas spells indifferently Gaga, Iagge, Giagas, etc. The correct spelling is Jaga or Jaka. For a sketch of the history of these military leaders, see Appendix.

65 The Morro, or bluff, of Old Benguella, in lat. 10° 48´ S., is a conspicuous headland, presenting a perpendicular cliff towards the sea, its summit being covered with cactus trees. Here Antonio Lopez Peixoto, a nephew of Paulo Dias, in 1587, had built a presidio, which was soon afterwards abandoned.

66 The river Cuvo (Kuvu) enters the sea in 10° 52´ S.

67 In a note to Bk. VII, c. iv, § 8 (Hartwell’s translation of Pigafetta), Battell is made to say that “the Iagges came from Sierre Liona. But they dispersed themselves as a general pestilence and common scourge through most parts of Ethiopia.” But see p. 83, where Battell denies the statements made by Lopez.

Walkenaer (Histoire des Voyages, vol. xiii), says that Dapper’s Sierra Leone cannot be the place usually known by that name. The only locality in that part of Africa named in honour of a lion, as far as I know, are the Pedras de Encoge, or more correctly del nkoshi (which means Lion).

68 Ndongo is the name of the kingdom of Ngola (Angola). Its old capital was at Pungu-a-Ndongo, a remarkable group of rocks, popularly known as Pedras Negras.

69 Ngongo (plural Jingongo), in Kimbundu, means twin, and hence Ngong’e, a double bell, such as is described by Monteiro (Angola, vol. i, p. 203); in Lunda it is called rubembe (Carvalho, Exp. Port., Ethnographia, p. 369). See also note, p. 80.

70 “Gingado,” elsewhere spelt “Iergado,” is evidently a misprint for Jangada, a Portuguese word meaning “raft.” Such a raft is called Mbimba, and is made of the wood of the bimba (Herminiera Elaphroxylon, Guill. et. Perr.), which is identical with the Ambaj of the Nile, and grows abundantly on the swampy banks of the rivers. Battell himself, at a critical point of his career, built himself such a jangada (Ficalho, Plantas uteis da Africa, 1884, p. 33).

71 Tavale. Mr. Dennet suggests that tavale corresponds to the libala of Loango, a word derived from the Portuguese taboa (table), for the instrument of this name consists of a board supported by two sticks of wood, and kept in its place by wooden pegs driven into the ground. The player beats this board with his two index fingers. A. R. Neves, Mem. da Epedição a Cassange, p. 110, calls tabalha a drum, which is beaten to make known the death of a Jaga Cassange.

72 Mbala or Embala merely means town or village. Lad. Magyar (Reisen in Süd-Afrika, p. 383) has a district Kibala, abounding in iron, the chief town of which is Kambuita on the river Longa. Walckenaer’s suggestion (Histoire des Voyages, vol. xiii, p. 30) that Bambala and Bembe are identical is quite unacceptable.

73 The baobab is indifferently called by Battell alicunde, licondo, elicondi, olicandi, or alicunde, all of which are corruptions of nkondo, by which name the tree is known in Congo. The Portuguese know this characteristic tree of the coast-land and the interior as imbondeiro (from mbondo in Kimbundu). Its inner bark yields a fibre known as licomte, is made into coarse cloth, and is also exported to Europe to be converted into paper. The wood is very light. The pulp of the fruit is refreshing, and was formerly esteemed as a remedy against fever and dysentery. The seeds are eaten. The shell (macua) is used to hold water (hence the popular name of Calabash tree). Ficalho distinguishes three species, viz., Adansonia digitata, Linn., the fruit of which is longish; A. subglobosa, bearing a bell-shaped fruit; A. lageniformis, yielding a fruit shaped like a cucumber (see Monteiro, Angola, vol. i, p. 78; Ficalho, Plantas uteis, p. 100).

74 The cedar of the Portuguese is Tamarix articulata, Vahl., and resembles a cypress (Ficalho, Plantas uteis da Africa, 1884, p. 94).

75 Kizangu, in Kimbundu, means fetish. Burton (Two Trips to Gorilla Land, vol. ii, p. 120), saw a like image, also called Quesango, in a village above Boma.

76 The so-called fetishes (from feitiço, a Portuguese word meaning sorcery) are not idols, but charms and amulets, generally known as nkissi, nkishi, or mukishi. There are nkissi peculiar to a district, village, or family; charms and amulets to shield the wearer or possessor against all the evils flesh is heir to, and others enabling the priest or nganga to discover crime or the cause of disease. The idea underlying the belief in the efficacy of these charms was very prevalent among our own ancestors, and the images, rosaries, crosses, relics, and other articles introduced by the Roman missionaries are looked upon by the natives as equivalent to their own nkissi. Even at the present day, images of S. Francis and of other saints may be seen in the collection of Royal Fetishes at S. Salvador, and a cross called santu (Santa Cruz) “is the common fetish which confers skill in hunting” (Bentley, Pioneering on the Congo, vol. i, pp. 35, 36, 39). The images, according to Bentley, seen among the natives are not idols but receptacles of “charms” or medicine. As to a belief in witchcraft (ndoki, witch; Kindoki, witchcraft), it is not even now quite extinct among Christian people, boasting of their civilisation, for a reputed wizard was drowned at Hedingham in Essex in 1863, and a witch burnt in Mexico as recently as 1873. Matthew Hopkins, the famous witch-finder, cannot claim a higher rank than an African nganga, although his procedure was not quite the same. Nor can I see any difference between a fetish and the miraculous “bambino” manufactured in the sixteenth century, and kept in the church of S. Maria Aracœli, which a priest takes to the bedside of sick or dying persons, who are asked to kiss it to be cured, and whose guardians are at all times ready to receive the offerings of the faithful (see Dickens, Pictures from Italy).

77 Marginal note by Purchas:—“Of these Giagas read also Pigafetta’s Book of Congo, translated into English by M. Hartwell, and my Pilgrimage, l. 7. But none could so well know them as this author, who lived so long with them.”

78 The river Longa [Lungu] enters the sea in lat. 10° 20´ S.

79 A soba Calungo is shown on the most recent maps as residing north of the river Longa.

80 Perhaps we ought to read Tunda, the bush, the East. Lad. Magyar (Reisen, p. 378) has a chief Tunda in the country of the Sellas, and Falkenstein (Loango Expedition, p. 73) heard of a district Tunda, inland from Novo Redondo.

81 The Gonsa or Gunza (Ngunza) of Battell is undoubtedly the Coanza. A river Ngunza enters the sea at Novo Redondo.

82 Shila, nasty; mbanza, towns.

83 According to Duarte Lopez (Pigafetta, p. 55), the feathers of peacocks and of ostriches are used as a standard in battle. Hence, peacocks are reared within a fence and reserved for the king.

84 Njilo (in Kimbundu), bird; mukishi, a charm.

86 Cambambe (Ka, diminutive; mbambi, gazelle), a village on the north bank of the Coanza, below the falls formed by the river in forcing its way through the Serra de Prata. Silver, however, has never been found there (at least not in appreciable quantities), nor anywhere else in Angola or Congo. Still we are told (Paiva Manso, p. 50) that the King of Congo, in 1530, sent the wife of King Manuel two silver bracelets which he had received from one of his chiefs in Matamba, and that among the presents forwarded by Ngola Nbande, the King of Ndongo, to Paulo Dias in 1576, there were several silver bracelets, which the Regent of Portugal, Cardinal Henrique, had converted into a chalice, which he presented to the church at Belem (Catalogo dos Governadores de Angola). According to Capello and Ivens (Benguella, vol. ii, pp. 58, 233), silver ore is plentiful in Matamba, although they never saw any in loco.

87 Battell’s Casama is the wide province of Kisama (Quiçama), to the south of the Coanza.

88 This Casoch (a misprint for Cafoch) is the Cafuxe (Cafuche) of the Portuguese, who defeated Balthasar de Almeida on April 22, 1594. On August 10, 1603, the Portuguese, led by Manuel Cerveira Pereira, retrieved this disaster.

89 The name Calandola is by no means rare. A Calandula Muanji resided in 1884, eight miles to the north-east of Malanje (Carvalho, Viagens, vol. i, p. 443); another resided, formerly, near Ambaca (ib., p. 230); and a third on the Lucala, south of Duque de Bragança, was visited by Capello and Ivens (Benguella, vol. ii, p. 45). A Jaga Calandula accompanied Joāo Soares de Almeida on his disastrous expedition to Sonyo (Cat. dos Gov., p. 390). Either of these may have been a descendant of Battell’s Calandula.

90 Human victims are still sacrificed by the diviner when consulting departed spirits (see A. R. Neves, Memoria, p. 119).

91 Cavazzi (Historica Descrizione de tre Regni Congo, etc., Bologna, 1687, p. 207) gives a plan of a Jaga camp, or Kilombo. It is formed of a square stockade, having in its centre the quarters of the Commander-in-chief, within a triple hedge of thorns. Between the stockade, which has only a single gate, and the inner enclosure are the quarters of the six principal officers, including the Golambolo (ngolo, strength, mbula, a blow), or Lieutenant-General, the Tendala, or Commander of the Rear-guard, and the Mani Lumbo (lumbu, a stockade), or Engineer-in-chief.

92 Tavales (see note, p. 21).

93 Bahia das Vaccas, old name for Benguella Bay. There seems to be no native name for gold; yet Dr. Francisco José Maria de Lacerda, when with the abortive expedition of 1797, which was charged with the exploration of the Kunene, met a negress whose head-dress was composed of golden laminæ, said to have been washed in that river (Burton, Lacerda’s Journey to Cazembe, London, 1873, p. 23). Ladislaus Magyar (Reisen, p. 176), says that about 1833 a Brazilian miner washed gold in the mountains of Hambo. Quite recently, in 1900, the Mossamedes Company granted a lease of the Kasinga goldfields to an English company.

94 The Imbondos are clearly the Nbundu of Angola, who draw the palm wine from the top, whilst the Jagas cut down the tree.

95 Purchas adds, in a marginal note: “Fruges consumere nati.”

96 “Flesh” in the sense of encourage.

97 Calando should be Calandola (see note on p. 28).

98 Mbamba, a whelk or trumpet-shell (Cordeiro da Matta, Dicc. Kimbundu).

99 Mr. Dennet suggests msose, a turritella, popularly known as screw-shell.

100 No ostriches are met with in Angola, and as to beads made of ostrich eggs, I can give no explanation.

101 Monteiro was told that the Sobas and their wives among the Musele only use human fat to anoint their bodies (vol. ii, p. 157).

102 The practice of wearing such nose ornaments exists to the present day in Lunda, among the Bangala and other tribes (Capello and Ivens, Benguela, vol. i, p. 265; Carvalho, Expedição Portugueza ao Muatianvua, Lingua de Lunda, p. 367; Ethnographia, p. 349).

103 Marginal note by Purchas: “They use this ceremony in Florida.”

104 Civet-cats are numerous in this part of Africa.

105 I am inclined to believe, from what we learn from Cavazzi and other missionaries, that only those children were killed which were born within the Kilombo. On the other hand, at the Court of the ferocious queen Jinga, we are told by Captain Füller, a Dutchman, that, on two days in 1648, 113 new-born infants born outside the camp were killed (Dapper, Africa, p. 545).

106 Ngunza, according to Cordeira da Matta, means all-powerful; according to Bentley a herald, who speaks on behalf of a chief.

107 See note, p. 19.

108 Human sacrifices among the Jaga are even now of frequent occurrence. They are made at the installation of a Jaga, one year after his election (when the sacrifice and its accompanying banquet are intended to conciliate the spirit of Kinguri, the founder of the Dynasty), at his death, on the outbreak of war, etc. The ceremony witnessed by Battell was an act of divination. The soothsayer summons the spirit of Kinguri, who is supposed to foretell the results of any enterprise about to be undertaken. In 1567, the Jaga Ngonga Kahanga, of Shela, having been advised by his soothsayers that he would suffer defeat in a war he was about to enter upon against the Portuguese, declined the arbitration of the sword, and submitted voluntarily. The body of the victim is cooked with the flesh of a cow, a goat, a yellow dog, a cock and a pigeon, and this mess is devoured (ceremoniously) by the Jaga and his makotas (councillors).

109 The handle of this switch contains a potent medicine, which protects the owner against death.

110 Casengula, called Kissengula, p. 86, was perhaps a trombash, for sangula means to kill at a long range (Bentley).

111 The Jagas are still buried sitting, and wives are sacrificed (Capello and Ivens, From Benguella to the Territory of the Iacca, vol. i, p. 330). In Ngois, likewise, the dead are occasionally buried in a sitting posture (Bastian, vol. i, p. 82). For a full account of a funeral, see Dennett’s Folklore, p. 11.

112 These feasts are intended to secure the goodwill of the deceased, so that he may not injure the living. Human beings are occasionally sacrificed, in addition to goats and fowls.

113 João Rodrigues Coutinho received his appointment as Governor at Madrid, on January 30, 1601 (see Appendix).

114 Ndemba, in Quissama, a territory famous for its salt mines, the chief of which was the Caculo Caquimone Casonga (Cadornega, 1702). In 1783, when P. M. Pinheiro de Lacerda invaded Quissama, a Caculo Caquimone still held the mines of Ndemba. Kakulu, the elder of twins, a title.

115 Outaba seems to be a misprint for libata (village). Tombo is on the north bank of the Coanza, almost due south of Loanda.

116 Songa, on the Coanza, below Muchima, a village in the territory of the Caculo Caquimone Casonga.

117 Machimba I believe to be Muchima or Muxima, whilst (according to Cadornega) a chief Cavao occupied a district above Lake Quizua and below Massangano.

118 According to the Catalogo dos Governadores, p. 356, the Governor died in Quissama. He was succeeded by his captain-major, Manuel Cerveira Pereira, and it was he who, on August 10, 1603, defeated Cafuxe, in the bloody battle to which reference is made in the text. Battell’s Angoykayongo is undoubtedly identical with the Agoacaiongo of an anonymous account of the Establimentos e Resgates Portuguezes (1607), published by L. Cordeira. He was a Christian chief; and a captain-major, with a detachment of cavalry, was stationed at his village to keep Quissama in order.

119 See note, p. 27.

120 Queen Elizabeth died April 3, 1603; but peace with Spain was only concluded on August 19, 1604.

121 João de Araujo e Azevedo was the officer left in command at Cambambe.

122 That is S. Salvador.

123 Ngongo, according to Cavazzi (p. 521), is a place on the road from Sundi to Batta, where Girolamo da Montesarchio destroyed the heathen images. This place possibly corresponds to the modern Gongo, a station on the Stanley Pool Railway. Cadornega has a Gongo de Bata, which figures on Dapper’s map as Congo de Bata, and lies to the west of the Mbanza of Bata. It is impossible to tell which of these places was visited by Battell; possibly he passed through both.

124 The Mbanza or chief town of Mbata, or Batta, still exists in 8° S., long. 15° E. Bentley (Pioneering, vol. ii, p. 404) passed through it, and discovered a huge wooden cross, a relic of the ancient missionaries.

125 D. Manuel Cerveira Pereira had assumed government at the beginning of 1603, and three years would conveniently carry us to 1606. The “new” Governor, D. Manuel Pereira Forjaz, was, however, only nominated on August 2, 1607.

126 See note, p. 11.

127 Nkoko, a large grey antelope.

128 Impalanca, Palanga, or Mpalanga, an antelope (Hippotragus equinus).

129 This is an electric silurus called nsõmbo, plur. sinsombo, by the natives. Fishermen dread its electrical discharges, but value its flesh (Pechuel-Loesche, Die Loango Expedition, vol. iii, p. 282). This fish, Mr. Dennett tells me, is the “xina” (taboo) of women, generally speaking, which may account for the word becoming a generic name for fish, as in Unyamwezi, Ugogo, and other countries, if vocabularies can be trusted.

130 See note, p. 21.

131 This is Red Point, or Ponta Vermelha, where there is a grove of palms.

132 Kabinda, 5° 31´ S., on a fine bay.

133 The river Kakongo, or Chiloango, enters the sea in lat. 5° 9´ S. to the north of Landana. It is a very considerable river, and its waters discolour the sea for seven miles.

134 Mbale, according to Bentley, is the coast region between the Congo and Ambrisette; but on Pigafetta’s map (1591) a town, Monbales, is shown to the south-east of the chief place of Sonho (Sonyo).

135 Pinda, or Mpinda, in Sonyo, is below the Mbanza of Sonyo, which on modern maps figures as St. Antonio.

136 The Luiza Loango, or Massábi, river enters the sea in lat. 5° 1´ S. Its depth across the bar is only 2 ft., but once within, it presents a fair waterway for over a hundred miles. Kaia is about ten miles up it.

137 The Golfo das Almadias, or Canoe Bay, as described by Battell, corresponds to Black Point Bay, 4° 48´ S., the inner bay of which, less than half a mile across, had become all but silted up by 1884.

138 No logwood is found in Loango, and Purchas points out in a note (post, p. 82), that Battell’s dyewood must be Red Sanders (Pterocarpus tinctorius), the tacula of Angola, and identical with the tavila of D. Lopez (Ficalho, Plantas uteis, p. 207). Pechuel-Loesche (Loango Exp., vol. iii, p. 190), on the other hand, states that the dye known as tacula is camwood (Baphia nitida, Afz.), and Bentley (Dict. of the Kongo Language), who calls the dye nkula, is of the same opinion. Another red dye is obtained from the Njilla sonde (Pterocarpus erinaceus, Poir.).

139 Nlunga (Bentley) or malungu (Cordeira da Matta) is the native word for bracelet.

140 The Maloango (ma, a contraction of mani or mwanu, son; mfumu, chief) or king is selected by the Mamboma (see p. 59) and the princes, and must be a nephew (sister’s son) of his predecessor. On his election he takes the title of Nganga nvumbu (Nganga, priest; nvumbu, benevolent spirit, breath), but only proceeds to that of Maloango when rich enough to summon the whole country to a great feast, when declaration is made for the first time officially of the death of the former Maloango, and he is buried. As these festivities are very expensive, they are often deferred for years, and many a Nganga nvumbu has died without even troubling about the higher title. The successors of the Maloango Njimbi of Loango, of Battell’s time, according to Mr. Dennett, have been: 1. Maloango Tati of Kondi; 2. Mani Puati of Chibanga; 3. Mani Yambi; 4. Man’anombo; 5. Mani Makosso Matukila of Kondi; 6. Mani Makosso Manombo; 7. Mani Makosso Masonga; 8. Mani Puati. Nos. 3 to 8 never assumed the title of Maloango. Mani Puati very much disgusted the people with his cruelty (he had killed his own daughter because she refused to cohabit with him); and when the French, in 1898, called upon the Mamboma and the princes to produce a Maloango, they ignored the existence of Puati, and elected his nephew, Mani Luemba. This list, however, is evidently imperfect.

141 Mr. Dennett, whose long residence at Loango and thorough knowledge of the languages entitle him to speak with authority, finds this passage unintelligible, but ventures to suggest the following:—

Baliani (my companion) ampembe (white) mpolo (face), muenyeye (Boio, the underground nkishni), ke zinga (not live long)!

Freely translated, it would mean “My companion, the white face, has risen from underground, and will not live long.” This is a curious greeting, but it fairly represents native ideas: for the white man, as long as he keeps to his ship (supposed to rise from the bottom of the ocean), is believed to live long; whilst, once he comes to stay ashore, he is condemned to an early death.

142 In a marginal note, Purchas says that the King’s wives are called Macomes. Such a title is known neither to Mr. Dennett nor to Mr. Phillips. Macome is probably a misprint for Maconda, the title borne, according to Dapper, p. 522, by the king’s “mother.” Nkondi, according to Bentley, is a title of nobility.

143 Mr. Dennett informs me that, still at the present day, when the King (Maloango) or rather Nganga nvumbu, drinks in state, he covers his head with a cloth, so that the public may not see him drink. On ordinary occasions, however, this custom is no longer observed.

144 The heads of all families eat alone; that is, they eat first, and their wives and children afterwards. Maloango still observes the same custom, with his ma sa vi, or house-steward, as the sole attendant (Dennett).

145 Bensa may be a corruption of the Portuguese banca, a table. Mr. Dennett does not know the word.

146 Not Sambe and Pongo, but Nzambi-ampungu! Nzambi is the name by which God is known; Nzambi-ampungu means the Most High (Supreme) God (Bentley, Life on the Congo, 1887, p. 62).

147 The rains begin in October and last till April, being heaviest from November to March. They are very irregular. Thus, in February 1874, 2.2 ins. fell at Chinchosho; in the same month, 1875,12.0 ins.; but in 1876 only 0.2 ins.

148 Ensaka, according to D. Lopez (Pigafetta), a stuff resembling velvet.

149 The Ndamba is no drum, as understood by Purchas, but a musical instrument made out of a piece of palm stem, about 4 or 5 ft. long. This is split down one side, the soft centre is then scooped out, and the edges of the split cut into notches. By rubbing these notches energetically with a stick, a loud rasping noise is produced (Monteiro, Angola, vol. ii, p. 139: Cordeiro da Matta, Diccionario, p. 118).

150 An ivory trumpet (see note, p. 15).

151 Battell seems to be mistaken. Mr. Dennett informs me that Maloango as Ngangu nvumbu (see note 44) collects the offerings of his people, and sends them with a petition for rain to the great rain-doctor, Nganga m Bunzi, in Ngoyo. He has never heard that Maloango had usurped the functions of the great rain-doctor by shooting an arrow to the sky. Abbé Proyart (Hist. de Loango, c. 13), says that the Maloango being desirous of not committing himself, orders one of his ministers to make rain.

152 Mr. Dennett tells me that Ndundu when born are thrown into the bush. During his long residence in Africa he has only seen one, and that was at Kinsembo, eighteen years ago. Proyart (Histoire de Loango, Paris, 1819, p. 150) says that these albinos are held higher than the Gangas, are looked upon almost as “divine,” and that their hair is valued as giving protection against accidents. See also p. 81.

153 Mukishi à Loango, the fetish or “charm” of Loango. Checocke is identical with Dapper’s Kikoko (Africa, Amsterdam, 1671, p. 535). Dapper’s account is not derived from Battell.

154 According to Mr. Bentley, hysteria is very common in this country. For the account of the ravings of a witch-doctor, see Pioneering, vol. i, p. 271.

155 Mr. Dennett informs me that the underground speaking fetish in Loango is at the present time called Boio, and is found at Chilunga. He suggests that Ngumbiri may be a river spirit, or Nkishi from the country north of Mayumba. Dr. Bastian paid a visit to the holy place of the underground oracle of Ngoio near Moanda, known as Mbunzi, which only speaks on the accession of a king, whom he instructs as to his royal duties (Die Deutsche Expedition, vol. i, p. 85, 223).

156 The mami (mwana, or princes) mentioned by Battell are those of Chibanga, Selanganga (of the family of the Petra Praia of Kenga), Mbuku, and Kaya, in Chikamba. (R. E. Dennett, on the law of succession, see note on p. 44.)

157 Mani Lombe is a man’s name: at least, at the present time, and is never given to a woman. It means “One who is peaceful and quiet.” No special name or title is borne by the mother of the successors of Maloango (R. E. Dennett); but as Lumbu means stockade, palace, or chiefs house, Battell may have mistaken a word applied to this woman’s residence for that of her title. Lombo means a person supposed to be an incarnation of a shimbi, or water-fairy.

158 Palm-cloth (see note, p. 9).

159 Dr. Bastian visited the Royal graves at Loangiri, or Loangele, and found each grave marked by a tusk. The visitors pulled out grass around the tomb and poured libations of rum upon the bare ground (Die Deutsche Expedition an der Loango-Küste, Berlin, 1874, vol. i, p. 69).

160 This may be quite true of earlier times, when Europeans were looked upon as great wizards, who rose out of the sea and were returned to that element when they died. At present, however, a burial-place is set apart for them, and is looked after by the Petra Praia (Salanganga), an office created since the arrival of the Portuguese for the purpose of looking after the affairs of the white men (R. E. Dennett).

161 There is some confusion here. Angeca is evidently the Anziki or Anzique of D. Lopez and others, now represented by the Banteke, on Stanley Pool. The word may be derived from anseke, far or distant. The proper name of the tribe is Atio (A. Sims, Kiteke Vocabulary, 1886). Mococke (Makoko) is a title. Bongo is evidently the country of the Obongo of Du Chaillu, the Babongo of Lenz, Bastian, and Falkenstein: a race of dwarfs between the coast and the Banteke, varying in stature between 51 and 56 ins. Compare note, p. 59.

162 Identical with Chinkanga, on the river Juma, where the French have a post, Wemba.

163 The river Kuilu, 4° 28´ S.

164 As duas moutas (the two corpses) of Juan de la Cosa’s map (1500), near the mouth of the Kuilu.

165 Fifteen miles carry us to the Longebonda of the Admiralty Chart, 4° 20´ S.. which has very little water in it at the most favourable time of the year (Africa Pilot, vol. ii, 1893, p. 136), but the river meant is evidently the Numbi, which enters Chilunga (Kilonga) Bay in 4° 13´ S., a mere stream (Deutsche Loango Expedition).

166 Yumba is the name of the country. Mayumba (Mani Yumba) means chief of Yumba. The Bay of Mayumba, 3° 19´ S., lies about 10 miles to the south of Cape Mayumba, which is undoubtedly the Cabo Negro of Battell.

167 Dyewoods are still an article of export, but not logwood (see note, p. 43.)

168 The Banya, a lagoon extending to the south-east, parallel with the coast.

169 The Mpungu is the gorilla. For Engeco (printed Encego in the earlier editions) we ought to read Nsiku, the native name for the chimpanzi, a larger variety of which is known as Chimpenso (Pechuel-Loesche, Loango Expedition, vol. iii, p. 248). P. Du Chaillu, the first European to kill a gorilla in his native haunts (Adventures in Equatorial Africa), declares Battell’s stories to be mere traveller’s tales, “untrue of any of the great apes of Africa.” Sir R. F. Burton (Two Trips to Gorilla Land, vol. i, p. 240) suggests that as Battell had not seen a gorilla, he may have confounded gorillas with bushmen.

170 Misprint for Mayumbas?

171 Dr. Pechuel-Loesche (D. Loango Exp., vol. iii, p. 302) says that native dogs do not bark, but that they often acquire the habit when living among European dogs. Most of them are mongrels, but there are some superior breeds trained for hunting. These dogs carry a wooden bell (ndibu) round the neck, the clatter of which scares the game. When the scent grows warm, the dogs begin to whine, and when the game is in sight they give tongue. After each beat the dogs sit down apart from the hunters, raise their heads, and howl for several minutes. Mr. Dennett, in a letter to me, confirms the barking (kukula, to bark) of the native dogs.

172 See p. 82 for further information on this fetish.

173 Neither Mr. Dennett, nor one of the officials in the French Colonial Office, thoroughly acquainted with the language, has been able to make sense out of this sentence. The latter suggests Ku Kwiza bukie lika, “I come for the truth!” For another version of this appeal, see p. 83. The sentence is evidently very corrupt.

174 Circumcision is common in some districts, but no magical or mystic influence is ascribed to it (Bentley).

175 For an account of the initiation into the guild called Ndembo, see Bentley’s Dictionary, p. 506.

176 The custom of prohibiting certain food to be eaten, etc., is very common. Mpangu is the name for this taboo in the case of new-born infants; Konko, a taboo imposed in connection with an illness. The thing tabooed is called nlongo (Bentley).

177 This refers no doubt to Sette, the river of which enters the sea in 2° 23´ S. The capital of the same name being fifty miles up it. Barwood is still exported, but no logwood.

178 His modern representative seems to be the Mani Kasoche on the Upper Ngonga, who was visited by Güssfeldt.

179 Not to be taken literally, for Cão certainly touched at this bay.

180 The usual designation for “Dwarf” is mbaka or kimbakabaka (the diminutive of mbaka), but Batumba (with which Battell’s matimba seems to be identical) is likewise applied to a dwarf person or thing (Bentley). In Angola, Matumbu means a far-off, unknown country (Cordeiro da Matta). Compare note, p. 52.

181 “Marombos” seems to be a misprint for Mayumbas (see note, p. 55).

182 The Mamboma is a sort of home secretary. He buries the Maloango, and summons the princes for the election of a successor. Mboma is the black python; boma means fear. Hence the title has been translated “Lord of Terror.”

183 Mbundu, the powdered root of a species of strychnos, is administered to confessed witches accused of having caused the death of a person. If the accused be guilty, this poison causes him to lose all control over the sphincter urethræ; he discharges red urine profusely, runs a few paces, falls down and dies. An innocent person only discharges a few drops on a banana leaf (Pechuel-Loesche, Loango Exp., vol. iii, p. 188). Nkasa, prepared from the bark of Erythrophlaeum guineense, paralyses the action of the heart, but if thrown up at once, it will not kill (Dr. M. Boehr, Correspon. der Deutschen Afrik. Ges., vol. i, p. 332). It is administered to persons who deny being witches. (For a full account of such a trial, see Dennett, Seven Years Among the Fjort, p. 165.) In the case of minor offences, the ordeal of the hot matchet—bikalo, bisengo, or bau—is resorted to. The knife is passed thrice over the skin of the leg, and if it burns the accused is declared guilty (see also Dennett, Notes on the Folk-Lore of the Fjort, p. 162). The Nganga is, of course, open to a bribe, and in the case of a chief the poison may be administered to a substitute—a dog or a slave—and the penalty commuted to a fine. See also Bentley’s Pioneering on the Congo, London, 1900.

184 The poison administered in this case was nkasa, and not mbundu (see p. 80).

185 Ndoki, a witch; undoki, that which pertains to witchcraft (Bentley).

186 That is, Purchas his Pilgrimage, or Relations of the World, bk. vii, ch. 10, dealing with Loango.

187 Worthy Purchas grows quite incoherent in his indignation, but the reader will nevertheless be able to gather his meaning, and will appreciate his distinction between a Jewish priest and a heathen Nganga, both administering the same rite. He thus shares the opinion of the Roman Catholic missionaries who recognised the efficacy of native charms, but ascribed it to the Devil, whilst claiming greater potency for their crosses, relics, etc., deriving their potency from Heaven.

188 The poison ordeal, which required a woman suspected of infidelity to her husband to drink “bitter water” administered by the Jewish priest, is here referred to. This ordinance, of course, was not applicable in case of a similar offence charged against a husband (Numbers v, 12-31).

189 Valdez (Six Years in Angola, vol. ii, p. 130) calls this ordeal quirigué tubia (Kiriké tubia), and says that the hot hatchet may be applied to any part of the person. The meaning of kiri is truth; of tubia, fire. Purchas is evidently mistaken when he calls this procedure Motamba, for tambi or mutambi is a kind of funeral feast or wake. The body having been buried, and potsherds, pipes, and other articles placed on the grave, the mourners devour a roast pig, the skull of which is afterwards thrown into a neighbouring river.

190 Illness and death are frequently ascribed to witchcraft. If a disease does not yield to medical treatment by a Nganga a moko, the nganga a ngombo, or witch-doctor, is called in with his fetish. He may ascribe the death to natural causes, or to a charm worked by a person recently deceased and beyond his reach; or he may denounce one or more persons as witches. The persons thus denounced are compelled to submit to the poison ordeal (see, among others, Dennett’s Seven Years among the Fjort, and his Folk-Lore).

191 Garcia Mendes de Castellobranco, p. 33, says, in 1621, that hens abounded and also goats and sheep, but that cows were rare.

192 Zebras are still found in Benguella, but not any longer in Angola or Congo. Duarte Lopez, p. 49, speaks of a “pet zebra” (in Bamba?) which was killed by a “tiger.” Further on he says that zebras were common, but had not been broken in for riding. M. Garcia Mendez likewise mentions the “zebra.” The native name is ngolo (Kangolo). “Zebra” is a corruption of its Abyssinian appellation.

193 Tandale, in Kimbundu, means councillor or minister of a soba or kinglet; tumba’ndala was an old title of the Kings of Angola, and may be translated Emperor (Cordeiro da Matta, Diccionario).

194 All this is borne out by Portuguese documents. From the very beginning, Dias de Novaes handed over the Sovas to the mercy of his fellow-adventurers and the Jesuits. The system was still in force in 1620 when Garcia Mendez de Castellobranco proposed to King Philip a “regimen de aforamento” of the native chiefs, which would have yielded a revenue of fifteen million Reis, and would, at the same time, afforded some slight protection to the natives. Those who would have profited most largely by these “reforms” would have been the Jesuits.

195 According to Dr. Pechuel-Loesche (Die Loango Expedition, vol. iii, p. 279), this seems to be the cowfish of the whalers, or Tursions gillii, Dale. The natives call it ngulu-mputu (ngulu, hog-fish;-mputu, Portugal). He says that the natives will not suffer this fish to be injured, as it drives other fish ashore and into their nets; and that if one of these fish were to be wounded or killed they would stop away for ever so long. The Rev. W. M. Holman Bentley, in his Dictionary of the Kongo Language, says that the ngola of the natives is a bagre, or catfish. A gigantic bagre, 8 ft. in length, is found in the Upper Coanza (Monteiro, Angola, vol. ii, p. 134). Mr. Dennett suggests the Chialambu, a kind of bream, which is said to chase other fish; Mboa, Mbwa, or Imboa certainly means dog, and is not the name of a fish.

196 Massa-ngo, the Penisetum typhoideum, introduced from abroad. It is the milho, or millet, of the Portuguese (see Capello and Ivens, Benguella, vol. i, p. 103; vol. ii, p. 257).

197 Massa-mballa is sorghum (Ficalho). A white variety is known as Congo-mazzo.

198 This is luku, or Eleusine coracana, introduced from Asia. It is extensively grown in Abyssinia and among the Niamniam (Schweinfurth, The Heart of Africa, vol. i, p. 248; Ficalho, Plantas uteis, p. 41).

199 Massa-mamputo, or Grão de Portugal, is Zea mayz, introduced from America (Ficalho). See note, p. 7.

200 This is the ground-nut (Arachis hypogaea), or underground kidney bean. Its native name is nguba or mpinda. According to Ficalho, p. 142, it was introduced from America, while Voandzeia subterranea, called vielo in Angola, is certainly indigenous. The seeds of the latter are smaller and less oleaginous than those of Arachis, and hence its commercial value is less.

201 Wandu (of Congo) is the mbarazi of the Swahili, the Cajanus indicus of botanists. It is grown all over Africa, and Welwitsch considers it indigenous. In Angola a variety is known as nsonje (Ficalho, p. 143; Burton, Two Trips to Gorilla Island, vol. ii, p. 119).

202 In a marginal note to his reprint of Pigafetta’s book (p. 1005), Purchas quotes Battell as confirming Lopez when he states, with regard to the Cola (c. acuminata, R. Br.), that “the liver of a hen, or of any other like bird, which putrified and stinketh, being sprinkled over with the juice of this fruit (the Cola), returneth into its former estate, and becometh fresh and sound again.”

203 See note, p. 24. Monteiro (vol. ii, 165) confirms that hives are securely placed in the branches of a tree, the Baobab being chosen in preference.

204 A misprint from Inganda, i.e., Nsanda, banyan.

205 The three kinds of palm are, the wine-palm (Raphia); the oil-palm (Elaeis); and the date-palm (Phœnix).

206 Lubámbu (in Kimbundu); luvambu (in Congoese) means a chain. Dr. Lacerda says that a Libambo was made of sufficient length to hold twelve slaves (The Lands of Cazembe, ed. by Burton, London; 1873, p. 18).

207 For his Relations, see Purchas, lib. VI. ch. viii.

208 Domingos d’Abreu de Brito, in a memoir addressed in 1592 to King Philip, states that 52,000 slaves were exported from Angola to Brazil and the Spanish Indies between 1575 and 1591, and 20,131 during the last four years of this period (Paiva Manso, Hist. do Congo, p. 140). Cadornega, quoted by the same author, estimates the number of slaves annually exported between 1580 and 1680 at eight or ten thousand (ib., p. 287).

209 Recte, Engenho, a mill, and in Brazil more especially a sugar mill.

210 Turner says, in his Relations, p. 1243, that John de Paiis (sic) owned ten thousand slaves and eighteen sugar mills.

211 Manuel Cerveira Pereira was Governor 1603-7 (see p. 37).

212 Carvalho (Ethnographia, pp. 248, 258) describes trophies of these as also trophies of war, built up of the skulls of enemies killed in battle. Bastian (Loango Expedition, vol. i, p. 54) saw a fossil tusk, which was looked upon as a fetish, around which were piled up the horns of oxen, and the teeth and skulls of hippopotami.

213 Libations are a common practice. Dr. Bastian (Loango Expedition, vol. i. p. 70) observed libations of rum being poured on the royal graves at Loangiri; Capello and Ivens (Benguella, vol. i, p. 26) say that the Bandombe, before they drink spirits, pour a portion on the ground, as a libation to Nzambi; whilst in Congo (according to Bentley), the blood of a beast killed in the chase is poured on the grave of a good hunter, to ensure success in the future. Instances of this practice could easily be multiplied. Compare note, p. 51.

214 Wá, an interjection, O! Kizangu is a fetish image (see note, p. 24). Kuleketa, to prove, to try (Cordeiro da Matta’s Diccionario).

215 On this ordeal, as practised in Angola, see note, p. 61.

216 Nganga a mukishi.

217 See note, p. 34.

218 See note, p. 55.

219 Battell is named in the margin as authority for this paragraph, but it is not likely that he would have mentioned a lake Aquelunda, which we now know does not exist. It rather seems that Purchas got this bit of information out of Pigafetta. The Quizama here referred must not be confounded with the country of the same name, to the south of the Coanza. It was the district of the Quiluangi quia Sama (or quia Samba, according to Lopez de Lima, p. 60), the ancestor of a chief of the same name now living near the Portuguese fort of Duque de Bragança. The “commonwealth” is an evident reference to the country of the Dembos (ndembu, plural jindembu, ruler, chief), who recognise no superior chief or king.

220 It need scarcely be stated that the horse was first introduced into Angola by the Portuguese. The tails seen by the early Portuguese, and sometimes described as horse-tails, were in truth the tails of the Zebra.

221 See another version of the same story, p. 69.

222 The nsanda is the banyan, or wild fig-tree (ficus umbelata, Vahl).

223 Battell has been misunderstood by Purchas, for the manga tree is the Mangrove (Rhyzophora mangle) called Mangue in Kimbundu, which rejoices in adventitious roots, as also does the nsanda.

224 See p. 24, for note on the Nkondo or Baobab.

225 For an account of this mode of climbing a tree, see Pechuel-Lösche, Loango Expedition, vol. iii, p. 179.

226 On honey, see note, p. 68.

227 Nsanda, the banyan-tree.

228 Schuit, a boat, in Dutch.

229 This sentence is introduced on the authority of Duarte Lopez (Pigafetta, p. 22). The other tree referred to by Battell is the mfuma, or cotton-tree (see Tuckey, Narrative, p. 225). Dr. Falkenstein, however, affirms that the soft wood of the baobab is that usually employed for making canoes (“dug-outs”).

230 Battell, I have no doubt, never employed the word “Bramas” (Bramanes in Portuguese, Brahmans). D. Lopez (Pigafetta) must be held responsible for the statement that the inhabitants of Loango were originally known as Bramas. Surely this cannot be (as supposed by Degrandpré) because of the red and yellow stripes with which the women in Loango paint their foreheads in honour of a certain fetish, and the similarity of these with the marks of the votaries of Siva in India.

231 Dr. Bastian (Loango Expedition, vol. i, pp. 158, 202, 232) mentions offerings of this kind. Thus the skull of an animal killed in the chase is placed before the fetish.

232 Mbongo, cloth (Bentley’s Dictionary).

233 See note, p. 35.

234 Restrictions upon the use of certain articles of food are imposed by the doctor (nganga), even before the child is born (mpangu), and upon the sick (konko). The things forbidden to be eaten are called nlongo, and it is believed that a disregard of this taboo entails most disastrous consequences (Bentley, Dictionary, pp. 353, 389). In Loango things forbidden are called Shin, or thina (Dennett, Folk-Lore, p. 138).

235 Any place guarded by a “charm,” such as a shell, a bit of cloth, or the like, is respected by the natives as being protected by the nkishi (Dennett, Folk-Lore, pp. 6, 18).

236 See note, p. 48.

237 This bell is called Shi-Ngongo, and the Maloango alone is allowed to order it to be struck. Thus, when a messenger is sent round the town, striking this Shi-Ngongo, the people know that it is the voice of Maloango which speaketh. It is thus quite likely that a thief, under these circumstances, should be frightened into restoring stolen property. (From a letter by Mr. Dennett.) See also note, p. 20.

239 Ndoke, or ndoki, witchcraft, sorcerer.

240 A misprint for Libata, village.

242 Munsa, should be inzo or nzo, a house (see also note, p. 49).

243 Nkishi ngolo, a strong nkishi.

244 Marginal note by Purchas: “This seemeth to be Red Sanders. A. Battell saith it is logwood.” Purchas is right! Tacula is Red Sanders (Pterocarpus tinctorius).

245 Nkwa, the possessor of a thing or quality; akwa, possessed of.

246 Compare p. 56, where we are told that a fetish called Maramba (Morumba), stood in the town of the Mani Yumba.

247 Evidently a misprint for Mayumba.

248 Another version of this address will be found on p. 56.

249 Marginal note with reference to the existence of amazons (Pigafetta, p. 124): “Andr. Battell, which travelled near to these parts [where Amazons are supposed to exist] denieth this report of Lopez as untrue.” The Amazons of Lopez lived in Monomotapa, on the Zambezi.

250 We may presume that Purchas told his friend what was reported by Lopez (Pigafetta, vol. ii, chs. 5, 9) and others about the origin of the Jagas. Battell, upon this, not only rejects the conjecture of Lopez, but also disclaims having any knowledge of their origin himself. Elsewhere, however, Purchas makes his author responsible for the assertion that they came from Sierra Leone (see note, p. 19).

251 The Bangála (akibangála, in Kimbundu Jimbangála, sing. kibangála) are the people of the Jaga of Kasanj. The term merely means “people,” and they have absolutely nothing to do with the Bangala on the middle Kongo, still less with the Galla (see Carvalho, Exp. Port. do Muatianvua, Ethnographia, p. 85).

252 The words within asterisks are obviously a parenthesis of worthy Purchas. He speaks (p. 854) of the Gallæ [our Galla] as a “nationless nation,” either the same as or like in condition to the Giacchi or Iaggés [Jaga], and (p. 857) of the Imbij as “a barbarous nation” near Mombaza. There exists not the slightest justification for identifying the Jagas of Angola with the Sumbas of Sierra Leone, the Mazimbas of the Zambezi, or the Galla. The whole of this question is dealt with in the Appendix.

253 On infanticide, see note, p. 32.

254 In a marginal note Purchas adds: “Azimogli are the children of Christians taken from the parents by the Turke, the spawne of their Ianizaries” It should be Ajem oglan (“inexperienced boys”), the children of Christians who were handed over to Turks to be brought up as Moslims, and trained as recruits for the Yanizaries (Yeni-cheri, new troops) organised by Sultan Urkhan in 1328. This unruly force ceased to exist in 1826.

255 Elembe means pelican.

256 See notes, pp. 19, 28.

257 See note, p. 26.

258 Njilo mukisho, see p. 27.

259 Mpungi, an ivory trumpet.

260 See note, p. 34.

261 See note, p. 33.

262 Kuzambula, a soothsayer, diviner. Neves, p. 19, mentions a Mocoa-co-Zambulla as officiating among the Jagas of Cassanje.

263 See pp. 1 and 6.

264 Masanganu is the famous fort on the Kwanza built by Paulo Dias de Novaes in 1583. Anyeca, elsewhere called Ancica, Angica, Angila and Anguca, is clearly meant for Anzica, that is the country of the Nteke above Stanley Pool.

265 That is, St. Paul de Loanda, the chief town of Angola.

266 João Furtado de Mendonça was Governor of Angola (not Kongo), 1594-1601.

267 I know of no town (or even church) in the whole of Angola dedicated to St. Francis.

268 There is no such city in Angola. It seems to me that Knivet found the name in Linschoten, a translation of whose work appeared in 1698. Linschoten says here of the island of Luandu, which lies in front of the Portuguese town of S. Paul de Loanda, that “there were seven or eight villages upon it, at one of which called ‘Holy Ghost’, resides the Governor of Kongo, who takes care of the right of fishing up shells.” This “Governor” was an officer of the King of Kongo. The island, with its valuable cowrie fishery, was ceded to Portugal in 1649.

271 I’mboa, or mbwa, dog.

272 Earlier in his narrative he mentions having seen, at the Straits of Magellan, “a kind of beast bigger than horses; they have great eyes about a span long, and their tails are like the tail of a cow; these are very good: the Indians of Brazil call them tapetywason: of these beasts I saw in Ethiopia, in the Kingdom of Manicongo. The Portugals call them gombe” (marginal note by Purchas). The gombe (ngombe) of the Portugals is undoubtedly a cow, whilst the tapetywason, called “taparussu” in a Noticia de Brazil of 1589, and tapyra, in the language of the Tupi Indians, is applied to any large beast, and even to the oxen imported by the Portuguese, which they call tapyra sobay go ara, that is, “foreign beasts,” to distinguish them from their own tapyra caapora or “forest beast.”

273 This account of a “trial by battle” does much credit to the author’s ingenuity. No such custom is referred to by any other visitor to the Kongo. The meaning of “Mahobeque” we cannot discover, but mbenge-mbenge means “principally.”

274 Nkadi, one who is, and mpungu, the highest. The usual word to express the idea of God is nzambi, or nzambi ampungu, God the most high! Nkadi ampemba, according to Bentley, means Satan. The word used in Angola is, Karia-pemba.

275 Ri-konjo, banana.

276 Mutombo is the flour from which cassava-bread is made.

277 The name for bread, both in Kimbundu and Kishikongo, is mbolo (derived from the Portuguese word for cake or bolo). Anou or auen may stand for mwan, a cassava-pudding; tala means look! kuna, here! The Rev. Thomas Lewis would say, in the Kongo language of Salvador: Umpana mbolo tambula nzimbu; literally, “Give me bread, take or receive money.”

278 The cowrie-shells fished up at Luanda Island (the old “treasury” of the Kings of Kongo) are called njimbu in Angola, but nsungu in Kongo. Njimbu in Kongo means beads, or money generally, and hence the author’s “gullgimbo” evidently stands for ngulu anjimbu, red beads.

279 Npuku, a field mouse.

280 Crimbo (kirimbo) seems to be a corruption of the Portuguese carimbo, a stamp.

281 The Rev. Thomas Lewis suggests: Mundele ke sumbanga ko, kadi wan bele-bele; that is, “The white men do not buy, but they have gone away in a hurry.”

282 Nlele, the general name for European cloth. They do make cloth from the inner bark of the banyan tree (see p. 18, note).

283 Mukaji; wife, woman, concubine.

284 The “fishes” are no doubt molluscs.

285 The King at the time of Knivet’s alleged visit was Alvaro II.

286 The Vangala, spelt Bengala lower down, seems to represent the Imbangolas of Battell, more generally known as Jagas (see p. 84, note)

287 D. Alvaro sent several embassies to Europe, but never a brother of his. The most famous of these ambassadors was Duarte Lopez, who was at Rome in 1590.

288 This certainly seems to be a misprint for Angola, for a party of Portuguese going to Masanganu would never stray so far north as Anzica. On the other hand, if Knivet was really on his way from the capital of Congo to Prester John’s country, that is, Abyssinia, he must have gone in the direction of Anzica.

289 Masanganu actually stands at the confluence of the Rivers Kwanza and Lukala!

290 That is, they suffered from elephantiasis.

291 Gold is often referred to in ancient documents, but its actual discovery (so far in unremunerative quantities) is quite a recent affair. Silver was supposed to exist in the hills of Kambambe above Masanganu, but has not as yet been actually found.

292 These Angicas are certainly identical with the Anziques or Anzicanas of Duarte Lopez, according to whom they eat human flesh and circumcise. The Angolans have at no time been charged with cannibalism.

293 Cavazzi, p. 262, calls Corimba a province of the kingdom of Coango (not Loango, as in Labat’s version) on the Zaire. Cadornega (quoted by Paiva Manso, p. 285) tells us that our river Kwangu (Coango) is called after a lordship of that name, and was known to the people as the “great” Zaire (nzari anene). On the other hand, D. Pedro Affonso II, in a letter of 1624, speaks of Bangu, which had recently been raided by the Jaga, aided by the King of Loango (sic), as the “trunk and origin of Congo” (Paiva Manso, p. 177). But then this Pedro Affonso was not of the original dynasty of Nimi a Lukeni.

294 Collectively known as Ambundu, a term applied in Angola to black men generally, but in Kongo restricted to slaves, i.e., the conquered. Bunda, in Kongo, has the meaning of “combine;” in Lunkumbi (Nogueira, Bol. 1885, p. 246) it means “family.” Cannecatim, in the introduction to his Grammar, says that Kimbundu originated in Kasanj, and that the meaning of Abundo or Bundo is “conqueror.” According to Carvalho (Exp. Port. ao Muatianvua, Ethnographia, p. 123) Kimbundu should be translated “invaders.” The derivations of the word Kongo are quite as fanciful. Bentley seems to favour nkongo, a “hunter.” Cordeiro da Matta translates Kongo by “tribute;” whilst Nogueira says that Kongo (pl. Makongo) denotes a “prisoner of war.”

295 “Palaver place” or “court,” corrupted by European travellers into “Ambasse.” Subsequently this town became known as S. Salvador.

296 Both the Rev. W. H. Bentley and the Rev. Tho. Lewis believe Sonyo to be a corruption, at the mouths of natives, of San Antonio. This is quite possible, for when the old chief was baptised, in 1491, he received the name of Manuel (after the King), whilst his son was thenceforth known as Don Antonio. Images of Sa. Manuela and S. Antonio are still in existence, and are venerated by the natives as powerful fetishes (Bastian, Loangoküste, vol. i, p. 286). Soyo, according to the same author, is the name of a district near the Cabo do Padrão. Yet Garcia de Resende and Ruy de Pina, in their Chronicles of King João II, only know a Mani Sonho, whom João de Barros calls Mani Sono. No hint of the suggested corruption is given by any author.

297 On these northern kingdoms, whose connexion with Kongo proper seems never to have been very close, see Proyart, Histoire de Loango, Cacongo, et autres royaumes d’Afrique, Paris, 1776; Degrandpré, Voyage à la côte occidentale d’Afrique, 1786-7, Paris, 1801; and of recent books, R. D. Dennett, Seven Years among the Fjort, London, 1887, Güssfeldt, Falkenstein, and Pechuel-Loesche, Die Loango Expedition, Berlin, 1879-83; and that treasury of ill-digested information, Bastian, Die Deutsche Expedition an der Loangoküste, Jena, 1874-5.

298 On the voyages of Cão and Dias, see my paper in the Geographical Journal, 1900, pp. 625-655.

299 Now Cape St. Mary, 13° 28´ S.

300 The “Cabo do Padrão” of early maps.

301 A legend on the chart of Henricus Martellus Germanus (1489), and the “Parecer” of the Spanish pilots of 1525, are our only authorities on this fact. Cão is not again mentioned in Portuguese documents (see my Essay, Geographical Journal, p. 637).

302 Nsaku was henceforth known as Don João da Silva. See Ruy de Pina, p. 149; Garcia de Resende, c. 69; and De Barros, Asia, t. I, Pt. I, pp. 177, 224.

303 On this embassy, see De Barros, Asia, Dec. I, Liv. 3; Ruy de Pina’s Chronica, pp. 174-179; Garcia de Resende’s Chronice, cc. 155-61; D. Lopez, Bk. II, c. 2; Fr. Luis de Sousa, Historia de S. Domingos, Parte II, Livro vi, c. 8; and Parte IV, Livro iv, c. 16.

304 Not Dominicans, as is usually stated. Garcia de Resende says Franciscans; and P. Fernando da Soledade, Historia Serafica, has proved the documents published by Paiva Manso in favour of the Dominican claim to be forgeries. Compare Eucher, Le Congo, Huy, 1894, p. 64.

305 Mbaji a ekongo, the palaver-place of Kongo. See Index sub San Salvador.

306 The insignia of royalty of the Kings of Kongo are the chair, a bâton, a bow and arrow, and the cap.

307 De Barros calls them Mundequetes, but D. Lopez says they should be called Anziquetes. They are the Anzicanas of later writers, about whose identity with the Bateke there can be no doubt. Their king bore the title of Makoko (Nkaka).

308Hence this, the oldest church of S. Salvador, became known as Egreja da Vera Cruz. In it the Christian kings of Kongo were formerly buried; but when the Devil took up its roof and carried the body of the unbelieving D. Francisco to hell, their coffins were removed to other churches (see post, p. 121). Other churches, subsequently built, are S. Salvador, N. S. do Socorro, S. Jago, S. Miguel, dos Santos, de Misericordia, S. Sebastian.

309 Frei João had died soon after reaching the capital.

310 Paiva Manso, pp. 2-4.

311 Paiva Manso, pp. 6-76, publishes quite a series of letters and documents bearing upon the reign of Affonso, and dated between 1512, and December 15th, 1540. Cavazzi makes him die in 1525, but in letters written between February 15th, 1539, and December 4th, 1540, the King refers to D. Manuel, who was about to go to Rome, as his “brother.” If the letters had been written by his successor Don Pedro II Affonso, Don Manuel would have been an uncle, and not a brother.

312 Cavazzi calls him Mpanzu a kitima; D. Lopez invariably Mpangu.

313 King Affonso, whose account of this battle may be read in Paiva Manso, p. 8, does not mention the flaming swords, but there can be no doubt that they were seen, for they were introduced in the coat-of-arms subsequently granted to the King. D. Lopez (p. 82) substitutes the Virgin for the white cross seen during the battle. Cavazzi (p. 273), and others, down to Father Eucher (Le Congo, Huy, 1894, p. 36), unhesitatingly accept this miracle. The Rev. W. H. Bentley most irreverently suggests a solar halo; but such a phenomenon might account for flaming swords, but not for the Virgin and St. James.

314 On this embassy, see the documents printed by Paiva Manso, and also Damian de Goes, Chron. do Rei D. Emanuel, vol. iii, c. 37.

315 Alguns Documentos, p. 419.

316 On this mission, see Alguns documentos, pp. 277-289, for the instructions given to Simão da Silva; Paiva Manso, pp. 5-12, or King Manuel’s letter, and D. Affonso’s manifesto; and also Damian de Goes, Chronica, vol. iii, cc. 38-39.

317 This coat-of-arms is fully described by King Affonso himself (Paiva Manso, p. 11), as follows:—The field gules, and the chief of the coat azure, quartered by a cross-fleury argent. Each quarter of the chief charged with two shells, or, on a foot argent, bearing a shield azure, charged with the five plates of Portugal. The field gules is charged with five arms holding swords, or. An open helmet, or, with a royal crown surmounts the coat. Crest: the five swords. Supporters: two idols, decapitated, with their heads at their feet. The coats figured on Pigafetta’s map and by Cavazzi, p. 274, are much less elaborate, but are both charged with five swords. The arrow in the latter is one of the royal insignia.

318 In the formal documents addressed to his “brother” of Portugal, he claims to be “By the Grace of God, King of Kongo, Ibumgu, Kakongo, Ngoyo this side and beyond Zari, lord of the Ambundus, of Ngola, Aquisyma (Ptolemy’s Agisymba) Muswalu, Matamba, Muyilu and Musuku, and of the Anzicas (Bateke), and the Conquest of Mpanzu-alumbu,” &c.

319 D. de Goes, Chronica, vol. iv, c. 3.

320 Paiva Manso, pp. 15, 17.

321 Paiva Manso, p. 71. Concerning Mpanzu-alumbu, see below.

322 On this mission, see Paiva Manso, pp. 69-74.

323 On the bishops of Kongo, see Add. MS. 15183 (British Museum), and R. J. da Costa Mattos, Corographia Historica das Ilhas S. Thomé, etc. Oporto, 1842.

324 Paiva Manso, p. 31.

325 For King Affonso’s account of this event, as also for an account of a second conspiracy, apparently planned by Fernão Rodrigues Bulhão, see Paiva Manso, pp. 76-80.

326 For Mpangu-lungu, see Index and Glossary.

327 The minutes of this inquiry are printed by Paiva Manso, p. 84.

328 D. de Goes, Chron. de Rei D. Em., iv, c. 54.

329 See Index, sub Mpanzu-alumbu and Mpangu-lungu.

330 See Paiva Manso, pp. 60, 69. Later sovereigns claimed also to be kings of the Matumbulas, i.e., the spirits of their dead ancestors buried at S. Salvador, whom they pretended to be able to consult, and who were dreaded as fetishes.

331 According to a Jesuit canon, who wrote in 1624 (Paiva Manso, p. 174), these daughters were: (1) Nzinga a mbembe, the mother of D. Diego, Affonso II, and Bernardo; (2) D. Isabel Lukeni lua mbemba, the mother of Alvaro I, Alvaro II, Alvaro III, and Bernardo II; (3) D. Anna Tumba a mbemba, the mother of D. Affonso Mbikia ntumba, Duke of Nsundi, whose son was Pedro II. This genealogy does not seem to be quite trustworthy.

332 Several authors say that he came to the throne in 1525 or 1532, but the letters written by D. Affonso, and published by Paiva Manso, conclusively show that this is impossible (see supra).

333 His native name proves him to have been a son of D. Francisco. He is, however, generally described as a cousin or grandson of D. Pedro.

334 The earliest published letter of D. Diogo is dated April 25th, 1547. His death is mentioned in a letter dated November 4th, 1561 (Paiva Manso, pp. 81, 113). He may, however, have died a considerable time before that date. Lopez de Lima (An. Mar. 1845, p. 101) makes him die in 1552, after a reign of nine years.

335 This bishop was a Dominican. He entered upon his charge in 1549. The four Jesuits going in his company were Christovão Ribeira, Jacome Dias, Jorge Vaz, and Diogo de Soveral.

336 See letters in Paiva Manso, pp. 91-93.

337 He was appointed bishop in 1554, and died at S. Thomé in 1574.

338 For the minutes of an inquiry into a conspiracy planned by one D. Pedro ka nguanu of Mbemba, in 1550, see Paiva Manso, pp. 101, 110.

339 Compare D. Lopez, p. 93; Cavazzi, p. 276; a list of kings given by the Duke of Mbamba to the bishop D. Manuel Baptista in 1617 (Paiva Manso, p. 166), the statement of a Jesuit canon of S. Salvador made in 1624 (ibid., p. 174), and Christovão Dorte de Sousa’s letter to Queen Catherine of Portugal, dated (Luandu) November 4th, 1561 (ibid., p. 113); also a letter by P. Rodrigues de Pias, 1565 (Eucher, Le Congo, p. 70).

340 Printed by Paiva Manso, p. 114.

341 His letter is printed by Paiva Manso, p. 116. It was during the reign of this king, in 1563, that a “missionary” is stated to have crossed Africa (Garcia d’Orta, Coloquios dos simples e drogos. Goa, 1567).

342 Lopez de Lima, An. Mar., 1845, p. 101.

343 Duarte Lopez, p. 93.

344 Alvaro, according to Cavazzi, came to the throne in 1542 and died in 1587, whilst Lopez de Lima, quite arbitrarily, puts off his accession to 1552. These figures are absolutely incorrect, as may be seen from the date of the letter of Queen Catherine to D. Bernardo. D. Alvaro cannot possibly have ascended the throne anterior to 1568.

345 The Ayaka still inhabit a large stretch of country along the Kwangu, and are generally considered to be identical with the Jagas (Cavazzi speaks of them as Jaga, or Aiaka), an opinion which I do not share. See post, p. 149.

346 I imagine the account given by Duarte Lopez, p. 96, is much exaggerated.

347 Garcia Mendes, p. 9.

348 As a proof of vassalage we may mention that the King was denied the title of Alteza (Highness), which would have implied sovereign rights, and was only allowed that of Senhoria (lordship).

349 Duarte Lopez, p. 9. Originally, the Christian kings of Kongo were buried in this church, but upon this desecration their bodies were removed to other churches.

350 Our information concerning the reign of this king is exceedingly scanty. We think we have shown satisfactorily that he cannot have reigned from 1542 to 1587, but are unable to vouch either, for the date of the invasion of his country by the Ayaka, or for that of his death.

351 In a letter of September 15th, 1617 (Paiva Manso, p. 166).

352 Samuel Braun, who visited the Kongo in 1612, says that the fort built near the Padrão, and another on an uninhabited island, had been razed.

353 Sebastian da Costa had been sent to Kongo to announce the accession of Philip I, in 1580. He was given a letter by D. Alvaro, but died on the voyage, and Duarte Lopez, upon whose writings and discourses Pigafetta based his work on the Kongo (see p. 19), was appointed in his stead. For an account of this embassy, see Duarte Lopez, pp. 101-108.

354 Printed by Paiva Manso, p. 158.

355 This order was, as a matter of course, issued at the instance of the Council of Regency at Lisbon.

356 Paiva Manso, pp. 174-177.

357 We confess that this is unintelligible to us. Perhaps we ought to read Coango (Kwangu), instead of Loango. There is, of course, the “kingdom” of Kwangu beyond the Kwangu river, within which lies the district of Kurimba, the birthplace of the first King of Kongo (see p. 102). Bangu is evidently the district on the river Mbengu. It may have been the home of the King’s ancestors; and the Kwangu here referred to may be a neighbouring district of that name (see Index).

358 It was during the reign of this King that five Portuguese merchants crossed the Kwangu and fell into the hands of the Makoko, who made slaves of them. But upon this, his kingdom was visited by plague and famine, and his armies were beaten; and these “miracles” only ceased when, acting on the advice of his diviners, he had sent back his prisoners to S. Salvador, richly compensated for their sufferings (Cavazzi, p. 281).

359 For documents referring to the reign of this king, see Paiva Manso, pp. 187-237.

360 Whether the Dutch ambassadors prostrated themselves when presented to the king, as shown on one of Dapper’s plates, may be doubted.

361 The auxiliary force of thirty Dutchmen was commanded by Captain Tihman (Dapper, p. 541).

362 They sent, indeed, a vessel to remonstrate, but the Duke defied them to land, and they retired humbly.

363 Dapper, p. 572. Perhaps the itinerary on one of Dapper’s maps from Mpinda, by way of Mbamba, S. Salvador, Mbata and Nsundi, is supplied by Herder. The names conso, canda, quing and ensor of the map are corruptions of the names of the four week-days (konso, nkanda, nkenga and nsona), and designate places where markets are held on those days.

364 He died at S. Salvador in 1651, when about to start for Abyssinia, and was succeded by P. Giovanni Francisco of Valenza, as Prefect. For a full account of the missions of 1645 and 1648, see Pellicer de Tovar, Mission Evangelica al Reyno de Congo, Madrid, 1649; and P. Francisco Fragio, Breve Relazione, Rome, 1648.

365 Giovanni Antonio de Cavazzi, of Montecuccolo, was a member of this mission.

366 This district was invaded by Queen Nzinga, in 1649, and the missionaries, P. Bonaventura of Correglia, and P. Francesco of Veas, retired.

367 See Cavazzi, pp. 512-15.

368 Those of our readers who have no time or inclination to wade through the bulky tomes of Cavazzi and other missionaries of those days, may be recommended to read an excellent summary by the Franciscan Friar Eucher (Le Congo, Essai sur l’Histoire Religieuse de ce Pays, Huy, 1860).

369 Paiva Manso, pp. 200-229.

370 Fr. Bonaventura had left Luandu in December, 1649; in June, 1650, he was in Rome; in July, 1651, at Lisbon. He then returned to Kongo in the company of P. Giacinto Brusciotto of Vetralla (1652), but ultimately joined the mission in Georgia. To Brusciotto we are indebted for a grammar and vocabulary of the Sonyo dialect, published at Rome in 1659.

371 Paiva Manso, p. 244.

372 I have no doubt that these “Pedras” are identical with the “Pedras de Nkoshi,” or “lion rocks,” now occupied by the Presidio of Encoge.

373 Cavazzi, p. 287.

374 Published by Paiva Manso, pp. 350-355.

375 Pedro Mendes, however, only gives the names of ten Kings. If we add to these Alvaro VII, D. Rafael, and Alvaro IX, mentioned by others, we make up the number to thirteen. See Appendix III for a list and classification of these Kings.

376 Cadornega says Affonso III.

377 He had some correspondence with the Pope in 1673 and 1677.

378 Paiva Manso, p. 254.

379 See Eucher, Le Congo, p. 176. Subsequently the Capuchins returned to Sonyo (Merollo in 1683, Zucchelli in 1703).

380 Dionigi Carli paid a visit to these: see his Viaggio, Reggio, 1672.

381 See Merolla’s Relatione del Regno di Congo, Naples, 1692; and Zucchelli’s Viaggi, Venice, 1712.

382 His captain-general, D. Pedro Constantino, managed to get himself elected king, but was taken prisoner and beheaded at S. Salvador in 1709.

383 It was not unusual to make a charge for the administration of the sacraments. In 1653, the parochial priests complained that the Capuchin friars administered the sacraments without claiming an “acknowledgment;” and the authorities at Rome (1653) prohibited their doing so within five leagues of the capital (Paiva Manso, p. 233). At Mbamba, the priest had a regular scale of prices. A baptism cost 7,000 cowries, for a marriage a slave was expected, and so forth; and thus, adds the Bishop of Angola (1722): “little children go to limbo, and grown-up people to hell!”

384 Western Africa, London, 1856, p. 329.

385 Boletim, Lisbon Geogr. Society, March 1889.

386 In 1709, the Holy Office declared the slave-trade in Africa illicit. Only those persons were to be looked upon as slaves who were born such; who had been captured in a just war; who had sold themselves for money (a usual practice in Africa); or who had been adjudged slaves by a just sentence.

387 Alguns Documentos, p. 107.

388 For the instructions given to Pacheco, see Alguns Documentos, p. 436.

389 Paiva Manso, p. 55.

390 Kiluanji, nzundu, and ndambi, which are given as names of kings, are in reality only titles assumed by them.—Capello and Ivens, Benguella to the Iacca, vol. ii, p. 53. Tumba-ndala (according to Héli Chatelain) was another of these ancient royal titles.

391 Capello and Ivens, ib., vol. ii, p. 59. His proper name is Kalunga (i.e., Excellency) ndombo akambo.

392 Kabâsa, according to Cordeiro da Matta’s Diccionario, simply means “capital;” but J. V. Carneiro (An. do cons. ultram., vol. ii, p. 172, 1861) would have us distinguish between a Mbanza ia Kabasa and a Mbanza ia Kakulu; the former meaning “second,” the latter “first,” capital. This “first” or original capital of the kings of Ndongo was undoubtedly in the locality of Queen Nzinga’s kabasa; the second capital was at Pungu a ndongo.

393 Cavazzi, pp. 9, 621. The Queen was branded as a slave (a practice learnt from the Portuguese; see Marcador in the Index), and died of grief; but her daughter was received into favour, and was baptized in 1667.

394 Lopes de Lima (Ensaio, vol. iii, parte segundo), is very severe upon Cavazzi, whom he charges with having “falsified” history, but does nothing himself to throw light upon the vexed question of the names of the kings of Matamba and Ndongo. The following is a summary of Cavazzi’s very copious information (where Antonio of Gaeta gives different names, these are added within brackets). Ngola, the smith, or musuri (Ngola Bumbumbula), was the founder of the kingdom of Ndongo. Having no sons, he was succeeded by his daughter, Nzunda ria ngola, and then by another daughter, Tumba ria ngola, who married a Ngola kiluanji kia Samba, a great warrior. Their son, Ngola kiluanji, was succeeded by Ndambi ngola. Then followed Ngola kiluanji kia ndambi, another great warrior, who advanced to within ten leagues of the sea, and planted a nzanda tree (Insandeira), on the northern bank of the Kwanza, a short distance above Tombo, to mark the furthest point reached by his conquering hosts. Nzinga ngola kilombo kia kasende (Ngola kiluanji) followed next; then came Mbandi ngola kiluanji, the father, and Ngola mbandi, the brother, of the famous Queen Nzinga (Jinga) mbandi ngola (born 1582, acceded 1627, died 1663), since whose day the upper part of Ndongo, including Matamba; has been known as Nzinga or Ginga. The great queen was succeeded by her sister, D. Barbara da Silva, who married D. Antonio Carrasco nzinga a mina (she died 1666). Then followed in succession D. João Guterres Ngola kanini, D. Francisco Guterres Ngola kanini (1680-81), and D. Victoria, whom Cadornega calls Veronica.

According to Lopez de Lima, it was a Jaga of Matamba, Ngola a nzinga, who conquered Ndongo, and gave it as an appanage to his son, Ngola mbandi. It was this Ngola mbandi who invited the Portuguese in 1556, and a son of his, bearing the same name or title, who received Dias in 1560.

Cadornega (Paiva Manso, p. 281) gives the following names as the “Kings of Angola” since the arrival of the Portuguese: Ngola a kiluanji, Ngola mbandi, Ngola a kiluanji II, Queen Nzinga D. Anna de Sousa, D. Antonio Carrasco Nzinga a mina, D. Barbara da Silva, his wife; D. João Guterres Ngola kanini, D. Luis, D. Francisco Guterres Ngola kanini, D. Veronica, the wife of D. Francisco.

395 Called Ngola mbandi by Lopes de Lima.

396 Paiva Manso, p. 112.

397 The Jesuit fathers (Francisco de Gouvea and Garcia Simões) date their letters from Angoleme, and call the King’s capital Glo-amba Coamba, evidently a misprint. Sixty leagues would carry us far beyond the later capital, Pungu a ndongo, perhaps as far as the Anguolome aquitambo (Ngwalema a kitambu) of Garcia Mendes, in the district known as Ari. Another Angolome (Ngolome) lived less than twenty leagues from the coast, on the northern side of the Kwanza, and near him a soba, Ngola ngoleme a kundu. Neves (Exped. de Cassange) says the old name of Pungu a ndongo is Gongo a mboa. For the Jesuit letters of that time, see (Boletim, 1883, pp. 300-344).

398 He is referred to as Ngola Mbandi or Ngola ndambi.

399 Lopes de Lima, Ensaios, p. ix, calls him Kiluanji kia samba, an ancestor of the chief residing near the presidio of Duque de Bragança. V. J. Duarte (Annaes do cons. ultramar., vol. ii, p. 123), the commandant of that presidio in 1847, confirms that it occupies the site of a former chief of that name, who was, however, quite an insignificant personage.

400 Domingos d’Abreu de Brito, in a MS. of 1592, quoted by Lima, Ensaios, p. x. Garcia Mendes mentions seven hundred men, but these probably included the crews of the vessels.

401 F. Garcia Simões, S.J., informs us that a few days before the arrival of Dias four men had been killed at a village only six leagues from Luandu, and eaten.—Boletim, 1883.

402 Domingos d’Abreu de Brito, quoted by Paiva Manso, p. 139, informs us that in 1592 it was governed by a Muene Mpofo, M. Luandu and M. Mbumbi.

403 The King, after his defeat, is stated to have ordered the Makotas who had given him this evil counsel to be killed (Lopes de Lima, p. xiii).

404 Lima, Ensaios, vol. xi, suggests that this S. Cruz became subsequently known as Kalumbu, and that its church was dedicated to S. José. To me it seems more likely that it occupied the site of Tombo, and was subsequently abandoned.

405 This “Penedo” seems subsequently to have been named after Antonio Bruto, a captain-major.

406 Garcia Mendes, p. 19, describes Kanzele as lying half-way between the rivers Kwanza and Mbengu.

407 According to Antonio of Gaeta two leagues below Masanganu. Garcia Mendes calls this place Makumbe.

408 See his account of this battle in Boletim, 1883, p. 378. The story in the Catalogo, that Dias sent loads of cut-off noses to S. Paulo, is hardly credible.

409 So says Garcia Mendes, p. 25; whilst Duarte Lopez, p. 34, says they were sent, but being defeated on the river Mbengu, retired again to the north.

410 Diogo Rodrigues dos Colos brought three hundred men in 1584; Jacome da Cunha, nine hundred in 1586. Two hundred Flemings, who arrived in 1587, nearly all died soon after they had been landed.

411 Garcia Mendes, p. 24.

412 In 1809 his remains were transferred to the Jesuit Church at Luandu.

413 This place is said to be eighty leagues from Masanganu, a gross exaggeration. Vicente José, who was the commander of Duque de Bragança in 1848, mentions a Ngolema Aquitamboa among the chiefs of Haire da cima (An. do Conselho ultram., vol. ii, p. 123).

414 Garcia Mendes mentions the Kindas as if they were a tribe. To me they seem to be the people of the Jaga Kinda (Chinda of the Italian Capuchins), one of the chiefs killed by the famous Queen Nzinga. See Cavazzi, p. 636, and Antonio de Gaeta’s narrative in La maravigliosa conversione delle Regina Singa escritta dal. P. F. Francesco Maria Gioia da Napoli. Naples, 1669, p. 233. Emilio, a son of Count Laudati, was born in 1615; he lived a few years as a knight of Malta, and then entered a monastery of Capuchins, assuming the name of Antonio of Gaeta. He landed at Luandu in November, 1650, and died there, after an active life as a missionary, in July, 1662.

415 Called Kakalele in the Catalogo.

416 Douville, Voyage au Congo, Paris, 1832, vol. ii, p. 375; Bowdich, On the Bunda Language, p. 138, note 2.

417 See note, p. 84.

418 Breve Relação da embaixada, etc., Lisbon, 1565. Reprint of 1875, p. 98.

419 It will be remembered that Battell, p. 25, writes Gaga as an alternative form for Jaga. May Agau stand for Agaga, the Jagas collectively?

420 Relacão anuel, 1602-3. Lisbon, 1605.

421 Ginde (pronounced Jinde) may be derived from njinda, the meaning of which is fury, hostility.

423 Expedição Portuguesa: Ethnographia, p. 56.

424 Expedição a Cassange, Lisbon, 1854.

425 Perhaps Manuel Cerveira Pereira, who founded the Presidio of Kambambe in 1604. The first Don Manuel, however, is D. Manuel Pereira Forjaz (1607-11). But as the Jaga offered to fight Queen Nzinga, who only acceded in 1627, this Don Manuel may have been D. Manuel Pereira Coutinho (1630-34).

426 A “feira” was established at Lukamba, near Mbaka, in 1623. The Kamueji is perhaps the Fumeji of Capello and Ivens.

427 The list of Neves, p. 108, begins with Kinguri kia bangala, who was succeeded by Kasanje kaimba, Kasanje kakulachinga, Kakilombo, Ngonga-nbande, etc.

428 Capello and Ivens, Benguella to Iacca, vol. i, p. 239, include Mahungo and Kambolo among the family of Ngongo, and Mbumba among that of Kulachinga.

429 Reisen in Süd-Afrika, Pest, 1869, p. 264.

430 From Mpakasa, a buffalo, and the meaning of the word is therefore originally “buffalo-hunter,” but it was subsequently applied to natives employed by government, as soldiers, etc. Capello and Ivens, From Benguella to the Yacca, vol. ii, p. 215, deny that they ever formed a secret society for the suppression of cannibalism.

431 Kichile, transgression.

432 See Cavazzi, pp. 182-205.

433 It is to him we owe several memoirs, referred to p. xviii. He did excellent service; but whilst João Velloria and others were made Knights of the Order of Christ, and received other more substantial rewards, his merits seem not to have been recognised.

434 This important MS., dated 1592, still awaits publication.

435 Lopes de Lima, Ensaios, p. 147.

436 However, there are two sides to this dispute, and it may well be doubted whether the natives would not have been better off under a Jesuit theocracy than they were under an utterly corrupt body of civil officials. See P. Guerreiro, Relação anual de 1605, p. 625, and Lopes de Lima, p. xviii.

437 Erroneously called Adenda by most authors. Battell is the first to give the correct name.

438 Garcia Mendes, p. 24.

439 They were “converts” from the Casa Pia founded by D. Maria, the queen of D. Manuel—not reformed criminals, but converted Jewesses.

440 Battell gives some account of this campaign. See also Garcia Mendes, p. 11. Ngombe a Mukiama, one of the Ndembu to the north of the Mbengu, may be a descendant of this Ngombe (see Luis Simplico Fonseca’s account of “Dembos” in An. do conselho ultram., ii, p. 86).

441 Upon this Spaniard was conferred the habit of the Order of Christ, he was granted a pension of 20,000 reis, and appointed “marcador dos esclavos,” an office supposed to yield I,000 cruzados a year (Rebello de Aragão, p. 23).

442 Luciano Cordeiro (Terras e Minas, p. 7), says that, according to local tradition, the first presidio of that name was at Kasenga, a village which we are unable to discover on any map.

443 See Battell’s account of this campaign, p. 37.

444 See note, p. 37.

445 See Glossary, Museke.

446 Others call him Paio d’Araujo.

447 Estabelecimentos, 1607.

448 A. Beserra Fajardo, in Producçoes commercio e governo do Congo e de Angola, 1629, one of the documents published by Luciano Cordeiro in 1881.

449 Near where the railway now crosses that river.

450 Rebello de Aragão, p. 15.

451 It seems that the explorer considers Kambambe to lie eighty leagues inland (P. Guerreiro—Rel. an., 1515, f. 126—estimated the distance from S. Paulo to Kafuchi’s at sixty leagues). Accepting this gross over-estimate in calculating his further progress, and assuming him to have gone to the south-east, which was not only the shortest route to Chikovo and Mwanamtapa, but also avoided the country of the hostile Ngola, he cannot even have got as far as Bié. As to a “big lake,” he heard no more than other travellers have heard since, only to be disappointed. The natives certainly never told him that one of the rivers flowing out of that lake was the Nile. This bit of information he got out of a map. His expedition may have taken place in 1607—he himself gives no date. Perhaps Forjaz had given the instructions, which were only carried out in 1612, when Kambambe was in reality threatened by the natives.

452 Rebello de Aragão, p. 14, calls him Manuel da Silveira.

453 A Kakulu Kabasa still lives to the north-east of Masanganu, in 9° 4´ S., 14° 9´ E.

454 The territory of a chief of that name is on the upper Mbengu, to the north of Mbaka. The Catalogo calls him Kakulu Kahango.

455 See Benguella e seu sertão, 1617-22, by an anonymous writer, published by Luciano Cordeiro in 1881.

456 This bay is known by many aliases, such as S. Maria, S. Antonio, do Sombreiro, and da Torre.

457 The anonymous MS. already cited by us is, however, silent on this subject.

458 Antonio Diniz, who wrote in 1622 (Producções do Congo e de Angola, Lisbon, 1881, p. 14), charges Pereira with having sent, without the King’s knowledge, three shiploads of salt to Luandu, which he exchanged for “Farinha de guerra” (Commissariat flour), with which to feed his men.

459 That is a district called Kakonda, for the old fort of that name (Caconda velha), sixty miles from the coast, was only built in 1682. Letters from Pereira, dated September 9th, 1620, and January 23rd, 1621, in Egerton MS. 1133 (British Museum), ff. 357-361.

460 I do not know whether oxen were employed as beasts of burthen (bois cavallos) in these early days.

461 Reckoning the cruzado at 2s. 8d.

462 Published by Luciano Cordeiro.

463 Dapper, p. 592, regrets that these exactions ceased on the occupation of the country by the Dutch (not from love of the native, we may be sure), and that, as a consequence, his countrymen were little respected.

464 Antonio Diniz, Producçoes, commercio e governo do Congo e de Angola, 1516-19, published by Luciano Cordeiro in 1881.

465 Luiz de Figuerido Falcão, Livro em que se contem toda a Fazenda, etc. Lisbon, 1855, p. 26. I reckon 400 reis to a cruzado worth 2s. 8d.

466 The Capitão-mor do Campo, who was the chief officer next to the Governor, was paid £67; the ouvidor (or judge), £34; the sergeant-major, £34; the principal financial officer (provedor da Fazenda), £27: a captain of infantry, £40; a private, £18. There was a “marcador dos esclavos,” who branded the slaves. He received no pay but levied fees which brought him in £140 a year (see Estabelecimentos, p. 21).

In 1721 the Governor’s salary was raised to 15,000 cruzados (£2,000), but he was forbidden to engage any longer in trade.

467 Called Nzinga mbandi ngola, or Mbandi Ngola kiluanji, by Cavazzi, pp. 28, 601; Ngola akiluanji by Cadornega; and Nzinga mbandi, King of Ndongo and Matamba, in the Catalogo.

468 Called Ngola mbandi by Cavazzi, Cadornega, and in the Catalogo; Ngola-nzinga mbandi by Lopes de Lima, Ensaios, p. 95.

469 This removal seems to have taken place immediately after the Governor’s arrival. The site chosen was that of the Praça velha of modern maps, to the south of the present Ambaca.

470 D. João de Souza Ngola ari was the first King of Angola (Ndongo) recognised by the Portuguese. He only survived a few days, and was succeeded by D. Felippe de Souza, who died in 1660; and by D. João II, the last of the line, who was executed as a traitor in 1671.

471 Livingstone, Missionary Travels, 1857, p. 371, calls this a law dictated by motives of humanity.

472 He was appointed April 7th, 1621, took possession in September 1621, and left in 1623 (see Add. MS. 15, 183, I. 5).

473 Literally “mother priest.” It is thus the natives of Angola call the Roman Catholic priests, because of their long habits, to distinguish them from their own Nganga.

474 Ndangi (Dangi), with the royal sepultures (Mbila), was two leagues from Pungu a ndongo (according to Cavazzi, p. 20).

475 Bento de Benha Cardozo was originally given the command, but died before operations were begun.

476 The Queen was in the habit of consulting the spirits of the Jagas Kasa, Kasanji, Kinda, Kalandu and Ngola mbandi, each of whose Mbila (pl. Jimbila), or sepulture, was in charge of a soothsayer or Shingiri (Cavazzi, p. 656).

477 The Catalogo is provokingly obscure with respect to the pursuit of the Queen. Malemba (Lemba) is known to be above Hako, to the west of the Kwanza, whilst Ngangela (Ganguella) is a nickname applied by the Binbundo to the tribes to the east of them. “Little Ngangela,” according to Cavazzi, is identical with the country of the Bangala, or Kasanji, of modern maps. Kina (quina) simply means “sepulture” or “cavern,” and A. R. Neves (p. 103) tells us that Kasanji, on first arriving in the country where subsequently he settled permanently, took up his quarters at Kina kia kilamba (“Sepulture of the exorcist”). The mountain mentioned by Cavazzi (p. 770), as abounding in caverns full of the skulls of Kasanji’s victims, may be identical with this Kina.

478 Cavazzi, pp. 9, 622. In one place he calls her the dowager-queen, in the other the daughter of Matamba Kalombo, the last King of Matamba. J. V. Carneiro (An. do cons. ultram. 1861), asserts that Matamba was the honorary title of the great huntsman of Ngola.

479 D. Simão de Mascarenhas had been appointed bishop of Kongo on November 15th, 1621, and provisionally assumed the office of Governor at the urgent request of the captain-major Pedro de Souza Coelho. He was a native of Lisbon and a Franciscan. On the arrival of his successor, Fernão de Souza, in 1624, he proceeded to his See at S. Salvador, and died there in the following year under mysterious circumstances. Under his successor, D. Francisco Soveral (1628, d. 1642) the See was transferred to S. Paulo de Luandu. (Add. MS. 15,183). The dates given by Lopes de Lima (Ensaio, iii, p. 166a) are evidently corrupt.

480 This Kafuche appears to have been a descendant of the warlike soba of that name. Another Kafuche, likewise in Kisama, asked to be baptised in 1694 (see Paiva Manso, p. 332).

481 Dapper, p. 579. This first attempt to cultivate the soil was undertaken very reluctantly, but the profits derived therefrom soon converted both banks of the Mbengu into flourishing gardens.

482 The Catalogo, p. 366, calls him Alvares, but Paiva Manso, p. 182, Gaspar Gonçalves (see also Eucher, p. 83).

483 This seminary was never founded, notwithstanding repeated Royal reminders of 1684, 1686, 1688, and 1691 (Lopez de Lima, Ensaio, iii, p. 149).

484 S. Braun, Schifffarten, Basel, 1624; and P. van der Broeck, Journalen, Amst., 1624.

485 Jacome Ferreira, in command of these patrol ships, was killed in action in 1639, when the command devolved upon Bartholomeu de Vasconcellos.

486 N. G. van Kampen, Geschiedenes der Nederlanders buiten Europa, Haarlem, 1831, vol. i, p. 436, asks his readers to decide upon the morality of this proceeding, when negotiations were actually in progress, and in the case of Portugal, which had only recently thrown off the yoke of Spain, the common enemy.

487 Catalogo, p. 375.

488 Cavazzi, p. 626.

489 He was a son of the valiant Martim de Sá, the Governor of Rio de Janeiro. Previously to sailing up to Luandu, he erected a factory on Kikombo Bay.

490 This envoy likewise visited the Jagas Kasanji, Kalungu and Kalumbu for the purpose of persuading them to abolish infanticide; and they promised to shut an eye if the old practice was not followed.

491 In 1652 two years’ grace for the payment of all debts incurred anterior to the invasion of the Dutch was granted to all inhabitants of Angola.

492 Cavazzi vouches for this (p. 637).

493 She was conducted back by José Carrasco.

494 This may have been Kasanji ka kinjuri, born in 1608, and baptised by Antonio of Serraveza in 1655, and named D. Pasquale (Cavazzi, p. 784).

495 Lopes de Lima, Ensaio, iii, p. xxxii, says he was assassinated by a Portuguese soldier.

496 All the successors of the famous Queen, as also her people and country, are called Nzinga (Ginga) by Portuguese authors.

497 Lopes de Lima, Ensaio, iii, p. 117, and parte segunda, p. 18, calls them Quinalonga, and there can be no doubt of their identity with the Quihindonga (Kindonga) islands of Cavazzi. The Catalogo does not mention this cession.

498 He had arrived on August 26th, 1669, and spite of his prudence must be held responsible for this disastrous Sonyo campaign.

499 See Paivo Manso, p. 255, who quotes an anonymous Relação, published at Lisbon in 1671; also Cadornega.

500 Cavazzi, who accompanied this expedition as chaplain, gives a full account of it, without naming the Portuguese commander. His geographical data, as usual, are exceedingly vague: a circumstance all the more to be regretted, as even now we know very little about this part of Angola.

501 This soba had been baptised. In 1684, a brother of his expelled him, but he was reinstated by João de Figueireda e Souza.

502 From a letter published by Paiva Manso (p. 316), we learn that Mbuilu had begged the King of Kongo to receive him as a vassal.

503 For King Pedro’s letter of thanks for this victory, see Catalogo, p. 401. In 1693, massacres of prisoners were strictly prohibited.

504 He died in prison at Luandu.

505 The author of a Report referred to below admits that they had many detractors who were envious of their success.

506 Seventeen Capuchins, eight Jesuits, seven Franciscans, and four Carmelites.

507 In 1709 there were seven million reis in its treasury.

508 Ensaio, iii, p. 149.

509 The testoon was a coin of 100 reis, worth about 8d.

510 The assumed value of the makuta was 50 reis; its actual value, in silver, only 30 reis. There were pieces of half makutas and of quarter makutas, popularly called paka.

511 Zucchelli (p. xvii, § 11), tells us that when Luiz Cerar de Menezes returned to Rio, in 1701, he carried away with him 1,500,000 crusados (£200,000), realised in the slave trade.

512 Ensaio, iii, p. xxxiv.

513 Provincial Governors not appointed by the King, but elected by the local authorities or the troops.

INDEX AND GLOSSARY.

For information additional to that given in the body of this volume, consult Bramas, Margarita, Ostrich Eggs.

Included in this Index are all the geographical names mentioned by Duarte Lopes (Pigafetta’s Report of the Kingdom of Congo), as also many names referred to by Cavazzi, Paiva Manso, and others.

The approximate geographical position is given in degrees and tenths of degrees.

PAGE
Introduction		ix
Bibliography		xviii

The Strange Adventures of Andrew Battell of Leigh.
I.	Andrew Battell, his voyage to the River of Plate, who being taken on to the coast of Brazill was sent to Angola	1
II.	His trading on the coast; offer to escape; imprisonment; exile; escape and new imprisonment; his sending to Elamba and Bahia das Vaccas; many strange occurrences	9
III.	Discovery of the Gagas: their wars, man-eating; over-running countries. His trade with them, betraying, escape to them, and living with them; with many strange adventures. And also the rites and manner of life observed by the Iagges, or Gagas, which no Christian would ever know well but this author	19
IV.	His return to the Portugals: invasions of diverse countries; abuses; flight from them, and living in the woods divers months; his strange boat and coming to Loango	36
V.	Of the province of Engoy, and other regions of Loango; with the customs there observed by the King and people	42
VI.	Of the provinces of Bongo, Calongo, Mayombe, Manikesocke, Motimbas; of the ape-monster Pongo; their Hunting, Idolatries, and divers other observations	52
VII.	Of the Zebra and Hippopotamus; the Portuguese Wars in those parts; the Fishing, Grain, and other things remarkable	63
On the Religion and the Customs of the Peoples of Angola, Congo, and Loango, from Purchas His Pilgrimage, 1613 (1617)		71

[Pg viii]APPENDICES.
I.	Anthony Knivet in Kongo and Angola	89
II.	A Sketch of the History of Kongo to the end of the Seventeenth Century	102
III.	A List of the Kings of Kongo	136
IV.	A Sketch of the History of Angola to the end of the Seventeenth Century	139
V.	A List of the Governors of Angola	188

Index and Glossary		192

WORKS ISSUED BY The Hakluyt Society

THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF ANDREW BATTELL.

SECOND SERIES. No. VI.

THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF ANDREW BATTELL OF LEIGH, IN ANGOLA AND THE ADJOINING REGIONS.

REPRINTED FROM “PURCHAS HIS PILGRIMES.”

Edited, with Notes and a Concise HISTORY OF KONGO AND ANGOLA, BY E. G. RAVENSTEIN.

Reproduced, by permission of the HAKLUYT SOCIETY from the edition originally published by the Society in 1901 KRAUS REPRINT LIMITED Nendeln/Liechtenstein 1967

Printed in Germany Lessing-Druckerei—Wiesbaden

COUNCIL

OF

THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF ANDREW BATTELL OF LEIGH IN ESSEX, SENT BY THE PORTUGALS PRISONER TO ANGOLA, WHO LIVED THERE, AND IN THE ADJOINING REGIONS, NEAR EIGHTEEN YEARS.

§ I.

Andrew Battel, his Voyage to the River of Plate, who being taken on the coast of Brasill, was sent to Angola.

[From the Thames to Cape Palmas.]

[St. Thomé and the Gulf of Guinea.]

[Across the Atlantic to the Brazils.]

[The Rio de la Plata.]

[A Prisoner of the Portuguese.]

[Transported to Angola—A Voyage to the Zaire.]

§ II.

[Trading in Loango.]

[An Attempted Escape.]

[A Second Attempt at Escape.]

[Surrenders to a Portuguese Captain.]

[A campaign in Lamba.]46

[A Voyage to Benguella.]

§ III.

[A Second Voyage to Benguella.]

[Among the Jagas.]

[March into the Interior.]

[Left as an Hostage.]

[He joins the Jagas.]

[Military Organisation of the Jagas.]

[A River of Gold.]

[Palm Wine.]

[Jaga Raids.]

[Dress and Ornaments.]

[Infanticide.]

[Human Sacrifices.]108

[Burial of the Dead.]

§ IV.

[João Rodrigues Coutinho’s Campaign, 1602.]

[Manuel Cerveira Pereira carries on the war.]

[A Trading Trip to Congo.]

[Final Escape from Captivity.]

§ V.

[Kabinda.]

[The Capital of Loango.]

[A Royal Audience.]

[The King’s Wives.]142

[The King Drinks!]

[The King at Dinner.]144

[The King as a Rain-maker.]

[Albinos.]

[The Nkishi, or Fetishes.]

[Children are born White.]

[The Royal Princes.]

[The Kings Mother.]

[Palm Cloth.]158

[The Royal Tombs.]

[Europeans Committed to the Sea.]

§ VI.

[Bongo.]

[Cango.]

[Calongo.]

[Gorillas and Chimpanzis.]169

[Hunting Dogs.]

[The Maramba Fetish.]172

[Sette.]

[Mani Kesock.]178

[Pygmy Elephant-Hunters.]

[Poison Ordeals.]

[Death and Witchcraft.]190

§ VII.

[Domestic Animals.]

[Wild Birds.]

WORKS ISSUED BY
The Hakluyt Society

THE STRANGE ADVENTURES
OF
ANDREW BATTELL.

SECOND SERIES.
No. VI.

THE
STRANGE ADVENTURES
OF
ANDREW BATTELL
OF LEIGH,
IN ANGOLA AND THE ADJOINING REGIONS.

Edited, with Notes and a Concise
HISTORY OF KONGO AND ANGOLA,
BY
E. G. RAVENSTEIN.

Reproduced, by permission of the
HAKLUYT SOCIETY
from the edition originally published by the Society
in 1901
KRAUS REPRINT LIMITED
Nendeln/Liechtenstein
1967

Printed in Germany
Lessing-Druckerei—Wiesbaden

THE STRANGE ADVENTURES
OF
ANDREW BATTELL OF LEIGH IN ESSEX,
SENT BY THE PORTUGALS PRISONER TO ANGOLA,
WHO LIVED THERE, AND IN THE ADJOINING
REGIONS, NEAR EIGHTEEN YEARS.

Extracts from “The Admirable Adventures and Strange Fortunes
of Master Antonie Knivet, which went with Master
Thomas Candish in his Second Voyage to the South
Sea, 1591,” published in Purchas His Pilgrimes,
Part IV, lib. vi, c. 7. London, 1625.