HOW I GROSSED AFRICA: 
 
 ATLANTIC TO THE INDIAN OCEAN, THROUGH UNKNOWN COUNTRIES ; 
 DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT ZAMBESI AFFLUENTS, 4c. 
 
 By MAJOR SERPA PINTO. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE AUTHOR'S MANUSCRIPT 
 
 By ALFEED ELWES. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 CONTAINING 15 MAPS AND FACSIMILES AND 132 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Vol. I.— THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. 
 1881. 
 
TO HIS MAJESTY THE KING, 
 D. LUIZ I., 
 
 BY GRACIOUS PERMISSION 
 
 THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED BY 
 
 THE 
 
( T ) 
 
 It was no feeling of servile adulation which 
 induced me to pray Your Majesty's permission to 
 dedicate to you this Book ; it was rather the recog- 
 nition of a double debt of justice and gratitude, — of 
 justice to the intelligent and enlightened monarch who 
 signed the decree which created resources for the first 
 Portuguese scientific expedition of the present century 
 to Central Africa, — of gratitude to the prince whose 
 endowments, both of heart and mind, are on a par 
 with his lofty qualities, and render him one of the first 
 constitutional rulers of contemporary Europe. 
 
 Your Majesty gave me the opportunity of connect- 
 iug the obscure name of a Portuguese soldier with one 
 of the happiest and most auspicious attempts essayed 
 in modern times by Portugal. 
 
 And this work belongs therefore to Your Majesty, 
 as a legitimate title of my profound gratitude. I con- 
 sequently venture respectfully to entreat Your Majesty 
 
( vi ) 
 
 to be good enough to accept the humble offering in the 
 same benevolent spirit wherewith you deigned to spur 
 me on to an enterprise of which, at its close, Your 
 Majesty's favours were still held to be the sincerest and 
 most treasured recompense. 
 
 Your aide-de-camp 
 
 And most devoted of 
 
 Your subjects, 
 
 Alexandre de Serpa Pinto. 
 
 London, 61 Gower Street, 
 bth December, 1880. 
 
( yii ) 
 
 TO HIS EXCELLENCY, COUNSELLOK 
 JOlO D'ANDRADE CORVO. 
 
 Most Illustrious and Excellent Sir, 
 
 In submitting my name, in 1877, to the Central 
 Permanent Commission of Geography with a view 
 to my forming part of the Portuguese expedition to 
 the interior of Africa, Your Excellency assumed the 
 responsibility of my nomination. 
 
 It was my constant desire to give Your Excellency 
 the fullest satisfaction for thus venturing to select me 
 for the performance of so arduous a task. 
 
 This book contains, together with a narrative of my 
 adventures, the results of my labours and studies. 
 
 I do not know whether they will come up to Your 
 Excellency's expectations ; and I am just as ignorant 
 whether I have properly fulfilled the duties which Your 
 Excellency, in the name of our country, intrusted to me. 
 
 I have, however, the consciousness that I did 
 my best, and that I followed out, so far as human 
 strength enabled me to do, Your Excellency's ideas 
 and instructions. 
 
 A perusal of my narrative will show Your Excel- 
 lency with how many difficulties I struggled, and how 
 poor were the resources I at last had at my disposal. 
 
( vili ) 
 
 If, however, the results of my labours are found to 
 correspond to the confidence with which Your Ex- 
 cellency was good enough to honour me, they will 
 constitute the highest praise to which I can aspire, 
 being, as I am, the most respectful admirer of Your 
 Excellency's talent, vast knowledge, and elevated 
 qualities. 
 
 Alexandre de Serpa Pinto. 
 
 London, 61 Gower Street, 
 2Sth November, 1880. 
 
( ix ) 
 
 A TRIBUTE OF GRATITUDE. 
 
 I am about to cite names. It is a difficult and a 
 dangerous task. There is always a fear of wounding 
 the modest or hurting the susceptible. Nevertheless I 
 must venture. 
 
 The list will be a long one, as the favours were 
 many in number ; and I may perchance sin in the way 
 of omission, the offspring of a slothful memory. 
 
 May I obtain pardon, both from those who would 
 wish to hide their kindness behind the veil of modesty, 
 and from those whom a slip of remembrance may 
 have caused me to leave unnamed. 
 
 Following the chronological order of facts, I will 
 endeavour to recall, with a deep feeling of gratitude, 
 the many services and kindnesses I have received. 
 
 To the Central Geographical Commission belongs 
 the first place in my estimation, for having selected me 
 as its instrument in the work of exploration which it 
 had decided upon making in Africa. 
 
 Proposed by H.E. Counsellor Andrade Corvo, I was 
 unanimously accepted by that learned body, and the 
 suggestions which I presented for the organisation of 
 the undertaking were duly attended to. While speak- 
 ing of the Central Geographical Commission, I cannot 
 refrain from mentioning individuals, for, though I 
 received courtesy from all, I was especially assisted by 
 many. 
 
( X ) 
 
 Dr. Bernardino Antonio Gomes, the Marquis de 
 Sousa-Hollstein, Antonio Augusto Teixera de Yascon- 
 cellos, are names which ought not to escape a record of 
 my gratitude, though their owners are now lying in 
 their graves. 
 
 Dr. Julio Eodriguez, Luciano Cordeiro, Dr. Bocage, 
 Count de Ficalho, Carlos Testa, Pereira da Silva, Jorge 
 Figaniere and Francisco da Costa e Silva, were the 
 gentlemen who, from their position at the Board, most 
 endeavoured to honour me with their favour. 
 
 Another with whom I only became personally 
 acquainted years afterwards, who was absent while 
 the expedition was being organised, lent his valuable 
 counsel in respect of the scientific portions of the 
 enterprise. I refer to Mr. Brito Limpo. 
 
 Outside of the Society, I obtained valuable assistance 
 from my intimate friends Murrecas Ferreira and Joao 
 Botto. 
 
 After the Central Commission comes the Geographi- 
 cal Society of Lisbon, and prominently among its 
 members are its Presidents, Dr. Bocage and Yiscount 
 de St. Januario, and its Secretaries Luciano Cordeiro 
 and Rodrigo Pequito. 
 
 The Portuguese Journals follow in a natural course, 
 and I cordially thank their editors for all the favours 
 they have conferred upon me, and for the manner in 
 which they hailed my appointment. 
 
 Beyond my own country most valuable aid was 
 afforded me by Mendes Leal, Antonio d'Abbadie and 
 Ferdinand de Lesseps in Paris ; and Yiscount de 
 Duprat and Lieutenant Pinto da Fonseca Yaz in 
 London ; inasmuch as the co-operation of those gen- 
 tlemen, and that only, enabled Capello and myself 
 to carry out our resolve, to have all the material of 
 the expedition organised within a month. 
 
 Before quitting Portugal, two other gentlemen must 
 
( » ) 
 
 be remembered, as they bad much to do with the ulti- 
 mate success of our enterprise. 
 
 These are Counsellor Jose de Mello e Gouvea, who 
 was then intrusted with the portfolio of Ultramar, and 
 Francisco Costa, the Director-General of the Ministry 
 of the Colonies. 
 
 Pedro d'Almeida Tito and Avelino Fernandes 
 showed me so much attention on my journey, that I. 
 cannot refrain from mentioning them here. 
 
 After them follow the Governor of Cape Verde, Yasco 
 Guedes, and the Governor of Angola, Caetano d'Albu- 
 querque ; both of whom displayed the utmost kindness. 
 
 In Loanda, Jose Maria de Prado, Urbano de Castro, 
 Consul Newton, the Associaqao Commercial and, above 
 all, the officers and commander of the gunboat Tamega 
 earned a title to my deepest gratitude. 
 
 And now comes a name which at that time was 
 being echoed from every part of the globe, to the 
 remotest corners of which it had penetrated — 
 
 Henry Moreland Stanley. 
 
 The great explorer, the intrepid traveller, who had 
 just terminated the most stupendous journey of modern 
 times, was my friend and my counsellor, from whom I 
 received the most valuable lessons. A better master 
 could not well be obtained. I will beg him to accept, 
 in these brief lines, the sincerest tribute of the great 
 admiration I feel for him, and the frankest expression 
 of my esteem, and of the gratitude with which he has 
 inspired me. 
 
 In Benguella, Pereira de Mello and Silva Porto 
 occupy the first place : I need not stay to speak of 
 them at greater length, as their acts, narrated in these 
 volumes, constitute their highest praise. Antonio 
 Ferreira Marques, Lieutenant Seraphim, the chemist 
 Monteiro, and Vieira da Silva, are names which I 
 cannot pass unnoticed. 
 
( xii ) 
 
 Santos Keis, my host of the Dombe Grande, and 
 Lieutenant Roza of Quillengues, are two more creditors 
 to my gratitude. 
 
 I will now make a prodigious leap, and without 
 stopping at Dr. Bradshaw and the Coillard family, 
 transport myself to Bamanguato, to Shoshong, where 
 the favours of King Kama, and above all those of Mr. 
 and Mrs. Taylor will ever dwell in my memory. 
 
 But no light difficulty next presents itself. I am in 
 Pretoria — in the first civilised portion of the world 
 I fell in with after leaving Benguella ; and where the 
 favours heaped upon me were so many that I know 
 not how to find words or space to record the names of 
 their bestowers. 
 
 Mr. Swart, the Government Treasurer, was the first to 
 honour me, and he is of right the first to be recorded. 
 
 After him come Frederick Jeppe, Secretary Osborne, 
 Dr. Rissick, Mr. Kisch, Major Tylor and Captain 
 Saunders, together with all the officers of the 80th 
 regiment. 
 
 Baroness van Levetzow, Mrs. Imink and Mrs. Kisch, 
 and finally Colonel Lanyan. 
 
 Sir Bartle Frere immediately came to my aid, nor 
 was our Portuguese Consul at the Cape, Snr. Carvalho, 
 far behind. 
 
 If I owe a debt of gratitude to the English Governor, 
 I am no less beholden to the Portuguese Consul, who, 
 by means of immediate telegrams, hastened to render 
 me the utmost assistance. 
 
 Monseigneur Jolivet, the learned Bishop of Natal, 
 then residing at Pretoria, was not among the last to 
 load me with favours. 
 
 On my way to Durban, I received the utmost 
 courtesy from Mr. Goodliffe, and when at Maritzburg 
 those courtesies were repeated by Colonel Baker, 
 Captain Whalley, Mrs. Saunders, and Mr. Furse. 
 
( xiii ) 
 
 In Durban, Mr. Snell, the Portuguese Consul, and 
 Mr. and Mrs. B. H. de Waal, the gentleman at the 
 head of the Handels Company of Eastern Africa, were 
 foremost in their kindness arid attention. 
 
 The task I have imposed upon myself becomes more 
 and more embarrassing. I am on my way to Europe 
 after the completion of my journey, and favours and 
 courtesy meet me at every stage. 
 
 In Lourenco Marquez I have to mention Castilho, 
 Machado, Maia, and Fonseca. In Mozambique, 
 Governor Cunha, Torrezao, and in fact every one. 
 
 In Zanzibar, Dr. and Mrs. Kirk, Widmar, and above 
 all Captain Draper of the Danubio, belonging to the 
 Union Steam Ship Company, who conveyed me thither 
 from Durban, should not remain unnamed. 
 
 In Cairo, again, Widmar was most kind. In Alex- 
 andria, Count and Countess de Caprara especially 
 deserved my acknowledgments. 
 
 Even before I reached Lisbon, I received an im- 
 portant service from the Baron de Mendonca at 
 Bordeaux. 
 
 In Lisbon, the Government in the first instance, and 
 friends old and new, vied with each other in showing 
 me attention. 
 
 I remained there some ten days, which were all too 
 short to acknowledge the acts of courtesy shown me, 
 and which left me not a minute for thanks. 
 
 Barely recovered from the fatigues of my voyage, 
 it was expected that I should deliver a lecture upon 
 my wanderings, and without the valuable assistance 
 rendered me by Pequito, Sarrea Prado, Batalha Reis, 
 and Dr. Bocage, it would have been impossible for me 
 to pull through. 
 
 Not wishing or rather not being able here to 
 mention other names, so great is their number, I must 
 content myself with thanking, in the warmest terms of 
 
( xiv ) 
 
 gratitude, the Geographical Society of Lisbon, for all 
 their attentions towards me. 
 
 To the Associacao Commercial, and to its worthy 
 President Snr. Chamisso, who all through displayed the 
 utmost interest in the exploration of which I formed 
 part, I tender my heartfelt acknowledgments. 
 
 I learned when at Lisbon a fact which I cannot 
 refrain from recording here, and coupling with it a 
 name, that of Snr. Thomaz Ribeiro. To him I am 
 indebted for the orders he gave, in his capacity of 
 Minister of Marine, that assistance should be sent 
 me from Mozambique into the interior of Africa, and I 
 herewith tender him my grateful thanks. 
 
 I beg also to express my deep acknowledgments to 
 the Diplomatic Corps resident in Lisbon, and above 
 all to M. Morier, Baron de P. Hegeurt, Laboulay, the 
 Marquis d'Oldoini and Ruata. 
 
 My thanks are also due to the Associacao Commercial 
 of Oporto, to the voluntary Fire Brigade of that city, 
 to the Sociedade Euterpe, and the Sociedade de ln- 
 strucc/io, as well as to the municipalities and other 
 institutions of the country, who did me honour. 
 
 To the Portuguese Associations in Brazil, to my 
 fellow-countrymen, who were so kind to me when far 
 from home, to all those who spared neither time nor 
 pains on. my behalf, I waft friendly greetings and 
 expressions of my gratitude. 
 
 Above all are they due to those who formed a 
 Society bearing my name, and from distant Pernam- 
 buco offered me this delicate compliment, which I am 
 not likely ever to forget. 
 
 It is now my pleasing duty in the order of events 
 to offer my thanks to foreign Sovereigns for the high 
 honours which they conferred upon me, more especially 
 to His Majesty of Belgium, the illustrious and learned 
 King Leopold, the great instigator of modern geo- 
 
( ) 
 
 graphical discovery in Africa, who, apart from the 
 honour with which he deigned to distinguish me, gave 
 me marks of the most cordial esteem, and expressed the 
 kindest interest in my welfare. 
 
 The Geographical Societies of France, and chiefly 
 those of Paris, in the persons of Admiral La Ronciere 
 le Noury, Ferdinand de Lesseps, Messrs. Daubre, 
 Maunoir, d'Abbadie, de Quatrefages and Duveyrier, 
 were profuse in their favours; the Society at Mar- 
 seilles, conferred .upon me a lofty and cherished dis- 
 tinction, and its President, M. Babaud, showed me the 
 utmost courtesy ; nor must I forget the kindness of the 
 Societe Commerciale of Paris, or of its worthy Secretary- 
 General, M. Gauthiot. 
 
 Referring to Paris, I cannot leave unnoticed the 
 Portuguese Colony, nor among its members, the names 
 of Mendes Leal, Count de S. Miguel, Camillo de Moraes, 
 Pereira Leite, Garrido and Dr. Aguiar, whose friendly 
 attentions will never be effaced from my mind. 
 
 I also feel deeply indebted to the Belgian Geo- 
 graphical Societies, and particularly to that of Anvers, 
 in the persons of their Presidents, General Liagre and 
 Colonel Wauverraans; nor should I fail to record, in a 
 country where 1 met with universal courtesy, the names 
 of Messrs. du Fief, Bamps and Colonei Strauch, and 
 above all that of Count de Thomar, whose repeated 
 favours and cordiality of treatment converted the 
 sincere esteem of our first relations into what I trust 
 will be a lasting friendship. 
 
 In the order of dates I now come to England, 
 the last upon my list, but perhaps the first in point of 
 importance, owing to the numerous acts of courtesy and 
 recognition which I there met with. 
 
 My gratitude was first awakened in the English 
 Colonies of South Africa, and it was increased tenfold 
 by my reception in the mother-country. 
 
( x vi ) 
 
 I cannot possibly name all those to whom I here 
 proffer my most grateful thanks, but I would specially 
 express my acknowledgments to the Geographical 
 Society of London, to its President the Earl of North- 
 brook, to its Secretaries Clements R. Markham and 
 Bates, and to its members Sir Rutherford Alcock, Lord 
 Arthur Russell, and Yiscount de Duprat. 
 
 To Mr. Frederick Youle, Dr. Peacock and Messrs. 
 M. d'Antas, Sampaio, Fonseca Vaz, Quillinan, Duprat 
 and Ribeiro Saraiva, I owe, besides the most cordial 
 attentions, a deep debt of gratitude for services 
 rendered during my serious illness, for which I offer 
 them here a public acknowledgment. 
 
 Ere I conclude, I must not omit to mention the 
 names of Mr. David Ward, the Mayor of Sheffield, and 
 of my particular friend the great and eminent explorer, 
 Yerney Lovett Cameron, and with them I must close 
 a list which is likely otherwise to be interminable. 
 
 To the Scientific Societies of other countries and to 
 all those who are not otherwise alluded to, but from 
 whom I received distinguished favours, I beg to 
 express my warmest acknowledgments, not the less 
 sincere because they are not individually awarded. 
 
 Major Alexandre de Sekpa Pinto. 
 
 London, 5th December, 1880. 
 
( xvii ) 
 
 THE BOOK. 
 
 This book has no pretensions to a literary work. 
 
 Written without much attention to form, it is a 
 faithful reproduction of my travelling diary. 
 
 I have eliminated from it many episodes of the chase, 
 and other matters which may, during my intervals of 
 leisure, constitute a volume of a special character. I 
 have endeavoured, above all else, to put prominently 
 forward that which I deemed most interesting in the 
 way of geographic and ethnographic research ; and 
 if I have occasion;illy interwoven a few of the many 
 dramatic episodes which abounded in my fatiguing 
 enterprise, I have done so where they became connected 
 with notable facts of sufficient importance to alter a 
 projected itinerary, to determine my stay in, or my 
 precipitate march from, any place, which would be 
 incomprehensible without an explanation of the causes 
 which led up to such resolve. 
 
 To a European, and generally to any man who has 
 never travelled in the wilds of Africa, what explorers 
 have to endure in penetrating into that continent, what 
 difficulties they have at every instant to overcome, and 
 what iron labour they have to go through, will be well 
 nigh incomprehensible. 
 
 The narratives of Livingstone, Cameron, Stanley, 
 Burton, Grant, Savorgnan de Brazza, d'Abbadre, Ed. 
 Mohr, and many others, are far from depicting all the 
 
( xviii ) 
 
 sufferings of the African traveller. It is difficult, in 
 fact, for any one to conceive them who lias not ex- 
 perienced them in his own person ; and it is equally 
 difficult for the man who has endured them to describe 
 them properly. 
 
 I do not even attempt to portray what I suffered, or 
 endeavour to show the amount of work I had to perform. 
 Whether those who calmly examine the result of 
 my labours will or will not give me the just meed 
 which I consider rightly my due, is to-day a matter of 
 indifference to me, being, as I am, convinced that I 
 can only be properly judged by those who, like myself, 
 have trodden the almost endless tracts of the Dark 
 Continent, and have undergone the wretchedness and 
 privations which were too often my lot in the country. 
 
 Just as only that man who, being a father, can 
 comprehend the bitter grief occasioned by the loss 
 of a beloved child, so only he who has been himself an 
 explorer can thoroughly appreciate the tribulations 
 that a brother explorer has to endure. 
 
 The facts narrated in this book are the expression of 
 the truth ; a bitter truth indeed at times, but which it 
 would be a deep wrong to conceal. 
 
 I have endeavoured to present therein the results of 
 a ceaseless labour of many months, and I vouch for 
 what I record about African geography, as being the 
 sole authority to speak upon the subject in what con- 
 cerns my own special journey ; and I shall continue to 
 vouch for the correctness of my data, until some other 
 man shall follow in my steps across the African con- 
 tinent, and convince me that I am in error. 
 
 The general opinions which I enunciate touching 
 this or that problem may be erroneous ; they are of 
 course open to criticism, and may fall to the ground 
 beneath the practical demonstration of future journeys, 
 in the same manner as have fallen the assertions of 
 
( xix ) 
 
 many of my most illustrious predecessors ; but what I 
 hold to be iucontestable and impossible to be contested, 
 are the facts which I saw, and the data wliich refer to 
 the countries I passed through, and which I describe 
 in this book with the conscientiousness that ought ever 
 to dictate the records of the explorer. 
 
 I did not repair to Africa with a view to gain 
 money. I had but the scanty pay of an officer in the 
 army, and I sought no other. 
 
 I left behind me a family that I held most dear. I 
 left my country and all its attractions, for a weary 
 labour, and for the sole purpose of labouring, in co- 
 operation with other countries, in the great task of 
 survey of the unknown continent ; and I feel the con- 
 sciousness of having done so with all my strength. 
 
 I leave to men of science, and to those who are 
 authorities in such matters, to appreciate my work 
 according to its deserts. 
 
 I say no more upon a subject which may, perhaps, 
 appear to spring from a spirit of vanity to which I am 
 a stranger, but circumstances of an unusual kind, which 
 occurred during the early months of my residence in 
 Europe, after completing my weary African journey, 
 dictated the lines which I have above written. 
 
 A year has passed since I began to reduce to shape 
 the results of my African labours, but an obstinate 
 illness, again and again, stood in the way of my ardent 
 desire to lay those labours before the public. 
 
 Commenced in London in September 1879, my book 
 was almost entirely written in the months of September 
 and October 1880, at the Figueira da Foz in Portugal. 
 
 The haste with which it was terminated will no 
 doubt have contributed greatly to its imperfection of 
 form. 
 
 It is published in London, where, with the eminent 
 firm of Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Eivington, 
 
 b 2 
 
( xx ) 
 
 I met with facilities which I could scarcely have found 
 elsewhere. 
 
 Those gentlemen did not hesitate to incur the 
 enormous expense naturally inherent to so difficult and 
 costly a publication, and they have been good enough 
 to undertake to print in England the Portuguese edition ; 
 a most onerous task, where the difference between the 
 two languages necessitated the founding of new type, 
 owing to the characteristic marks of our southern 
 idiom. 
 
 I am deeply indebted to them for the care and 
 attention they have devoted to the work, to the merit 
 of which, if it be held to possess any, they have 
 certainly largely contributed. 
 
 The book was written in Portuguese, and its trans- 
 lation was kindly undertaken by Mr. Alfred Elwes, the 
 well-known English writer and philologist. I beg to 
 express my warmest acknowledgments to that gentle- 
 man, for the way in which he has interpreted my ideas 
 and faithfully translated my phrases — a task of the 
 greater difficulty, as the richness and intricacy of the 
 Portuguese language are considerable. On perusing 
 the English translation, I have again and again admired 
 the closeness with which my style has been adhered to ; 
 for my phrases are laconic, and therefore all the more 
 stubborn to deal with in a foreign language. If the 
 book have any value, it has certainly lost nothing by 
 translation into English, and to Mr. Elwes the honour 
 of executing it so conscientiously is due. 
 
 Before closing these remarks, I wish also to thank 
 most sincerely Counsellor Antonio Ribeiro Saraiva, 
 who, notwithstanding his own duties and his advanced 
 age, was good enough to do me the special favour to 
 correct the Portuguese proofs; Mr. E. Weller, the 
 cartographer, who undertook the engraving of my 
 maps ; and Mr. Cooper, who has so admirably succeeded 
 
( xxi ) 
 
 in interpreting my hasty sketches, made during the 
 journey, in the engravings which illustrate the work. 
 
 Here then is the book. My sole desire is that it 
 may interest and entertain the mass of my readers, 
 serve as a study to others, and give a fresh impulse to 
 the great and sublime crusade of the nineteenth century, 
 a crusade of civilisation and progress in the Dark 
 Continent. 
 
 London, 61 Gower Street, 
 bth December, 1880. 
 
( xxii ) 
 
 THE TITLE OF THE BOOK. 
 
 On my return to my temporary home this evening, 
 from an after-dinner stroll, I find upon my writing- 
 table, pinned to the blotter, a cutting from some news- 
 paper, which contains the following words : — 
 
 " The Athenaeum says, 4 Major Serpa Pinto, who has 
 recovered from his protracted illness, has come to 
 London to bring out his book, descriptive of his 
 journey across Africa. It is satisfactory to find that 
 the title is altered from " The King's Rifle," to " How I 
 crossed Africa." " The King's Rifle " might be a good 
 name for a boy's book of adventures by Mayne Reid or 
 G-ustave Aimard, but it seems rather out of place on 
 the title-page of a serious book of African travels.' " 
 
 It is near midnight, and I feel that I want rest ; but 
 before turning in, I cannot refrain from writing a few 
 words upon the above subject. 
 
 The critic's remark is, and yet it is not, quite correct. 
 
 African travels always partake, more or less, of 
 romance, however much they may take the form of 
 a scientific work. 
 
 If my book, like all which have preceded it, is a 
 veritable romance, it nevertheless contains geographic 
 matter of some importance. 
 
 The project which I formed, and which I have here 
 carried out, was to blend with a narrative of my adven- 
 tures the more serious labours referred to ; just as such 
 things are apt to be blended in the wilds of Africa. 
 
( xxiii ) 
 
 As to the title that my book should bear, it was a 
 matter to which I gave but little heed. 
 
 Inasmuch as the expedition, and, as a necessary 
 consequence, the whole fruits of my labour were saved 
 by the King's Rifle, it occurred to me to give that title 
 to my entire work. I gave no thought to the adverse 
 criticism it might meet with. And besides, my justifi- 
 cation would be found in a perusal of my narrative. 
 
 One consideration, nevertheless, occurred to modify 
 my original project. 
 
 One man there was, the only one in the world who, 
 however incapable of taking public exception to the 
 exclusiveness of the title, might with reason deem that 
 I had been unjust towards himself, in giving too great 
 prominence in my book to the fact that it was the King's 
 Rifle only which had saved the expedition, when he 
 possessed an equal right to my gratitude, in having 
 saved me in turn. 
 
 The original title, therefore, weighed upon my 
 mind as an injustice, although it had been dictated 
 solely by a contrary sentiment, being but little accus- 
 tomed to burn incense on the altar of the great, and 
 J immediately resolved to retain the title for the fir^t 
 part of my narrative, and give to the second part the 
 name of Francois Coillard, the man who saved me, and, 
 in doing so, saved the labours of the expedition which 
 I directed. It was a simple act of duty on my part. 
 
 But this decision necessitated a general title lor the 
 work as a whole, no difficult matter to supply when a 
 Continent has been crossed from sea to sea. 
 
 This is why my work is now called How I crossed 
 Africa." 
 
 I am sure that the title of a book of this kind can be 
 but of trifling moment to the public. It is necessary 
 to call it something, and I have given it the name 
 under which it will appear. 
 
( xxiv ) 
 
 I shall be exceedingly sorry if any one objects to it, 
 but it cannot now be helped ; it is fortunately not a 
 matter of a nature to interfere with any man's slumber, 
 and I trust it will not disturb or abridge mine. 
 
 London, 61 Gower Street, 
 
 12th December, 1880, at midnight. 
 
: pROPE(lTy~Of 
 
 EI IICS TON 
 H£C. OCT. otfl 
 • KSOLOUIOA • 
 
 CONTENTS TO VOL. I. 
 
 Part I.— THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 PROLOGUE. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. — BOW I BECAME AN EXPLORER 1 
 
 II.— Preparations for the Expedition 12 
 
 CHAPTEK I. 
 
 IN SEARCH OF CARBIERS. 
 
 Arrival at Loanda — The Governor Albuquerque — No carriers — I proceed 
 to Zaire — Ambriz — I reach Porto da Lenha — Ransomed slaves — 1 
 hear of Stanley's arrival — I go to Kabenda — I take Stanley on board 
 the Tameija — The officers of the gunboat — Stanley my guest — Our 
 itinerary — Arrival of Ivens 17 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 STILL IN SEARCH OF CARRIERS. 
 
 The Governor, Alfredo Pereira de Mello — The Governor's house — 
 Things for which the government of the mother country is not 
 responsible — A sketch of Benguella — Its trade — I am robbed — 
 Another robbery — The Katembela — I obtain carriers — Arrival of 
 Cupello and Ivens — Fresh alteration of route — Another difficulty — 
 Silva Port>>, the old country trader — New obstacles — Capello goes 
 to the Dumbo — Departure — The Dumbo — Fresh difficulties — Final 
 start 31 
 
xx vi 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE STORY OF A SHEEP. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Nine days in the desert — Want of water — The ex-chef e of Quillengues — 
 I lose myself in the bush— Two shots in time — A little nigger and 
 a negress missing — Loss of a donkey — Quillengues at last — Death of 
 the sheep 52 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THROUGH SUBJUGATED TERRITORY. 
 
 Journey to Ngola — The native king Chimbarandongo — Beauty of the 
 country — Arrival at Oaconda — Jose d'Anchieta — No correspondence 
 — Arrival of the che/'e — We follow the carriers — Ivens. goes to the 
 Cunene, and I go to the Cunene — Return from Bandiera's house — 
 Carriers wanting — My opinion Go 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 
 
 I leave Oaconda — The native chief Quipembe — Quingolo and the chief 
 Caimbn — Forty carriers — Fevers — The Huambo— The native chief 
 Bilombo and his son Capoco— Eighty Carriers — Letters and news 
 — All but lost ! — I move onwards — A knotty question in the Chaca 
 Quimbamba — The rivers Calae, Canhungamua, and Cunene — A fresh 
 and serious question in the Sam' o country — The Cubango — Rains 
 and storms — Seiious illness — A terrible adventure — The Bine* at 
 last! 83 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 BELMONTE. 
 
 In the Bine' — Severe Illness — Improvement — Eelmonte — I determine to 
 start for the Upper Zambesi — Letters to the Government — How the 
 Expedition was organised in the Bihe — Difficulties, and how they 
 were overcome — Historical and social notes on the Bihe — My labours 
 — New difficulties — I leave Belmonte — The road to the Cuanza — 
 Slavery 146 
 
 Rapid Retrospective Glance 
 
 216 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XXVll 
 
 CHAPTEK VII. 
 
 AMONG THE GANGUELLAS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Passage of the Cuanza — The Quimbandes — The Sova Mavanda — The 
 rivers Vaiva and Onda — Tree-ferns — Tribulations — Slaves — The 
 river Cuito— The Luchazes — Emigration of Quibocos — Cambuta — 
 — The Cuando — Leopards — The Ambuellas — The Sova Moem- 
 Cahenda — Descent of the river Cubangui — The Quichobos — Sudden 
 changes — I start for the Cuchibi 22G 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 THE KING OF THE AMBUELLA's DAUGHTERS. 
 
 The Cuchibi — The Sova Cahu-heu-ue — The Mucassequeres — Opudo and 
 Capeu — Abundance — Kindness of the Aborigines — Peoples and Cus- 
 toms—A Ford of the Cuchibi — The river Chicului— Game — Wild 
 Animals — The river Chalongo — An awful day — The Sources of the 
 Ninda — The Tomb of Luiz Albino — The Plain of the Nhengo — 
 Labour and Hunger — The Zambesi at last ! 304 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 ( VOL. I.) 
 
 FIG. PAGE 
 
 1. — Mundombe Women, Vendors of Coal. (From a photograph by the 
 
 chemist Monteiro.) 47 
 
 2. — Mundombe Women and Girls (From a photograph by Monteiro.) 49 
 
 3. — Mundombe Men (From a photograph by Monteiro.) .... 50 
 
 4. — Man and Woman of the Huambo 96 
 
 5. — Woman of the Sambo 110 
 
 6. — My Encampment between the Sambo and the Bihe .... Ill 
 
 7. — Cassanha Bridge over the River Cubango 116 
 
 8. — The Seculo who gave me a Pig 117 
 
 9. — Ganguella Womtn on the Banks of the Cubango 120 
 
 10. — Ant-hills on the Banks of the River Cutato of the Ganguellas 
 
 to face 122 
 
 11. — Ant-bill 13 feet high on the Banks of the Rivtr Cutato dos 
 
 Ganguellas, covered with Vegetation 122 
 
 12. — Tomb of a Native Chief 124 
 
 13. — Caquingue Blacksmiths 127 
 
 14. — 1. Bellows; 2. Clay Muzzle ; 3. Anvil; 4. Hammer . . . 128 
 
 15. — Articles manufactured by the Natives between the Coast and the 
 
 Bihe 129 
 
 16. — Belmont House, Bihe to face 149 
 
 J 7 — View of the Exterior of the Village of Belmonte in the Bihe . . 150 
 
 18— Plan of the Village of the Belmonte in the Bibe" 151 
 
 19. — Woman of the Bihe, digging 161 
 
 20. — Biheno Carrier on the March 162 
 
 21. — Simple Palisade ; Palisade bound together with withes ; Palisade 
 
 with forked uprights 176 
 
 22. — Plan of a native Lihata or fortified village in the Bihe. Trophy 
 
 of the chase found in almost all fortified villages .... 177 
 
 23. — Post erected outside the gate of the villages 177 
 
 24. — Articles manufactured by the Bihenos Ib5 
 
 25. — Quiuda, or straw basket which will hold water ; Large Sieve for 
 
 drying rice or maize flour ; Sifting Sieve ; Ladle for watering 
 
 the Capata 187 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XXIX 
 
 FIG. PAGE 
 
 26. — A Bihe Head-Dress 190 
 
 27. — Bihe Women pounding Maize 200 
 
 28. — Ganguella, Luimba and Loena Women — Method of shaping the 
 
 Incisors 208 
 
 29. — Ant-Hills, found between the Coast and the Bihe 222 
 
 30. — Crossing the Cuanza 226 
 
 31. — Quimbande Man and Woman 227 
 
 32. — Quimbande Girls 228 
 
 33. — The Bihenos constructing Huts in the Encampments. . . . 232 
 
 34. — Skeleton of a Hut 233 
 
 35. — Hut built in au hour 234 
 
 36. — The Sova Mavauda, masked, and Dancing in my Camp to face 238 
 
 37. — Quimbande Woman carrying her load 238 
 
 38. — 1. Pipe; 2. Knives; 3. Tomahawks 240 
 
 39. — Ditassoa— Fish of the River Onda 245 
 
 40. — Tree-ferns on the Banks of the Onda . . 246 
 
 41. — Cabango Woman's Head- Dress , . 247 
 
 42. — Cabango Man 248 
 
 43. — Cabango Man 249 
 
 44. — Lake Liguri 253 
 
 45. — A Luchaze of the Banks of the Paver Cuito 255 
 
 46. — Tinder-box, Flint and Steel 256 
 
 47. — A Luchaze Woman on the Road 257 
 
 47a.— Atundo, Plant and Fruit 269 
 
 48. — Village of Cambuta, Luchaze 274 
 
 49. — Luchaze Woman of Cambuta 275 
 
 50. — Luchaze Man of Cabuta 276 
 
 51. — Articles manufactured by the Luchazes 277 
 
 52. — Luchaze Woman of Cutangjo 280 
 
 53— Luchaze Pipe 281 
 
 54. — Luchaze Fowl-house 281 
 
 55. — The Crivi, or Trap for small Game 282 
 
 56. — Luchaze of the Cutangjo 283 
 
 57. — Luchaze Articles 283 
 
 58. — The Cuchibi 287 
 
 59. — Leaf and Fruit of the Cuchibi 288 
 
 60. — The Mapole, Tree and Leaf 289 
 
 61. — Mapole, Fruit and arrangement of the Branches 291 
 
 62. — Moene-Cahenga, Sova of Cangamba; 1. Fly-flap 293 
 
 63. — (Chimbenzengue.) Hatchet of the Ambuellas of Cangamba . . 294 
 
 64. — Ambuella Pipe 295 
 
 65. — The Quichobo to face 299 
 
 66. — The Ouco 305 
 
 67. — The Opumbulume 306 
 
 68. — Hat 308 
 
 69— The Songue ; Slot of the Songue 311 
 
 70.— The Sova Cahu-heu-ue 318 
 
XXX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 STO. PAG3 
 
 71. — Ambuella "Woman 325 
 
 72. — Opudo 326 
 
 73. — Capeu 328 
 
 74. — Cuchibi Canoe and Paddle 331 
 
 75. — Drum used at Ambuella Feasts 332 
 
 76. — Cau-eu-hue (Town on the Cuchibi) to face 333 
 
 77— The Sova's Brother 335 
 
 78. — Ambuella Hunter 340 
 
 79. — Chingnene 341 
 
 b0.— Lincumba 342 
 
 81. — Chipulo or Nhele 342 
 
 82. — The Cuchibi Ford to face 343 
 
 83. — Assegais of the Ambuellas 345 
 
 84. — Ambuella Arrow- Heads 346 
 
 85. — Malnnca 353 
 
 8^. — 1. Direction of horns seen from the front ; 2. Slot of the Malanca . 354 
 
 86a. The Buffalo to face 360 
 
 87. — Luina Shield 3*9 
 
 88. — The Chief Cico'ta 370 
 
 89. — Ant-hills of the Nhen^o 371 
 
 90. — 1. and 2. Luina Houses ; 3. Granary ; 4 Luina Hoe .... 372 
 
 91. — Vertical Section of a Luina House in the Village of Tapa . . 374 
 
 MAPS IN VOL. I. 
 
 Map No. 1. — Tropical South Africa In pocket 
 
 „ „ 2. — Benguella to the Bihe Frontispiece 
 
 „ „ 3. — Cubango to Cuanza „ 218 
 
 „ „ 4. — Country of the Quimbandes „ 230 
 
 „ „ 5. — Disposition of the water at Cangala .... „ 273 
 
 „ „ 6. — Cambuta to the River Cubangui „ 279 
 
 „ „ 7. — Marsh of the source of the Cuando „ 285 
 
 „ „ 8. — From Cangamba to the Cuchibi „ 316 
 
HOW I CEOSSED AFRICA. 
 
 Part I.— THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 PROLOGUE. 
 
 I— HOW I BECAME AX EXPLORER. 
 
 In the course of the year 1869 I formed part of the 
 column which, in the Lower Zambesi, sustained many 
 a sanguinary conflict with the natives of Massangano. 
 Senhor Jose Maria Latino Coelho, the then Minister of 
 Marine, gave orders to the Governor of Mozambique, 
 to furnish me, at the close of the war, with the means 
 of mounting the Zambesi, so that I might make a 
 detailed survey of as much of the country as it was 
 possible for me to investigate. 
 
 The orders were given, but were never carried out ; 
 and after repeated applications and a hasty run through 
 the Portuguese possessions of Eastern Africa, I re- 
 turned to Europe, with a greater desire than ever to 
 study the interior of that continent of which I had 
 obtained only a superficial glance. 
 
 Private reasons of a family nature stepped in to 
 defer and, even for a time, to destroy my projects. — 
 
 An officer in the army, always in garrison in small 
 provincial towns, I was accustomed to convert my 
 
 VOL. I. B 
 
2 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 hours of idleness into hours of labour ; and though it 
 appeared to me that the possibility of visiting Africa 
 was remote, the study of African questions became my 
 sole and exclusive pastime. 
 
 Nor did I neglect the sublime subject of Astronomy, 
 so that the abundant leisure which my barrack life 
 allowed me was equally divided between Africa and 
 a study of the heavenly bodies. 
 
 In 1875 I was in the 12th Chasseurs, and had in my 
 comrade, Captain Daniel Simoes Soares, one of the most 
 intelligent men it has ever been my fate to know. We 
 had not been acquainted long ere we became fast friends. 
 
 The wretched little room of this illustrious officer in 
 the barracks of the Island of Madeira gave us mutual 
 shelter during the hours that the regulations compelled 
 us to reside there ; and how often, when one of us was 
 on guard, did he not have the other for companion ! 
 Africa, and still Africa, was our subject of conversation. 
 It is a pleasure to recall that time, those hours which 
 fled so rapidly, discussing questions which I was far from 
 thinking I should be one day called upon to solve. 
 
 Towards the close of 1875 I drew up a paper which 
 I submitted to the judgment of Simoes Soares and of 
 another of my comrades, Captain Camacho, and which 
 owed its origin to our interminable talks about Africa. 
 In it I laid down a plan for a partial survey of the 
 interior of our colonies in East Africa, which might be 
 effected with the greatest economy to the State. 
 
 After the question had been discussed and rediscussed 
 among us, the paper was forwarded to His Majesty's 
 Government : but I learned subsequently that it never 
 reached the hands of the Minister of Marine. 
 
 At that time I was again revolving in my mind a 
 return to Africa, notwithstanding my ties as a family 
 man and the great personal interests which attached 
 me to Portugal. 
 
PROLOGUE. 
 
 3 
 
 About the end of 1876 I returned to Lisbon, where 
 I learned that African matters had assumed considerable 
 importance in that city owing; to the creation of the 
 Central Permanent Geographical Commission and the 
 establishment of the Geographical Society of Lisbon. 
 
 There was especially much talk about a great geo- 
 graphical expedition to the interior of Southern Africa. 
 
 I at once set about seeing the Minister of the 
 Colonies, Snr. Joao d'Andrade Corvo. If it be no 
 easy matter to explore Africa, it is scarcely less difficult 
 to get an interview with a minister, more especially if 
 that minister be like Snr. Joao d'Andrade Corvo. His 
 Excellency held two portfolios, Marine and Foreign 
 Affairs, and it may be conceived that he had no time 
 to bestow upon intruders. I hunted him up for eight 
 days in succession, and on the very eve of my departure 
 from Lisbon I obtained an audience at the Ministry 
 for Foreign Affairs. 
 
 His Excellency received me somewhat stiffly, observ- 
 ing that he had but little time to dispose of ; he then 
 inquired what I wanted of him. 
 
 This question led to the following dialogue : — 
 
 " I have heard it stated that Y. E. is thinking of 
 sending a geographical expedition into Africa ; and 
 that is the object of my calling." 
 
 The minister immediately changed his tone, and very 
 courteously desired me to be seated. 
 
 " Have you been in Africa ?" he asked. 
 
 " I have ; I know something of the mode of travel- 
 ling in the country, and have devoted much attention 
 to the study of African questions." 
 
 u Do you feel inclined to make a long journey into 
 South Central Africa ? " 
 
 I must declare that I hesitated a moment before 
 replying ; but at length I said — 
 
 " I am ready to go." 
 
 B 2 
 
4 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 " That is well," he observed. Then he continued : 
 " I have thoughts of sending out a great expedition 
 to Africa, well provided with all necessaries, and when 
 the organisation of the staff is under consideration T 
 will not forget your name." 
 
 " By-the-by," he said, when I was on the point of 
 leaving, " what terms do you ask for such a service ? M 
 
 " None," I replied. And so we parted. 
 
 From the Ministry for Foreign Affairs I went to 
 No. 3 Calcada da Gloria, to call upon Dr. Bernardino 
 Antonio Gomes, Tice-President of the Central Per- 
 manent Geographical Commission. We had a long 
 conference together, and that distinguished scholar, who 
 was then entirely devoted to geographical subjects, told 
 me that he had already cast his eye upon a distin- 
 guished officer of our royal navy, Hermenigildo 
 Capello, to form a part of the expedition. 
 
 On the following day I started for the north. The 
 journey and the fresh air of the country somewhat 
 chilled the feverish enthusiasm which had taken 
 possession of me in Lisbon, and, after mature reflection, 
 I resolved to give up exploring Africa. 
 
 My wife and daughter were difficult ties to rend 
 asunder, and whenever the idea of tearing myself from 
 the tender caresses of my child crossed my mind, the 
 ardour of exploration gradually died within me. 
 
 My family on the one hand and Africa on the other 
 pulled my heart-strings in opposite directions, and kept 
 me a long time in a state of perplexity. I at length 
 hit upon a scheme which I thought might solve the 
 question. Were I, for instance, appointed to the 
 governorship of a district, I might make a portion of 
 Africa my study without separating myself from my 
 family. 1 was then serving in the 4th Chasseurs, and 
 on my journey to Algarve I spent a few days in 
 Lisbon, An exploring expedition was no longer talked 
 
PROLOGUE. 
 
 5 
 
 of, and but one enthusiast, Luciano Cordeiro, still held 
 to the belief that it would be brought about ; although 
 in the Geographical Society, of which I was the 
 Secretary, a loud cry had been raised in its favour. Dr. 
 Bernardino Antonio Gomes, bowed down by the weight 
 of years, had yielded to the pressure of his incessant 
 labours, and already felt the first symptoms of that 
 disease which, a little later on, deprived him of his 
 valuable life, and snatched from Portugal, and the 
 world at large, one of the most illustrious Portuguese 
 of the nineteenth century. 
 
 I was not at that time acquainted with the ardent 
 and brilliant youth for whom I feel to-day so warm a 
 friendship — I mean Luciano Cordeiro. 
 
 All those with whom I conversed of exploration 
 told me it must be looked upon as adjourned sine die. 
 Although the state in which I found matters at Lisbon 
 caused me poignant regret, seeing that the light which 
 had at one moment burned to give so harmonious an 
 impulse to Portuguese exploration in Africa appeared 
 to be flickering — on the other hand, I could not but 
 feel a certain pleasure at finding myself, by this course 
 of events, freed from an engagement which would have 
 separated me from beings I held so dear. 
 
 The idea of going out as a governor and of estab- 
 lishing myself in Africa, — in that continent where I so 
 ardently desired to labour and yet not separate myself 
 from my family — became stronger every day, and I at 
 length waited upon the minister to broach the subject. 
 
 This time I was received at once, and very cordially 
 too. I expressed my surprise at hearing no more about 
 explorations. 
 
 " And that has brought you here ? " was the inquiry. 
 " Not exactly. I have come to entreat of Y. E. the 
 governorship of Quillimane, which is now vacant." 
 Snr. Oorvo smiled. " I have a mission of far higher 
 
6 
 
 THE KING'S BIFLR 
 
 moment to entrust to you," he said ; " I want you for 
 a very different matter than to govern an African 
 district ; so that I cannot give you the governorship 
 of Quillimane." 
 
 44 Y. E., then, is still thinking of an African explo- 
 ration ?«" I replied. " Frankly, T believed that the 
 whole thing was at an end." 
 
 u I give you my word of honour," said the minister, 
 44 that either I shall cease to be Joao d' Andrade Corvo, 
 or next spring an expedition, organised in a way 
 hitherto unknown in Europe, shall leave Lisbon for 
 South Central Africa." 
 
 44 And you count upon me ? " 
 
 44 1 do most certainly — and you will very shortly 
 hear from me." 
 
 I left the ministerial presence in a state of bewilder- 
 ment. 
 
 On arriving at the Hotel Central, I sat down and 
 wrote the following note : — 
 
 44 1 have not the honour of your acquaintance, but I 
 wish to speak with you, and beg that you will favour 
 me with an interview." 
 
 This I addressed to 4 ' Hermenigildo Carlos de Brito 
 Capello — Officer on board the plated frigate Vasco da 
 Gama." 
 
 The very next day I received the following reply : — 
 44 You will find me to-day, at 3, at the Cafe Martinho. 
 — Capello." 
 
 As the clock struck three I entered the Cafe Martinho, 
 to find the place completely empty. No, not completely, 
 for at one of the tables sat a young man in the uniform 
 of a first lieutenant in the navy, whose face was com- 
 pletely unknown to me. This, however, I thought, 
 must be my man. He was leisurely sipping a glass of 
 grog, his cap lying by his side. 
 
 He was of medium stature, so far as I could judge, 
 
PBOLOGUE. 
 
 7 
 
 he being seated ; had a swarthy complexion, and a 
 singularly placid eye. The thinness of his hair, from 
 which the colour had begun to fade, and a small mous- 
 tache already tinged with grey, gave him, at a first 
 glance, an appearance of age, which was belied by his 
 look and the un wrinkled aspect of his skin. 
 " Snr. Capello, I presume ? " 
 
 u That is my name ; and you, I suppose, are Snr. 
 Serpa Pinto ? I was expecting you, and feel pretty 
 sure that you wish to have some talk about Africa ? " 
 
 44 Exactly so. ' You have then decided to take part 
 in the expedition ? " 
 
 " I have ; in fact, I have already had some conver- 
 sation on the matter with Dr. Bernardino Antonio 
 Gomes." 
 
 44 It was he who mentioned to me your name. What 
 engagement have you made ? " 
 
 44 None. To tell the truth, I do not well know what 
 the Government want ; I have spoken twice about 
 the matter to Dr. Gomes, but have not yet seen the 
 minister ; when I do I wish to tell him that if I go to 
 Africa I should like to have as a companion my friend 
 and comrade Roberto Ivens. Do you know him ? " 
 
 44 1 do not. I have spoken to the minister upon the 
 subject, and he has told me that he counts upon me 
 for the expedition." 
 
 44 In that case, as you are under engagement to the 
 minister, I shall cry off." 
 
 44 But why so ? ... I would rather do so myself." 
 
 44 Apart from this, I do not think the matter will 
 ever be brought to bear." 
 
 44 Nor do I entirely ; but admitting that it is carried 
 out, why should we not both go ? We are new ac- 
 quaintances, it is true ; but more intimate relations 
 will follow^ and, as I believe, may end in close friend- 
 ship." 
 
8 
 
 TEE KINO'S RIFLE. 
 
 " I myself see no reason to the contrary. If the 
 expedition goes forward then, we will start together, 
 and get my friend Roberto Ivens to join us." 
 
 " By all means. But do you seriously think the 
 Government will vote so large a subsidy as will be 
 necessary for such an undertaking as is contemplated ? " 
 
 "I do not know; I doubt it; and just now the 
 expedition is far less talked about than it was." 
 
 Our conversation lasted long, and when we separated 
 it was with the firm conviction that the venture would 
 never be realised. 
 
 I met Capello several times during the succeeding 
 days, and when we finally parted it was to pursue our 
 respective duties ; he to join his ship the Vasco da 
 Gam a, ordered to England, and I to take the command 
 in the Algarve of my company, the 4th Chasseurs. 
 
 With the leisure afforded me by my garrison life, I 
 once more resumed my studies, and was fortunate 
 enough to find at my new station a good friend in the 
 person of Marrecas Ferreira, a distinguished engineer 
 officer who was ever ready to assist me in difficult 
 mathematical problems, of which he was a master. It 
 was through him that I was enabled to enter into a 
 regular correspondence with Luciano Cordeiro, who 
 afterwards became one of my firmest friends. 
 
 It was during this time that I drew up two small 
 papers, wherein I discussed the mode of organising 
 an exploring expedition into South Central Africa, 
 and, thanks to Luciano Cordeiro, they found their way 
 into the hands of the Minister of Marine. 
 
 Still months passed away, and no more was heard of 
 the promised expedition. 
 
 I received two letters from Capello, wherein he 
 expressed his complete want of faith in the realisation 
 of the undertaking. It is true that in the Permanent 
 Geographical Commission various projects of expeditions 
 
PROLOGUE. 
 
 9 
 
 were discussed, but they led to no action, and the matter 
 appeared to be dying out. 
 
 One morning I read in the newspapers that the 
 minister Snr. Joao d'Andrade Corvo had brought 
 before Parliament a Bill for a credit of 30 contos 
 (some £6600) for an expedition to Africa; but shortly 
 after, before the Bill had passed, the ministry was 
 defeated, and the Portfolio of the Colonies fell to Snr. 
 Jose de Mello Gouvea. 
 
 The projected exploration, however, again became a 
 subject of public interest; but the newspapers men- 
 tioned as explorers men who were totally unknown 
 to me, and only occasionally mentioned the name of 
 Capello. 
 
 I was then residing at Faro, and although I had not 
 given up my astronomical and African studies, which 
 I pursued with the assistance of Joao Botto, an eminent 
 professor of the school of Pilots of Faro, I had ceased 
 to cherish my former ideas of travel. My time was 
 divided between home pleasures and my books of study, 
 and I found myself too happy in the comforts of the 
 domestic hearth to think of exchanging the even tenor 
 of ray life for the shocks and chances of a journey 
 through savage climes. 
 
 Nevertheless, in my quiet retreat, I followed with 
 interest the reports published in the journals of the 
 news from Lisbon. I there read that the new minister, 
 Jose de Mello Gouvea, had again brought before 
 Parliament the Bill that had been introduced by his 
 predecessor, Joao d'Andrade Corvo, and had succeeded 
 in obtaining a vote for the sum of 30 contos, to be 
 expended in an exploring expedition. 
 
 The death of Bernardino Antonio Gomes, a victim 
 to the deep interest he took in the study of African 
 questions, at an age when the fatigues of many previous 
 years should have counselled him complete rest of 
 
10 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 mind, occurred about this time, and produced a great 
 void in the Central Geographical Commission ; so great 
 indeed that although there were many of its members 
 who, deeply interested in the subject, raised their voice 
 in that learned body, their discussions led to no 
 practical result. 
 
 In spite of the parliamentary vote, I could not satisfy 
 myself that there was any possibility of seeing the 
 expedition carried into effect in 1877 ; and bearing in 
 mind what I had read in the public prints, I deemed, 
 at least, that I was myself forgotten — a circumstance 
 which, to tell the truth, was rather agreeable to me 
 than otherwise. 
 
 The Algarve is a delicious country ; a perfectly 
 eastern atmosphere pervades the place, and seeing the 
 elegant tops of the palm-trees gracefully bending over 
 the terraced houses, one felt inclined at times to forget 
 that one was still bound to the prosaic shores of Europe. 
 My position there was that of military commandant, by 
 which will be understood that my life was not a 
 particularly hard one. 
 
 The intercourse of a select society, family affections,, 
 my books of study and scientific instruments, enabled 
 me to spend very happy hours — of that placid happi- 
 ness which it is not the fate of many to enjoy. My 
 easy-chair, my dressing-gown and slippers, were fast 
 becoming my very, ideal of felicity. 
 
 April had come to an end, and with the beginning 
 of May set in the heat, which was very powerfully felt 
 in Faro. I began to form projects for the summer, when 
 one day I received a telegram requiring me to report 
 myself immediately to the general in command of the 
 division. On proceeding thither I found an order to 
 repair without loss of time to the presence of the 
 Minister of the Colonies. 
 
 Adieu to home, adieu to dressing-gowns, adieu to 
 
PROLOGUE. 
 
 11 
 
 slippers ! Adieu to the tranquil and placid life I had 
 been spending amidst my dear ones ! I must return to 
 the busy world once more ! 
 
 Four days later on, seated around a large table, in a 
 great hall at the Ministry of Marine, were a dozen 
 grave personages, some with spectacles and some 
 without, some old and others new, but all well known 
 in the scientific or literary world, or for their public 
 services, who had met together to discuss the often 
 mooted question of Africa. This solemn session was 
 presided over by the minister Jose de Mello Gouvea. 
 
 The secretaries were, Dr. Jose Julio Eodrigues and 
 Luciano Cordeiro, and I remember that among those 
 present were Count de Ficalho, Marquis de Souza, 
 Dr. Bocage, Carlos Testa, Jorge Figaniere, Francisco 
 Costa, Counsellor Silva, and Antonio Teixeira de 
 Yasconcellos. 
 
 At the bottom of the table, and at one of the corners, 
 ensconced in a large fauteuil, was a man with a head 
 well covered with hair, and a heavy grey moustache, 
 who, through his tortoise-shell-rimmed glasses, kept his 
 eyes steadily fixed upon me. It was the late minister, 
 Joao d'Andrade Corvo, whose look said as plainly as 
 words could do, " I told you that this matter would 
 be brought to bear." 
 
 Capello sat next to me, and after a debate of some 
 two hours we left the hall together, with precise 
 instructions for our journey. We selected as third 
 associate Lieutenant Eoberto Ivens, Capello's friend 
 above alluded to, who was unknown to me, and who 
 was at that time at Loanda, serving on board one of 
 His Majesty's vessels. It was on the 25th of May that 
 the meeting was held, and we undertook to start on 
 the 5th of July. It was a risky thing to promise, 
 as we had to fit out the expedition in France and 
 England, and we only had a month to do it in. 
 
12 
 
 TEE KING'S BIFLE. 
 
 We received powerful assistance, however, at the 
 hands of Francisco Costa, Director General at the 
 Ministry, who used his influence to sweep away all the 
 obstacles which the red-tapeism of the offices might 
 conjure up, and in fact matters were so managed that 
 on the 28th of May Capello and myself were enabled 
 to leave for Paris and London, in order to make the 
 necessary purchases. To this end, we were armed 
 with a credit of eight contos, or about £1760 
 sterling. 
 
 II. — Preparations for the Expedition. 
 
 On our arrival in Paris, we called upon M. d'Abbadie, 
 the great Abyssinian explorer, and also upon M. 
 Ferdinand de Lesseps, from both of whom we obtained 
 advice and received the politest attention. 
 
 Unluckily we could not find in the market any of 
 the instruments, arms, or travelling appointments such 
 as we desired, so that it became necessary to order the 
 whole of them. 
 
 Backed by a special recommendation from M. d'Ab- 
 badie, we applied to various instrument-makers, and 
 during some ten or twelve days Lorieux, Baud in, and 
 Badiguet were hard at work for us. Walker under- 
 took to supply all the travelling requisites ; Lepage 
 (Faure), the arms ; Tissier, the boots and shoes ; and 
 Ducet jeune, the body clothing. 
 
 Our Paris orders being thus well in hand, we started 
 for London, where we purchased our chronometers, of 
 the firm of Dent, and sundry instruments of Casella ; a 
 good store of sulphate of quinine was also laid in, and 
 many india-rubber articles were procured from Mack- 
 intosh, among others being two boats and some folding 
 baths. 
 
 We sought in vain in London, just as we had sought 
 
PROLOGUE. 
 
 13 
 
 with like ill-success in Paris, for a theodolite possessing 
 the necessary conditions for a journey such as that we 
 were about to undertake. Some, that were excellent 
 for terrestrial observations, were wanting in those 
 requisites which astronomical observations demanded ; 
 others again, that were perfectly satisfactory in both 
 respects, were either too heavy or too bulky for our 
 purpose. There was no time to have a special one 
 made for us, so that on our return to Paris we were 
 glad to accept one that bad been previously offered us 
 by M. d'Abbadie. 
 
 We collected together, in Paris, the various articles 
 we had ordered and that had been made during our 
 short absence from that city ; and on the 1st of July, 
 Capello and myself arrived at Lisbon completely 
 prepared for our journey, and consequently ready to 
 fulfil our engagement to leave for Loanda by the 
 packet of the 5th. Our preparations had been made 
 in the space of nineteen days. 
 
 When I was studying the means of preparing myself 
 for a long journey in Africa, I procured various books 
 of travels, in the vain hope of gleaning from their 
 pages the modes of preparation adopted by other 
 travellers. All the narratives were, however, singularly 
 wanting in information of this kind, and remembering 
 the degree of annoyance which the omission caused me, 
 I resolved that if I should ever travel in Africa and 
 write an account of my adventures, I would supply the 
 deficiency, and, whilst enumerating the articles I took 
 with me, I would put on record which among them 
 proved of real service, and which might be considered 
 as mere lumber. 
 
 The story of African exploration is in its early 
 infancy. Many explorers will succeed me in Africa, 
 as I succeeded others, and I believe that I shall be 
 doing a service to those who venture after me on to 
 
14 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 the inhospitable continent, by furnishing them with 
 a list of the things with which I provided myself, and 
 they will glean from the course of my narrative 
 the advantages or inconveniences I found from their 
 employment. 
 
 According to the instructions I received from the 
 Government, I was at liberty to expend three years 
 upon my journey, and it was upon this understanding 
 that I made my preparations. 
 
 Experience had taught me the serious inconvenience 
 of overloading myself with baggage, and I therefore 
 v frankly declare that when I surveyed in Lisbon the 
 enormous pile of things purchased in Paris and 
 London, I was perfectly horrified. There were no 
 fewer than seventeen trunks ! all of the same dimen- 
 sions, Om., 3 x Om., 3 x Om. 6. 
 
 One contained a toilet service complete, with a large 
 mirror, basin and ewer, soap and brush dishes, etc. ; 
 another held a dinner and tea service for three persons, 
 and a third the necessary kitchen utensils. 
 
 Three other trunks of extra strength were destined 
 each to contain the following : four bottles of quinine, 
 a small medicine-chest, a sextant, an artificial horizon, 
 a chronometer, various tables of logarithms, some 
 ephemerides, an aneroid, a hypsometer, a thermometer, 
 a prismatic compass, a plain compass, a book of blank 
 paper, pencils, loose paper and ink ; fifty cartridges for 
 each firearm, a complete suit of clothes, and three 
 changes of linen, tinder, flint and steel, and other small 
 articles for personal use. 
 
 Each of these trunks had a tray in the upper part 
 containing a writing-case and place for paper. They 
 were considered as personal luggage, and belonged 
 each to one of our party. 
 
 The remaining ten trunks were packed indiscrimi- 
 nately with articles of clothing, instruments, and other 
 
PROLOGUE. 
 
 15 
 
 matters in reserve. The locks of all of them were the 
 same, and one key opened the whole. 
 
 Our tent was of the kind known as a tente marquise, 
 9 ft. 4 in. wide by 6 ft. 3 in. in height. The bedsteads 
 were of iron, strong and convenient; the tables were 
 folding, the stools and chairs of canvas. All these 
 articles were manufactured by Walker. 
 
 Each of us was armed with a magnificent rifle of 
 sixteen-bore, the barrels of which — the work of 
 Leopold Bernard — had been carefully mounted by 
 Faure Lepage. A fowling piece of the same calibre, 
 manufactured by Devisme, a Winchester eight-shooter, 
 a revolver and a wood-knife, completed our armament. 
 
 I had ordered at Lisbon, of the Confeitaria 
 Ultramarina, twenty-four cases, of the same dimensions 
 as the trunks, to be packed (in tins, carefully soldered) 
 with tea, coffee, sugar, dried vegetables, and farinaceous 
 substances ; and I must here express my warmest 
 thanks to Snr. Oliveira, the proprietor of that estab- 
 lishment, for the scrupulous care he bestowed on the 
 selection of the articles supplied, and of which we 
 made great use at the outset of our journey. 
 
 The instruments we carried with us were the follow- 
 ing : three sextants, one made by Casella of London, 
 one by Secretan, and the third by Lorieux, a perfect 
 beauty ; two Pistor's circles, manufactured by Lorieux, 
 with two glass horizons and the respective levels ; one 
 Secretan's mercury horizon ; three astronomical tele- 
 scopes of great power, two by Bardou and one by 
 Casella ; three small aneroids, two of Secretan's and 
 one of Casella's ; four pedometers, two of Secretan's 
 and two of Casella's ; six algebraic compasses ; one 
 Bournier's compass, furnished by Secretan ; three 
 others, azimuths, two from Berlin and one supplied by 
 Casella ; two of Duchemin's circular needles ; six 
 Baudin's hypsometers, one of Casella's, three of 
 
16 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 Celsius of Berlin, two others of Baudin's highly sensi- 
 tive ; twelve thermometers, supplied by Baudin, Celsius, 
 and Casella ; one Marioti-Casella's barometer ; one 
 Casella's anemometer ; two Bardou's binoculars ; 
 one dipping needle ; and an apparatus of magnetic 
 force, most kindly lent us by Captain Evans through 
 the instrumentality of M. d'Abbadie. And finally, 
 d'Abbadie's universal theodolite, to which has been 
 given the name of Aba, and which its inventor so 
 generously placed at our disposal. 
 
 Arms, instruments, baggage, in a word, all the 
 articles we took with us, bore the following inscrip- 
 tion — Portuguese Expedition to Interior of Southern 
 Africa— 1877. 
 
 Two cases containing the needful for the preserva- 
 tion of zoologic and botanic specimens were forwarded 
 to us by Dr. Bocage and Count de Ficalho. 
 
 Tools of various kinds swelled this enormous mass 
 of impedimenta with which we were about to leave 
 Lisbon in order to plunge into the unknown regions 
 of South Central Africa. 
 
IN SEARCH OF CARRIERS. 
 
 17 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 IN SEARCH OF CARRIERS. 
 
 Arrival at Loanda — The* Governor Albuquerque — No carriers — I proceed to 
 Zaire — Ambriz — I reach Porto da Lenha — Ransomed slaves — I hear of 
 Stanley's arrival — I go to Kabenda — I take Stanley on board the Tamega 
 — The officers of the gunboat — Stanley my guest — Our itinerary — 
 Arrival of Ivens. 
 
 On the 6th of August 1877 we arrived at Loanda, 
 on board the steamer Zaire, under the command of 
 Pedro d' Almeida Tito, to whom I am happy to offer 
 here a tribute of gratitude for the favours he be- 
 stowed upon me during the voyage. 
 
 From the moment of quitting Lisbon, there was one 
 tiling that constantly occupied and worried my mind. 
 Our luggage was enormous, and had still to be greatly 
 increased in the shape of merchandise, beads, and other 
 articles that were to be our money in the interior of 
 the country. 
 
 In all works of travel dealing with this part of the 
 African continent, I had read of the difficulties which 
 many explorers had met with through the impossibility 
 of obtaining a sufficient number of carriers for the 
 indispensable transport of their baggage. How was I 
 to obtain them ? I learned at Cape Verde that a letter 
 addressed by myself and Capello to Ivens never 
 reached his hands, inasmuch as I there found by a 
 telegram that Ivens was still at Lisbon, and could not 
 possibly have attended to the injunctions we imposed 
 upon him, to make a study of the question and see 
 
 VOL. I. C 
 
18 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 whether he could get us the necessary help at Loanda. 
 An attempt also made at Cape Palmas turned out 
 fruitless, and, notwithstanding the assistance rendered 
 us by Captain Tito, not a single Keruboy could we 
 obtain there. 
 
 We at length reached Loanda, and found hospitality 
 under the roof of Snr. Jose Maria do Prado, one of the 
 chief landowners and capitalists of the Province of 
 Angola, who immediately placed at our disposal one of 
 the many houses he possessed in the town, with accom- 
 modation sufficient to shelter the enormous equipage of 
 the expedition. 
 
 We received much kind attention from Snr. Prado ; 
 and on the evening of the 6th we were waited on by 
 one of the aides-de-camp of His Excellency Snr. 
 Albuquerque, the Governor General, who sent us 
 many cordial messages. 
 
 The next day, the 7th, we called upon his Excellency, 
 and received a most friendly reception. The Governor 
 was good enough to excuse the very undress attire in 
 which I waited on hirn, for although the things I wore 
 were capitally fitted for bush-life, they could scarcely 
 be considered proper for a visit of ceremony. 
 
 Snr. Albuquerque, after assuring us that he would 
 render us every assistance in the district under his 
 government, concluded by pointing out the impossibility 
 of obtaining for us the means of transport. 
 
 I fancy that there are few things more disagreeable 
 to a traveller anxious to commence a journey into 
 Africa, and with 400 loads of luggage to take with 
 him, than to be told that carriers are not obtainable. 
 
 I at once determined to proceed to the northern part 
 of the province, to see whether I could be more success- 
 ful, and therefore begged Snr. Albuquerque to procure 
 me a passage to the Zaire. The only war-vessel that 
 could be placed at my disposal was then cruising in 
 
IN SEARCH OF CARRIERS. 
 
 19 
 
 the mouth of that river ; I resolved to join her, and to 
 that end, on the 8th I started in one of the country 
 boats, manned by eight blacks, supplied me by the 
 captain of the port. I carried orders from the 
 governor to the commandant of the gunboat. A 
 voyage of 120 miles, in a small boat, with scarce room 
 to stretch your legs, is anything but pleasant. To 
 make matters worse, from Loanda to Ambriz I had 
 nothing to eat but biscuits and sardines, for having 
 resolved to start .directly my boat was ready, 1 had 
 no time to lay in any stores. 
 
 On the 9th, at daybreak, I arrived at Ambriz, a 
 charming town, seated on the level summit of an 
 eminence, with precipitous sides, that are washed by 
 the sea, some 80 feet below. 
 
 The chief official was an employe of the Treasury, a 
 Snr. Tavares, who showed me most marked atten- 
 tions, as did indeed all the inhabitants of the town, 
 and more especially Snr. Cordeiro, in whose house I 
 was lodged. 
 
 At Ambriz I fell in with Avelino Fernandes, whose 
 acquaintance I had been fortunate enough to make on 
 board the steamer Zaire, and intimate relations sprang 
 up between us. He was born on the banks of the 
 Zaire, and has a perfect passion for that rich soil, whose 
 gigantic trees, the offspring of a virgin forest, shaded 
 his cradle. His age is 24. His swarthy complexion 
 and crisp curly hair* indicate that there flows through 
 his veins some African as well as European blood. 
 Wealthy, possessed of a cultivated mind, his education 
 having been obtained in the chief capitals of Europe, 
 and endowed with superior intelligence, he is a true 
 type of the courteous gentleman, whom to know is 
 to sympathise with and esteem. The numerous 
 connections he possessed in Zaire might, I thought, 
 assist me in arranging the difficult question of transport. 
 
 c 2 
 
20 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 I learned at Ambriz that tlie gunboat Tamega 
 was expected there in the course of a couple of days, 
 and I therefore resolved to wait for her. My voyage 
 from Loanda in the country-boat had not left such a 
 pleasing impression on my mind or body as to induce 
 me to continue with her further northwards. 
 
 On the 10th I took a ramble about the town and 
 suburbs, and the following is a brief record of my 
 impressions. 
 
 From the plateau on which the European population 
 have installed themselves you descend to the sea-shore 
 by a zigzag road, which was then being reconstructed 
 by convict labour. On the beach, between two fine 
 blocks of building, used as warehouses by French and 
 Dutch commercial firms, there exists a large structure, 
 partly in ruin through age, and partially in course of 
 re-erection, but with its w r orks abandoned. This is the 
 custom-house — but a custom-house without merchan- 
 dise, where the goods heaped up at the door, upon the 
 sand, pay an absurd tribute for warehousage. N.N.E. of 
 the town, many acres of land are taken up with a 
 marsh, which is at least 10 feet deep when at the 
 highest, and on the sides of the slope which leads 
 from the plateau to this marsh are scattered the huts 
 of the native population, under the very worst conditions 
 from a sanitary point of view. South of the town, 
 among clumps of virgin wood, is situated the cemetery, 
 where the bodies interred during 'the day become the 
 food of hyenas at night. 
 
 The landing wharf or pier, built of iron and timber, 
 is falling into utter uselessness ; for, as it has never seen 
 a coat of paint, as there is no fund to keep it up, and it 
 is nobody's business to look after it, the natural result 
 is that the iron, in rusting through contact with the 
 air and water, is fast consuming both itself and the 
 woodwork together. 
 
IN SEARCH OF CARRIERS. 
 
 21 
 
 The residence of the chief official is little better than 
 a barn, which it is truly dangerous to dwell in. The 
 powder-magazine is in no better condition, a fact which 
 somewhat surprised me, as it contains the powder of the 
 trade, producing no less a revenue to the State than 
 two hundred milreis per month. 
 
 It is greatly to be hoped that during the two years 
 which have elapsed since my visit to Ambriz, a little 
 more care has been bestowed upon that pretty town, 
 whose importance as a great commercial centre is patent 
 to the least observant eye. 
 
 At the distance of about three-fifths of a mile N. of 
 the landing-place, the river Loge debouches into the 
 Atlantic. Its mouth is obstructed by a sandbank, 
 which renders the river difficult of access, but, this 
 passed, it is navigable for nearly twenty miles. 
 
 On the 11th I paid a visit to the important agricul- 
 tural establishment founded by the celebrated Jacintho, 
 known as Jacintho do Ambriz, and now the property 
 of his son Nicolao. This estate is one of the most re- 
 markable in the province of Angola for the development 
 of agriculture. 
 
 Jacintho do Ambriz found his way to Africa through 
 a great calamity. A son of the people, without the 
 slightest instruction, not knowing even how to read or 
 write, but endowed with a clear understanding, a keen 
 perception, and a happy temperament, he succeeded in 
 realising a large fortune. Jacintho married in Ambriz 
 a woman in his own class of life. She was the Tia 
 Leonarda {Aunt Leonarda), better known as Tia Lina, 
 a native of Beira-Alta ; and in 1877 I remember her 
 always dressed in the costume of the Beirense peasantry, 
 talking the corrupt language spoken by the people of 
 that province. I remember, too, being regaled in her 
 house with a Beirense dinner, and for the moment I 
 imagined myself transported back among our agri- 
 
22 
 
 TEE KINO'S BIFLE. 
 
 culturists of the north. Tia Lina, from her energy and 
 thrift, had a great share in assisting Jacintho to his 
 handsome fortune. 
 
 Jacintho was engaged in trade, and that trade in 
 Africa was divisible into two branches, viz. the pur- 
 chasing goods from the whites and selling them the 
 produce of the country, and purchasing such produce 
 from the blacks and selling to them the aforesaid goods. 
 It was Jacintho's part to treat with the whites, and Tia 
 Lina's with the blacks. 
 
 Jacintho, who was a generous-hearted fellow, too 
 often fell a victim to his own honesty and the extortions 
 of some of the chiefs — a fact which ofren drew from 
 Tia Lina the expression, " Ah, Jacintho, the whites 
 bamboozle you ; but I bamboozle the blacks ! " 
 
 The verb employed by Tia Lina was not precisely 
 bamboozle, but it will serve to express her meaning. 
 
 One day Jacintho took it into his head to turn his 
 attention to agriculture. It was the instinct of his 
 early youthful habits working upon him. He pur- 
 chased land, and laid the foundations of that vast estate 
 which is fully worthy of a visit ; to this, his hobby, he 
 devoted his labour and care till the last moment of 
 his life. 
 
 Jacintho was known for his strange misuse of w T ords, 
 and many curious stories are told of the droll mistakes 
 he fell into through the wrong employment of this or 
 that expression with which lie larded his discourse, 
 evidently unaware of the real meaning of the phrases 
 he adopted. He had, however, a keen mother wit, and 
 the laughter evoked was not always against him. 
 Take for example the following anecdote. 
 
 He had already been settled for some time on his 
 Loge estate, but on the arrival in the harbour of a 
 Portuguese vessel of war, he went on board in the old 
 style to offer things for sale to the officers. His genial 
 
IN SEARCH OF CARRIERS. 
 
 23 
 
 nature made lrirn always welcome^ and he at once 
 became familiar with officers and crew. One day the 
 commander, seeing him on deck, asked him for a 
 monkev. " How many do you want ? " inquired 
 Jacintho. "You may send a boat off to my house at 
 Loge to-morrow morning, and fetch as many as you like." 
 
 He was taken at his word, and on the following day 
 a boat, manned with half a dozen sailors, ran alongside 
 Jacintho's garden-wall. The old fellow made the men 
 row the boat a mile or so higher up until they reached 
 the slope of a hill covered with gigantic baobab-trees, 
 upon whose horizontal branches were swarming hun- 
 dreds of monkeys. Turning to the sailors, Jacintho 
 exclaimed, " There they are — they're all mine — catch 
 as many as you like, and take 'em to the commandant 
 with my compliments." 
 
 The men looked askance at the lofty tops of the 
 enormous trees, whose trunks were too capacious for 
 two or three of them to encircle, and after sundry vain 
 efforts to scale the perpendicular height of these 
 natural columns they gave up the task, amid the 
 gibbering and chattering, which sounded very like 
 derisive laughter, of the numerous monkey families. 
 
 " Don't say I didn't give 'em to you — there they are 
 — you've only got to catch 'em," said Jacintho, accom- 
 panying each exclamation with a fresh burst of merri- 
 ment, which seemed to awake an echo in the loity 
 branches above them. 
 
 I visited his estate, and could not but be struck with 
 the fact that all his machines, apparatus, implements, 
 etc., were of Portuguese manufacture. Jacintho would 
 admit of nothing that was not Portuguese ; and cost 
 what it might, he procured all his articles, whether 
 intended for agricultural or manufacturing purposes, 
 from Lisbon. 
 
 The memory of this obscure man, better known for 
 
24 
 
 TEE KING'S BIFLE. 
 
 the absurdities he uttered than the many excellent 
 things he did, should be respected by all who are 
 interested in the development of Africa ; for he was a 
 man who, in modern times, has done the very highest 
 service in fostering agriculture in this Portuguese 
 colony, where he employed his immense fortune, and 
 where he personally laboured till the last day of his 
 useful life. 
 
 On the left bank of the Loge is situated another 
 agricultural property, also of importance, belonging to 
 Snr. Augusto Garrido. I had not time to pay it a visit, 
 as on the day I spent in that part of the district I could 
 not escape the many kind attentions of Nicolao and Tia 
 Lina ; and though I passed some hours there, they 
 were all too few to examine and admire what the will 
 of one man had been able to create out of the desert 
 and the marsh. 
 
 The day following the one thus agreeably spent saw 
 the arrival of the Tameya gunboat. I at once 
 went on board, but found her without stores and with a 
 large number of men on the sick-list ; for which reason 
 I arranged with the commandant, Snr. Marques da 
 Silva, to wait for him at Ambriz whilst he went on 
 to Loanda to recruit. 
 
 Three days later the Tamega came back, when I 
 joined her, with Avelino Fernandes, and we immediately 
 proceeded on our voyage to the Zaire. 
 
 I had been suffering for some time with acute 
 bronchitis, which fortunately improved directly I found 
 myself at sea. 
 
 We mounted the Zaire as far as Porto da Lenha, 
 where I disembarked with Avelino Fernandes, who 
 presented me to his friends in that place. I at once 
 began to inquire about transport. They told me I 
 might possibly obtain carriers if the native chiefs chose 
 to assist me, but that the best plan would be to 
 
IN SEARCH OF CARRIERS. 
 
 25 
 
 ransom a number of slaves and then engage them for 
 the service I required. The idea of purchasing human 
 flesh, although it might be with the view of setting them 
 subsequently at liberty, was repugnant to me. And 
 then, how could I tell whether they would stick to me 
 after all, if once they were free ? 
 
 I therefore determined to reject the notion, even if 
 not a single carrier were to be had in the place. 
 
 I learned at the house where I was stopping that the 
 great explorer Stanley had arrived at Boma on the 9th, 
 having descended the entire course of the Zaire. He 
 had come by the way of Kabenda. 
 
 I returned on board and arranged with the com- 
 mandant to go on to Kabenda, to offer our services to 
 the intrepid traveller. We set off at once, and were no 
 sooner anchored in the roads than I went on shore with 
 Avelino Fernandes and some of the officers of the 
 gunboat. 
 
 I was quite affected as I pressed the hand of Stanley, 
 who, though a man of small stature, assumed in my 
 eyes the proportions of a giant. 
 
 I offered him my services in the name of the Portu- 
 guese Government, and told him that if he desired to 
 go on to Loanda, where he could most easily obtain 
 transport for Europe, Commandant Marques would 
 willingly give him and his men a passage on board the 
 gunboat. In the name of the Portuguese Government 
 I further placed at his disposal the money he required. 
 
 Stanley answered me with a warm pressure of the 
 hand. 
 
 The officers of the Tamega confirmed my offer in 
 the name of their commandant. 
 
 Stanley accepted it, and from that moment the gun- 
 boat remained at his disposal. 
 
 As may well be conceived, neither I nor Avelino 
 Fernandes allowed Stanley to go out of our sight, and, 
 
26 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 eager to hear the particulars of his journey, we utilised 
 every moment in questioning him and his men. 
 
 On the 1 9th, the officers of the Tamega gave a 
 splendid banquet to the great explorer, to which Com- 
 mandant Marques invited Fernandes and myself. 
 
 On the 20th we set off for Loanda, having on board 
 the whole of Stanley's followers, to the number of 
 114 persons, among whom were twelve women and a 
 few children. 
 
 Stanley was lodged at Loanda in my own house — 
 a distinction which was very agreeable to me, as he 
 refused many other invitations, some from persons who 
 could offer him accommodation far beyond my powers, 
 seeing that the only furniture my poor dwelling 
 contained was that supplied by my travelling resources. 
 
 The Governor immediately sent a messenger to 
 compliment the illustrious American, and invited him 
 to a banquet, at which I was present. On our way 
 home, I asked Stanley what impression Snr. Albu- 
 querque made upon him, to which he merely replied, 
 " He seems a very cold kind of gentleman." 
 
 The American Consul, Mr. Newton, gave us a break- 
 fast, and showed us much kind attention. 
 
 Other festivals and banquets followed ; time was 
 flowing on; we had reached the 23rd of August, and 
 still not a single carrier had been obtained. It was in 
 the evening of the dinner given by the Governor to 
 Stanley that His Excellency repeated that it would 
 not be possible for me to obtain transport at Loanda, 
 and in support of his assertion referred to the case of 
 Major Gorjao, who had scarce obtained half the men he 
 wanted, when engaged on the survey of the Cuanza 
 railway. 
 
 It is now time to speak of our projects, as defined by 
 law, and the instructions of the Government. 
 
 Parliament, as has been stated, voted a sum of 30 
 
TN SEARCH OF CARRIERS. 
 
 27 
 
 contos of reis (£6600) for the purpose of surveying the 
 hydrographic relations between the Congo and Zambesi 
 basins, and the countries comprised between the Portu- 
 guese Colonies, on both coasts of South Central Africa. 
 
 Subsequent instructions laid more particular stress 
 on a survey of the river Cuan£0 in connection with the 
 Zaire ; a study of the ' countries in which the Coanza, 
 Cunene, and Cobango take their rise, as far as the upper 
 Zambesi ; and, if possible, a careful survey of the course 
 of the Cunene. 
 
 The plan as set forth in the Act of Parliament, 
 which had been drawn up by Snr. Corvo, would 
 appear at first sight far too vast a scheme for a single 
 expedition and a vote of 30 contos of reis ; but the Act 
 nevertheless was carefully worded. Snr. Corvo was 
 aware that not only is a traveller in Africa not always 
 master of his actions, but is likely to meet upon his 
 road with some unforeseen problem, 1 lie solution of 
 which he may deem of far greater importance than the 
 one he was sent over to study; and on that account 
 great latitude was allowed the explorers. 
 
 As regards the instructions, they were more restricted, 
 but even they by no means trammelled the movements 
 of the expedition. 
 
 As to the point of entry, seeing that it depended 
 essentially upon the most convenient spot for obtaining 
 transport, it was left to our discretion. 
 
 Capello and myself had thought of making our entry 
 at Loanda, travelling eastward until we reached the 
 Cuango ; descending that river for two degrees, enter- 
 ing the Cassbi, by which we intended to descend to the 
 Zaire; and finally, investigating the Zaire to its mouth. 
 
 The arrival of Stanley, who had performed a part of 
 the labour we had tracked out for ourselves, and above 
 all the impossibility of obtaining carriers at Loanda, 
 made us completely alter our plans. 
 
28 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 We decided now that I should go southwards to 
 procure some men in Benguella ; and that, if I could 
 obtain them there, we would enter by the mouth of 
 the River Cunene, go up it to its source, and thence 
 proceed in a south-east direction, as far as the Zambesi. 
 
 As no great confidence could be reposed in the men 
 we hired, we thought it well to solicit the Governor for 
 a certain number of soldiers, to act as a kind of escort. 
 His Excellency acceded to the request, and passed the 
 word among the regiments to learn whether any of 
 the soldiers felt inclined to volunteer; for as the 
 service was not a regular one, he could not compel any 
 of the men to go. 
 
 It was therefore decided that I should start for 
 Benguella by the steamer which would arrive from 
 Lisbon about the beginning of September. 
 
 On board that steamer I met with our companion 
 Ivens for the first time. Of a genial and ardent 
 nature, possessing a great flow of words, and perfectly 
 enthusiastic on the subject of difficult journeys, we soon 
 became friends. We communicated to him all we had 
 determined to do, and the difficulties we had hitherto 
 met with. Ivens agreed with us as to the course to be 
 adopted, and my departure for Benguella was definitely 
 fixed for the 6th of the month. 
 
 I lost no time in getting ready for the voyage, and 
 waited upon the Governor to apprise him of the circum- 
 stance. During my absence, my companions were to 
 arrange and prepare the baggage, which, owing to our 
 hasty flight from Europe, was in a state of considerable 
 disorder. 
 
 I wish here to put on record an episode which 
 annoyed me not a little, inasmuch as it might perhaps 
 have led Stanley to form an estimate of my character 
 and that of my companions far different to the true one. 
 
 On the 5th of the month, at breakfast, we were all 
 
IN SEARCH OF CARRIERS. 
 
 29 
 
 of us— Capello, Ivens, Stanley, and Avelino Fernandes 
 — talking about slavery, and we were explaining to 
 our guest the spirit of the Portuguese laws upon that 
 infamous traffic, seeking to impress upon him the 
 falsity of the assertions of foreigners in respect of our 
 country, and the impossibility of any slaves being held 
 where the government had any authority. In the 
 midst of the conversation Capello had to go off to the 
 Palace for an interview with the governor. 
 
 An hour later he returned, and very shortly after- 
 wards Stanley received an official letter from Snr. 
 Albuquerque begging him to give a certificate to the 
 effect that " No slavery was permitted within the terri- 
 tory under his charge." Stanley, in a state of aston- 
 ishment, showed me the letter, and most certainly both 
 myself and companions were as surprised as he. To 
 say the least of it, the thing looked very queer ; and 
 our conversation at breakfast, followed up by the letter 
 so soon after the visit of one of us to the palace, might 
 appear to the illustrious traveller something outside 
 the pale of accident. 
 
 Stanley could undoubtedly certify to His Excellency 
 that neither on board the Tamega nor in any house, 
 neither at His Excellency's residence nor in that of 
 Consul Newton, had he seen any evidence of slavery. 
 But beyond this, as the Governor must have well 
 known, Stanley could have no information apart from 
 what he had obtained from us, and with the exception 
 of the town in which he was temporarily dwelling 
 he had visited no portion of the territory governed 
 by Snr. Albuquerque. To get from Stanley snch a 
 document was to make him pay pretty dearly for a 
 dinner and other favours bestowed upon him. I 
 believe that Stanley did us the justice to think we 
 had no hand whatsoever in the conception or produc- 
 tion of the letter. 
 
30 
 
 TEE KING'S BIFLE. 
 
 On the 6th I left for Benguella, taking with me 
 letters from Snr. Jose Maria do Prado to various 
 private individuals, but without any recommendation to 
 the governor of the district, with whom I was not 
 acquainted. 
 
 I was once more about to search for carriers whom 
 I, a Portuguese, had been unable to obtain in Loanda, 
 and that four months later, a foreigner, the explorer 
 Schutt, procured without difficulty, when pursuing the 
 first route we had intended to follow. 
 
 On my voyage I made the acquaintance of a pas- 
 senger who told me that I might possibly get a few 
 carriers at Novo Redondo, and that he would under- 
 take to contract there for some twenty or thirty of 
 them. 
 
 This put me in rather better spirits, and it was in 
 such humour that I arrived at Benguella on the evening 
 of the 7th. Although I had letters of recommendation 
 for various merchants, I determined to call upon the 
 governor, and ask his hospitality, with what result the 
 next chapter will show. 
 
STILL IN SEARCH OF CARRIERS. 
 
 31 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 STILL IN SEARCH OF CARRIERS. 
 
 The Governor, Alfredo Pereira de Mello — The Governor's house — Things for 
 which the government of the mother country is not responsible — A sketch 
 of Benguella — Its trade — I am robbed — Another robbery — TheKatambela 
 — I obtain carriers — Arrival of Capello and Ivens — Fresh alteration of 
 route — Another difficulty — Silva Porto, the old country trader — New 
 obstacles — Capello goes to the Dumbo — Departure — The Dumbo — Fresh 
 difficulties — Final start. 
 
 Alfredo Pereira de Mello,* Governor of Benguella, 
 on hearing my request for hospitality, exhibited an 
 amount of embarrassment which was only too per- 
 ceptible, and after a pause said that he had no accom- 
 modation to offer me. His answer surprised me, as I 
 knew him to be naturally courteous and open-handed. 
 I had received invitations, from the very moment of 
 my arrival, both from Antonio Ferreira Marques and 
 Cauchoix, but I had made up my mind to take up my 
 quarters in the Governor's house. 
 
 He then said that he had not a bed to offer me, at 
 which I pointed to my travelling bed, for I had had 
 my luggage brought up with me. Defeated in this 
 quarter, he asserted that he had not a room ; to which 
 I responded by saying that a corner of the hall in 
 which we stood would serve my turn. 
 
 Finding his objections thus overruled, he gave in, 
 
 * Alfredo Pereira de Mello, a captain in the army and Governor of 
 Benguella, was the same Lieutenant Mello referred to by Cameron in his work 
 'Across Africa,' and who was then aide-de-camp to the Governor of the 
 Province, Snr. Andrade. — Note of the Author. 
 
32 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 and I stopped. I was curious to learn the cause of the 
 Governor thus denying me hospitality, and a little 
 investigation unravelled the mystery. 
 
 Alfredo Pereira de Mello was a new man, although 
 he had attained to some rank in the navy. Congenial 
 and intelligent, he was esteemed by all who knew him 
 intimately, because to a finished education he joined a 
 singular rectitude of character, and that energy which 
 is peculiar to every good sailor. He had served in the 
 English navy, and was an experienced navigator. 
 
 He had visited both the Americas, and before going 
 to Africa in the capacity of aide-de-camp to the 
 Governor Andrade, he had made voyages to India, 
 China, and Japan. 
 
 His Excellency, who knew me very well by name, 
 on hearing my request, forgot that he had the explorer 
 before him, and only thought of the man, habituated to 
 a life of comfort and even luxury. The truth therefore 
 was, that Pereira de Mello was ashamed to offer me 
 shelter. 
 
 A Governor of Benguella, however upright and 
 honourable he may be, is bound to live in the very 
 humblest fashion, if dependent on the pay that he 
 receives. 
 
 The Government house is a hired one. Its furni- 
 ture, many degrees below the designation of simple, 
 is barely sufficient to garnish a sitting-room and one 
 bed-chamber. 
 
 In the former, in striking contrast to the furniture, 
 and in a richly gilded frame, was a portrait of the 
 King, the best I have ever seen. 
 
 Foreign vessels of war frequently put into the 
 harbour. The officers, on coming ashore, naturally 
 called upon the Governor, and invited him on board, 
 where they regaled him in right royal fashion, but not 
 a glass of water did they get in return ; and why ? 
 
STILL IN SEARCH OF CARRIERS. 
 
 33 
 
 because the negress who constituted the chief part of 
 the domestic establishment of his Excellency would have 
 had to present it on a cracked old plate. The so-called 
 dinner-service was, I verily believe, like another sword 
 of Damocles suspended over the head of Pereira de 
 Mello, when I appeared before him and obstinately 
 determined to remain his guest. And yet he was quite 
 wrong. The neatness and cleanliness which presided 
 at his board made you quite forget that the glasses 
 were cracked and the plates chipped and otherwise 
 disfigured by time, and the simple but admirably cooked 
 food was so appetising after exposure to the air of 
 Africa that — though I have no wish to offend the cook 
 at the Hotel Central in Lisbon — I must aver that I 
 have dined better in the Governor's house at Benguella 
 than ever I did off his savoury viands ; and yet I will 
 lay any odds that the negress Conceicao, who performed 
 such wonders of cookery, never even heard the name of' 
 that hero of pots and pans, the celebrated Brillat- 
 Savarin. 
 
 The very first day of my forcible entry on his 
 privacy, Pereira de Mello opened to me his heart and 
 entered into many details of his inner life. Three official 
 notes addressed to the government of the province, 
 wherein he begged for authority to make certain reforms 
 in his household, had remained, he said, unanswered. 
 
 How little novelty is there in human affairs ! On 
 turning over the leaves of a copy letter-book, existing 
 in the archives of the government of Benguella, I 
 happened to fall upon certain official notes dated as far 
 back as 1790, wherein the then governor made an 
 appeal to the king in almost identical terms ; averring 
 that he had complained in vain to the governor-general 
 of the province about the state of the carriages of two 
 brass guns, which urgently required looking to ; — 
 application and appeal having been both, alas ! equally 
 
 VOL. 1. D 
 
34 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 fruitless, as the pieces are carriageless at the present 
 day! 
 
 These are the very pieces of ordnance alluded to by 
 Cameron. He will be pleased, however, to know that 
 the carnages have been ordered, and cannot be much 
 longer delayed ; for as the order appears to have been 
 given at some time in the said year, 1790, they must 
 surely be nearly ready now. 
 
 Benguella is a picturesque town which extends from 
 the shore of the Atlantic to the very summit of the 
 mountains which form the first steps of the lofty 
 plateau of tropical Africa. It is surrounded by a 
 dense forest, the Matta do Cavaco, even at the present 
 day peopled with wild beasts ; a fact, however, which 
 should cause no particular astonishment, inasmuch as 
 the Portuguese generally are not greatly given to 
 sport. The residences of the Europeans cover a large 
 area, for all the houses have vast gardens and depen- 
 dencies. These gardens are well looked after ; they 
 produce all the known European vegetables, and a 
 good many tropical plants besides. 
 
 Extensive patios, or courts, surrounded by over- 
 hanging galleries, serve as shelter to the large caravans 
 which descend from the interior to the coast for the 
 purposes of traffic, and remain three days under cover 
 in order to effect the barter. 
 
 A river, which, in the summer season, looks scarcely 
 more than a broad ribbon of white sand running from 
 the mountains to the sea through the forest do Cavaco, 
 constitutes nevertheless the great source or spring of 
 Benguella, whose wells, that have been dug there, 
 produce excellent water purified in its passage through 
 calcareous sand. 
 
 The broad and straight streets of the town are 
 planted with two rows of trees, for the most part 
 sycamores, but of no great age, and as yet therefore 
 
STILL IN SEARCH OF CARRIERS. 
 
 35 
 
 somewhat small. The squares or places are of vast 
 size, and in a public garden are flourishing many fine 
 plants that are very agreeable to the eye. 
 
 The houses, which have no upper story, are built of 
 unbaked bricks, and the flooring is composed either of 
 tiles or wood. 
 
 The custom-house is a good building, recently 
 erected, and has spacious warehouses for the storing 
 of goods. This establishment and the public garden 
 before alluded to, as well as other improvements in 
 Benguella, were the work of a former governor, Leite 
 Mendes. To him also is due, I believe, the foundation 
 of a magnificent pier with iron architraves, subse- 
 quently carried to completion by Governor Teixeira 
 da Silva. It is furnished with two cranes and trams, 
 by which goods are conveyed from the vessels into the 
 custom-house. I am grammatically wrong, however, in 
 using the present tense in respect of such conveyance ; 
 I should rather employ the conditional, and say they 
 would be conveyed, if there were any men to do the 
 work ; but as these are wanting, they are not con- 
 veyed at all. 
 
 The town furtner boasts of a decent church and a 
 cemetery, well placed and walled in. 
 
 The European population is surrounded on all sides 
 by senzalas, or the huts of the negroes, which in fact 
 are occasionally discoverable in deserted grounds in 
 the very midst of the dwellings of the whites. Take it 
 for all in all, the general aspect of the place is agree- 
 able and picturesque. 
 
 Benguella has a somewhat doubtful reputation 
 among the Portuguese possessions in Africa. Many 
 suppose the country to be infected ; that it exhales 
 pestiferous miasma too often causing death from 
 plague. But this is really not the case. True, I was 
 not acquainted with the Benguella of the past, but I 
 
 d 2 
 
36 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 can aver that at the present day it is neither better 
 nor worse than many other places in Africa. 
 
 Cleanliness and plantations of trees must certainly 
 have considerably modified its former hygienic condi- 
 tions, and a small amount of goodwill would make it, 
 sanitarily, far better than it is. This cannot fail to be 
 done as time goes on, inasmuch as it is not likely that 
 a place of so much importance, from a commercial 
 point of view, and which is in such close contact with 
 the rich lands in the interior, can remain neglected. 
 
 The chief products which make up the trade of 
 Benguella are wax, ivory, india-rubber, and orchilla 
 weed, which are conveyed to the town by the caravans 
 from the interior. These caravans are of two kinds. 
 Some, under the guidance of agents of the trading 
 houses, carry back to the firms which despatch them 
 the products of their trade with the interior ; others, 
 composed exclusively of natives, come over to trade on 
 their own account, as being more profitable to them- 
 selves. 
 
 The trade with the natives is effected by direct 
 exchange of their produce for cotton stuffs, white, 
 striped, or printed. Other European products form the 
 object of a second exchange for the stuffs already 
 received ; and thus, after the first barter of the ivory 
 or wax for cotton, the latter is given for arms, powder, 
 rum, beads, &c, at the will of the buyer, because cotton 
 stuffs are, so to speak, the current money of this traffic. 
 
 The trade is in the hands of Europeans and Creoles, 
 and we fell in there, fortunately, with a good many of 
 those adventurous young spirits who leave their homes 
 and country to seek for fortune in these distant climes. 
 
 A few convicts of minor importance also do some 
 trade, either on their own account or as the employes 
 of foreign houses. 
 
 The greatest of the criminals of the mother coun- 
 
STILL IN SEARCH OF CARRIERS. 
 
 37 
 
 try — those for instance who are transported for life — 
 are sent to Benguella, and as a natural consequence a 
 good number of rascals are to be met with there, to 
 whom it is well to give a wide berth ; taking care not 
 to confound them with the many really honest and 
 worthy folks who occupy the place. 
 
 The police duties are entrusted to a military force 
 told off for Benguella from one of the regiments, and 
 from Benguella itself various forces are scattered 
 among the communes of the interior, thus weakening 
 the garrison of the town, which is small enough, in all 
 conscience, already. 
 
 We possess two armies, one in the mother country, 
 the other in the colonies, which have no connection 
 between them. 
 
 Our home army is good, because the Portuguese are 
 good soldiers; our colonial army is bad, because the 
 blacks, of which it is composed, are bad soldiers, and 
 the few whites that are mixed up with them are even 
 worse than the negroes. Transported for offences 
 which exclude them from society and cause them to 
 forfeit in Europe the rights of citizenship, they follow 
 in Africa the noble calling of a soldier, by which it 
 happens that our African autonomy and the public 
 and private safety are entrusted to the defence of men 
 who can give as sole guarantee a past career of crime 
 or misdemeanour. 
 
 Hence the constant scenes of a shameful character 
 that are there enacted. During my stay in Benguella 
 an impudent burglary was committed in the military 
 department, and a large sum of money was carried off. 
 The Governor displayed extraordinary energy in his 
 endeavours to discover the thieves, and received great 
 assistance at the hands of his secretary, Captain Barata ; 
 and in the end their efforts were successful, both in 
 catching the rascals and recovering the money. It will 
 
38 
 
 2 HE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 scarcely be credited that the robbery was planned by 
 the very sergeant of the detachment, and was carried 
 out by him with the aid of some of the soldiers ! 
 
 If our army at home can escape the censure of 
 fastidious military critics, our colonial forces are objects 
 for the well-merited lash of all foreigners who deign to 
 bestow upon them any attention. 
 
 The more I consider the matter, the more puzzled am 
 I to explain the raison d'etre of such an army as we 
 possess in the colonies, which is neither of use as a 
 police force, nor for the purposes of war ; nay, as 
 regards the latter, I remember to have seen better work 
 done by a corps of volunteers raised within the kingdom, 
 and who, besides, were bound by a fixed term of service, 
 than by any of the so-called regulars in the colonies. 
 Even at the present time in Lisbon there are three 
 battalions always ready to start for the colonies, and 
 who have in fact already been there; a proof, in my 
 opinion, that the keeping up an army abroad, on its 
 present footing, answers no other purpose than that of 
 perpetuating a bygone usage. 
 
 On the night of my arrival at Benguella I made the 
 acquaintance of the Judge Snr. Caldeira, who was 
 good enough to join the Governor in assuring me that 
 he would use all his influence to prevent my visit to 
 Benguella being abortive, and he kept his word. 
 
 The Governor called a meeting, at his own residence, 
 of the most important inhabitants of the town, and, 
 explaining to them the motives of my journey and its 
 proposed direction, begged them to render me every 
 assistance in their power in the way of procuring me 
 carriers, and thus enable me to carry out my mission. 
 This they all promised to do. 
 
 H. E. Snr. Pereira de Mello and the judge were 
 indefatigable from this moment, so that on the 17th 
 inst., the day on which the latter left for Lisbon, I had 
 
STILL IN SEARCH OF CARRIERS. 
 
 39 
 
 got together the number of men I asked for, viz. fifty, 
 which, with the thirty expected from Novo Eedondo, 
 made a total of eighty ; as many as I deemed necessary 
 for the journey from the mouth of the Cunene to the 
 Bihe. 
 
 The old settler Silva Porto undertook to convey to 
 Bihe' the heavier portion of the baggage, which we 
 could take up at that place, and where we should have 
 to engage fresh carriers to pursue our journey. 
 
 On that day I shifted my quarters to the house 
 previously occupied by the judge, although I continued 
 to dine with the Governor and occasionally with 
 Antonio Ferreira Marques, of the firm of Ferreira and 
 Goncalves, who vied with each other in their polite 
 attentions to me. 
 
 Next morning a black in my service robbed me of 
 some 75 milreis, and disappeared without leaving a 
 trace of the road he took. 
 
 On the 19th my companions arrived on board the 
 gunboat Tamega, and on the same day we resolved 
 that we would not go to the mouth of the Cunene, but 
 make our way directly to the Bihe. 
 
 This fresh resolution altered the engagements we 
 had taken with the carriers, and besides this, the people 
 of Benguella, who, when led into a distant country, 
 would not think of deserting, might perhaps feel in- 
 clined to do so when journeying at the outset through 
 territory whose language and customs they were ac- 
 quainted with. 
 
 And so we had again to alter the plan of our 
 campaign. I kept constantly in my mind the narra- 
 tives of Cameron and Stanley in respect of the trouble 
 and annoyance caused by desertions, from which 
 indeed not even Livingstone was free, seeing that he 
 was abandoned by thirty men on his Tete journev with 
 Dr. Kirk. 
 
40 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 Immediately after the arrival of my two companions 
 it was determined that Ivens should have the charge 
 
 o 
 
 of the geographical department; that Capello should 
 devote himself to meteorology and natural sciences, 
 and that I should attend to the auxiliary staff of the 
 expedition, whilst giving each other, of course, mutual 
 advice and assistance. As my duties therefore com- 
 pelled me to set things going, I began by taking 
 counsel of Silva Porto. 
 
 I recounted to him the fresh determination we 
 had come to, viz. to proceed directly to the Bihe', and 
 explained to him the difficulty in which 1 was placed. 
 Silva Porto came over to Benguella with me, as his 
 house — Bemposta — was some four miles distant from 
 the town, and called at the various houses where cara- 
 vans of Bailundos might be found, without however 
 succeeding in getting any offers to carry the baggage 
 to Bihe. We then learned that a large caravan had 
 arrived at the house of Mr. Cauchoix, and proceeded 
 thither; that gentleman did his best to help us, but in 
 vain, although he offered a heavy gratuity to the chief, 
 and double pay to the porters, if they would only take 
 our things. 
 
 I wish to mention here a very curious fact. The 
 Bihenos are the finest travellers in Africa, and no 
 other people extend their journeys to such length as 
 they, or can equal them in pluck and endurance under 
 fatigue ; but these Bihenos only travel from Bihe into 
 the interior as hired attendants, for if, which is very 
 rare, they come down to the coast, it is on their own 
 account. The Bailundos, on the other hand, hire out 
 their services between the coast and Bihe, and will not 
 go into the interior in an easterly direction ; north- 
 wards, however, they have no objection to extend their 
 journeys to the Dumbo and Loanda. 
 
 Thus it happens that merchants settled in the country 
 
STILL IN SEARCH OF CARRIERS. 
 
 41 
 
 have their goods transported from Bengnella to the 
 Bihe country by Bailundos, and thence to more remote 
 places in the interior by Bihenos, who come back to 
 Bihe laden with products in exchange ; and from Bihe 
 to the coast, the Bailundos resume the service. 
 
 Having obtained this information, all that was left 
 me to do was to hire some Bailundos to come over and 
 fetch the baggage ; and Silva Porto having kindly 
 undertaken the task of procuring them, despatched at 
 once five blacks to Bailundo for the purpose. The old 
 trader, however, did not fail to assure me, from his long 
 experience, that a good deal of delay must be expected, 
 as it would take his messengers fifteen days to reach 
 the country, and at least as many more to collect the 
 carriers ; so that, adding these thirty to fifteen others 
 for the return journey, we must reckon upon forty-five 
 days ere they got back ; and there was little chance 
 indeed of their being here before. We were then at 
 the end of September, so that by this computation we 
 should not be able to start before the middle of 
 November.* 
 
 After taking counsel with my friends upon this fresh 
 phase in our position, we resolved not to lose such 
 valuable time at Bengnella ; but, delivering over the 
 heavy baggage to Silva Porto, for him to forward it 
 by the Bailundos, start at once with such things as 
 were indispensable, and wait for the remainder at Bihe. 
 The time we spent there could at least be occupied in 
 hunting up fresh carriers to pursue the onward 
 journey. 
 
 Out of the men hired at Bengnella we could not 
 reckon with confidence on more than thirty performing 
 the journey, and these, with thirty -six obtained from 
 Novo Redondo, made a total of sixty-six men. Besides 
 
 * As a matter of fact, a portion of these porters, viz. 200, only reached 
 Benguella on the 27th of December, and 200 more at the end of February. 
 
42 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 these, we had fourteen soldiers, some young niggers for 
 my personal service, two or three Kabendas in the 
 service of Capello and Ivens, and two native chiefs, 
 one of whom, Barros, haa been engaged by me in 
 Katambela, and the other, Catao, by Capello, in Novo 
 Redondo. 
 
 Among all these men, there was not one in whom 
 we could repose any confidence. 
 
 We set to work to select the loads judged indis- 
 pensable, and found that they were eighty-seven, thus 
 making twenty-seven more loads than there were 
 carriers. No one can conceive how I laboured to 
 supply the deficiency ; but in vain, not another porter 
 was to be had. 
 
 The blacks, not understanding what we intended to 
 do in the interior, became uncomfortable, and, with their 
 naturally suspicious nature, got all kinds of fancies, 
 which did not improve matters. 
 
 The end of October came, and still we were in the 
 same position. 
 
 By the advice of Silva Porto, I made up my mind 
 to go into the Dombe country, and see whether the 
 Mundumbes would be more difficult to deal with than 
 the people of Benguella. Feeling, however, indisposed, 
 I got Capello to go for me. 
 
 Capello started on the 29th and returned on the 3rd 
 of November, having made a fruitless journey. The 
 Mundumbes are willing enough to go to Quillengues 
 by a road known to themselves, but beyond this they 
 will not travel, and they refused the very handsome 
 sum we offered if they would go with us to Bihe. 
 
 It became absolutely necessary to come to some 
 determination, and that we therefore at once proceeded 
 to do. We resolved still to go to Bihe, but by the track 
 leading through Quillengues and Caconda. 
 
 The Governor, Pereira de Mello, immediately gave 
 
STILL IN SEARCH OF CARRIERS. 
 
 43 
 
 orders to the chefe (head official) of the Dombe to have 
 ready fifty carriers, to accompany us to Quillengues ; 
 and Silva Porto, as agreed, took charge of the bag- 
 gage which was to be forwarded to Bihe, amounting 
 in all to 400 loads. 
 
 His Excellency placed at our disposal a large boat to 
 convey by sea to the Cuio (Dombe Grande) the loads 
 that had to be transported thence to Quillengues, and 
 certain of the Benguella carriers who were on the sick list. 
 
 On the 11th of November we were ready to leave 
 the coast, and we fixed our departure for the following 
 day. On the former date four of the Novo Redondo 
 porters ran away, and five of the Benguella on the 
 very morning of our departure. 
 
 The 12th arrived at last, and with it our final exit 
 from the town, after the most cordial adieux and good 
 wishes of the many friends assembled to wish us God- 
 speed. Shortly before leaving I had gone down to the 
 beach and feasted my eyes on the vast expanse of the 
 Atlantic, on that enormous waste of water which I 
 gazed on, perhaps, for the last time. Two years did 
 indeed elapse before I had the satisfaction of seeing it 
 again, and then it was in France, near Bordeaux. 
 
 I do not know if all persons are affected in the same 
 way, but, after I have dwelt for any time in a place, 
 I quit it with regret. At the moment of leaving 
 Benguella, I felt a pang of sorrow, an indefinable 
 sensation of malaise, which I must confess the town 
 and its surroundings could scarcely of themselves be 
 held capable of exciting. 
 
 The national colours, carried by one of our party, 
 were increasing their distance from the town, as our 
 caravan wound its measured way into the open, and 
 with one more hasty farewell I hurried after it. 
 
 On the 13th we reached the Dombe, having made a 
 journey of 40 miles. We had with us sixty-nine 
 
44: THE KING'S BIFLE. 
 
 persons and six donkeys, which were all, men and 
 asses alike, lodged in the fortress. We three, with our 
 body servants, were most kindly welcomed to the 
 house of Manuel Antonio de Santos Reis, a perfect 
 gentleman, who could scarcely do enough to serve us. 
 
 It was a couple of days later that our baggage, 
 which had been sent by sea, arrived, and after a care- 
 ful examination of the whole I found 100 men, 
 besides those I had with me, would be necessary 
 for its transport. 
 
 This arose, 1 presume, from an abuse of the accomo- 
 dation offered us by the boat, more things being put 
 on board than those we at first judged absolutely 
 necessary. 
 
 We decided upon leaving on the 18th, after receiv- 
 ing our letters from Europe, as the packet usually 
 reached Benguella on the 14th ; but not only on the 
 18th had the steamer not arrived, but the ehefe had 
 not hired a single porter. 
 
 The mail came in on the 21st, but as regards fol- 
 lowers we still had only those we brought from 
 Benguella. The chefe declared all should be ready by 
 the 26th; but so far from this being the case, only 
 nineteen out of the hundred required appeared on that 
 day. Next morning we procured twenty-seven more ; 
 when, fearing if there were any greater delay those I 
 had already obtained would take themselves off, I at 
 once despatched them to Quillengues, under the charge 
 of two of the soldiers I had with me. 
 
 The chefe asseverated that it was impossible for him 
 to get any more men. Whereupon I invited to the 
 fortress the three Sovas (native chiefs or princes) of the 
 Dombe for the 28th, in order to see whether 1 could 
 not myself treat with them. They came — three magnifi- 
 cent specimens, whose appearance was calculated to 
 strike a beholder with surprise, if not with awe. 
 
STILL IN SEARCH OF CARRIERS, 
 
 45 
 
 One was called Brito, a name he had borrowed from 
 a former Governor of Benguella, who had restored him 
 to power ; the second, Bahita ; and the third, Batara. 
 My companions unfortunately could not be present at 
 this serio-comic meeting, as they had been suffering 
 since the 24th from fever. 
 
 Sova Brito was attired in three petticoats of chintz, 
 of a large flowered pattern, very rumpled and dirty, 
 with an infantry captain's coat, unbuttoned, displaying 
 his naked breast, for shirt he had none ; and on his 
 head, over a red woollen nightcap, was jauntily posed 
 the cocked hat of a staff officer. 
 
 Bahita also wore petticoats, of some woollen stuff of 
 brilliant colours, a rich uniform of a peer of Portugal, 
 nearly new, and on his bead, over the indispensable 
 nightcap, a kepi of the 5th Chasseurs. 
 
 As to Batara, he was dressed simply in rags, but had 
 buckled about his waist an enormous sabre. 
 
 These illustrious and grave personages were sur- 
 rounded by the satellites and high dignitaries of their 
 negro courts, who squatted on the ground about the 
 chairs on which their respective sovereigns were seated. 
 Bahita was accompanied by a minstrel who played 
 upon a Marimba, from which he drew the most 
 lugubrious sounds. 
 
 This instrument is formed of two sticks about three 
 feet in length, slightly curved, there being stretched 
 from end to end strings of catgut on which are fixed 
 thin strips of wood, each of which is a note of a scale. 
 The sound is increased by means of a row of gourds 
 placed below, so arranged that the lowest note corre- 
 sponds to a gourd having a capacity of six to seven 
 pints and the highest to one of a quarter of a pint or less. 
 
 The sovas conducted themselves with such extra- 
 ordinary gravity that in spite of myself I imitated 
 their example. 
 
46 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 After having promised me carriers, they were good 
 enough to accompany me to my temporary home, about 
 a mile and a half from the fortress; and as I made 
 each of them a present of a bottle of aguardente, they 
 ordered their chief officials to honour me with a dance, 
 and Bahita commanded some girls, who had hitherto 
 been kept out of sight, to be brought forward to join 
 in the entertainment. 
 
 I begged them to dance themselves, but they gave 
 me to know that their dignity would not allow of such 
 a proceeding, it being contrary to all established rule. 
 I ardently desired, however, to see Bahita capering in 
 petticoats and a peer's uniform ; and aware of the 
 power of liquor over the negro, I gave instructions that 
 a fresh bottle should be presented to their majesties. 
 
 This was quite enough. Laws and established rules 
 were soon cast to the winds, and I had the delight to 
 see them all join in a grotesque dance in the midst of 
 their people, who, fired with enthusiasm at the sight, 
 rolled about and went through such violent contortions 
 that one would have thought they had all gone into 
 fits or were afflicted with some new kind of madness. 
 Bahita was simply grand, and I cannot help thinking 
 that the " roi Bobeche " must have been created after 
 some such model. In his excitement he talked of 
 nothing but ordering people's heads to be cut off; 
 sentences which those around him listened to with the 
 utmost apparent submission, with their tongues in their 
 cheeks all the time, as they knew full well the Por- 
 tuguese Government would allow of no tricks of that 
 kind within its jurisdiction. 
 
 The Dombe Grande is a most fertile valley, which 
 extends first from south to north, and then westwards, 
 almost in a right angle, to the sea. It is framed in by 
 two systems of mountains, one on the west, which 
 borders the coast, and the other on the east ; and 
 
STILL IN SEARCH OF CARRIERS. 
 
 47 
 
 through it runs a river known under no fewer than 
 four names, the Dombe, Coporolo, Quiporolo, and St. 
 Francisco. 
 
 This river, very full of water in winter, is generally 
 quite dry in summer, although, even in the times of 
 greatest drought, water can always be had by digging 
 wells ; this is the case, in fact, throughout the Dombe 
 valley, where one never need go deeper than ten 
 
 Fig. 1. — Mun dombe Women, Vendors of Coal. 
 (From a photograph by the chemist Monteiro.) 
 
 feet to obtain the desired supply. Close to the 
 western mountains, in that part of the valley which 
 runs north and south, there is a lake, fifty-four yards 
 wide by five-eighths of a mile in length, of the shape of 
 the letter S. This lake is curious, inasmuch as it is not 
 formed by rain deposits, but is fed by a strong subter- 
 ranean spring : its level is never changed, the surplus 
 being carried off by infiltrations which, less than a mile 
 
18 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 lower down, jut out in the shape of springs, that are 
 made use of for irrigating some property in the 
 neighbourhood. The lake is said to contain some large 
 fish and many crocodiles. 
 
 I visited it frequently, but never caught sight of 
 either crocodile or fish. I must believe, however, that 
 they exist, because my kind entertainer assured me of 
 the fact, and that they were very voracious to boot. 
 He stated, besides, in corroboration of his assertion, that 
 in 1876, his place having been attacked by a band of 
 marauders from Quillengues, the latter were defeated 
 by his blacks, and attempted, in their flight, to swim 
 the lake. Not one, however, reached the opposite 
 bank, the whole of them having fallen a prey to the 
 voracious denizens of the waters. 
 
 In those same western mountains, which are formed 
 of calcareous carbonate and some sulphate of lime, and 
 in close proximity to the lake, exist certain huge 
 grottoes or caverns, which, as we were informed by our 
 host, had never been explored, and which contained, in 
 so far as could be observed from outward inspection, 
 extensive galleries. 
 
 Capello, myself, and our host, Snr. Reis, went to 
 visit one of them, and found that it had been greatly 
 exaggerated. 
 
 It formed a species of hall, nearly circular, of about 
 15 yards in diameter, scooped by nature out of the 
 immense mass of calcareous stone of which the mountain 
 was composed. It would seem to be a regular haunt of 
 wild beasts, as one might judge from the air, which was 
 perfectly saturated with the pungent smell of certain 
 animals, as w T ell as from the traces of a lion impressed on 
 the impalpable powder which covered the ground, where 
 we met with a few quills of the Hystrix Africano. 
 
 In the valley of the Dombe there are some important 
 agricultural estates, the chief of them being that of the 
 
STILL IN SEARCH OF CARRIERS. 
 
 49 
 
 Loache, one of Paula Barboza, and that of our host, 
 Santos Reis. The last mentioned is scarcely three 
 years old, and produces sugar-cane in sufficient quantity 
 to yield more than eight thousand gallons of rum ; and 
 it must be remembered that the land was previously all 
 forest-grown, and has only been three years cleared. 
 The estate is otherwise still in its infancy, everything 
 being in course of construction ; but one may readily 
 
 Fig. 2. — Mundombe Women and Girls. 
 (From a photograph by Monteiro.) 
 
 judge, from the results already obtained, how richly 
 productive is the soil in this part of the world. 
 
 The entire valley is cultivated with manioc by the 
 natives, and is so fertile that even after three years 
 drought its production is perfectly regular, more than 
 fifty thousand bushels of the flour being exported 
 during the year. It is, in fact, the granary of Benguella. 
 The natives of those parts do not trade by barter, but 
 sell their products for money, the value of which they 
 are very well acquainted with. 
 
 vol. r. e 
 
50 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 Our compulsory delay in this country was most 
 injurious to the order and discipline of my people. 
 
 Every day they put forward some fresh . claim ; 
 every day some quarrel or other arose among them ; 
 and I feared to be too strict lest they should all desert 
 me in a body. 
 
 They sold their clothes to purchase aguardente, and 
 even went so far as to dispose of their rations of food 
 to procure liquor wherewith to muddle themselves. 
 
 Fig. 3. — Mundombe Men. (From a photograph by Monteiro.) 
 
 The soldiers were the worst. The Sovas did not 
 send us any men, and I began to apprehend a repe- 
 tition of the Benguella scenes — any way we could 
 not stir. 
 
 On the 1st of December thirty men arrived at 
 Dombe, sent from Quillengues by the military chefe, 
 to fetch some baggage belonging to him. I at once 
 pounced upon them, and arranged with my companions 
 to start on the 4th. 
 
STILL IN SEARCH OF CARRIERS. 51 
 
 We had to record three other desertions : two men 
 from Novo Redondo, and one from Benguella. 
 
 Our donkeys were very troublesome and obstinate, 
 and there was no one who knew how to train them ; 
 the parting with them was, however, out of the ques- 
 tion, so we managed as best w r e could. 
 
 e 2 
 
52 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE STORY OF A SHEEP. 
 
 Nine days in the desert — Want of water — The ex-chef e of Quillengues — I lose 
 . myself in the bush — Two shots in time — A little nisger and a negress 
 missing — Loss of a donkey — Quillengues at last — Death of the sheep. 
 
 On - the 4th of December I left the Dombe, at eight o'clock 
 in the morning, and bent my course to Quillengues. 
 Capello and Ivens remained behind for a while to 
 arrange about sending on some of the luggnge, in- 
 tending to join me at night. By the advice of the 
 guides, we did not follow the caravan route, but a by- 
 path known to themselves, so as to avoid the usual 
 fords of the River Coporolo, which were already some- 
 what difficult on account of the quantity of water, 
 whilst the other path led to shorter and more con- 
 venient fording-places. 
 
 After two hours' march in the plain, we arrived at 
 the foot of the Cangemba range, which borders the 
 valley of the Dombe on the east side. Here we got a 
 little rest, and at eleven started off again, endeavour- 
 ing to cross the mountain by the bed of a torrent, 
 then dry. It was difficult work. The men were 
 heavily laden, for, besides the actual loads of the 
 expedition, weighing 66 pounds, they carried rations 
 for nine days, in the shape of manioc flour and 
 dried fish. The difference of level was barely 550 
 yards ; but the bed of the torrent, formed of calcareous 
 rock, offered formidable obstacles to our progress. In 
 many places it was necessary to use our hands as well 
 
THE STORY OF A SHEEP. 
 
 53 
 
 as feet to get along, and the getting the donkeys over 
 the ground was a work of considerable difficulty. 
 
 We had purchased in the Dombe a couple of sheep, 
 to be killed upon the road, and one of them followed 
 our party readily enough ; the other, however, caused 
 us a good deal of trouble, by not only refusing to 
 follow but showing a great and constant inclination 
 to return to the country we had left behind. 
 
 Three hours were spent upon our fatiguing march, 
 and in covering a thousand yards at most of ground. 
 The sun poured down upon us as we toiled on, un- 
 sheltered, and we were fagged out with our exer- 
 tions. We encamped at length beside a well dug in 
 the sandy bed of a rivulet that had run dry, and to 
 which little stream the Mundombes gave the name of 
 Cabindondo. The spot was an arid one, and only here 
 and there were visible some white thorns, curled and 
 burnt by the sun, which at this period of the year 
 literally pierce like a knife. Our horizon was formed 
 by the summits of the mountains which run north and 
 south. 
 
 Towards evening Capello and Ivens put in an ap- 
 pearance, and we at once sat down to our meal — not 
 before we needed it, and 1, indeed, was still fasting. 
 On the 5th, at early morning, we were on the move in 
 a S.E. direction, and after four hours' march, during 
 which we got over a space of twelve miles, we 
 pitched our tents in a place which the guides called 
 Taramanjamba, an extensive valley, surrounded by 
 hills of no great height. The altitude was found to 
 be 656 yards, thus showing that we were scarcely more 
 than 110 yards above our camp of yesterday. 
 
 Vegetation continued poor, and the want of water 
 was great. For drinking and cooking purposes we 
 obtained but little, in the shape of rain deposits in the 
 cavities of the rocks ; deposits immediately exhausted 
 
54 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 by our thirsty caravan, so that as night came on thirst 
 was sensibly felt. 
 
 During our march, if the young asses continued to 
 be troublesome, the sheep above referred to was no less 
 so : he was wonderfully wild, and more obstinate than 
 the donkeys. I determined to have done with him, and 
 my companions being of the same mind I gave orders 
 to the niggers to this effect, and took a stroll in the 
 environs. 
 
 On my return to the camp, I discovered that the 
 stupid fellows had misunderstood my orders, and 
 instead of killing the wild sheep had made away 
 with the quiet one. 
 
 On the following morning we started at daybreak, 
 and after five hours' march pitched our camp at a 
 placed called Tiue, where our guides assured us we 
 should find water. 
 
 Against all expectation, the sheep whose life had 
 been saved by accident not only gave over his wild 
 tricks, but took it into his head to follow me about 
 like a dog, keeping constantly by me, whether on 
 the march or in camp. 
 
 The journey was a difficult one that day; for my 
 people were parched with thirst, and for upwards 
 of an hour we had to follow the dry bed of the river 
 Canga, naturally all stones and irregularities, which 
 fatigued us very much. 
 
 The soil is granitic, and the arborary vegetation 
 luxuriant. 
 
 The water, just as the night before, was rain water, 
 collected in the cavities of the rocks ; but it was more 
 agreeable to the palate, and clearer to the eye. 
 
 Some of our men had wounded feet, so that it was 
 dark ere they reached the camp, as they could only 
 crawl along ; there were others who followed their ex- 
 ample out of weakness, and many more from sheer sloth. 
 
THE STORY OF A SHEEP. 
 
 55 
 
 On that day, among* the laggards were unluckily 
 the carriers of the commissariat, which made it late 
 before we got any food. Capello, quiet and undemon- 
 strative, never complained of the inconveniences he was 
 put to ; but he was silent under them. Ivens, on the 
 contrary, was always full of spirits, and with his 
 loquacity and light-heartedness kept us in good-humour, 
 and often made us merry with his witticisms. His 
 appetite, which was never at fault, was great on this 
 occasion, and after the arrival of the carriers he 
 watched with eager eyes a leg of mutton which a 
 nigger was turning before the fire on a wooden spit. 
 At last he exclaimed : " If my father could only see me 
 eyeing that joint, I am sure the old man would be 
 moved to tears ! " 
 
 Since leaving the Dombe we had scarcely eaten once 
 a day, which was the case also with our people ; with 
 this difference, however, that they ate without inter- 
 ruption from the moment of camping until they went 
 to sleep ; which made me, not unnaturally, appre- 
 hensive that the rations given out for nine days would 
 be very soon exhausted, and that hunger would follow 
 in a country where it was impossible to obtain food. 
 
 On the following day we made sixteen miles in 
 an E.S.E. direction, and pitched our tents in a forest 
 called Chalussinga ; the ground, still granitic in 
 character, was relatively better walking, and the 
 vegetation was of a more vigorous kind than we had 
 hitherto seen. 
 
 We met in this forest with the first baobabs we had 
 seen since leaving the coast. Water continued to be 
 scarce, and was always formed of rain deposits. At 
 about three in the afternoon of that day we were 
 advised that a caravan was coming in the direction of 
 our camp, on its way from the interior ; and on issuing 
 out to meet it, we found that it was the ex-chefe of 
 
56 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 Quillengues, Captain Roza, on his way to Benguella in 
 ill-health. We invited him to our tent, where he 
 dined, and at parting we were able to furnish him with 
 some medicines, of which he stood greatly in need. 
 
 After he had left I was informed by the young 
 niggers that round the camp there were fresh tracks of 
 game, and I went out to investigate. I followed the 
 trail of some large antelopes, and it led me so far that 
 night fell, with a darkness so profound that I lost all 
 traces of the way back to the camp. A lofty mountain 
 stood out in sombre relief against a hazy sky, where 
 not a single star was seen to glitter. It occurred to 
 me to scale it, so that I might, from some elevated 
 pinnacle discover the lights of the camp, by which to 
 direct my steps. I deemed the notion a happy one, for 
 having ascended the mountain I discovered in the 
 distance a gleam of light, which I at once made for, 
 having marked the direction by my pocket compass. 
 
 None but those who have experienced it can 
 imagine what it is to wander on a dark night through 
 the brambles and underwood of a virgin forest, and 
 how much time is expended in traversing a brief space, 
 leaving, by the way, here a fragment of clothing, and 
 there, it may be, a portion of one's skin. 
 
 I arrived at length, guided during the latter part of 
 the route by human voices ; but judge of my surprise 
 and disappointment at finding that I had mistaken 
 Captain Roza's camp for my own, and that I must still 
 he some four miles distant from the latter ! As 
 however a road, or rather the track left by a caravan, 
 connected the two camps, I determined to push on, 
 by its guidance, and after another hour's tramp I heard 
 the welcome sound of the horns blown by my people, 
 and the occasional crack of a rifle fired off to attract 
 my attention and direct my steps. 
 
 I reached my tent completely tired out and wounded 
 
THE STOBY OF A SHEER 
 
 with the thorns, and found Capello and Ivens in no 
 little anxiety on my account. Nor was I allowed to 
 go undisturbed in mind to the rest I so much needed, 
 for I was informed, to my annoyance though not to my 
 surprise, that provisions were falling short, and that 
 the soldiers especially had in five days consumed the 
 rations of nine. 
 
 We made a somewhat forced march next day, and 
 in six hours covered 18 miles, still travelling E.S.E. 
 
 The road was a good one, as we followed the track of 
 Captain Roza's caravan. Gigantic baobabs continually 
 appeared in the forests we passed through. It was 
 after crossing the river Calucula that we pitched our 
 tents, selecting a spot on the right bank of the stream. 
 
 The river boasts of but little water ; but what it 
 contains is limpid and good. 
 
 We still continued eating but once a day, the hour 
 for the single repast varying from one to three, 
 according to the journey. It had become necessary to 
 be parsimonious with our stores. I still felt the fatigues 
 of the previous night, and therefore remained within 
 the encampment, instead of hunting up game. Ivens, 
 as usual, employed himself at his drawing ; and Capello 
 was busy with his collection of insects and reptiles. 
 
 The soldiers, having finished their rations, began to 
 complain of hunger, and even talked of killing the 
 sheep. I had taken quite a liking for the animal, 
 which had been so suddenly converted from the wild 
 creature it was into a gentle and domestic beast, 
 following me, as I have mentioned, constantly about, 
 and never allowing me out of its sight. The idea 
 therefore of killing it was very repugnant to me, and 
 Ivens for the time diverted the soldiers' attention by 
 giving them a little rice from our own stores. 
 
 On the 9th we broke up our camp at five in the 
 morning, and kept steadily on our march till one, when 
 
58 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 we rested on a slope of Mount Tama. From eight till 
 nine we travelled southwards by the left bank of the 
 river Cbiculi Diengui, which runs north, probably into 
 the Coporolo. Vegetation was becoming more and 
 more luxuriant, and on this day our route lay through 
 a dense forest. 
 
 Directly our tents were pitched, the complaints of 
 the hungry soldiers were again very audible, and the 
 subject of killing the poor sheep was once more 
 mooted. Ivens gave the fellows another ration of rice, 
 which satisfied them for the time ; but of course it was 
 only staving off, as it were, an evil day, and could not 
 be considered as a positive salvation for the poor 
 animal. 
 
 Fagged out as I was, I resolved to go hunting for 
 game, with a view to save the life of my poor sheep. 
 
 For upwards of an hour I rambled through the forest 
 without result, and was turning my steps camp ward 
 when, in a small open space of ground, 1 sighted two 
 antelopes grazing. 
 
 I drew near, but at more than a hundred yards 
 distance my presence was evidently discovered. The 
 male leaped upon a rock, and there began to cast his 
 keen eye in every direction, whilst the female, with ear 
 on the alert, sniffed about her. 
 
 The distance was great, but I did not hesitate to fire, 
 aiming at the male, which I had the satisfaction to see 
 fall and roll over. His companion, hearing the report, 
 sprang on to the rocky ground, when I discharged my 
 second barrel. With one bound, however, she then 
 disappeared in the underwood. 
 
 My young nigger started off to secure the dead 
 antelope, but I perceived that instead of stopping at the 
 rock where the creature was last seen, he turned aside 
 and went farther on, and I myself at length arrived at 
 the spot, and began, with an anxious feeling at the 
 
THE STORY OF A SHEEP. 
 
 59 
 
 heart, to search all round, for I feared I was mistaken 
 in seeing the first antelope fall. It was not so, however, 
 for on the other side of the rock, to my great joy, I dis- 
 covered the graceful animal ( Cervicapra bohor), stone dead. 
 
 I had scarce time to satisfy myself on the point than 
 my attendant appeared from the wood bending under a 
 heavy burden. 
 
 It was the second antelope, which he had found dead 
 at no great distance from the open ground. Both 
 animals had been struck in the breast, but whereas the 
 male had been killed upon the spot, the female had 
 made a bound or two before she ultimately fell. 
 
 The sheep, then, was for the time saved, and indeed, 
 as in two days' time we ought to reach Quillengues, 
 where provisions could be had, the poor beast might be 
 looked upon as perfectly secure. 
 
 On the following day, after a march of twenty- 
 two miles, and wading across the rivers Umpuro, 
 Cumbambi, and Comooloena, we encamped on the 
 right bank of the Yambo ; all four streams run north- 
 wards, to unite their waters — when they have any — 
 to those of the Coporolo, here already called the 
 Calunga, a name which it retains up to its source. 
 
 During this day's march we fell in for the first time 
 with enormous grasses, clothing the open spots of the 
 wood. So tall and thick were they that it was quite 
 impossible to see over them, and very difficult to effect 
 a passage through. In the course of the journey one 
 of my young niggers disappeared, together with a 
 negress, the wife of Capello's attendant Catraio ; and 
 though I sent out people to look for them, they were 
 nowhere to be found. 
 
 The scarcity of provisions was great, and it was not 
 the soldiers only who complained of hunger ; the 
 whole lot were grumbling and w r ould not listen to 
 reason. There was no help for it — on we must go. 
 
60 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 On the 11th, after passing two small streams which 
 the rains had considerably swollen, the Quitaqui and 
 the Massonge, we encamped on the right bank of the 
 river Tui, very near to Quillengues. There was no 
 news of the missing youth and woman, and since the 
 evening before one of the asses had disappeared. 
 Whilst the men were busy with the camp, I started off 
 for the fortress of Quillengues, in search of stores, with 
 which I returned at eight in the evening. Decidedly 
 the sheep was saved. 
 
 During the night the young negro and negress, 
 whom we thought lost, found their way into camp, a 
 circumstance which gave me much pleasure ; for, com- 
 pelled as we were, by hunger, to go on, we could not 
 have lingered to search for them. 
 
 The place where we had pitched our tents was low 
 and marshy, without any conveniences at hand, and 
 isolated. On this account, we resolved to shift our 
 quarters and encamp in the compound of the chefe of 
 Quillengues, which we reached at eleven o'clock in the 
 forenoon of the 12th of December. 
 
 I there paid and discharged the carriers from 
 Dombe who had engaged to come with us to Quillen- 
 gues, and I begged the chefe, Lieutenant Eoza, to 
 obtain others for me to Caconda. This, he assured me, 
 would be easy ; only, as he was informed that the 
 streams between Quillengues and Caconda were too full 
 to allow of crossing, we should not be able to start 
 immediately. 
 
 We fed well on that day, in fact we had two meals, 
 breakfast and dinner. 
 
 A few days after this, the donkey which had been 
 lost in the woods was brought into camp by a native, 
 who had found it strolling about. I gave the negro a 
 gratuity to encourage him in his honesty ; and besides, 
 I never expected to see the poor animal again, for if it 
 
THE STORY OF A SHEEP. 
 
 61 
 
 escaped the teeth and claws of the wild beasts, it could 
 not, as I thought, avoid capture by some wandering 
 thief. 
 
 Quillengues is a valley watered by the Calunga (a 
 river which I suppose to be the upper course of the 
 Coporolo), is extremely fertile, and covered with a 
 native population. 
 
 The Portuguese establishment occupies an area of 
 56,875 square yards ; it being of rectangular shape, 
 273 yards by 199. This rectangle, surrounded by a 
 palisade, has four bastions, built of masonry half way 
 up each face ; and within are barracks which form the 
 residence of the military chef a and quarters for the 
 soldiers. 
 
 Some baobab-trees and sycamores shade with their 
 gigantic branches and thick foliage a ground covered 
 with the huge native grass which affords pasture to 
 the chef e a flocks. 
 
 If the importance of Quillengues is great as a pro- 
 ductive centre, and easy of colonisation, it is not less so 
 as a strategic position ; inasmuch as it may be con- 
 sidered one of the keys to the interior, with respect to 
 Benguella. 
 
 The petty chiefs of the country acknowledge the 
 Portuguese authority ; but being by nature predatory, 
 they attack unceasingly other native tribes, and carry 
 off their cattle. 
 
 They are more pastoral than agricultural, but not- 
 withstanding cultivate the land, which yields abun- 
 dantly to the slightest care, producing maize, massam- 
 bala, and mandioca or manioc in large quantities. 
 
 Their dwellings are circular huts from ten to fifteen 
 feet in diameter, constructed of the trunks of trees, 
 plastered with mud. The door is sufficiently high to 
 afford passage to a man without stooping. 
 
 The inhabitants of Quillengues are tall of stature 
 
62 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 and robust, and are by nature bold and warlike. 
 Their manufacturing powers are not remarkable, and 
 do not seem to go much further than the fashioning 
 out of iron their assegais, arrow-heads, and hatchets, 
 both for warlike purposes and cutting wood. Their 
 metal castings are not made at home, but are pur- 
 chased in the Dombe country or in Benguella. 
 
 Their folds, like their villages, are surrounded by a 
 strong palisade : which is further protected, exteriorly, 
 by a thorny abattis, to guard against the night attacks 
 of wild beasts. 
 
 The mandioca fields are similarly protected by 
 thorns, for small deer (Cephalophus mergens) abound, 
 and, from their extreme liking for the leaves of the 
 mandioca, cause serious damage to the plantations. 
 
 Aguardente is in great favour with the Quillengues, 
 and so given are these people to drunkenness, that 
 during three months in the year — so long in fact as 
 lasts the fruit of the gongo, from which a fermented 
 liquor is made — they are constantly in a state of intoxi- 
 cation, and no possible service can be got out of them 
 for love or money. 
 
 When a man is desirous of matrimony, he sends to 
 the father of the lady of his choice a present, which 
 must be composed of four yards at least of cloth from 
 the coast, and a couple of bottles of aguardente. The 
 bride comes back with the bearer of the gift, accom- 
 panied by her relatives, when a great feast is held, 
 whereof the piece de resistance is an ox offered by the 
 bridegroom. 
 
 Adultery is held in high favour by husbands in this 
 part of the world, as their barbarous law enables them 
 to get a heavy fine out of the lover in the shape of 
 cattle and aguardente. A wife who has no peccadilloes 
 to answer for gains but little favour in the eyes of 
 her lord, as she does not help to increase his store. 
 
THE STORY OF A SHEEP. 
 
 63 
 
 When the lady has fallen off from her duty, she goes 
 to her husband to complain of having been led astray, 
 and upon the accusation of the wife a conviction is 
 obtained. 
 
 When a death occurs, the body is shrouded in a 
 white cloth, and being covered with an ox-hide is 
 carried to the grave, dug in a place selected for the 
 purpose. The days following on an interment are 
 days of high festival in the hut of the deceased. The 
 native kings are buried with some ceremony, and their 
 bodies, being arrayed in their best clothes, are conveyed 
 to the tomb in a dressed hide. There is great feasting 
 on these occasions, and an enormous sacrifice of cattle, 
 for the heir of the deceased is bound to sacrifice his 
 whole herd in order to regale his people and give peace 
 to the soul of the departed. 
 
 On the 22nd we had a disastrous event occur in 
 our camp. 
 
 One of my young negroes stole a Pertuisset explosive 
 bullet, and in company of two of his fellows resolved 
 to let it off, in order that each might have a piece of 
 the lead. Resting the bullet on a stone, one of them 
 placed a knife across it, which he struck with a violent 
 blow, the other two standing near to watch the sport. 
 The bullet suddenly exploded, wounding all three, one 
 of them — by name Silva Porto Calomo — severely, as 
 he received in different parts of his body thirteen 
 fragments of the desired lead, many of them producing 
 deep wounds. 
 
 We sent off some men to reconnoitre whether the 
 rivers were yet fordable, and learned from them that 
 the waters were still high — not a very surprising fact, as 
 it had not left off raining during the whole time of our 
 encampment. We thereupon resolved to take another 
 road, which, though considerably longer, was not in- 
 commoded with water, and in consequence begged the 
 
64: 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 chefe to have some carriers ready. This he did, and on 
 the following day I allotted the men their loads. I 
 felt, however, so extremely poorly myself, that though I 
 sent the porters on I was obliged to stop behind, my 
 friends remaining with me to bear me company. I 
 struggled against a violent fever for three whole clays, 
 and was quite unconscious during the 25th, Christmas 
 Day, and the anniversary of my daughter's birth. 
 
 I was carefully nursed by Capello and Ivens, the 
 Chefe Roza, and his wife, and on the 28 th was able to 
 rise from my bed and go out. It was then determined 
 that we should leave on the 1st of January 1878, that 
 is to say, three days afterwards. 
 
 The wife of Lieutenant Roza made me two presents, 
 which I was far from thinking would play an important 
 part, later on, in my journey. They consisted of a 
 Sevres tea service and a remarkably tame she-goat 
 of small breed, on which I bestowed the name of Cora. 
 
 Just at this time occurred a disaster which caused me 
 sincere regret. My poor sheep, on whose behalf I had 
 willingly borne so many annoyances with my hungry 
 followers, was killed through a setter that I had 
 brought with me from Portugal and had made a 
 present of to Capello. Pursued by the dog, it en- 
 deavoured to force its way through an opening in the 
 palisade, and broke its leg and otherwise injured itself, 
 so that it shortly died. It was my first great trouble 
 during a journey so fruitful in mishaps. 
 
THROUGH SUBJUGATED TERRITORY. 65 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THROUGH SUBJUGATED TERRITORY. 
 
 Journey to Ngola — The native king Chimhavandongo — Beauty of the country 
 — Arrival at Caconda — Jose d'Anchieta — No correspondence — Arrival of 
 the chefe — We fol'ow the carriers — Ivens goes to the Cunene, and I go to 
 the Cunene — Return from Bandeira's house — Carriers wanting — My 
 opinion. 
 
 Ox the 1st of January 1878 we quitted Quillengues, 
 where we made a good provision of food, and purchased 
 several oxen and sheep, to be slaughtered upon the 
 journey. The chefe, Lieutenant Roza, accompanied 
 us a few miles on the road, when he returned to his 
 simple home, and we kept on our course, in a S.E. 
 direction, till we reached the foot of the Quillengues 
 range, where we camped close to the village of Seculu 
 Unguri. 
 
 We had on this occasion a travelling companion of 
 the name of Verissimo Goncalves, who had begged to 
 be allowed to join our party as far as Bihe. He was 
 the son of a well-known Bihe' trader who had lately 
 died, and had been acting at Quillengues in the capacity 
 of a clerk to a former servant of his late father's. This 
 young man, a mulatto and but poorly educated, was 
 short in stature and perverted in mind, being full of the 
 vices proper to his race, but was still not wanting in 
 good-nature or intelligence. 
 
 I make somewhat particular mention of him, as he 
 will appear again in the course of my narrative. 
 
 He was shy and timid, though not cowardly, and 
 
 VOL. I. F 
 
66 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 under a rather weakly appearance concealed a strong 
 constitution and muscles of iron. He could scarcely 
 read or write, but was a tolerable shot and a crafty 
 woodsman. 
 
 During our stay at Quillengues I had managed to 
 break in two of the asses, which were very useful to 
 me as mounts on this new journey. 
 
 The following day, at starting we commenced the 
 ascent of the mountain, here called Mount Quissecua. 
 
 It was excessively toilsome work, and for three 
 weary hours we had to struggle with the asperities of 
 the mountain side, till we reached an elevation of 5700 
 feet above the level of the sea, or 2740 above the 
 plateau which terminates at Quillengues. 
 
 In a defile of the mountain we passed a small rivulet 
 which the natives call Obaba tenda, meaning " cold 
 water." We fixed our camp on the bank of another, 
 called Cuverai, an affluent of the Que'. These two 
 rivulets are permanent, and their waters flow into the 
 Cunene. 
 
 The soil continued granitic, but the vegetation had 
 entirely changed in aspect — due, of course, to the 
 elevation we had reached. The baobab had disappeared, 
 and ferns were nestling in the shade of the numerous 
 and varied acacias which peopled the w r oods. The flora 
 presented greater wealth of herbaceous plants, and in 
 the grasses more especially the most vigorous vegetation 
 was observable. 
 
 I noted that at times we traversed regions where not 
 a single bird was visible, and then, all of a sudden, we 
 would enter tracks where thousands of the feathered 
 tribe almost deafened the ears with their noise. Of 
 larger game there w r as but little, but there w 7 ere traces 
 of its existence. 
 
 During the night of the following day we had rather 
 a curious adventure. We were encamped beside the 
 
THROUGH SUBJUGATED TERRITORY. 
 
 67 
 
 Quicue, a brook running S.E. over a granitic bed, to 
 swell the waters, most probably, of the Que, when we 
 heard Capello's dog barking furiously at something in 
 the neighbourhood of the hut. At the same time we 
 were conscious of a sound, at no great distance from 
 us, like that of an animal chewing the cud, which 
 induced us to believe that the donkeys had got out and 
 were grazing in the camp that was surrounded by the 
 thorny abattis. We therefore quieted the dog and w r ent 
 off to our beds. Day w T as just breaking when we heard 
 a great uproar in the camp, and turning out we learned 
 that the blacks, who, at the outset, like ourselves, thought 
 the donkeys had broken loose, had discovered their 
 mistake, and that some strange animal had got into the 
 camp. And so in fact it proved, for an enormous 
 buffalo had done us the honour of a visit during the 
 night. 
 
 It was a strange circumstance, and at a first glance 
 difficult of explanation ; a clue, however, to the mystery 
 might have been probably discovered in the repeated 
 roarings of the lions, that were plainly audible, and 
 which perchance drove the buffalo to our camp for 
 shelter. 
 
 The day after we moved our camp close up to the 
 village of Ngola, and I at once caused my arrival to 
 be announced to the native chief. 
 
 After breakfast I proceeded to the village to call 
 upon him. I was accompanied by my young negro 
 servants, who carried a chair for my use and two 
 parasols. 
 
 The chief at once appeared, armed with two clubs 
 and an assegai. He wore a long waist-cloth, and over 
 it a leopard's skin. His chest was bare, and from his 
 neck hung a number of amulets. He received me out- 
 side his hut under a burning sun. I offered him one 
 of the parasols I had brought with me, which was 
 
 f 2 
 
68 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 covered with thin scarlet cloth, an attention that 
 seemed to please him mightily. 
 
 I informed him of the object of my journey, which he 
 did not readily comprehend. He perfectly understood, 
 however, the value of the gifts I made him, and con- 
 sisting of a small barrel of gunpowder, fifty gun-flints, 
 and a dozen tin grelot-bells ; although my asking 
 nothing in exchange filled him with wonder. 
 
 I invited him to my camp to see my companions, to 
 which he agreed, and accompanied me on the spot ; a 
 matter worthy of note, as native chiefs are mostly 
 suspicious by nature. 
 
 When I told him he might bring a vessel in which 
 to put some aguardiente, he went and fetched a bottle 
 that would hold about a pint and a half. I could not 
 help being astonished that a chief of his rank should 
 be so little covetous, and desired him to procure a larger 
 vessel. He then sent for a gourd which would contain 
 about a couple of bottles, and I begged him to bring 
 another of the same size. The chief could not conceal 
 his admiration at my generosity. 
 
 We set off on foot, accompanied by three of his 
 wives, his daughters, and many of his people, all un- 
 armed, to show me the confidence with which I had 
 inspired him. 
 
 We reached the camp at a time when Capello was 
 making meteorological observations, and our guest was 
 lost in admiration at the thermometers and barometers. 
 
 Ivens shortly joined us, and after an exchange of 
 compliments showed our noble guest the Snider and 
 Winchester arms, at which he was quite durnfounded. 
 
 Chimbarandongo, for that is the name of the native 
 chief of Ngola, is a man of intelligence, and knows how 
 to make life very tolerable among his subjects. 
 
 He offered us an ox, and readily consented to my 
 request to have it slaughtered, as we were in want of 
 
THROUGH SUBJUGATED TERRITORY. 
 
 69 
 
 provisions. He wished, however, that I would slay it 
 with my own hand. 
 
 The ox meanwhile had broken loose, and was making 
 towards the wood. It was already some eighty paces 
 from us, when I seized my rifle, and, telling the chief 
 where I would hit it, fired, and the beast fell. 
 
 Chimbarandongo went to examine the animal, and, 
 on seeing the wound, whence the blood was running, 
 just between the eyes, in the very place I had indicated, 
 he was so astonished that he embraced me again and 
 again in his enthusiasm. 
 
 At about four o'clock, there broke over us a violent 
 storm, with thunder and lightning and heavy rain, 
 which lasted a couple of hours. 
 
 The chief took refuge in our hut with his women 
 folk and a few of his chief followers. He then made 
 them a speech, the object of which was to prove that 
 we had brought down the rain, and with it a vast 
 benefit to the country, then suffering from the excessive 
 heats of summer. 
 
 We tried to explain to him that we did not possess 
 any such great powers, and that God only could 
 influence the grand phenomena of nature. It was 
 Ivens who undertook to illustrate how and why the 
 rain fell. 
 
 Before the lecture on meteorology was half over, the 
 chief turned his followers out of the hut, and assembling 
 them again at the close of Ivens's discourse, declared 
 that if it left off raining, he would pitch upon the 
 unlucky mortal who was the cause of its ceasing and 
 have him put to death without delay. 
 
 Disconcerted at this strange mode of interpreting our 
 well-meant lesson, we addressed ourselves to the task 
 of pointing out to him the inutility of capital punish- 
 ment, wdiich probably had as little effect upon him at 
 the previous instruction ; it was clear, however, that 
 
70 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 half drunk as he was he had sufficient sense left to dis- 
 cover that our theories harmonised but little with his 
 system of government. 
 
 When night fell, his majesty retired in the most 
 comic fashion, mounting pickaback on one of his 
 counsellors, whose hands rested on the hips of another 
 walking before him ; and as they were all more or less 
 intoxicated, they reeled about in the most ludicrous 
 way, threatening at every moment to topple over to- 
 gether, and perhaps break the sacred head of their 
 sovereign into the bargain. 
 
 This King Chimbarandongo was not wanting in 
 sense or judgment. He did not believe in sorcery, nor 
 did he believe that we had brought down the rain ; 
 but it suited him to appear to do so, in order not to 
 lose his prestige among his people, who were quite 
 satisfied with the form of government he imposed upon 
 them. 
 
 The next day, when he came to take leave of us, he 
 let me know that it was his policy to remain on good 
 terms with the whites ; inasmuch as, through his 
 friendly relations with them, he obtained the cloth which 
 covered him, and the arms and powder that secured 
 him respect from his enemies. 
 
 " Without the whites," he said, " we are poorer than 
 the beasts, as they possess the skins we are forced to 
 rob them of ; and those blacks are great fools who do 
 not seek to gain the friendship of the palefaces." 
 
 The village or hamlet of Ngola is strongly defended 
 by a double palisade, put up with some art, one of the 
 faces being even so arranged as to allow of a cross-fire. 
 The space inclosed is so vast as to be able to contain 
 the entire population of the country, which gathers 
 there, with all its flocks and herds, when the district 
 is in a state of war. The little stream, called the 
 Cutota, runs right through it, and it is therefore 
 
THROUGH SUBJUGA1ED TERRITORY. 
 
 71 
 
 capable of sustaining a long siege without any incon- 
 venience in respect of water. 
 
 On leaving Ngola, we journeyed for a couple of hours 
 in a N.E. direction, till we fell in with the Que, the 
 largest of the rivers running between Quillengues and 
 Caconda. At the spot where we attempted a crossing 
 we found tlie stream at least 50 feet wide and from 
 12 to 16 feet deep, and therefore impossible to be 
 forded. The storm of rain of the night before had 
 so increased the volume of water that the river was, in 
 fact, an impetuous torrent. 
 
 A bridge formed of the trunks of trees offered a 
 difficult if not perilous passage to the men, incumbered 
 with baggage, but could not be used at all by the oxen 
 and donkeys, which must therefore be swum over. 
 After a great deal of trouble the oxen did swim to the 
 other bank, but the asses at first refused to follow their 
 example. Partly by persuasion, partly by force, and 
 with a vast sacrifice of time and labour, the negro Barros, 
 aided by two of his mates, succeeded at last in getting 
 them across, the men swimming by their side. The 
 danger of such a proceeding will, however, be appre- 
 ciated when 1 tell the reader that the river was full of 
 crocodiles. 
 
 More than an hour having been spent in this 
 operation, we pursued our way, marching E.N.E., till 
 we reached the Usserem rivulet, whence I observed, 
 bearing N.N.W., Mount Uba, about which are 
 scattered the hamlets of Caluqueime. We subsequently 
 crossed the river Cacurocae, which runs S.S.W. to 
 the Que, and half an hour later the river Quissengo, 
 running to the S.E. to flow into the Que'. On the 
 banks of this last-named river we pitched our camp, 
 at four o'clock in the afternoon, near the village of 
 Catonga, where a certain Roque Teixeira has his 
 compound. 
 
72 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 Our day's march had been 19 miles, and we were 
 all very much fatigued. 
 
 The road was, it is true, in great part on the level, 
 the altitude varying only from 4750 to 4920 feet. 
 
 The arborary vegetation was somewhat sparse and 
 meagre, but the herbaceous continued varied and rich. 
 
 On the 6th we w r ere again travelling, north-east- 
 wards, and shortly after starting crossed the Que by a 
 bridge constructed by the natives. This rivulet is 
 17 feet wide by 3^ deep, and runs S.E. into the Catapi. 
 The latter river, which bears lower down the name 
 of Counge, we reached at 11.30 a.m., and camped 
 upon its left bank. It was found at this spot to be 33 
 feet wide, and to have a depth of nearly four feet, 
 with a strong current; its course was S.E., and it 
 flows into the Cunene near Luceque. 
 
 I killed this day a large gazelle (Cervicapra bohor) 
 the finest of the kind I saw throughout my journey ; 
 so large was it that it took four men to carry it to the 
 camp. 
 
 As night fell, the dog kept up a constant yelling in 
 the direction of the w r ood, proving to us that hyenas 
 were wandering round the huts, and w r hen night had 
 regularly set in we had other music in the form of a 
 duet of bass and counter-bass, produced by the roaring 
 of a lion from the undergrowth, and the hoarse grunt 
 of a hippopotamus from the river. 
 
 The aspect of the country continued still the same. 
 On the higher ground, stunted woods, w T ith compara- 
 tively few tall trees ; and below, dells filled with 
 leguminous plants and vast fields or meadows covered 
 with various grasses, through which meandered a 
 peaceful river or rivulet. The soil was still granitic, 
 with rocks of varied aspects cropping from the surface ; 
 of mica, however, they contained but little. 
 
 We kept on our N.E. course, passing near the 
 
THROUGH SUBJUGATED TERRITORY. 
 
 73 
 
 village of Cgassequera, fortified among enormous 
 granite cliffs, and surrounded by gigantic sycamores, 
 producing a singularly picturesque appearance. After 
 passing the Lussola rivulet, which runs southward to 
 the Catapi, we encamped on the bank of the Nondimba, 
 an affluent, like the former, of the Catapi, but running 
 northwards. 
 
 The plateau on which we then stood was a very 
 lofty one, the altitude being found to be 5250 feet. 
 
 From this spot we proceeded to Caconda, crossing 
 three rivulets by the way which run N N.W. to the 
 Catapi and bear the respective names of Chitequi, 
 Gramba, and Upanga. Later on, we fell in with the 
 Catapi itself, flowing W.S.W., and which, it will be 
 remembered, we crossed on the 6th, it then being 
 distinguished by the name of Counge. 
 
 At the point we crossed it on this occasion it was 
 33 feet wide by 3£ deep, and with a feeble current. 
 
 Some of the open spaces we had to traverse in the 
 course of the day were covered with stout rushes or 
 canes, springing from a marshy bottom, difficult of 
 passage. 
 
 The crossing of the river occupied time, and my com- 
 panions preceded me to Caconda, 
 
 I reached the fortress an hour or two later, and was 
 met at the entrance by the provisional chefe, a mulatto, 
 and rich landowner of the district, and sergeant-major 
 of the black forces, who explained that the permanent 
 chefe had gone to Benguella, and had left him (the 
 speaker) the bother of receiving us (these were his 
 actual words). 
 
 After this most courteous address Snr. Matheus 
 invited me to pass into the fortress. No sooner had I 
 entered the inclosure than I observed talking with my 
 companions a man above the middle height, thin of 
 aspect, with a broad and well-formed head, a somewhat 
 
74 
 
 TEE KING'S BIFLE. 
 
 restless eye, wearing a surtout coat and a white cravat, 
 whom Capello introduced under the name of " Jose 
 d'Anchieta." Yes, there stood before me the first 
 zoological explorer of Africa, a man who had spent 
 eleven years in the districts of Angola, Benguella, and 
 Mossamedes, enriching the cases of the Museum at 
 Lisbon with most valuable specimens. I had subse- 
 quently an opportunity of learning his mode of life, 
 which is worthy of a passing notice. 
 
 Anchieta was established in the ruins of a church 
 situated at about a couple of hundred yards from the 
 fortress. 
 
 The interior of his habitation was in the shape of 
 the letter T, surrounded by broad shelves, on which 
 appeared a confused heap of books, mathematical in- 
 struments, photographic apparatus, telescopes, micro- 
 scopes, retorts, birds of every variety of plumage, 
 flasks of various sizes, earthenware, bread, bottles 
 full of multicoloured liquids, surgical cases, bundles 
 of plants, medical products, cartridge boxes, clothes, 
 and other undistinguishable articles. In one corner 
 was a pile of muskets and rifles of various systems. 
 Alongside the house was an inclosure, wherein I 
 observed some cows and pigs. At the door, sundry 
 negroes and negresses were skinning birds and pre- 
 paring mammiferi ; and among them, seated in an 
 old fauteuil, which showed evidence of long service, 
 and before a huge table, I found Jose d'Anchieta. 
 
 I give up as useless the attempt to describe what 
 was on that table. Of nippers, scalpels, and micro- 
 scopes there were not a few. 
 
 On one side a heap of fragments of birds showed 
 that he was engaged in the study of comparative 
 anatomy. In front of him a flower carefully dissected 
 proved that he had been occupied in determining from 
 the disposition of its petals, the number of its stamens, 
 
THROUGH SUBJUGATED TERRITORY. 
 
 75 
 
 the shape of its calyx, the arrangement of its seeds and 
 pistil, the names of the family, genus, and species in 
 which it was to be ranked. With his scalpel in hand 
 and his eye fixed on the microscope he is accustomed 
 to pass the hours he can snatch from his labours as a 
 collector, and now it is a flower, now a bird, which 
 forms the object of his studies. 
 
 Occasionally his researches are interrupted by the 
 wail of a suffering patient, to whom he devotes the 
 care of a physician or dispenses the medicine necessary 
 for his relief. 
 
 Anchieta professes an unbounded respect for Dr. 
 Bocage, the director of the Zoological Museum of 
 Lisbon, and speaks of him with an amount of friendship 
 and esteem rarely met with out of the closest bonds of 
 blood-relationship. 
 
 This however is intelligible : Anchieta, who is fully 
 conscious of the services he has rendered to zoologic 
 science, knows that he possesses in Dr. Bocage a man 
 who does him justice, and appreciates those services ; a 
 man who completes in Europe the labour the other has 
 begun in Africa ; a man, in fine, who knows how 
 much fatigue, how many fevers, how many incon- 
 veniences, each one of those specimens has cost its 
 collector. 
 
 Jose d' Anchieta is one of those who merit the 
 respect of all men of science, and more especially of the 
 Portuguese, his compatriots, since, an indefatigable 
 labourer, he has gained honour for his country, while 
 he himself remains respected, though poor, in the 
 midst of the vice and demoralisation by which he is 
 surrounded, and whence he might readily extract profit 
 were he less high-minded and scrupulous. 
 
 Merely to speak of him is to utter a eulogium in his 
 favour, as his name at once recalls his labours ; and 
 the memory of his works constitutes his praise. 
 
76 
 
 THE KING'S BIFLE. 
 
 We learned on our arrival that the chefe Castro had 
 been superseded and another officer of the army of 
 Africa substituted in his stead. The latter arrived two 
 days after ourselves, and with him Ensign Castro, in 
 charge of the mails from Europe. The avidity with 
 which our letters were devoured may readily be 
 conceived. 
 
 I applied at once for carriers, and Snr. Castro offered 
 to accompany me to the residence of Jose Duarte 
 Bandeira, the principal potentate of Caconda, through 
 whose enormous influence, he said, the thing could be 
 easily managed. 
 
 We therefore started for Yicete on the morning of 
 the 13th, Ivens leaving at the same time for the dwell- 
 ing of Matheus, with a view to make a survey of the 
 Cunene, at the point of its confluence with the Quando. 
 It was arranged also that I should pay a visit to the 
 same river further southwards. 
 
 Capello, who was suffering from a slight attack of 
 fever, was left behind nnder the care of Anchieta. 
 
 My course lay S.S.E., and I speedily crossed the 
 rivers Secula-Binza, Catapi, and Usongne, flowing 
 W.N.W., and as they are 10 feet wide and more than 
 3 feet deep the amount of water they pour into the 
 main stream is very considerable. 
 
 After trudging some 26 miles in a S.E. direction, I 
 arrived, as night fell, at Yicete, a fortified compound 
 among rocks, on the summit of a hill which overlooks 
 a vast plain. 
 
 I was received by Jose' Duarte Bandeira, who, after 
 a hearty supper, showed me to an excellent bed, of 
 which I stood greatly in need. 
 
 The first thing next morning, Ensign Castro broached 
 the subject of carriers, and Bandeira readily engaged 
 to obtain one hundred and twenty, the number we re- 
 quired to help us on to Bihe. 
 
THROUGH SUBJUGATED TERRITORY. 77 
 
 As I expressed my desire to visit the Cunene, it was 
 resolved that we should proceed thither the following 
 day. 
 
 We marched 9 miles to the eastward, and fell in 
 with the river at the Porto do Fende. 
 
 I had no sooner arrived than I shot a large hip- 
 popotamus, which had been imprudent enough to come 
 to the surface of the water to breathe and look about 
 him, within range of my rifle. I spent two days at 
 this place. The river is here some 370 feet wide by 
 20 feet deep, arid has a current of a mile an hour. Its 
 axis at the Porto do Fende is N.W. and S.E. for a space 
 of 2 miles; up stream it runs from N.E. to S.W., and 
 higher up still E. and W., and below it inclines to 
 S.S.W. for 26 miles as far as Luceque. Occasionally 
 its width is as great as 750 feet, and even more. 
 
 It abounds in hippopotami and crocodiles. 
 
 A mile below the Porto do Fende there are some 
 rapids at the compound called Libata Grande ; half a 
 mile further down there are others, known as the 
 Mupas de Canhacuto, and 10 miles lower still are the 
 cataracts of Quiverequeto, the last it can boast of on its 
 upper course, as from that point it is navigable as 
 far as the Humbe. 
 
 The right bank, at the spots where I visited it, is 
 mountainous and covered with virgin wood ; on the 
 left extends a vast plain from 2J to 3 miles broad, up 
 to the foot of the mountains, which form a system of 
 slight elevation, running north and south, on whose 
 western slopes are dotted the Fende villages. 
 
 At eleven o'clock at night of the 15th there burst over 
 us a terrific storm, with vivid flashes of lightning, 
 and such torrents of rain that we were completely 
 drenched. 
 
 We turned our steps once more in the direction of 
 Caconda on the 17th, taking with us a promise to be 
 
78 
 
 TEE KINO'S RIFLE. 
 
 supplied with carriers in less than a week, and promi- 
 sing in turn to send the following day a keg of 
 aguardiente to inaugurate the convocation. In this part of 
 Africa aguardente plays the same part with men as oil 
 does in Europe with machinery. There is no moving 
 without it. 
 
 Our host, who had regaled us so well in his own 
 house, most probably forgot that we should have to 
 travel the whole of the day, and that even if we started 
 at daybreak we could not reach Caconda before night. 
 Any way we set off with empty wallets, and by noon 
 we had become desperately hungry. 
 
 We came to a halt in an opening in the wood, when 
 I informed my companion, Ensign Castro, that I must 
 positively find something to eat before I took any rest. 
 All I could bag, however, was a quail, which had to 
 serve us both, when cooked in a soldier's pot, for 
 breakfast and dinner. I may frankly avow that I have 
 breakfasted and dined more bountifully than I did on 
 that occasion. 
 
 My black fellows, seeing the avidity with which I 
 picked the quail's bones, the dog meanwhile licking 
 his lips and watching my every movement with 
 hungry eyes, made me a present of a root of manioc, 
 which I divided with the ensign. 
 
 I reached Caconda at nightfall, and after a capital 
 supper took note that Ivens had not yet returned and 
 that Capello was already convalescent. 
 
 Ivens came back on the 19th, and immediately on his 
 return we sent off the keg of aguardente to Bandeira, 
 at the same time begging him to use the utmost 
 despatch in getting together the carriers. 
 
 On the 23rd, sundry articles that had been ordered 
 arrived from Benguella, and with them six tins of 
 biscuits, a welcome gift, from Antonio Ferreira Marques. 
 
 I sent off another messenger to Vicete, urging 
 
THROUGH SUBJUGATED TERRITORY. 
 
 79 
 
 Bandeira to let me have the carriers at once, as we 
 were now waiting for them. 
 
 Still the men did not appear, so that I was induced 
 to beg the chefe himself to repair to Yice'te, and use 
 both his influence and authority over Bandeira to 
 procure us what we wanted. 
 
 The chefe went, and shortly after wrote me that sixty- 
 one men were ready and that there would soon be more. 
 He had taken goods with him for payment, but as 
 white calico was the only acceptable currency in those 
 parts, he said that he required fifty pieces more, which 
 we had not got, but which were subsequently advanced 
 by Bandeira. 
 
 The day after this communication came another 
 letter from the chefe to the effect that the carriers were 
 going to be paid and would come on at once ; two 
 days afterwards we had a third letter saying that 
 there were already ninety-four men collected ; and 
 finally, on the 5th of February, we received another 
 epistle, informing us that there was not a single carrier 
 ready or ever likely to be ! 
 
 Imagine our disappointment ! 
 
 These were early days, so that I had not as yet, out 
 of the depths of my experience, formulated in my mind 
 a principle which later on became with me an article 
 of faith, and my adherence to which, jointly with the 
 King's Rifle, greatly assisted me in smoothing the 
 difficulties of the way and bringing me at length in 
 safety to the end of my journey. 
 
 The principle I allude to may be summed up in the 
 following few words. 
 
 " In the heart of Africa distrust everybody and 
 everything, until repeated and irrefutable proofs will 
 allow you to bestow your confidence." 
 
 The further I went the more fastidious did I become 
 in the matter of these proofs, till I began to class them 
 
80 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 with the existence of a life-long love, or the solidity of 
 fortune of a merchant with enormous transactions in 
 the hands of distant agents. 
 
 On the receipt of the chefe s letter, each of us pro- 
 posed an expedient more foolish and extravagant one 
 than the other, but so great was our annoyance that it 
 is not surprising if our ideas were somewhat confused. 
 
 When we had calmed down a little, we determined 
 to hunt about for carriers wheresoever they could be 
 found, and that if the worst came to the worst and none 
 were obtainable, we would start for Bihe without them, 
 and send for our baggage from that place. This last 
 notion appeared to us the most feasible. 
 
 The chefe came back from Yice'te, but I never could 
 get out of him a reasonable explanation of his and 
 Bandeira's conduct. 
 
 It was then resolved that I should start for the 
 Huambo country, to see whether I could get any men 
 from the native chief there, inasmuch as all were 
 agreed, the chefe and Anchieta into the bargain, that it 
 was impossible to engage any nearer. 
 
 Anchieta informed me that a short time before he 
 had met with great difficulty in sending to Benguella a 
 lot of zoological specimens, things of relatively much 
 easier transport. 
 
 The whole of this affair is worthy of careful atten- 
 tion. I learned that not only Bandeira himself, but a 
 certain Mathias, Sergeant Matheus, before alluded to, 
 and others were accustomed to despatch large cara- 
 vans to distant settlements in the interior, and yet not 
 one of them could obtain a single porter for us ! 
 
 I began to fancy that there was a fixed determina- 
 tion to throw difficulties in our way, although I did 
 not suspect it so strongly at that time as I had 
 occasion to do later on. 
 
 The course of this narrative will show with what 
 
THROUGH SUBJUGATED TERRITORY. 81 
 
 malice aforethought obstacles were raised to my 
 progress, and which, it would almost appear, Pro- 
 vidence alone allowed me to overcome. 
 
 I will, however, for a time leave this subject in 
 abeyance, and before continuiug the account of my 
 adventures, which from this point assume a more 
 striking character, say a few words with respect to 
 Caconda. 
 
 The fortified post of Caconda, the deepest in the 
 interior of the district of Benguella, over which at the 
 present time wave the colours of Portugal, forms a 
 square of 328 feet, surrounded by a deep fosse and a 
 parapet, about which, here and there, are distinctly 
 visible the lines of a temporary fortification constructed 
 with some art. An interior stockade forms a second 
 line of defence, and protects a few tumble-down houses, 
 composing the residence of the chefe, the barracks, and 
 pow 7 der magazine. 
 
 Some good pieces of brass ordnance, mounted en 
 barbette, and more worn by time than use, expose their 
 green and oxidised muzzles to the approaching way- 
 farer. 
 
 At about 200 yards or so to the south of the fortress 
 are the ruins of a church. 
 
 To the north is a group of poor little huts, occupied 
 by the soldiers. 
 
 The country round is agreeable, and without being, 
 as is asserted, free from fevers, can boast undoubtedly 
 of having them in a milder form than is observable 
 elsewhere. The population is exceedingly scanty, and 
 has withdrawn itself considerably from the vicinity of 
 the fortress. 
 
 The soil is most fertile, and many European plants 
 readily flourish there, and produce abundantly. This 
 I observed to be the case in tiny plots of wheat, 
 potatoes, and other produce. 
 
 VOL. I. Gr 
 
82 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 The Seeula-Binza rivulet offers a source of crystal- 
 line water purling over a granite bed. 
 
 There are but few trees near the fortress, cleared 
 away probably by the necessities of the inhabitants, 
 for there is but little doubt of many having stood here 
 formerly, as they still stand in clumps and woods at 
 some short distance. 
 
 Of trade there is but little, and that is carried on 
 very far in the interior. 
 
 The same evidence of decline which is visible in 
 Quillengues is still more patent here ; yet the import- 
 ance of Caconda is as great as that of Quillengues, if 
 not even greater; but it presents less security for 
 trading operations, the Benguella road being infested 
 with thieves. 
 
TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 
 
 83 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 
 
 1 leave Caconda — The native chief Quipembe — Quingolo and the chief Caimbo 
 — Forty carriers — Fevers — The Huambo— The native chief Bilombo 
 and his son Capoco — Eighty carriers — Letters and news — All but lost ! 
 I move onwards — A knotty question in the Chaca Quimbamba — The 
 rivers Calae, Canhungamua, and Cunene — A fresh and serious question 
 in the Sambo country — The Cubango — Rains and storms — Serious illness 
 — A terrible adventure — The Bihe at last ! 
 
 I started from Caconda on the 8th of February, 1878, 
 taking with me six Benguella men, my young negro 
 Pepeca, and Verissimo Gon calves, to whom I have 
 before alluded ; and I was also accompanied by 
 Lieutenant Aguiar, the chefe of Caconda, who insisted 
 upon attending me in this expedition, the sole object of 
 which was to make arrangements for carriers. He was 
 probably desirous, in taking this step, to show his 
 willingness to be of service to us, and that he was a 
 stranger to the events that had occurred at Caconda. 
 
 I must confess that I never doubted the sincerity of 
 Lieutenant Aguiar, because at that time I had not 
 become so deeply impressed with the truth of the 
 principle I laid down in the foregoing chapter; and 
 even at this day I believe he was as much deceived 
 as myself, notwithstanding his long experience of 
 everything pertaining to these subjugated lands. 
 
 After a journey of some 10 miles towards the N.E., 
 during which I crossed a small brook, the Carungolo, 
 near Caconda, and later on the Catapi, which there 
 runs to the S.W., I reached the village of Quipembe, 
 
 G 2 
 
84 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 where I was hospitably received by the native chief 
 Quimbundo. 
 
 This chief at once sent me a small pig, and as I could 
 not purchase any fowls, he made me a present of one 
 in addition. 
 
 In the course of the evening he came to see me at 
 my hut, and after a long conversation took the oppor- 
 tunity of informing me that although his forefathers 
 had always been vassals of the King of Portugal, he 
 himself was not so, inasmuch as the numerous arbitrary 
 acts committed by the various c/iefes against him and 
 bis people had snapped asunder all the old engage- 
 ments ; that the White King no longer did him 
 justice ; and in choice and even elegant terms he nar- 
 rated many circumstances upon which he based his 
 accusations against the chefes. 
 
 The chefe was himself present at the interview, and 
 had not a word to say in answer to these accusations 
 against his predecessors, so clearly were they expressed. 
 
 My host was a man of no common stamp, and he 
 conversed upon the policy of the Portuguese in Caconda 
 with a degree of judgment difficult to be met with in a 
 provincial negro. 
 
 I endeavoured to remove from his mind the bad 
 impression which the chefes of Caconda had made upon 
 him, but I fear with very little success. His complaints 
 still further confirmed an opinion I had formed of the 
 unhappy results arising from the miserable stipends 
 bestowed upon the chefes of the districts in the interior, 
 a primary cause of the decline of our power and influ- 
 ence in the country. 
 
 The native chief of Quipembe is well advanced in 
 years, and moreover suffers from the gout, which 
 makes locomotion with him a matter of some difficulty. 
 
 His village is of vast size, well fortified and 
 capitally situated. From the moment of my arrival 
 
TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 
 
 85 
 
 troops of little negroes and ri egresses hovered about 
 and regarded me with the utmost surprise, taking to 
 their heels at the slightest movement I made. I 
 endeavoured to overcome the fear which my appearance 
 evidently excited by offering them presents of grelots 
 and coral beads ; it was with reluctance and trembling 
 that some of the boldest approached near enough to 
 seize the coveted trinkets, and they started away 
 directly these were secured. 
 
 My spectacles, and more especially my rug, upon 
 which there figured an enormous lion on a red 
 ground, appeared to be objects of the greatest wonder to 
 them. 
 
 On the 9th I quitted the village, travelling N.E., 
 crossed the Utapaira rivulet, and an hour later reached 
 the Cuce, an affluent of the Quando. At this spot the 
 Cuce was found to be 10 feet broad by 6 feet deep, 
 and was difficult of passage, owing to the steepness of 
 its banks and the muddy nature of its bed. 
 
 The ground on the right bank presented a gentle 
 slope of no great elevation, whilst on the left it was 
 level to the extent of about five-eighths of a mile in 
 breadth. I passed to the south of the Banja village, 
 magnificently perched on the summit of an eminence, 
 and after crossing three brooks, the Canata and Chitando, 
 which run into the Cuce, and the Atuco, which flows 
 into the Quando, I arrived at the latter river, which 
 I consider one of the great affluents of the Cunene. 
 
 The Quando runs southwards, and is here 22 yards' 
 wide by 6 to 10 feet in depth. 
 
 At the spot where I camped, by the village of 
 Pessenge, the river disappears beneath enormous masses 
 of granite, to see the light once more nearly a mile lower 
 down. 
 
 The place presented one of the most charming land- 
 scapes I have ever beheld. The banks of the river, 
 
86 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 which were somewhat elevated, were covered with a 
 luxuriant vegetation, elegant palms springing from the 
 dark green of gigantic thorns. Blackened rocks here 
 and there emerged from the tangled undergrowth, 
 their exposed heads polished through the washing of 
 innumerable storms. 
 
 Flocks of small birds twittered and chirped amid the 
 trees ; numberless wood-pigeons darted in and out the 
 bushes ; and from time to time the grunt of the hippo- 
 potamus was heard from the depths of the river. 
 
 It was savage beauty in all its power, but marred 
 by one horrible feature in the shape of venomous 
 serpents, with which at almost every step we were 
 brought into proximity. 
 
 I killed a few, the bites of which the negroes assured 
 me were mortal. 
 
 The appearance of one or two badgers induced me 
 to penetrate the virgin-wood on the left bank of the 
 stream in search of them, when I came unexpectedly 
 upon the ruins of a stone wall, which from its extent 
 might well have encircled some ancient town. 
 
 This was the. first occasion during my journey of my 
 lying down at night with only the starry sky for a 
 canopy, but I did not sleep the less soundly on that 
 account. I woke at daybreak in time to assist at the 
 destruction of a venomous cobra found wriggling be- 
 tween my bed and that of Lieutenant Aguiar. 
 
 At starting we travelled N.E. from the village of 
 Pessenge, and soon reached another, the Canjongo, 
 governed by a petty chief, from whom we obtained a 
 few fowls in barter for some common cloth. We sub- 
 sequently crossed the river Doroma, an affluent of the 
 Calae, which runs S.E., and rested for some hours on 
 its left bank, when, resuming our march in a N.N.E. 
 direction, we arrived at five o'clock in the evening at 
 the great village of Quingolo. 
 
TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 
 
 87 
 
 The native chief received me hospitably, and at once 
 sent food for my people. 
 
 Learning the motive of my journey, he told me that 
 if I had applied to him at the time he would have 
 procured me carriers, but that the chefes of Caconda 
 made no account of him, frequently to their own 
 detriment. Even as it was, however, he would supply 
 me with forty men, whom he would despatch to 
 Caconda, and perhaps I might obtain the remainder 
 in the Huambo. 
 
 I had here a slight attack of fever. On the 1 1th, 
 at early morning, the chief called on me and renewed 
 his offer of the forty men, who would, he assured me, 
 leave for Caconda the following day. 
 
 I was very desirous of making some purchases of 
 food, but there were no sellers ; the chief, Caimbo, on 
 learning this, sent me a fine pig. In return I made 
 him a present of three pieces of striped cloth and a 
 couple of bottles of aguardente. 
 
 Lieutenant Aguiar resolved to return to Caconda, at 
 which I was very pleased. 
 
 At midday the leaders of the carriers who were 
 under orders to march came to receive their pay. 
 
 The great village of Quingolo is situated upon a 
 granite mount which overlooks an enormous plain. 
 From between the rocks spring huge sycamores, 
 which lend the place a constant and agreeable fresh- 
 ness. These same rocks, combined with the stockades, 
 make a formidable defence against attack, and the 
 place is rendered stronger by a fosse that runs round it, 
 though it is half choked up. On the very summit of 
 the mount are two gigantic cliffs that form a kind of 
 observatory, from which I saw spread before me one of 
 the most surprising panoramas I have ever beheld. 
 
 Of a similar character to the prospect from the lofty 
 cross of Bussaco, if the forest, instead of being confined 
 
88 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 within the narrow belt of walls, extended from Capes 
 Carvoeiro and Mondego to the sea-coast, scarcely inter- 
 rupted here and there by verdant glades — the land- 
 scape visible from the summit of Quingolo is vaster and 
 more grandiose, its only boundaries being the azure 
 outline of distant mountains, which are too remote to 
 be distinctly visible. 
 
 On the 12th, although my fever had increased, I 
 decided upon leaving, and having exchanged the most 
 cordial adieux with the native chief and Lieutenant 
 Aguiar, I resumed my journey at 8.30 a.m., accompanied 
 by three guides furnished me by Caimbo, with whom I 
 parted on the best terms of friendship. 
 
 Shortly after starting I passed the Luvubo rivulet, 
 which runs into the Calae, and at ten o'clock reached 
 the village of the petty chief of Palanca, of whom I 
 solicited shelter, as it was impossible for me to proceed 
 with the fever increasing on me every moment. 
 
 Notwithstanding the state of my health, I made some 
 astronomical observations, in order to determine my 
 position, and I mention the circumstance here as it was 
 the first of that series of points which I intended to fix 
 in my passage across Africa. 
 
 This hamlet of Palanca was therefore the very first 
 point I laid down on the line which marks my journey 
 from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. 
 
 Three grammes of quinine which I took during the 
 intermission of the fever produced a rapid improvement, 
 so that I was enabled to go on the following day. 
 
 I rode a-straddle on a powerful ox, and kept another 
 in reserve. These animals were well broken in, and 
 made my progress easy ; I was able to get a very decent 
 trot out of them, and even occasionally a short gallop. 
 
 I started at nearly eight o'clock, and shortly after 
 crossed the river Doro das Mulheres, the oxen finding 
 it difficult work on account of the muddy bottom. 
 
TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 
 
 89 
 
 The heat was intense, and I began to feel extremely 
 ill, so that I called a halt in order to get a little rest. 
 
 There were no trees near the place, and I fell asleep 
 upon the baked earth, under a burning sun ; my 
 slumbers were of the shortest, and on awaking I had a 
 sensation of freshness, and observed that there was 
 shade. It was caused by the thoughtful ness of my 
 attendants, who were standing around me and shelter- 
 ing my recumbent body from the ardent rays of a 
 vertical sun. I was touched by such a proof of kindly 
 care. 
 
 I again went on, passing a little river, the Doro dos 
 hoinens, which unites with the former and subsequently 
 runs into the Calae, under I know not what name. 
 Two hours later I fell in with the river Gandoassiva, 
 which is nearly 6 yards broad by 3 feet 6 inches 
 deep, on the banks of which I took a rest. It is 
 an affluent of the Calae, and abounds in small fish, a 
 good many of which we succeeded in catching. My 
 indisposition weighed heavily upon me ; extreme weak- 
 ness was now added to the fever that had reappeared, 
 the former caused through inefficient nourishment, as 
 I had only taken during the last two days a little 
 chicken broth. 
 
 I took advantage of the halt to get some good broth 
 made, but it was without salt, as the small provision of 
 that article I had brought from Caconda was com- 
 pletely exhausted. 
 
 After a couple of hours' rest, we moved onward, still 
 towards the N.E., and half an hour afterwards crossed 
 the river Cuena, which at that place was yards 
 broad and nearly 4 feet deep, and was on its way to 
 empty itself into the Calae. 
 
 The Cuena flows between the gentle slopes of lofty 
 hills, but has dug for itself a deep bed, with perpendi- 
 cular sides, some 7 feet above the water, which 
 
90 
 
 TEE KING'S BIFLE. 
 
 made it difficult for the oxen to get across the stream 
 in safety. 
 
 The passage cost us two hours' hard labour. A 
 couple of hours later, it being then nightfall, I 
 reached the village of Capoco, the powerful son of 
 the native chief of the Huambo country. 
 
 Capoco received me very kindly, gave me his own 
 house for my use, presented me at once with a large 
 pig, and, learning that I was ill, sent me a couple of 
 fowls. 
 
 I had some talk with him about carriers, whom he 
 promised to supply. 
 
 I made him a present of two pieces of striped cloth 
 and a couple of bottles of aguardente. Shortly after, a 
 numerous troop of virgins, recognisable by their 
 bangles of bent wood worn upon the ankles, brought 
 my negroes abundant food in wicker baskets. After 
 taking some lunar altitudes, I lay down to rest in a 
 happy mood, notwithstanding my indisposition, at 
 seeing my excursion so far crowned with success. 
 
 On the following day my companions were to join 
 me, and with them I should have not only the society 
 of dear friends and compatriots, but the resources which 
 had now utterly failed me, and of which I stood in 
 such sore need. 
 
 I fell asleep, therefore, smiling, nor did any ugly 
 dream disturb my slumbers ! And yet I was on the eve 
 of a severe trial — a racking anxiety that was to endure 
 for twenty days. 
 
 On the 14th I repaired to the habitation of the father 
 of Capoco, the native chief of the Huambo territory. 
 The village of this chief, whose name is Bilombo, 
 is some 2 miles distant from that of his son, and is 
 situated on the left bank of the river Calae. 
 
 Bilombo, who was expecting me, appeared surrounded 
 by his people, and superbly arrayed in a scarlet tunic, 
 
TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 91 
 
 with a chasseur's cap set jauntily upon his head. I 
 handed to him my present, which consisted of three 
 pieces of ordinary striped calico and two hottles of 
 aguardente, at which he seemed much gratified. He 
 expressed great surprise at the sight of my Winchester 
 rifle, and requested me to fire it off. His astonishment 
 was very great at beholding me hit a small mark at 
 230 yards, and it knew no bounds when I broke an 
 egg at sixty paces. 
 
 This chief at one time held sway over the entire 
 country of the Huambo, but his power is now con- 
 siderably reduced. His story may be told in a few 
 brief sentences. 
 
 He had married a daughter of the chief of the Bihe, 
 which lady contracted criminal relations with one of 
 his sub-chiefs. The guilty couple managed, however, 
 for some time to conceal their amours from the dusky 
 king. It happened that a misunderstanding occurred 
 between Bilombo and a neighbouring chief, which 
 resulted in a declaration of war. Bilombo assumed the 
 command of his army and departed, leaving the govern- 
 ment during his absence in the charge of the very 
 lover of his wife's. The two conspired against the 
 absent monarch, and Capussociisso, for that was the 
 traitor's name, caused himself to be proclaimed king. 
 Bilombo was compelled to yield, and retired to this 
 part of the country, beyond the Calae, where the people 
 still remained faithful to him, and at the period of my 
 journey, as he informed me, he was preparing to take 
 a terrible vengeance on the adultress and her lover. 
 
 On my return to Capoco's house, I dismissed the 
 three guides who had accompanied me from Quingolo, 
 and sent letters by them to Capello and Ivens, inform- 
 ing those friends that I was anxiously awaiting them, 
 and bidding them not to part from their loads, as the 
 state of the country was anything but secure. 
 
92 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 In the course of the evening I took a stroll along 
 the banks of the Calae, and was surprised at the 
 quantity of game I fell in with ; in fact, I had never 
 seen so much together before, but I killed nothing, 
 being unprepared for such a sight. 
 
 The chief Bilombo sent me a present of maize flour 
 and a fine ox, a most valuable gift, and the more 
 treasured as oxen were rare in that part of the 
 country. 
 
 The carriers were busy laying in their stock of 
 provisions, with a view to starting next day for Caconda, 
 and I was in the act of writing to my friends, when 
 three porters arrived from the native chief of Quingolo, 
 with letters from them and a basket containing salt and 
 a little bag of rice. 
 
 I opened the letters in all haste. Two of them were 
 official and one was private, all signed by Capello and 
 Ivens. They informed me that they had resolved to 
 go on alone, and that, in respect of the forty carriers 
 despatched by me from Quingolo, they sent me forty 
 loads accompanied by the guide Barros, in order that I 
 might convey them to the Bihe. 
 
 It was only their imperfect knowledge or utter 
 ignorance of the interior of Africa which could excuse 
 my friends in acting in so strange a manner. I was at 
 that time in a hostile country, and if I had been 
 respected hitherto it was only because the people round 
 me looked upon me and my little band as the vanguard 
 of a considerable troop under the command of the 
 friends in my rear, and the fear of reprisals had, up to 
 that moment, restrained the natural rapacity of the 
 natives. I was in the very district where Silva Porto, 
 the old trader, who was accustomed to traverse with 
 impunity the remotest tracts of country, had frequently 
 to fight his way through hordes of savages eager after 
 plunder. 
 
TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 93 
 
 What would be my fate if it were known that my 
 entire force consisted but of ten men ? 
 
 I looked my position fairly in the face, and found it 
 replete with difficulties. 
 
 Capello and Ivens must have been deceived by some 
 false counsellor, for of a certainty their loyalty would 
 never have allowed them, knowingly, to abandon me 
 in so terrible a position. 
 
 Still what was to be done ? In three days I might 
 reach Caconda and thence turn back to Benguella. 
 On the other hand I had before me a journey of twenty 
 days to the Bihe, a journey wherein I should have day 
 by day, nay almost hour by hour, to risk both life and 
 property. What should I decide ? 
 
 The night of the 17th of February was passed in 
 an indescribable state of feverish agitation. 
 
 Should I push on ? Had I a right to jeopardise the 
 lives of the ten men who w^ere now sleeping so tranquilly 
 around me ? Had I a right to risk my own life 
 in so imprudent a venture ? Should I return to 
 Benguella ? 
 
 Who in Europe can estimate the almost insuperable 
 character of the obstacles thus raised to my passage, 
 and which placed me in so dire an uncertainty ? Surely 
 none, unless it be a brother explorer who has been as 
 unhappily situated as I then w T as. 
 
 The night was a fearful one ; for the fever assisted 
 to worry my brain, and care and anxiety rapidly in- 
 creased the fever. Daybreak of the 18th found me 
 astir, and there were moments when a phrase forced 
 itself upon my mind and I found myself mechanically 
 giving it utterance. 
 
 Audacia fortuna jurat. It was the watchword of the 
 old Romans ; it is the law which from time immemorial 
 has dictated the actions of adventurers. 
 
94 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 My resolution was taken. I would go on. I had 
 not penetrated into Africa merely to visit the Nano 
 country, however interesting it might be, especially to 
 us Portuguese. 
 
 I aroused my men. I put before them in few words 
 the precarious position in which we stood, and my de- 
 termination to go forward to the Bihe'. They one and 
 all assured me of their devotion and their resolve to 
 stand by me to the last. 
 
 Of these ten men, three, viz. Yerissimo Groncalves, 
 Augusto, and Camutombo, got back to Lisbon after 
 traversing Africa with me ; four followed Capello and 
 Ivens by my orders from the Bihe ; one, a negro, 
 Cossusso, went off his head at the Quanza and was 
 entrusted to the care of Silva Porto Domingos Chaca- 
 hanga, and the two remaining, Manuel and Catraio- 
 grande, fell at my feet, pierced through by the assegais 
 of the Luinas ; for, faithful to their promise made on 
 that eventful day, they died in my defence while I was 
 myself defending the national colours. 
 
 But at the time the events I am narrating occurred 
 I knew but little of my followers, nor indeed had 
 occasion yet offered to test their valour. 
 
 I was still an inmate of Capoco's house, and hitherto 
 he had been lavish of his favours ; but Capoco was 
 celebrated far and near as the freebooter of the Nano 
 country, who only a year before had extended his 
 depredations even as far as Quillengues, which he had 
 attacked. What then was likely to be his behaviour 
 when he came to know of my weakness ? 
 
 Upon him depended the success of my enterprise. 
 Capoco was a man of some four-and-twenty years, of 
 attractive appearance and agreeable manners. Often 
 had Yerissimo Goncalves observed that it seemed 
 impossible he could be the man whose name was a 
 terror to the country round, and whose footsteps, 
 
TWENTY BAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 
 
 95 
 
 wherever he wandered, were marked by devastation 
 and death. Among his female slaves Verissimo knew 
 several girls who had been stolen from Quillengues 
 during the attack of the previous year. There was one 
 of them with whom I had myself conversed, the 
 daughter of a Quillengues chief, and for whom Capoco 
 demanded a heavy ransom. 
 
 Capoco was a man of intelligence, most moderate in 
 both eating and drinking, and although in possession of 
 a large number of female slaves, had a very limited 
 harem. 
 
 Amid the barbarism in which he lived and the 
 looseness of his principles, he was not wanting in a cer- 
 tain nobility of feeling. For instance, I observed that 
 the young slave above referred to, a handsome and 
 even elegant girl, wore upon her ankles the wooden 
 bangles which were an infallible sign of virginity; 
 and in my surprise at the circumstance, considering 
 her surroundings, I ventured to ask Capoco how it was 
 he had not made her his own. " I cannot do it," was 
 his reply ; " she is my slave by right of war, but so 
 long as her father shows a disposition to ransom her 
 I must respect her, and she shall be respected, for I 
 intend to deliver her up in the same state in which I 
 took her." 
 
 One morning Capoco, in talking to me, observed 
 that as Benguella lay over there (pointing to the 
 west), the sun must pass the Huambo before it reached 
 Benguella. I answered that it was quite true, where- 
 upon he wished to know how long it was, after it was 
 born in his country, that it rose upon Lisbon. I tried 
 to make him understand an hour and a half, and 
 explained to him the time that it would take for a man 
 to traverse the distance. This excited his surprise, for, 
 as he told me, he thought our country was very much 
 farther off. 
 
96 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 ' The customs of the people of the Nano and Huambo 
 countries are similar to those prevailing at Quillengues, 
 and they all talk the same language. They work in 
 iron, of which they make their arrows, assegais, and 
 axes, but not their spades, which come from the north. 
 
 As I have already incidentally mentioned, the girls, 
 so long as they remain virgins, wear upon both ankles, 
 or upon the left ankle only, certain wooden bangles, 
 and it is considered a great crime if any family should 
 allow its daughters to use such distinctive mark if they 
 have lost their title to wear it. 
 
 One custom among these people struck me as very 
 
 Fig. 4. — Man and Woman of tub Huambo. 
 
 curious, viz. the existence in every village of a kind of 
 temple for conversation. 
 
 This retreat is in the shape of a huge vat, but the ribs 
 which support the thatched roof are placed a good 
 distance apart. In the centre, the hearth is blazing — 
 for the Africans dearly love a fire — and most of the 
 inhabitants of the place, in turn, sit around it on 
 wooden blocks. It is the general meeting-place, more 
 especially when it rains. There one may listen to 
 stirring episodes of war or the chase ; love stories are 
 not wanting, nor is there a greater lack than in Europe 
 of tales of wayward lives. 
 
 In the country of the Huambo, and on the west coast 
 
TWENTY BAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 
 
 97 
 
 thereof, begins the extraordinary luxury of hairdressing, 
 both men and women being remarkable for the style in 
 which they wear their hair ; indeed I have seen some 
 heads that it would puzzle the utmost ingenuity of 
 European hairdressers to imitate. Many of these 
 triumphs of the barber's art take two or three days to 
 build up, but on the other hand they last as many 
 months. 
 
 The women's hair is profusely adorned with glass 
 beads, which in the trade are known in Benguella 
 under the name of white or red coral, and the article is, 
 of course, greatly sought after in the country. I un- 
 fortunately had none of them with me. 
 
 Gunpowder, firearms, and table salt are likewise in 
 much request ; but these also I lacked, at least in 
 sufficient quantity to part with them ; and this only 
 tended the more to make my position embarrassing. 
 
 I at length sought out Capoco and told him that my 
 companions had proceeded by the way of Galangue ; 
 that only fifty loads would come on, thus reducing the 
 number of men I re jiiired to forty, and that I should 
 want them only as far as the Bihe. 
 
 On this account we discharged the eighty carriers 
 who by that time were assembled in readiness to start, 
 and who disbanded with many signs of discontent. 
 Capoco promised that I should have the forty I wanted 
 for the Bihe ; and on that same day the negro Barros 
 arrived with the forty loads, and another letter from my 
 companions confirming the contents of the first. 
 
 From this last epistle I further learned that they had 
 left Caconda for the Bihe, accompanied by the ex-chef e, 
 Ensign Castro, and the banished Domingos, who had 
 demonstrated to me the impossibility of obtaining men 
 at Caconda and yet managed to get them himself the 
 very day I left the place. 
 
 It was to these last two, in all probability, that I owed 
 
 VOL. I. H 
 
98 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 the critical position in which I was now placed, for my 
 companions, but little acquainted with Africa, and not 
 at all with the part of the country in which they were, 
 could not estimate the difficulties which their mode of 
 proceeding had caused me, although the others must 
 have known them full well. I do not of course accuse 
 even them of a crime, but I cannot do less than charge 
 them with great indiscretion. 
 
 I do not wish them any ill, for I wish ill to no man, 
 and when, a month after the occurrence of the events I 
 am now recording, — while still suffering from the dangers 
 I had managed to escape, and lying prostrate on my 
 bed, to which I was confined as with iron bands by the 
 sickness following on the twenty days of cruel anxiety 
 of which they were the cause, — I saw them, half famished 
 and entirely resourceless, stagger into the house of 
 Silva Porto, which I then occupied at the Bihe, I freely 
 forgave them all the evil they had done me, and only 
 remembering that one of them was deprived of the 
 rights of citizenship by a sentence which stamped him 
 with infamy, I divided with them the scanty provisions 
 that were left me, and provided them with the means of 
 returning with comparative comfort to Caconda. It 
 may be that I saw in them not merely two white men, 
 two Portuguese all but lost in the remote district of the 
 Bihe, but men who helped to raise me in my own 
 opinion ; who, by exposing me during those twenty 
 dreadful days to the numerous dangers which I encoun- 
 tered and overcame, tempered my soul to greater 
 enterprise. Be this as it may, I owed to them the 
 increased trust I felt in Providence and in myself, and 
 in sharing with them the little that I had, I considered 
 that I was paying a debt of gratitude, and rejoiced to 
 think that I had not allowed my sufferings to become a 
 motive for reprisals. 
 
TWENTY BAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 
 
 99 
 
 Let me, however, not anticipate facts, but resume the 
 regular course of my narrative. 
 
 Capoco called upon me to say that on the following 
 morning I should have the forty men I wanted, but to 
 the Sambo country only, as they refused to go beyond 
 it, owing to the way in which I had dismissed the 
 previous eighty, who had been in readiness to start for 
 Caconda and the Bihe. Besides this, they demanded 
 much higher pay, for whilst I had contracted for ten 
 pieces of cloth from Caconda to the Bihe, the fresh men 
 insisted upon eight pieces from the Huambo to the 
 Sambo. My desire to get away was, however, so great 
 that I thought it prudent to yield. 
 
 On the following morning the forty men assembled 
 according to promise ; but a new difficulty at once 
 arose. When at Caconda we were bamboozled by 
 Bandeira, Ivens had extracted from all the assorted 
 loads the white calico they contained, because the 
 negroes we expected through Bandeira would not 
 accept payment in any other shape. I had forgotten 
 the circumstance until, on undoing two of the assorted 
 bales, I found that they did not contain a single piece 
 of white stuff. Capoco's people at once declared that 
 they wanted white calico, and nothing but white calico, 
 and that not one load would they lift until they got it. 
 
 They refused to have anything to say to the striped, 
 and were actually preparing to leave me, when Capoco 
 himself appeared, and managed, though not without 
 difficulty, to persuade them to take half in striped and 
 the other half in blue. 
 
 I saw them off at about ten o'clock, accompanied by 
 Barros, the guide, but they were thoroughly discon- 
 tented and grumbling. I was myself to follow them in 
 about an hour's time, but had so sudden and violent 
 an attack of fever that I was compelled to delay my 
 journey. 
 
 h 2 
 
100 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 Since the evening before it bad been raining in 
 torrents and the night was specially tempestuous. 
 
 The fever began to abate about four in the afternoon, 
 and the rain had, by that time, held up. At five 
 precisely I strolled out of the place in the direction of 
 a neighbouring wood, but my steps were uncertain and 
 I had to lean heavily on my staff. 
 
 Always liking to be ready for an emergency, I had 
 told my young negro Pepeca, who was in attendance 
 upon me, not to forget to bring one of my rifles. It 
 was fortunate I did so, for we had no sooner entered 
 the wood than an enormous buffalo sprang up within 
 twenty paces of us, and looking at me with fiery eyes, 
 snorted violently. 
 
 I took the gun from mv attendant's hand, but to 
 my alarm and disgust saw that, instead of a rifle, he 
 had only brought with him a common fowling-piece 
 charged with shot ! I felt that it was all over with 
 me, and that death, as inevitable as it was ignominious, 
 was travelling towards me in the shape of yon fero- 
 cious beast which was heralding his attack with a low 
 roar. 
 
 My thoughts flew towards Heaven, my wife and 
 my daughter. Meanwhile the creature was advancing 
 by leaps, in that irregular way these animals use in 
 making their attacks. At a distance of about eight 
 paces I gave him the first charge of shot. It stopped 
 him for perhaps half a second, and on he came again 
 more madly than before. When I fired the second 
 barrel the muzzle of the gun almost touched the beast's 
 head, and the instant I had done so I leaped nimbly 
 aside. The buffalo turned neither to the right nor left, 
 but continuing his wild career, disappeared in the 
 thicket. Pepeca laughed fit to split his sides and, 
 apparently unconscious of the peril in which we had 
 stood, clapped his hands when he recovered breath, and 
 
TWENTY DAYS OF PBOFOUND ANXIETY. 
 
 101 
 
 exclaimed, " The bull has run away ! how we must 
 have frightened him ! " 
 
 I lost no lime in returning to Capoco's house after 
 this adventure and passed the night in comparative 
 ease. Before I lay down I wanted to write, and was 
 therefore compelled to improvise a lamp, which I made 
 by sticking some cotton by way of wick into an old 
 sardine box containing pig's lard. 
 
 It w^as on the morning of the 21st February that I 
 took leave of Capoco, and with the fever still upon me 
 wended my way towards the Sambo territory. Before 
 I reached the Calae I received a note from the guide 
 Barros informing me that during the night the carriers 
 had all fled, leaving their loads in the village of the 
 petty chief Quimbungo, the brother of the chief or native 
 king Bilombo. 
 
 I turned back and sought an interview with Capoco, 
 to w 7 hom I related what had occurred. He advised me 
 to go on to his uncle's settlement and that he would 
 remedy the mischief. I therefore again proceeded, and 
 shortly after crossed the Calae, which runs N. and S. 
 to the Cunene, it being at this spot 33 yards wide by 3 
 feet 2 inches deep, with a violent current. 
 
 It flows through vast plains, slightly undulated and 
 clothed with gramineous plants, among which rises, 
 here and there, a solitary dragon-tree. The soil is 
 of animal formation, the whole of the ground being 
 covered, or, more correctly speaking, covering an infinite 
 world of white ants. 
 
 A bridge, roughly thrown together and composed of 
 the trunks of trees, unites the two banks of the river. 
 Some 110 yards above the bridge the Calae receives an 
 important affluent, the Cucuce, which contributes a 
 volume of water as great as its own. I marched N.E. 
 and at ten o'clock passed close to the village of the petty 
 chief Chacaquimbamba, at the entrance of which there 
 
102 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 was a large assembly of people. I went by without 
 their saying a word, but had not gone more than 50 
 yards than I heard a great noise from the direction of 
 the settlement. At the same moment Verissimo came 
 running up to me with the intelligence that one of our 
 own carriers was the innocent cause of the commotion. 
 
 I turned back and found the negro Jamba, on whom 
 devolved the duty of carrying my trunk, in a great 
 state of excitement owing to the natives having stolen 
 his gun — a feat which they performed the more readily 
 as, apprehensive of dropping his load, which he knew 
 contained the chronometers and other delicate instru- 
 ments, he made but a feeble resistance. 
 
 Besides the firearm, they had carried off to the 
 village a she-goat and a sheep, a present from Capoco. 
 I gave them to understand that they must restore what 
 had been stolen, but I got nothing but murmurs of a 
 threatening sound in reply. 
 
 I made a rapid survey of my position, and did not 
 feel particularly comforted by the reflection that my 
 party consisted of ten men, opposed to upwards of 200. 
 
 Urged, however, by a sudden impulse, and putting 
 aside the dictates of prudence and common sense, I 
 determined to test the mettle of those ten men, who 
 were destined to be my comrades in even greater 
 dangers. Moving, therefore, towards the entrance of 
 the village, I cocked my revolver, and ordered them 
 to enter and regain possession of our property. My 
 Benguella negro, Manuel, a young man of whom I had 
 never previously made any account, became, as it were, 
 another being, and cocking his gun led the way at a 
 trot into the village. He was at once followed by 
 Augusto, Yerissimo and Catraiogrande, and a moment 
 after by the rest of my troop, leaving me alone to stand 
 the brunt and become perhaps the victim of the fury of 
 the populace. The audacity, however, of our proceed- 
 
TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY . 103 
 
 ing in all probability saved it from failure, and 
 when Verissimo marched out from the place in triumph 
 with the goat, and Augusto with the sheep, covered by 
 their companions with their guns ready for use, the 
 natives retired to a more convenient distance, and 
 offered no opposition to our movements. 
 
 We, however, lost the gun — easier of concealment 
 than the animals, it was hidden securely away ; nor did 
 a second search, which the success attending the first 
 emboldened us to make, bring the missing article to 
 light. 
 
 My negroes, heartened by the indecision of the na- 
 tives, now became loud and warm in their desire for 
 vengeance, and I had to exercise all my authority to 
 prevent them opening fire on the groups that were 
 watching us. I succeeded in calming them at last by 
 a promise of speedy and complete satisfaction at the 
 hands of Capoco, in whom, to tell the truth, I began 
 to feel a certain confidence. 
 
 This adventure detained us upwards of an hour, so 
 that it was not till 1.30 p.m. that we crossed the Poe, 
 an affluent of the Calae, which is five-and-a-half yards 
 wide by nearly four feet deep ; the bottom being soft 
 and muddy rendered it difficult to ford. 
 
 At three o'clock we reached the village of the petty 
 chief Quimbungo, brother of the native king of the 
 Huambo, where we found the negro Barros in charge 
 of the abandoned loads. Quimbungo received me very 
 cordially and promised to furnish me with carriers to 
 the Sambo country. On learning also of our adventure 
 of the morning, he begged me not to let my anger fall 
 upon Chacaquimbamba, and he would take care that 
 the stolen gun was restored and full satisfaction given 
 for the insult. About six in the evening Capoco 
 arrived, bringing with him several of the porters who 
 had fled, and the goods which had been given to the 
 
104 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 others by way of advance of pay. He further told me 
 that on the morrow the gun should be brought back 
 and the chief of the little village be placed at my 
 disposal, that I might inflict upon him such chastise- 
 ment as I thought proper. And more than this, he 
 assured me that I need no longer fear the flight of any 
 of the carriers, as he himself or his uncle would accom- 
 pany me as far as the Sambo. 
 
 I retired to rest burning with fever, and passed a 
 horrible night. 
 
 On the following day a lot more carriers were got 
 together, but still not enough for our purpose. 
 
 Capoco started at daybreak for Chacaquimbamba's 
 place, and at mid-day returned with the stolen gun 
 and that chief himself, to whom I graciously extended 
 full pardon for the offence of his people. The delinquent 
 was profuse in his expressions of gratitude and — what 
 was even more satisfactory — presented me with a 
 couple of splendid sheep. 
 
 This done, Capoco, the renowned and ferocious chief, 
 the terror of the neighbouring countries, whom I had 
 succeeded in so completely winning to my service that 
 he had heaped me with favours, took his leave, and 
 recommending me warmly to his uncle, quietly returned 
 to his own residence. 
 
 As evening fell, a frightful tempest broke over our 
 encampment. Torrents of rain descended amid constant 
 crashes of thunder, and forked lightning darted perpen- 
 dicularly into the earth all around us. My fever in- 
 creased amid this war of the elements. 
 
 The storm continued with more or less violence 
 throughout the night, but the rain moderated somewhat. 
 Quimbungo, shortly after daylight, informed me that 
 the carriers were ready, but that they demanded pay- 
 ment in advance. 
 
 This I positively refused, for besides the experience 
 
TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY, 105 
 
 recently acquired of the folly of the practice, Capoco 
 had advised me never to pay them beforehand. 
 
 The men in turn refused to go, and disbanded. 
 Quimbungo assembled some of his immediate followers 
 and ordered them to accompany me, but the number 
 was very small, so that, even with the addition of those 
 brought me by Capoco, I had still twenty-seven loads 
 without carriers for them, and was compelled to leave 
 them behind under the charge of Barros, Quimbungo 
 promising to send them after me to the Sambo, whither 
 I decided forthwith to bend my steps. 
 
 I started at 10 a.m. in an easterly direction, and an 
 hour afterwards crossed the river Canhungamua, 33 
 yards in breadth and from 13 to 16 feet deep, which 
 running southwards mingles its waters with those of 
 the Cunene. 
 
 A bridge of recent construction, formed of the trunks 
 of trees, gave an easy passage to our party, but our 
 carriers on reaching the left bank expressed their 
 determination to go no farther that day. I was com- 
 pelled to use the utmost energy to make them continue 
 their march until three in the afternoon, at which hour 
 we fixed our encampment in a thick forest of acacia- 
 trees. 
 
 The bad weather still pursued us, nor could I throw 
 off the fever which weighed upon me, although it 
 yielded somewhat to the irregular treatment I was 
 enabled to apply. 
 
 During the night an awful thunderstorm travelling 
 from south-west to north-east passed over our heads, 
 the vivid flashes of lightning being accompanied by 
 torrents of rain. 
 
 Breaking up our camp on the following morning at 
 six, we pursued our journey, reaching the Cunene a 
 couple of hours later. This we crossed by a bridge 
 constructed, like all the bridges in this part of Africa, 
 
106 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 of unhewn trunks of trees. At this spot the river was 
 found to be 22 yards wide and 6 feet deep, the stream 
 running southwards. The banks are slightly undulated, 
 covered with tall grasses but with little w T ood. A 
 double row of trees, however, very similar in appear- 
 ance to the stunted willows of Europe, was traceable 
 by the eye for a considerable distance, in the shape of 
 tortuous lines, between which the river flowed with a 
 rapid current over a bed of fine white sand. 
 
 I took a short rest, after making the necessary 
 observations to determine the altitude, and started again 
 at noon, arriving at 2 p.m. at the village of the 
 native chief of the Dumbo in the Sambo territory. 
 
 This chief is a vassal of the king of the Sambo, is a 
 man of considerable wealth, and reckons a large number 
 of inhabitants in the villages and hamlets over which 
 he holds sway. He received me very courteously and 
 invited me to take up my quarters within his village, 
 which I accepted. 
 
 He promised me carriers for the following day, 
 although, as he said, I had not arrived at a very 
 favourable juncture, as many of his people were absent 
 upon a war excursion. I paid and discharged the 
 Quimbungo carriers and felt confident about resuming 
 my journey on the following day. 
 
 A short time before my own arrival, a wealthy 
 chief, by name Cassoma, had reached the Dumbo. He 
 was a friend of my host, whom he had come to visit, 
 travelling for that purpose from his residence on the 
 bank of the Cubango. This Cassoma was far from 
 being sympathetic to me, although he was himself 
 profuse in his expressions of friendship, and even 
 offered to accompany me to the Bine'. 
 
 In the evening I sent three bottles of aguardente to 
 my host and reminded him not to fail me next morning 
 in the matter of carriers. Contrary to the hospitable 
 
TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 107 
 
 customs of the natives in these parts the chief had sent 
 me nothing whatsoever to eat, and as none would sell 
 us flour, we were beginning to get very hungry. 
 
 It was about eight o'clock at night that, in a very 
 bad humour and with an empty stomach, I was about 
 to retire to rest, when I heard a knocking at my door, 
 which was immediately followed by the entrance of my 
 host, the chief Cassoma, another by the name of 
 Palanca, a friend and principal counsellor of my host, 
 and five of the wives of the latter. 
 
 We conversed awhile about my journey, but Cassoma 
 suddenly broke in with the remark, that they had not 
 come there to talk, and addressing himself pointedly to 
 his friend, he added, " We want aguardente, as you know, 
 so tell the white man to give it to us." 
 
 My host, encouraged by the impudence of Cassoma, 
 then told me that I must give him and his wives some 
 liquor. To this I replied that I had already given him 
 three bottles, although he had not offered me bit or sup 
 in return ; that it was the first time in the course of 
 my travels I had been allowed by a chief, who proffered 
 me hospitality, to go to my bed fasting, and that I 
 should not therefore part with another drop of 
 aguardente, Cassoma then took up the cudgels and did 
 all he could to awaken the anger of his brother chief; 
 a warm controversy ensued between us, which lasted 
 for more than an hour, and although I managed to 
 keep my temper, my prudence and patience were tried 
 to their utmost limits. 
 
 Patience and prudence, however, alike gave w r ay 
 when my unwelcome visitors declared that, as I would 
 not give them what they wanted by fair means, they 
 intended to help themselves. Pushing the cask towards 
 them with my foot, I seized my revolver, and cocking 
 it, asked who intended to take the first drink. 
 
 They hesitated a moment, when Cassoma cried out 
 
108 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 to my host, " You are king here, and have a right to 
 the first swill." Dumbo threw off his outer garment, 
 which he delivered to Palanca with the words, " Take 
 care the white man doesn't steal it," and took two steps 
 towards the cask. 
 
 I raised my revolver to the height of his head and 
 fired ; but Verissimo Goncalves, who stood by me, 
 knocked up my arm, and the ball went crashing into 
 the wall of the hut. 
 
 The three negroes, trembling with fear, retreated to 
 as great a distance from me as the dimensions of the 
 building would allow, and the five women set up a 
 horrible chorus of screams. 
 
 J then for the first time became conscious of the 
 sound of other human voices mixed with that laughter 
 so peculiar to the blacks, and looking towards the door 
 I discovered my faithful followers Augusto and Manuel 
 who, on hearing the discussion, had softly approached, 
 with the rest of my men in the rear, and now, armed 
 with their guns, were keeping guard at the entrance, 
 and heartily enjoying the scene. 
 
 Verissimo then, in a confidential tone, informed my 
 host and his companions that they had better retire 
 and not say a word to arouse my anger, for that if I 
 should put myself in a rage again he would not answer 
 for the consequences or be able perhaps to save their 
 lives, as he had done awhile ago. 
 
 They lost no time in taking his advice and filed off, 
 one behind the other, in the utmost silence. 
 
 But for Verissimo's knocking up my arm in the way 
 he did I should have killed the chief, and in the position 
 in which we then stood we should in all probability 
 have been massacred to a man. In saving my host's 
 life, he had therefore saved the lives of us all. 
 
 The excitement occasioned by this last adventure so 
 increased the fever within me, that when the place was 
 
TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 
 
 109 
 
 cleared of my visitors I dropped in a state of utter 
 exhaustion upon the skins which, spread in a corner of 
 the hut, served me by way of bed. 
 
 My faithful blacks stretched themselves across the 
 door and told me to sleep in peace, as they would watch 
 over my safety. 
 
 On three different occasions, therefore, within four 
 days had my life been in jeopardy. First, in my 
 encounter with the buffalo in the Huambo ; secondly, in 
 the forcible entrance into Chacaquimbamba's village ; 
 and thirdly, in the adventure of that evening. 
 
 After a short and broken sleep I awoke to the sounds 
 of a tempest that was raging violently outside. 
 
 As I lay, I turned over in my mind the events of 
 the few hours before, and did not derive much comfort 
 or tranquillity from their contemplation. What would 
 the morning bring forth ? There was I, with my ten 
 men, within a fortified village whence it was not easy 
 to escape, and even were the passage clear, where was 1 
 to obtain carriers now that I was, so to speak, at daggers 
 drawn with their chief? 
 
 My readers may form some slight idea of the anxiety 
 with which I watched for the first gleam of daylight. 
 
 When the dawn at last appeared I took it as a good 
 omen that the fever had somewhat abated. I rose, 
 made all preparations for departure, and then took the 
 bold course of summoning the chief, who was not long 
 in making his appearance. 
 
 I told him that I was about to continue my journey, 
 and should leave my property under his care, until 
 such time as I could send for it. In a very subdued 
 manner he begged me not to do that, as he would 
 furnish me with carriers ; he made a thousand apologies 
 for the occurrence of the evening before, the whole 
 blame of which he threw upon Cassoma whom, as he 
 averred, he had turned out of his house. This, however, 
 
110 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 was not true, as I caught a glimpse of the fellow a little 
 later on. 
 
 At ten o'clock the requisite carriers appeared. But 
 I saw at a glance that they did not all deserve that 
 name, for amid the group were half-a-dozen girls with 
 bangles about their ankles ; so that, in his hurry to get 
 rid of me, he had not waited to draw 
 men from the surrounding hamlets, 
 but put all he had at my disposal and 
 made up the desired number by these 
 female slaves. 
 
 I, however, thanked him warmly 
 and expressed my satisfaction at such 
 a proof of courtesy, adding that I had 
 not got with me a present worthy of 
 Fig. 5.— Woman of n ^ s acceptance, but that I should be 
 the Sambo. happy to offer him a handsome gun 
 if he would send a man with me, in 
 whom he placed confidence, to receive it at the Bihe ; 
 hinting, at the same time, that I should be pleased if he 
 selected for such office his confidant, the chief Palanca. 
 My delight was extreme (though I took care to conceal 
 it) at his yielding to my request and appointing Palanca 
 to accompany me. By so doing, this Dumbo princelet 
 delivered into my hands a precious hostage, who would 
 be responsible not only for my own safety but for that 
 of the loads I had entrusted two days previously to the 
 care of Barros, whom I informed of the circumstances 
 by a letter which I left for him at the Dumbo. 
 
 I quitted the village, which had so narrowly escaped 
 becoming a scene of successful treachery and blood- 
 shed, at 11 a.m., marching at the head of my strangely 
 assorted crew, consisting of my ten Benguella braves, 
 ten very doubtful characters of the Sambo country, and 
 six virgin slaves of the native chief of the Dumbo. 
 The rain was falling in torrents ; but heedless of 
 
TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY, 
 
 111 
 
 tins inconvenience I trudged steadily on, anxious, as 
 may well be supposed, to put as many miles as pos- 
 sible between myself and that inhospitable township. 
 
 Four hours later, having travelled N.E., I pitched 
 my camp near the village of Burundoa, completely 
 soaked through and shivering with cold and fever. 
 
 I declined the hospitality offered me by the chief of 
 the locality, for not only had I been vividly impressed 
 with the experience of the evening before, but I began 
 
 Fig. 6. — My Encampment between the Sambo and the Bihe. 
 
 to see the wisdom of the counsel given me by Stanley, 
 namely, never in Africa, if it could possibly be avoided, 
 to pass the night under native roofs. 
 
 Several girls made their appearance at my camp, 
 offering for sale Indian corn, both whole and in flour, 
 and some magnificent potatoes, in no way inferior to 
 those of Europe. 
 
 Rain still continued failing — less heavily, but most 
 persistently — and I really began to feel very ill. 
 
112 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 In the vicinity of my camp there was a little brook, 
 whose waters helped to swell a rivulet, an affluent of 
 the Cubango, into which it flowed somewhat farther to 
 the westward. 
 
 During the night the rain kept falling, and increased 
 in violence between four and five in the morning, at 
 which latter hour it held up. There is great abundance 
 of excellent tobacco in this country, where a good deal 
 was sold me at a very cheap rate. Few of the blacks, 
 however, in those parts seem to smoke, but all use 
 tobacco in the shape of snuff. This they prepare in a 
 very primitive way, by roasting the leaf before a slow 
 fire and then pounding it in the very tube or box, out 
 of which they take it, by means of a little wooden pestle 
 fastened to the box by a fine strap. 
 
 I started at 7.40 a.m. in a N.E. direction, traversing 
 a highly-cultivated and thickly-peopled region. 
 
 At 8.30 we passed close by the large hamlet of 
 Vaneno, and at ten made a short halt close to the 
 village of Moenacuchimba. We resumed our march 
 half an hour afterwards, still pursuing a N.E. course ; 
 at eleven were abreast of the hamlet of Chaca- 
 pombo, a very populous place, and at 11.30 had another 
 rest near Quiaia, the most important of all these 
 inhabited places. 
 
 The chief of this latter village turned out to salute 
 me and made me a present of a large pig. I returned 
 him its value in striped cotton stuff, at which he was 
 very pleased, and subsequently sent a lot of pumpkins 
 for the use of my people. 
 
 We pursued our journey in the same direction, and 
 two hours later pitched our tents in a wood near the 
 hamlet of the Gongo. The latter part of this day's 
 march was very tedious owing to the heavy showers 
 of rain ; and a S.W. wind that was blowing was 
 searching and cold. 
 
TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 113 
 
 In the evening an envoy arrived at my camp from 
 the native chief of the Sambo, whose township was de- 
 scribed to me as being situated at a distance of some 
 nine or ten miles in a N.W. direction. The object of 
 his message was to get something out of me in the 
 way of a present, and to inform me that if I would pass 
 by the chief's place he would give me an ox in return. 
 I thanked him for the kind intention, and promised to 
 let him have a trifle on the following day, for 1 was 
 apprehensive, if I sent him off empty-handed, he would 
 induce my carriers to abandon me ; a matter that it 
 would have been very easy to do, as they had already 
 shown a disposition to mutiny which it had required all 
 Verissimo's eloquence to overcome. 
 
 A chief of the name of Capuco, who held sway over 
 the neighbouring hamlet, paid me the compliment of 
 sending me by three of his wives (all very ugly women) 
 a present in the shape of a fowl and three pumpkins. 
 In return I sent him about three yards of striped cloth 
 and gave a few beads to the women. At nightfall we 
 had other female visitors, offering flour, maize and 
 manioc for sale. All these women indulged in the 
 most extravagant head-dresses, the hair being interlaced 
 with white coral and made to shine with a lavish ex- 
 penditure of castor-oil, which seemed to be a favourite 
 article of the toilet. 
 
 The men furnished me by the chief of the Dumbo 
 were the most insubordinate rascals I ever came across ; 
 they were always either quarrelling with one another 
 or with the Benguella porters, so that the only quiet 
 spot in the camp, at night-time, was that occupied by 
 the six negresses, my gentle virgin carriers. 
 
 A very rough night it was — rain and wind contend- 
 ing for the mastery. At daybreak the chief Capuco 
 came to thank me for the cloth I had given him, and 
 as if to make up for the insignificance of his former 
 
 VOL. I. I 
 
114 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 gift, bad brought with bini a handsome pig and a good 
 fat ben. 
 
 The envoy of the great chief came shortly after to 
 receive the present I had promised him ; and as I 
 considered it was only an exchange for an intention to 
 give me an ox, if I went ten miles out of my way, I 
 did not think it worth while to make it a costly one. 
 
 At 8 a.m. we were on our way, and at 9 passed close 
 to the hamlets of Chacaonha, inhabited by the first of 
 the Granguella race in West Africa. 
 
 The Bomba rivulet was shortly after forded and we 
 continued alono; its left bank for about a mile and a 
 quarter, when the carriers suddenly laid down their 
 loads, saying they would not move another step, and 
 demanded payment that they might return to their 
 homes. We were then about a mile or so from the 
 Cubango, and being very desirous of crossing that 
 river, I tried to persuade them to go at least that short 
 distance farther, and promised that, so soon as I was 
 on the other side, I would pay them what was due and 
 dismiss them. 
 
 My persuasions, however, had no effect. They gave 
 me to understand that the reason of their refusal was 
 the fear of my vengeance — that I had been grossly 
 insulted in the village of their chief at the Dumbo — 
 and they were convinced that I should not spare them 
 if I once got them on the other bank of the river and 
 consequently out of their own territory. 
 
 I tried to reason them out of such an absurdity, but 
 it was labour in vain. I then refused to pay them at 
 all if they did not carry the loads to the other side of 
 the river. To this they replied that they would rather 
 go without their pay than follow me, and they at once 
 called the six girls and bade them come away with them. 
 
 I was at my wits' end. Within a stone's throw, as it 
 were, was the hamlet of that fellow Cassoma, and I 
 
TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 115 
 
 thought 1 perceived in this business a craftily devised 
 plan to betray me into his hands, he having gone on 
 before to make his preparations. 
 
 Any loads abandoned in such a place were as good 
 as lost beyond redemption, and with this conviction on 
 my mind my readers may imagine with what feelings 
 I contemplated the departure of the carriers. 
 
 I turned my eyes, in perplexity, towards my goods, 
 and a sudden revulsion of feeling came over me. Seated 
 on one of the. packages that were spread upon the 
 ground was a tall, thin figure of a man, with a face as 
 immovable as if cut out of stone, and with a long gun 
 lying across his knees. It was the petty chief Palanca, 
 who had accompanied me from the Dumbo, and whose 
 existence I had almost forgotten. Now or never was 
 the time I could make him useful. Making a spring 
 upon him, I disarmed and threw him to the ground. 
 Calling to my men, I ordered them to bind him hand 
 and foot, and in a loud voice commanded Augusto and 
 Manuel to hang him up to the projecting branch of an 
 acacia which conveniently presented itself for the purpose. 
 
 Seeing by the rope put about his neck that the order 
 was being most undoubtedly carried out, the fellow 
 exclaimed : " Don't kill me, don't kill me ; the carriers 
 shall go across the Cubango ! " at the same time he gave 
 vent to a loud halloa which brought back the men, who 
 were already at some little distance. 
 
 When they were reassembled he gave the word for 
 them to take up their loads and follow him, a command 
 which they obeyed without hesitation. 
 
 I then ordered that his feet should be unbound, and 
 threatened him with a bullet through his head at the 
 slightest mutiny of the carriers. Half an hour after- 
 wards we passed the Cubango by a well-constructed 
 bridge, and camped on the left bank near the hamlets 
 of Chindonga. 
 
 I 2 
 
116 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 I found between the river and my camp some iron 
 mines whence the natives extract abundant ore. 
 
 At length I stood in the Moraa country, and free of 
 the territories of the Nano, Huambo and Sambo, of 
 which I shall retain a life-long memory. 
 
 The Cubango there runs to S.S.E. and is 38 yards 
 wide, by 6 to 13 feet deep. I made some observations 
 to determine the position and altitude, but was forced 
 
 Fig. 7. — Cassanha Bridge over the River Cubango. 
 
 to take speedy refuge in my hut, as a squall from 
 N.N.E. discharged upon me a copious amount of rain. 
 
 I paid and discharged the Sambo carriers, giving 
 them a yard of striped cloth each, which was the 
 recompense agreed on. 
 
 I then called the six girls and told them I should 
 give them nothing, as women were bound to work, and 
 deserved no pay. They hung their heads in a very 
 downcast fashion, but made no remark at my decision, 
 
TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 117 
 
 so degraded is the position of women in this part of the 
 world. 
 
 Just as they were about to start, and had turned 
 their heads towards the Sambo, I ordered them to come 
 back, when I made each of them a present of a couple 
 of yards of the most brilliant chintz I possessed, and 
 some strings of different beads. 
 
 It is impossible to describe the delight of these poor 
 creatures at receiving so splendid a gift. The men 
 
 Fig. 8. — The Seculo who gave me a Pig. 
 
 looked on in envy, and I improved the occasion by 
 pointing out to them that, if they had not mutinied on 
 the other side of the Cubango, 1 would have given them 
 the same guerdon. 
 
 This was my revenge, and I hope the lesson was not 
 lost upon the fellows. 
 
 In the course of the evening a petty chief from 
 Chindonga came to visit me, bringing with him a pig- 
 as a present. 
 
118 
 
 TEE KING'S BIFLE. 
 
 He promised me carriers for the following morning, 
 at the rate of half a yard of striped cloth per day, 
 telling me, however, that they would only go as far as 
 the Caquingue country, where I should readily obtain 
 men for the Bihe. 
 
 My fever had yielded to the tremendous doses of 
 quinine I had taken; but, completely wetted through 
 for three whole days, I began to feel the first symptoms 
 of that rheumatism which threatened more than once to 
 bring my journey to a sudden close. 
 
 The night was tempestuous, and the following day 
 continued very wet. 
 
 The chief was as good as his word, and put in an 
 appearance early next morning with the carriers ; but 
 I had resolved to give myself some hours' rest, and 
 therefore dismissed them till the following day. I 
 learned from the chief that my companions had passed 
 through his place on the previous eve, corning from the 
 south. 
 
 The chief, Palanca, from the Sambo was carefully 
 watched, but was otherwise free. The day before I 
 had despatched a message to my former host of the 
 Dumbo, informing him that the head of his friend 
 should answer for the loads that had been left behind 
 in the care of Barros, a resolution which Palanca found 
 most just and natural, as it was the law of the country. 
 
 It is not improbable that this, and other proceedings 
 of mine, which will be found most frankly avowed in 
 the course of this narrative, may be censured by some 
 of my readers ; but I would beg my censors to ponder 
 for a moment upon my position, accompanied as I was 
 by a mere handful of men, in a country where everything 
 was hostile, climate and inhabitants included. If I do 
 not profess the principle that the end justifies the means, 
 neither do I lay claim to that virtue which would 
 present the other cheek when the first has been smitten. 
 
TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 119 
 
 Far from the restraints of the civilised world — outside 
 * its two circles of iron — the penal code and social con- 
 ventionalities, which, close and rigid as they are, still 
 leave sufficient room for crime and infamy, the African 
 explorer, hemmed in by savage races whose rules of 
 conduct differ essentially from his own, having the 
 Almighty as sole witness of his acts, and his conscience 
 as sole censor of his proceedings, requires a more than 
 ordinary strength to preserve his honesty of purpose 
 and moral dignity amid scenes and circumstances where 
 his passions might so easily lead him astray. For 
 myself, I candidly confess that the ovations which have 
 been showered on me by the civilised world, for having 
 happily overcome the material obstacles of my journey, 
 might have been perhaps more justly bestowed upon 
 me for my victories over my own self, if the terrible 
 internal struggles I had to undergo had only been as 
 patent to the eye. 
 
 To conquer his own unruly passions, to overcome the 
 material and moral habits he has formed during his 
 civilised life, are the two great labours of the explorer. 
 He who can do this successfully will attain his end and 
 fulfil his mission. 
 
 At the outset of my journey I must confess I had 
 some apprehensions on this score, and as time went 
 on I discovered that my fears were not unfounded. 
 I had to wrestle severely with my own spirit, but 
 though exhausted with the struggle, I managed to come 
 out victorious. By dint of indomitable will, I succeeded 
 in establishing an empire over myself, and though 
 lacking time to produce a written code of conduct, 
 I formulated one in my mind by which I guided my 
 proceedings. My principles were those of natural 
 right ; my law, brief but excellent, was summed up in 
 the ten precepts of the Decalogue. 
 
 Let it not be for an instant imagined that I put 
 
120 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 forward any claim to canonisation, or that I pretend 
 to have rigorously followed the precepts laid down in 
 the twentieth chapter of the sublime Book of Exodus, 
 certainly the most beautiful of the Pentateuch ; but I 
 did my best not to depart too widely from theni, and in 
 so doing I did well. 
 
 If this digression do not greatly help on the 
 narrative, it may at least be useful in awakening some 
 chord in the heart of future explorers, and to them it is 
 in all heartiness addressed. 
 
 Fig. 9. — Ganguella Women on tue Banks of the Cubango. 
 
 To resume. 
 
 During the day a great many negroes came about us 
 offering for sale various articles of food, of the usual 
 kind, but there was one comestible which was singular 
 enough to deserve a passing notice. 
 
 A large basket displayed a quantity of caterpillars, 
 very similar to the Acherontia Atropos, and of the same 
 size. This gigantic lepidopter, when young, feeds upon 
 the grasses and is then easily caught. The Ganguellas 
 devour it ravenously, but my own men refused to 
 touch it. 
 
TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 
 
 121 
 
 On the following morning, at the first appearance of 
 day light, a good many more carriers presented them- 
 selves ; but, as I had already my number, I was com- 
 pelled to dismiss them. 
 
 I left about ten o'clock, by which hour the rain had 
 fortunately held up. Just as I was starting I had the 
 ill-luck to break my spectacles, which I had worn ever 
 since I left Lisbon. Our course was N.E., and after 
 five hours' tramp we pitched our tents on the left 
 bank of the river Cutato dos Ganguellas, the stream 
 being passed by stepping-stones a little above a small 
 cataract. 
 
 On the road we forded a petty brook called Chimb ui- 
 coque, an affluent of the Cutato. 
 
 At that point the river runs eastward, bending 
 subsequently to the north and then east by south. 
 This gigantic S is a series of rapids, where the river 
 rushes with a tremendous roar over the granite rocks 
 which form its bed. 
 
 At the site of the stepping-stones, or natural stone 
 bridges, it measures 88 yards across, and about 30 yards 
 both higher up and lower down, with a depth of 13 
 to 16 feet. It flows into the Cubango, so say the 
 natives, at fifteen days' march to the south of this 
 point. 
 
 The right bank is covered with the plantations of 
 the inhabitants of Moma, which occupy a space that I 
 calculated roughly at upwards of two thousand acres of 
 land. They are the largest I have ever seen in Africa. 
 The crops produced by these people consist mainly of 
 maize, beans and potatoes, but maize fields are those 
 which chiefly meet the eye. Before reaching the 
 plantations, I crossed a forest of enormous acacias of 
 surprising beauty. The aspect of the banks of the 
 Cutato is very singular. Where the granite of 
 the river-bed terminates, a soil commences of termitic 
 
122 
 
 THE KINO'S RIFLE. 
 
 formation, the ground undulating in thousands of 
 little hills, some cultivated, others covered with sylvan 
 vegetation ; and as they are all connected, the aspect 
 is that of a system of miniature mountain chains which 
 perfectly enchant the beholder. I fixed the position 
 of the large village or township of Moma at the 
 distance of two miles bearing W.S.W., and after deter- 
 mining the altitude of the river there, I sought my tent, 
 wet through from the incessant rain, and with another 
 attack of fever upon me. 
 
 Threats of rheumatism continued. During the 
 night the rain came down in torrents, and, as was 
 
 Fig. 11. — Ant-hill 13 feet high on the Banks of the Eiveb 
 
 CtJTATO DOS GANGUELLAS, COVERED WITH VEGETATION. 
 
 constantly the case now, I went to sleep in the wet, 
 for at this period of the year the grasses, with which I 
 covered my roughly constructed hut, were never more 
 than some 20 inches long, and with such short stuff 
 it is difficult, if not impossible, to keep the water out. 
 
 It was not till noon on the following day that the 
 rain ceased ; and though my pulse was going at the 
 rate of 144 per minute, from fever, I resumed my 
 journey at 2 p.m. 
 
 I tramped along on foot, as I found it impossible to 
 keep my seat on the ox ; but after an hour's march 
 my legs refused to carry me farther. We therefore 
 
TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 123 
 
 camped ; and I met with the utmost attention and care 
 not only from my own negroes, but even from the 
 Ganguella carriers. 
 
 The spot where we rested was near the hamlet of a 
 tribe called Lamupas, from their residing near the 
 cataracts of the river, which in the language of the 
 country are styled Mupas. 
 
 It is very thickly peopled and extensively cultivated, 
 as the inhabitants are greatly devoted to agriculture. 
 
 On my road I fell in with several graves of the 
 native chiefs, which are covered with clay, similar in 
 shape to many in Europe. These graves are protected 
 from the rain by a species of open shed with thatched 
 roof, and are always shaded by a large tree. 
 
 Upon most of them I saw earthen vases and platters, 
 placed there by -the relatives of the deceased, as we are 
 accustomed to deposit garlands and immortelles upon 
 the tombs of our own loved ones. 
 
 Towards night the rain moderated, and on the follow- 
 ing morning it was misty but warm. The fever had 
 considerably diminished, but my rheumatic pains began 
 to worry me excessively. Still I went on, and half an 
 hour after having left the camp I passed near the large 
 village of Cassequera. 
 
 After crossing a little brook which ran on the other 
 side of the village, I came upon some enormous 
 clearances covered with grasses, which excited my 
 attention on account of their huge size and mature 
 growth at a period of the year when the plants of this 
 family are only just beginning to develop. 
 
 My young negro Pepeca had so violent and sudden 
 an attack of fever that he sank down powerless. I 
 called a halt, and sent off a messenger to the village of 
 Cassequera to hire a man for the purpose of carrying 
 the poor fellow on his shoulders. At noon I passed 
 near the residence of the captain of the Quingue, the 
 
124 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 first village in the Caquingue country. I took up my 
 quarters in the house of Joao Albino, a half-caste of 
 Benguella, the son of the old Portuguese trader Luiz 
 Albino, who was killed by a buffalo in the wilds of 
 the Zambesi. 
 
 Joao Albino resides in the compound of Camenha, 
 son of the captain of the Quingue. 
 
 Camenha himself was absent, having gone to take 
 the command of the forces of the native king of Ca- 
 quingue, in a war then waging with certain chiefs of 
 the Cubango. 
 
 Fig. 12. — Tomb of a Native Chief. 
 
 The weather improved and my fever entirely left me, 
 but I had not got rid of my rheumatism, which gave 
 lively evidence of its presence. 
 
 It is worthy of note that night came on without rain, 
 and was followed by a cloudless morning. 
 
 I paid a visit to the old captain of the Quingue, 
 taking with me, by way of offering, a piece of liaen 
 cloth. He made me a present of an ox, which I ordered 
 at once to be slaughtered, as we had eaten no other 
 
TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 
 
 125 
 
 flesh than that of swine for a long time past. The 
 captain was very old and infirm. He conversed with 
 me at great length about my journey and its motives, 
 and could not comprehend what I intended to do. 
 
 When I was about to leave him he said, " I know 
 now who you are ; you are a chief of the white king, 
 and he has sent you to visit these parts, and study the 
 roads ; for the white king knows that many things are 
 done here that are not good, and he wants to put a stop 
 to them. I pray you, when he does so, not to forgot 
 that I gave you an ox, and treated you as my brother. 
 I have not long to live, but then you can remember 
 my sons, and will do them, I hope, no injury." 
 
 I was touched by the old man's words. His chiefs 
 accompanied me respectfully to the village of the son, 
 where I was lodging, and there were few of them 
 who failed, during the day, to bring me over some 
 little present, such as a hen or two, some eggs and 
 sugar-cane. I saw a small plantation of the latter 
 within the captain's enclosure, of even a more flourish- 
 ing character than that visible on the sea-shore, where 
 this plant nevertheless assumes colossal proportions. 
 
 I mention this circumstance, because I was under 
 the impression until then that, at so considerable an 
 altitude, nearly 5580 feet, the cane would not grow. 
 
 On my return to the village, I found Francisco 
 Gongalves, known as Carique, the half-brother of my 
 follower Terissimo, who, learning of my arrival, had 
 come to pay me a visit. 
 
 This Carique was, like Yerissimo, the son of the 
 trader Guilherme, but by a different mother, and on 
 the mother's side he was heir to the throne of Ca- 
 quingue. 
 
 He lives with the native king, his uncle, and is 
 married to a daughter of the future sovereign of the 
 Bihe. 
 
126 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 He was educated at Benguella, and has some sort of 
 culture and a good deal of intelligence. He brought 
 several negroes with him, slaves of his father, whom 
 he placed at my disposal to accompany me in my journey 
 eastward from the Bihe country. 
 
 Thus, before I had even reached that desired goal, 
 I had several carriers in readiness. 
 
 Carique, Albino, the captain's son and others who 
 trade with the interior, start from that point for the 
 Mucusso and Snlatebelle, descending by the Cubango 
 to the Ngami, always on the right bank ; and they do 
 business also in the Cuanhama, a country to the east of 
 the Humbe, on the left bank of the Cunene. 
 
 Their staple article of trade is slaves, exchanged, on 
 the road, for oxen ; and these again, with bale goods, 
 are bartered for wax and ivory. 
 
 I resolved to remain there a day, not only to get a 
 long rest and dry my wetted things, but also to procure 
 some information about the country, whose customs 
 differ considerably from those of the tribes I had 
 hitherto met with. In the evening Carique and Joao 
 Albino kept me company, and furnished me with 
 lengthy data concerning the territory and its people, 
 the most noteworthy of which I here transcribe from 
 my diary. 
 
 The Caquingue country is bounded on the north 
 by the Bine', on the west by the Moma territory, and 
 on the east and south by confederate tribes of the Gran- 
 guella race. This latter race occupies in this part of 
 Africa a vast tract of land, and is divided into four 
 large groups, which are susceptible again of further 
 subdivision. Their language and customs are the 
 same throughout, but there is a difference in their 
 political organisation. In the Caquingue country 
 the Granguellas assume the name of Gonzellos, form 
 a separate kingdom, and admit but one sole head. 
 
TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 127 
 
 In their other divisions they form confederations, 
 which are very common in Africa, each large village 
 or township being governed by an independent chief. 
 Those who live to the S.E. of Caquingue style them- 
 selves Nhembas ; those to the south, Massacas ; and 
 they who dwell to the east of the Bihe, Bundas. Of 
 the last mentioned I shall have occasion to speak at 
 some length later on. The Gonzellos, the Ganguellas 
 of Caquingue, are cultivators of the soil and traders, 
 
 Fig. 13— Caquingue Blacksmiths. 
 
 and, of all the peoples of South Central Africa, are those 
 which approximate most to the Bihenos in the way of 
 commercial exploration. 
 
 When at home they work a good deal in iron, and 
 this branch of trade establishes between them and other 
 tribes very active commercial relations. 
 
 They have not the slightest idea of any religion 
 whatsoever, and though thorough believers in sorcery, 
 they never give a thought to the existence of a Supreme 
 Being, by whom all things are ordered. 
 
128 
 
 THE KINO'S MIFLE. 
 
 During the coldest months, that is to say June and 
 July, the Gonzellos miners leave their homes, and 
 take up their abode in extensive encampments near the 
 iron-mines, which are abundant in the country. 
 
 In order to extract the ore, they dig circular holes 
 or shafts of about 10 to 13 feet in diameter, but not 
 more than 6 or 7 feet deep ; this arises most probably 
 from their want of means to raise the ore to a greater 
 elevation. I examined several of these shafts in the 
 neighbourhood of the Cubango, and found them all of 
 a similar character. 
 
 As soon as they have extracted sufficient ore for the 
 work of the year, they begin separating the iron. 
 
 This is done in holes of no great 
 depth, the ore being mixed with 
 charcoal, and the temperature being- 
 raised by means of primitive bellows, 
 consisting of two wooden cylinders 
 2 about a foot in diameter, hollowed 
 out to a depth of 4 inches and covered 
 with two tanned goat-skins, to which 
 are fixed two handles, 20 inches long 
 and half an inch thick. By a rapid 
 movement of these handles, a current 
 of air is produced which plays upon 
 the charcoal through two hollow 
 wooden tubes attached to the cylin- 
 ders, and furnished with clay muzzles. 
 
 By incessant labour, kept up night 
 and day, the whole of the metal 
 becomes transformed, by ordinary processes, into spades, 
 axes, war-hatchets, arrow-heads, assegais, nails, knives, 
 and bullets for fire-arms, and even occasionally fire- 
 arms themselves, the iron being tempered with ox- 
 grease and salt. I have seen a good many of these 
 guns carry as well as the best pieces made of cast steel. 
 
 4 
 
 -1. Bellows. 
 
 2. Clay Muzzle. 
 
 3. Anvil. 
 
 4. Hammer. 
 
TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 129 
 
 During the whole of the time that these labours last 
 no woman, under any pretext, is allowed to go near the 
 
 Fig. 15. — Articles manufactured by the Natives between the 
 Coast and the Bihe. 1. Working Axe. 2. Arrow-head for War. 
 3. Arrows. 4. Arkow-head for Hunting. 5. Butt-end of Arrows. 
 6. Battle-axe. 7. Hoe. 8. Assegais. 
 
 miners' camp, for fear, as they say, of the utter ruin of 
 the metal. My own opinion is, that the object of the 
 vol. I. K 
 
130 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 prohibition is to prevent the men being distracted in 
 their work, which, as I have stated, is kept up night 
 and day. 
 
 So soon as the metal is converted into articles of 
 trade, the miners return to their homes laden with their 
 manufactures, which they subsequently dispose of by 
 sale, after reserving what they require for their own 
 necessities. 
 
 It is curious that none of these people admit the 
 existence of natural causes of disease or death. If any 
 among them should fall ill or die, the cause is attributed 
 either to the souls of the other world (one among the 
 spirits being specially designated), or to some living 
 person who has compassed the evil by sorcery or witch- 
 craft. On the death of a native, should no relatives be 
 upon the spot, they are at once summoned, and pending 
 their arrival, the corpse is suspended from a stout pole, 
 planted at a distance of some 200 or 300 yards from the 
 entrance of the village. 
 
 On the assembling of the relatives, divination is at 
 once resorted to in order to learn the cause of death. 
 For this purpose the corpse is fastened to a long stake ; 
 a man seizes each end of it, and the body is thus 
 conveyed to the place set apart for the divination, where 
 the diviner is in attendance, together with a concourse 
 of people standing in two rows. 
 
 The diviner then taking in his right hand a piece of 
 white coral commences operations. 
 
 After no end of mummery and discordant cries, 
 during which the corpse is made to sway about — the 
 people all the while believing it does so without human 
 intervention — the diviner declares that it was the soul 
 of such a person, male or female, whom he mentions, 
 that occasioned the death ; or he avers that it was 
 this or that living person who slew the defunct by 
 sorcery. 
 
TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 
 
 131 
 
 In the former case, a grave being dug in the neigh- 
 bouring wood, no spot in particular being selected for 
 the purpose, the body is interred without more ado, and 
 stones, wood and earth are heaped over it. But in the 
 latter case, the person designated by the diviner as the 
 sorcerer is seized, and must either pay to the nearest of 
 kin the value of the life he is deemed to have taken, or 
 forfeit his head ; an account of the event being subse- 
 quently given to the ruling chief, together with a 
 female goat as. a fee for listening to the case. 
 
 An accused person has fortunately the right to deny 
 his supposed crime, and to furnish a defence. He applies 
 for such purpose to a medicine-man (by way of advocate), 
 who, in presence of the people, proceeds to prepare his 
 proofs, in the shape of an ordeal, to establish either the 
 guilt or innocence of 'the accused. For instance, in 
 sight of the latter's kinsfolk and of the general public, 
 he composes a poisonous draught, to be taken both by 
 the accused and the nearest relative of the dead man. 
 This draught produces a species of temporary madness, 
 and he who suffers most from its effects is deemed 
 the more guilty, and has sentence of death passed upon 
 him.* 
 
 .If this sentence fall upon the accused, he either pays 
 the life of the deceased, or forfeits his own ; if it fall 
 upon the other man, he has to indemnify the accused 
 for the accusation made by giving him at once a pig, 
 to pay for the trouble in seeking a medicine-man, and 
 subsequently, whatever else the accused may claim, 
 namely, a couple of oxen, two slaves, a bale of goods, 
 &c, &c. 
 
 In this place, I cannot do better than point out avast 
 difference which exists between three important person- 
 ages among the people of South Central Africa, and who 
 
 * This is very similar to the practice in use among the Maraves, the Ordeal 
 of the Muave (Gamito, Muata Cazembe). 
 
 K 2 
 
132 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 are not unfrequently confounded with each other. 
 These are the medicine-man, the diviner, and the 
 sorcerer. At the first glance they do certainly appear 
 to have points of contact, but in reality they have 
 none. 
 
 The medicine-man is defined by the name bestowed 
 upon him. He prepares medicaments. He has some 
 knowledge of medicinal herbs and roots which he 
 invariably employs empirically, and makes great use 
 of the cupping glass ; but as regards science, he has 
 little or none. The medicine-man never makes a 
 diagnosis of any disease, but deals freely in prognostics. 
 His doses of medicinal plants are always empirical, and 
 the most absurd and useless components enter into his 
 pharmacopoeia. It is true that amongst ourselves the 
 use of antidotes does not go very far. The medicine- 
 man, w T ho is at the same time a compounder of drugs, 
 employs during their preparation a certain number of 
 ceremonies and words without which they would lose 
 their virtue. He makes a great secret of the plants 
 and simples he uses, and puts on a very sapient air 
 when questioned upon the subject. The medicine-man 
 is a person of great importance, and many solemn acts 
 require his presence. He decides many great questions, 
 his opinion prevailing over that of the diviner 
 (Ditangja), and he never pronounces it without a 
 preliminary flourish, in the shape of remedies and 
 ceremonies, performed now with plants, now with the 
 blood of human creatures, or beasts, and on which are 
 bestowed the name of medicinal rites. 
 
 The diviner, on the other hand, deals in divination 
 and nothing else. In the case of any one falling sick, 
 the diviner is first called in to divine whether the 
 attack is due to spirits of another world, or to sorcery, 
 and it is after his work is done that the medicine-man 
 is applied to. 
 
TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 133 
 
 These two personages always perfectly understand 
 each other. 
 
 The diviner is not consulted solely in cases of 
 disease or death, he is appealed to in all conceivable 
 matters of moment, and nothing is done without his 
 being first called in. 
 
 In questions of consultation, he takes up his stand in 
 the centre of a circle formed by the people, who must 
 be seated. He brings with him a calabash and a basket. 
 The calabash contains large glass beads and dried 
 maize ; the basket is full of the queerest odds and ends, 
 such as human bones, dried vegetables, stones, bits of 
 stick, the stones of fruit, birds' and fishes' bones, &c. 
 
 He begins by shaking the calabash about in the most 
 frantic way, and during the rattle consequent on the 
 operation he invokes the malignant spirits ; the basket is 
 then shaken up, and in the articles that appear upper- 
 most be reads what his hearers are desirous of learning 
 of the past, present, or future. I found this ceremony 
 to be in use from the time of my leaving the coast, but 
 in no instance carried out so completely as here. 
 
 I spoke of malignant spirits, and must explain that 
 in this part of the world such spirits seem to be on a 
 par, in the way of mischief, with the souls of the other 
 world (Cassumbi), and with the sorcerers. At times, 
 these spirits enter into the body of some unfortunate, 
 and it is a very expensive matter to turn them out 
 again. On other occasions they play higher pranks, 
 such as swooping down upon a village, and making 
 such a disturbance at night as to allow no one to have 
 any rest, so that the medicine-man has hard work to 
 find a cure and exorcise them. 
 
 As there happened to be a diviner in the village, I 
 turned over in my mind whether I might not put him 
 to some account. 
 
 I therefore called him apart, made him sundry 
 
134 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 presents, showed him very great respect, and pretended 
 to have entire belief in his science. 
 
 I then begged him to divine my future fate, a task 
 which he readily accepted, calling together the whole 
 of the inmates of the village, and many of the 
 inhabitants of the Capitao, to be present at the divi- 
 nation. 
 
 The ceremony was performed with great circum- 
 stance, and he failed not to read in the fragments of 
 the basket, as they were shaken uppermost, the most 
 flattering things concerning me. I was the best of 
 white men past, present and future ; my journey was 
 to be crowned with the utmost success, and happiness 
 was to attend all those who went with me. 
 
 This prophecy produced the best effect, and no doubt 
 had a great influence over the result of my departure 
 from the Bihe. 
 
 I have spoken of the medicine-man and the diviner, 
 and will now say a few words about the sorcerer. 
 The term has a meaning which, though possessing 
 some points of contact with the signification we give 
 to it in Europe, is nevertheless not the same thing. 
 
 In South Central Africa any one is, or may become, 
 a sorcerer, and a sorcerer is there understood to be 
 rather a poisoner than a man who has mastery over 
 spirits. 
 
 In fact, sorcery with these people means poison, and 
 to use sorcery towards any one is to give poison, causing 
 sickness, death, or insanity. 
 
 This is the rigorous acceptation of the word ; but 
 any way the belief in sorcery may occasion an immen- 
 sity of mischief, and as every tiling tha t goes wrong is 
 attributed to sorcery, whether the loss of a skirmish, an 
 epidemic among the cattle, the visitation of storms, &c, 
 it may well be imagined what a wide field is opened for 
 malevolence. 
 
TWENTY BAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 
 
 135 
 
 It must not be imagined that there are sorcerers by 
 profession, like medicine-men and diviners. The 
 sorcerer appears as a cause of an effect, and as the 
 cause is at once destroyed, the sorcerer may be likened 
 to a meteor which vanishes almost with its appear- 
 ance. 
 
 Besides these three entities, two of which are definite 
 and the third indefinite, there is yet another pretender, 
 who enjoys a certain importance among these barbarous 
 peoples. 
 
 He is the man who calls down and stops the rain. 
 He is one of a class who arrogate to themselves the 
 power of governing the aqueous meteors. Possessing 
 observant minds, these men know, from experience, 
 that with certain winds, in this or that period of the 
 year, it will rain, and that when others prevail it will 
 be dry. And making use of these signs, which are 
 matters of common observance in Europe, and are even 
 recommended to attention by men of science, like 
 Fitzroy and others, they form with tolerable safety 
 their prognostics of the weather, trade on the ignorance 
 of those about them, and claim a power of calling down 
 or staying rain, having previously announced that it 
 will fall or cease. 
 
 Poor as the pretensions of these fellows are, they 
 nevertheless impose upon the natives, for, as I have 
 observed, by dint of long experience and careful watch- 
 ing they do not often make mistakes. 
 
 These practices that may appear strange in the eyes 
 of most of my readers, were common enough in Europe 
 a couple of centuries ago, and among the poorer classes 
 of our agricultural population it would not be impossible, 
 even at this day, to find them existing. 
 
 It is not necessary to go back to the middle ages to 
 meet with royal personages consulting astrologers-, and 
 I find that in Portugal a book was printed, with all the 
 
136 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 necessary licences, as recently as 1712, which its author, 
 Gaspar Cardozo de Sequeira, a mathematician of the 
 town of Murca, entitled 4 Thesouro de Pmdentes' 
 (subsequently added to by Goncalo Gomes Caldeira, an 
 engineer), which professes to teach the most stupendous 
 and marvellous things to men of culture — be it 
 remembered — inasmuch as the people at large were 
 unable at that period to read. Facts like these should 
 make us charitable in judging the poor blacks of South 
 Africa. 
 
 There is a curious law established in the country in 
 respect of women who die in childbirth. 
 
 When such an event occurs, it is the duty of the 
 husband to bury his wife by himself alone, he carrying 
 the body on his shoulders to the burial-place and per- 
 forming all the labour of interment unassisted. 
 
 He is then bound to pay the value of her life to her 
 relations, and should he have no means wherewith to 
 do so, he must become their slave. The graves of the 
 mass of the people have nothing to render them 
 distinguishable ; the interments are made in any spot 
 in the neighbouring wood that may be deemed 
 suitable. 
 
 When I have occasion to speak of the Bihe, I shall 
 dwell more at length upon certain customs prevalent in 
 these countries, and which I had opportunities of study- 
 ing very minutely, more especially those which refer to 
 the native kings and grandees. 
 
 Before leaving the Caquingue I may mention that 
 1 found there a custom peculiar to that territory and 
 which is called supporting women. When a woman is 
 enceinte, a young man will apply to the husband, and 
 ask in marriage the daughter she may bring forth, and 
 if the offer be accepted, the lover will thenceforth be 
 compelled to support her, that is to say, supply her with 
 clothing, and satisfy the requirements of her toilette. 
 
TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 137 
 
 This custom, as may be believed, is prevalent only 
 among the rich. On the birth of the infant, the future 
 bridegroom redoubles his presents to the mother, and 
 is under obligation to supply the daughter with clothing 
 until the age of puberty, when the marriage comes olf. 
 If, however, a son be born, the obligation to clothe 
 mother and son is incurred, and the latter, on arriving 
 at man's estate, becomes the Quissongo of his supporter. 
 Later on, I will take occasion to explain the meaning 
 of this term. 
 
 Strange as such a custom appears at first sight, 
 it loses much of its extraordinary character upon re- 
 flection. In Africa, I met with it in the Caquingue 
 country only ; but in Europe I fancy to have observed 
 its prevalence in very many instances, not in form 
 perhaps, but in essence, and bearing in the polished 
 phrase of our drawing-rooms the title of mariages de 
 convenance. 
 
 Day broke on the 5th of March, 1878, after a most 
 stormy night, in wlnV.h the rain had come down in 
 torrents. My fever had somewhat abated, but the 
 rheumatic pains were more persistent, and extended 
 from the knees to the ankles. My young negro, Pepeca, 
 was better, so I resolved to start again. Apprehensive, 
 however, of my rheumatism, I hired a hammock and 
 bearers, that were most kindly supplied me by Francisco 
 Goncalves (Carique). After many cordial adieux, I 
 started northwards at half past ten, and an hour later 
 crossed the little river Cassonge, which runs in a S.E. 
 direction into the Cuchi. It was found to be about 20 
 feet wide by 6 feet deep. In crossing, my saddle-ox, 
 Bonito, got entangled in some weeds, lost his courage 
 and sank to the bottom. I had great difficulty in 
 saving him, and it was past noon before we could re- 
 sume our journey. 
 
 At 1.15 I crossed another little stream, the Go vera, 
 
138 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 9 feet wide by 20 inches deep, and at 1.45 camped 
 S.S.W. of the village of Chindua. On my road I had 
 passed Dear two large villages, Cacurura and Cachota. 
 I had already reached territory that owed obedience 
 to the native king of the Bihe, and found the country all 
 about thickly peopled and well cultivated. 
 
 During the night the rain descended in torrents and 
 loud claps of thunder came from the eastward. My 
 fever had completely left me, but the rheumatic pains 
 went on progressing in violence and threatened to 
 extend to my whole body. As soon as it was light, 
 the owner of the bridge over the Cuchi sent to advise 
 me to cross without delay, as a considerable body of 
 natives was advancing on the other side. The bridge 
 was, like most of them, constructed for the passage of 
 men in single file, w r hich, of course, occupies a good 
 deal of time ; and it is the law that, when once a party 
 has commenced crossing, any coming in an opposite 
 direction must wait till the bridge is clear. Thanking 
 the messenger for the advice, I broke up my camp 
 immediately, and was able, half an hour later, to get 
 possession of the bridge. 
 
 The river Cuchi is at this spot 27 yards wide by 
 16 feet deep, and runs southward to the Cubango. 
 
 One catches a glimpse from the bridge of the mag- 
 nificent cataract of the Cuchi, rather more than a 
 mile to the north, the roar of which came plainly to 
 the ear. 
 
 1 stopped for a short time to determine the altitude 
 and then went on towards E.N.E. I passed the 
 little Liapera rivulet which runs into the Cuchi, and 
 then altering my course to N.N.E., I crossed the 
 Caruci rivulet which flows to the N.E. into the 
 Cuqueima ; I there took a noon-day rest in the Charo 
 Woods, situated to the S. W. of the village of Ungundo. 
 
 The two rivulets above mentioned, the Liapera and 
 
1WENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 139 
 
 the Caruci, mark the separation of the waters which 
 drain into the Cubango and the Cuanza. 
 
 The chief of the village of Ungundo, by name 
 Chaquimbaia, paid me a complimentary visit, bringing 
 with him a pig and one or two fowls. I reciprocated the 
 civility and procured from him guides to accompany me 
 on the following morning. During the whole of that 
 day I fell in, on my road, with many bands of armed 
 men, who were on their way to join the forces of the 
 native king of Caquingue, and even after I had camped 
 for the night, a large number of negroes, equipped for 
 war, passed by, bound on the same errand. 
 
 Between 7 and 9 p.m. there was a moderate fall of 
 rain, and in the N.E. distant sounds of thunder 
 were audible. The storm came nearer and spread, so 
 that by nine o'clock there were claps of thunder from 
 various points of the horizon, which seemed to be all 
 converging upon my camp, which was situated on a 
 height. At ten, five distinct thunder-claps burst upon 
 us at once, and the most horrible tempest it has ever 
 been my fate to witness broke loose in all its fury. The 
 flashes of lightning succeeded each other with intervals 
 of three to five seconds, and the crash of the thunder 
 was simply incessant. 
 
 The air was as yet perfectly calm, and but a few 
 large rain-drops were observable. 
 
 The fall in the barometer was scarcely perceptible, 
 and the thermometer maintained a temperature of 16 
 degrees Centigrade. The magnetic needles lost their 
 polarity, and were in a constant state of oscillation. 
 
 One of Duchemin's circular compasses went rapidly 
 round and round. 
 
 This state of things lasted until eleven o'clock, when 
 there was another change, even more terrible than 
 before. A wind of excessive violence, in fact a perfect 
 hurricane, came down from the eastward, and in an 
 
140 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 instant veered from point to point of the compass, until 
 it settled in the S.W. A perfect deluge of rain 
 followed. The wind, in its fury, literally carried our 
 huts into the air from above our heads, and left us thus 
 unsheltered and exposed to the pitiless rain, which fell 
 in torrents until four in the morning, when the tempest 
 began to abate. 
 
 No man who has not himself experienced it, can 
 form the slightest conception of what a tempest is at 
 night in the middle of a forest in Central Africa, 
 where, to the reverberations of the thunder, are added 
 the innumerable sounds of the wild denizens of the 
 jungle, answering with discordant cries the voices of 
 the elements at strife. 
 
 The rain soon extinguished our fires, the wind 
 carried off the wreckage of the huts, and the lightning 
 in its zig-zag course only served by its momentary 
 brilliancy to show the havoc which the storm had 
 made. 
 
 From time to time to the crash of the thunderbolt 
 succeeded another sound, which caused no less alarm. 
 Some giant tree, a very monarch of the woods, which 
 it had taken ages to bring to its state of maturity, was 
 struck to the very heart and went toppling down, de- 
 stroying others in its fall. 
 
 Truly a horrible spectacle, but one fraught with 
 grandeur and sublimity ! 
 
 Day broke at length, and displayed many a gap 
 in the forest about us, occupied the day before by 
 some magnificent tree, and the earth so soaked with 
 moisture that it yielded water to the tread like a 
 sponge. 
 
 The horrors of the night had painfully affected my 
 mind, but they were absorbed, as morning appeared, 
 by my physical suffering. An attack of rheumatism of 
 more than usual intensity affected my every joint, and 
 
TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 141 
 
 took from me all power of helping myself. When 
 we started, therefore, at noon I, stretched upon my 
 hammock, had to exercise no common command over 
 myself to stifle in my throat the groans and cries 
 provoked by the intense suffering which the movement 
 of the hammock caused me. 
 
 We had not been more than an hour on the road 
 than we found ourselves in an extensive bog where 
 the water came up to the waist-cloths of my bearers. 
 
 The earth, soddened by the enormous quantity of 
 rain that had fallen during the night, appeared to be 
 transformed into one vast marsh. We reached some 
 higher ground, after great difficulty, but met with 
 little improvement in our condition as, at 2 p.m., a 
 fresh storm, this time from the eastward, burst upon us. 
 From my hammock, where I was lying a prey to the 
 acutest pain, I encouraged my people to push forward, 
 as I wished to reach the village of Belanga before 
 night. 
 
 I have no recollection of anything more till the 
 following day when, awaking as from a trance, I found 
 myself lying in a hut with Yerissimo standing by my 
 side. He informed me I was at Belanga, in the vil- 
 lage of Vicentes ; but I had not the slightest idea 
 either of the road we had come or the night we had 
 passed through, although by my followers' account it 
 must have been a horrible one. I had, in fact, for the 
 time succumbed to fever and delirium. 
 
 I found my head somewhat clearer, but my pains 
 acuter, if possible, than before. I could not make the 
 slightest motion, and my very fingers refused to bend. I 
 was fortunate, in this deplorable position, to have such 
 kind hearts about me, for Yerissimo and my negroes 
 lavished on me every possible care. 
 
 I learned that the river Cuqueima was extraordi- 
 narily full, and that to wade across it was simply 
 
142 
 
 THE KINO'S RIFLE. 
 
 impossible ; but hearing that a small canoe was to be 
 had just below the cataract, I determined to go on and 
 pass the river at that spot. 
 
 On reaching the stream, it became necessary to caulk 
 the canoe with moss, for it was a wretched old thing 
 and would barely sustain the weight of a couple of 
 men. The river, swollen with the late rains, was 
 rushing along with great rapidity. After leaping over 
 the rocks which formed the cataract, the waters divided, 
 leaving an islet in the centre, and shortly after they 
 blended again into one channel, some 110 yards wide. 
 
 That was the spot selected for crossing. I was laid 
 at the bottom of the canoe with the utmost care, 
 as every involuntary jolt wrung from me a cry of 
 pain. 
 
 A skilful boatman handed the paddle, and the canoe 
 left the bank. 
 
 The space to be traversed, as I have mentioned 
 above, was scarcely more than 110 yards, but the 
 water was not only made perilous by the rapidity of 
 the current, but by the excessive " choppiness " of the 
 surface caused by the proximity of the falls. 
 
 The boatman steered his canoe for the ait, and until 
 he reached the junction of the waters all went right 
 enough ; but there the fragile skiff, caught in the 
 furious eddies, could not be persuaded to advance a foot 
 in spite of all the skill and strength of the negro. As 
 I lay, I saw the water leaping in foamy waves about 
 us, becoming larger and more threatening as we got 
 more into the current, and I began to comprehend the 
 extreme peril in which I was placed. 
 
 I tried to move one of my arms, but only called forth 
 a groan with the effort. I gave myself up for lost, for 
 if the canoe went to the bottom I was surely incapable 
 of swimming. The canoe, worked upon by the eddies 
 of the seething water, would not go forward, and 
 
TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 143 
 
 suddenly the unfortunate skiff began to whirl round 
 itself- My boatman, apprehending we should go to 
 the bottom, determined to jump overboard to lighten 
 the canoe, and warning me of his intention, leaped 
 into the stream. 
 
 The canoe, thus lightened, floated certainly higher, 
 but scarcely improved my position, as it was now at the 
 entire mercy of the rushing water. 
 
 All of a sudden, a wave leaped over the side and 
 soaked me through. My senses for the time almost 
 forsook me, and I scarcely knew what occurred until I 
 found myself swimming with one arm with all my 
 remaining strength, whilst the other hand was en- 
 deavouring to keep from out the water one of the 
 chronometers I happened to have with me. 
 
 My sensations returned in the act of swimming, 
 and I remember being conscious of a certain pride in 
 thus buffeting with and overcoming the waves ; a task 
 that would have been easy enough to me under ordi- 
 nary circumstances, as I had been accustomed from 
 childhood to wrestle with the rapids of my native Douro. 
 
 The negroes, who are ever ready to admire feats of 
 physical skill, stood upon the bank and animated me 
 with cries of applause. 
 
 My pains had ceased, my fever was gone, as if by 
 magic, and I felt, whilst the excitement lasted, as 
 though my strength had returned to me. 
 
 When the canoe foundered, out of a hundred men 
 that were present at the spectacle and stood open- 
 mouthed and undecided as they looked on, one at least 
 tempted the perils of the waters and leaped in to save 
 me. A less skilful swimmer than myself, he did not 
 reach the bank till after I had done so, nor did he 
 render me any help ; but his devotion, at such a time, 
 made a deep impression upon me which w T ill never be 
 effaced. He was one of my own negroes, Garanganja, 
 
144 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 who, poor fellow, subsequently w r ent out of bis mind, 
 unable to bear up against the misery and privations to 
 which we were subjected. 
 
 When I got to land I found myself, as I have 
 mentioned, without either pain or fever. I stripped at 
 once ; but unfortunately I had no change of clothes, as 
 the whole of the baggage was still on the other side of 
 the stream, so that I was compelled to remain exposed 
 to the burning rays of the sun until they had thoroughly 
 dried my things. The consequence was, the pains and 
 fever came back with redoubled violence, and I remem- 
 ber no more until I found myself next day lying on a 
 bed in the compound of the Annunciada, the late 
 dwelling-place of the trader Guilherme Goncalves, 
 Yerissimo's father. 
 
 Backed as I was with pain, and burning with fever, 
 but somewhat better for the long rest, I decided on 
 leaving, so great was my anxiety to meet with my 
 companions. 
 
 I started at 11 a.m., and on the road crossed a 
 plain covered with enormous ferns, and observed a 
 number of trees that had been struck by lightning. I 
 saw also a plant that grew abundantly thereabouts and 
 which, if not the gorse that is met with on the 
 lofty mountains to the north of Portugal, is wonderfully 
 like it. 
 
 My eyes, that are but little accustomed to that 
 keenness of observation which the study of the vege- 
 table world demands, are not sufficiently tutored to 
 distinguish species, genera and families, unless the 
 difference be strongly marked. 
 
 I arrived at Silva Porto's village (Belmonte) at one 
 in the afternoon, and by making a supreme effort 
 reached the house of my late companions. 
 
 Confirming verbally what they had told me in 
 writing, they said they had determined to go on alone, 
 
TWENTY DAYS OF PROFOUND ANXIETY. 145 
 
 and would leave me a third part of the goods and 
 stores, saving such things as were incapable of division, 
 which they would retain themselves. Ivens offered to 
 accompany me back to Benguella, seeing the precarious 
 state of my health, if I made up my mind to return 
 to Europe. 
 
 I could but express my gratitude for so generous 
 and disinterested an offer. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 BELMONTE. 
 
 In the Bihe — Severe Illness — Improvement — Belmonte — I determine to start 
 for the Upper Zambesi — Letters to the Government — How the Expedi- 
 tion was organised in the Bihe — Difficulties, and how they were over- 
 come — Historical and Social Notes on the Bihe — My Labours — New 
 Difficulties — I leave Belmonte — The Road to the Cuanza — Slavery. 
 
 After the twenty days of toil, anxiety, and suffering 
 detailed in the last chapter, I found myself at length 
 in the Bihe — very ill, it is true, but full of faith, and 
 satisfied with what I had done. 
 
 Directly after my conversation with my late com- 
 panions, I left Belmonte and was conveyed in my 
 hammock to the neighbouring village of Magalhaes, 
 where, on my arrival, I dropped without strength or 
 motion on to my couch of skins. The first symptoms 
 of inflammation of the brain (meningitis) became per- 
 ceptible in the pace that the rheumatic pains were 
 increasing in intensity. 
 
 On the following day Capello and Ivens came to see 
 me and bring me medicines. I rapidly grew worse 
 till delirium took possession of my senses. 
 
 When I recovered consciousness, I thought I was 
 in a dream. I perceived that I was lying on a magni- 
 ficent bed, divested of my clothes and between fine 
 linen sheets. The bed was upholstered with elegant 
 curtains of pink rep with a snowy white fringe. 
 
 I was informed that Capello had come during my 
 delirium and had ordered the bed to be sent me from 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 147 
 
 Silva Porto's house at Belmonte. I bad much ado 
 to believe that an article of such luxury existed at 
 the Bihe. 
 
 My attendants had literally covered me with leeches, 
 and the amount of blood they had drawn from me 
 left me in a state of indescribable weakness. The 
 pains had somewhat subsided, but the fever still con- 
 tinued. On the evening of that day the negroes of 
 Novo Redondo waited upon me, and I received them 
 before Magalhaes, Yerissimo, and Joaquirn Guilherme 
 Jose Goncalves, eldest brother of Verissimo. The 
 object of their visit was to tell me that they did not 
 wish to go on w T ith my companions, and that they 
 would either follow me or return homewards. 
 
 After a great deal of trouble I managed to persuade 
 them to alter their determination and not to leave my 
 friends. I then learned that Capello and Iveris were 
 busily engaged in constructing an encampment, some 
 three miles distance ; that they were having all their 
 baggage conveyed thither, and intended shortly quit- 
 ing Belmonte. 
 
 A couple of days later Ivens called on me, and we 
 had a long talk. I gave him all the letters of recom- 
 mendation with which I had bemi favoured by Silva 
 Porto in Benguella for the obtaining carriers, and I 
 undertook not to apply to the native king, Quilemo, 
 for any men — thus leaving the field entirely open 
 to himself and Capello. Ivens informed me that they 
 intended moving into their encampment and tbat 
 they would leave me my share of the baggage in 
 Silva Porto's house. In return I delivered over to 
 him all the loads I had brought with me, together 
 with those under the care of Barros, which had already 
 arrived in safety. Barros himself declared that he 
 had no wish to go any farther, so I dismissed him — as 
 I did also some of the Benguella negroes, who did 
 
 l 2 
 
148 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 not care to continue the journey. I wrote a few lines 
 to Pereira de Mello, which the state of my health did 
 not allow me to extend, and then begged to be left 
 alone. 
 
 Quite worn-out with such unwonted exertion I was 
 about to turn in to the sheets and seek in sleep a 
 relief from pain and worry, when there rose up before 
 me, like a spectre, a tall, lean man, with cold and 
 impassive look, and strongly-marked features. It 
 w T as my prisoner, the chief Palanca, the counsellor 
 and friend of the native king of the Dumbo in the 
 Sambo country, whom I had, truth to tell, entirely 
 forgotten. 
 
 " Thou hast dealt according to thy will with all thy 
 people," was his greeting. " Some thou hast dismissed 
 and others thou hast retained ; what dost thou deter- 
 mine with respect to me ; and what is to be my 
 fate?" 
 
 " Thou shalt return to thy home," I replied; "thou 
 shalt take back to the Dumbo the gun I promised the 
 king, together with some powder ; and thou shalt 
 also take with thee a present for thyself. I owe thee 
 some reparation for the rope put about thy neck at 
 the Cubango, and for the cords with which thy hands 
 and feet were bound." 
 
 I then called Yerissimo and gave him the necessary 
 instructions for the purpose. 
 
 Palanca, as impassible in face of freedom and of 
 guerdons as he had been in that of imprisonmeni and 
 impending death, retired without a word, and I saw 
 him no more. 
 
 The door which let out the grim chief of the Sambo, 
 gave entrance to two other visitors. It was destined 
 that I should have but little rest on the first day of 
 improvement in my health. They were two confidential 
 negroes. Cahinga and Jamba, sent me by Silva Porto 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 149 
 
 from Benguella. They were profuse in their compli- 
 ments and offers of service, which, however flattering 
 to my self-love, I could well have dispensed with just 
 then. I got rid of them at last, and with a sentiment 
 of immense relief, found myself between the sheets, and 
 alone ! 
 
 And yet not quite alone, though the companion left 
 to me would in no way disturb my rest. By my side, 
 the place she .best loved to occupy, was the creature 
 that proved my greatest comfort in my journey across 
 Africa. It was Cora, my pet goat, her fore-paws rest- 
 ing on the bed, that, with low bleating, whilst she 
 licked my hands, sought the caresses of which she had 
 been so long deprived. 
 
 On the following day Capello and Ivens sent me 
 notice that they were moving out of Silva Porto's house, 
 and in consequence I had myself conveyed thither in 
 my hammock. I found they had left me seven loads of 
 goods, six cases of provisions, a trunk with instruments, 
 and three Snider rifles. 
 
 The settlement of Silva Porto, or more correctly 
 speaking the village of Belmonte, is situated upon the 
 highest portion of a rising ground, whose northern 
 declivity slopes gently down to the bed of the river 
 Cuito, which flows eastward into the Cuqueima. 
 
 The position of the place is very charming, and from 
 a strategic point of view is strong. 
 
 Within its enclosure is an orange orchard, where the 
 trees are ever covered with fruit and blossom, which I 
 found was not the case with any others in the Bine'. 
 This orchard is surrounded by a hedge of rose-bushes, 
 that attain to the height of ten feet and are never 
 without flowers. 
 
 Enormous sycamores give shade to the streets and 
 surround the village, which is further defended by a 
 strong wooden stockade. 
 
150 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 Under those orange-trees, whose perfumed shade 
 protected me from the burning sun, how many hours, 
 how many days, indeed, did I not spend, pondering 
 over my position, and weaving projects more or less 
 reasonable ! 
 
 It was there, with my limbs still quivering with pain, 
 and burning with fever, that I conceived and organised 
 in my mind the plan which I was subsequently spared 
 to realise. 
 
 If I feel proud of any portion of my journey, the 
 feeling certainly belongs to this particular period. 
 
 Fig. 17. — View of the Exterior of the Village of 
 Be i.monte in the Bihe. 
 
 Later on I frequently jeopardised my life ; more than 
 once my boldness took the character of rashness ; but it 
 was the thought of my own safety, as I believed, that 
 urged me on. Not so in this place. I was exhausted 
 by disease and had but few resources left me. The 
 road to Benguella and to Europe was open to me, and 
 might be traversed with comparative facility. And as 
 I turned my glances in the opposite direction a thousand 
 difficulties, arising from my separation from my 
 companions, seemed to stand in the way and nresent a 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 151 
 
 barrier almost impossible to surmount, in regard to any- 
 further exploration. And as if this were not enough, 
 the few followers who stood by me appeared to have 
 lost all heart. 
 
 And hence arises that feeling of pride and self- 
 
 Ell 
 
 □ □□□□□□ 
 
 □ □ * □ □ 
 
 0 
 
 o 
 
 □ 
 
 '□ □ □ □ □□ □ 
 
 Fig. 18. — Plan of the Village of Belmonte in the Bihe. 
 
 oi Sycamores. . Strong wooden stockade. Garden Palisade covered 
 
 with ever-blooming rose-trees. *»\ Pomegranates. CCcD Orange-trees. 
 { ^ Gardens. OHJ- Cemetery. Q Negroes' houses. 
 
 1. Entrance of the Village. 2. Entrance into Silva Porto's house. 3. House. 
 4. Interior pateo or courtyard. 5. Kitchen and storeroom. 6. Servants' 
 houses. 7. Warehouse. 
 
 satisfaction to which I- have alluded. For situated as I 
 was, scarcely able to crawl, the determination grew 
 within me not to turn my back upon the unknown 
 regions that lay before me, let them be as full of 
 horrors as they might, but to overcome one by one the 
 
152 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 obstacles as they arose ; to reconstruct the edifice I had 
 raised with so much labour and thought, and which 
 had toppled over like a child's house of cards ; to create 
 resources where they had no existence ; and to organise 
 a fresh and grander expedition out of the ruins of the 
 one which had come to so untimely an end. 
 
 My resolve once taken, I lost no time in putting 
 it into execution. I began by engaging Verissimo 
 G on calves to accompany me, and managed to make 
 him blindly subservient to my wishes. 
 
 After patient study of the direction I proposed to 
 pursue, I determined to make directly for the Upper 
 Zambesi, following tbe lofty ridge of the country 
 in which the rivers of that part of Africa take their 
 rise. 
 
 On arriving at the Zambesi, I resolved to travel 
 eastward and survey the affluents of the left bank of 
 the stream, and descending to the Zumbo, proceed 
 thence to Quillimane by Tete and Senna. 
 
 The most experienced traders, who heard of my 
 project, assured me that I should not get half-way to 
 the Zambesi, and I believe they thought me not quite 
 right in my mind to attempt it. 
 
 I let them talk, and went quietly on with the organi- 
 sation of my staff and the preparation of the materials 
 necessary for my plans. 
 
 On the 27th day of March, being the first on which 
 I was enabled to use my pen freely, I wrote to the 
 Home Government, and to Pereira de Mello and Silva 
 Porto. I gave them an account of what had occurred 
 up to that time, and begged of them assistance and 
 advice, whilst I submitted my projects to their critical 
 examination. I despatched porters to Benguella with 
 the letters and then went on with my work, feeling 
 daily more confidence in myself. 
 
 It will scarcely be credited that a great portion of 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 153 
 
 the baggage left at Benguella in November, five 
 months previously, had not yet reached my hands ! 
 
 One morning, shortly after my taking up my 
 temporary abode in the village, there appeared 
 before me the ex-chefe of Caconda, and the exiled 
 Domingos, who were on their way back to that little 
 town. They stated that on their arrival at the Bihe 
 they had been engaged by Capello and Ivens in con- 
 structing their. encampment, and in conveying thither 
 the goods that were stored at Belmonte. 
 
 Ensign Castro was considerably depressed in spirit, 
 and out of the cases of provisions left me by Ivens I 
 gave him a supply of sugar, tea, coffee, and other 
 necessaries to help him on his journey. 
 
 I fancy that that gentleman, after being the cause of 
 the sufferings I had to undergo, and the fearful risks I 
 had to run, can find no reason to complain of the way 
 I received him at the Bihe', if truth or justice has any 
 place in his heart. 
 
 As to Domingos, if I remember rightly, I gave him 
 a letter of recommendation to the governor of Benguella, 
 whom he was desirous of approaching to solicit some 
 favour. 
 
 It was in this way I treated the two men who had 
 worked me most evil in Africa, for it was undoubtedly 
 through them I had to face such mortal perils, with 
 inefficient means and ere I had experience to avoid or 
 vanquish them. 
 
 At the beginning of April, being then much improved 
 in health, I had sixty carriers in readiness, and only 
 waited for the arrival of the Benguella loads to make 
 up my packages and take a fresh departure. 
 
 My life was at that time one of incessant toil ; and I 
 was using every leisure moment in compiling a book 
 of notes and data, so as to have at hand the formulae 
 that were necessary for my calculations. Amongst 
 
154 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 other things I was making tables of square and cube 
 roots which I calculated for numbers 1 to 1000. I 
 drew up with immense labour sundry trigonometrical 
 forms, for in Europe, in order to render my tables of 
 logarithms more portable, I had had them bound, 
 suppressing the explanatory portions ; and through a 
 deplorable oversight, in packing off to Portugal from 
 Loando a quantity of presumably useless baggage, my 
 mathematical books got put up with the rest. 
 
 Let not the learned contemptuously smile at my 
 simplicity while recounting the difficulties I had to 
 struggle with in the Bihe, in order to succeed in tran- 
 scribing upon paper formulae of so common a kind. A 
 man who is unaccustomed to expound mathematics finds 
 himself not unfrequently at a considerable loss to 
 solve a very simple question, when he cannot lay 
 his hand upon a book which would freshen his dull 
 memory. At the Bihe all my books were wanting, 
 and I therefore set myself to work to supply the 
 deficiency, and whether people may laugh or not, 
 1 tell them frankly it was a hard nut to crack. My 
 entire library consisted of three almanacks for 1878, 
 1879 and 1880, the tables of logarithms I have before 
 referred to, without any explanatory matter whatsoever, 
 the Eurico of Herculano, a volume of poetry of Casimiro 
 d' Abreu, and a little book of Flamarion's, As Maravilhas 
 Celestes. 
 
 It must be confessed that there was but little to be 
 got out of them to refresh one's memory upon questions 
 of x and y. 
 
 But my difficulties did not stop there. I had to do 
 and think about a lot of things at one and the same 
 time, — and things too which were somewhat incompat- 
 ible with each other. For instance, when I had almost 
 succeeded in reconstructing one of the formulae of Neper 
 for solving spherical triangles, in would come one of the 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 155 
 
 young niggers to inquire whether the fowl for dinner 
 was to be boiled or roasted. (By-the-bye, during my 
 stay in the Bine, I consumed one hundred and sixty- 
 nine fowls !) No sooner had I got to work again, after 
 this interruption, than another of the fellows would 
 make his appearance, requesting a bit of soap to wash 
 the linen. He would perhaps be followed by some 
 carriers who wanted specially to speak with me ; and I 
 was not unfrequently bothered by envoys from the native 
 chief, whose sole object was to dun me out of some 
 yards of cloth. Truly my patience was often sorely 
 tried. 
 
 I had made, and continued making, a great number 
 of meteorological observations. 
 
 My chronometers were perfectly regulated and my 
 position determined. Sundry excursions which I made 
 in the country, with my compass in hand, allowed me 
 to draw up a map, a rough one, it is true, but as nearly 
 correct as could be expected or required on a journey of 
 exploration. Notwithstanding all this hard work, or 
 perhaps in consequence of it, my mind was at ease and 
 I gave but scant thought to the tribulations I had to 
 undergo, when I left this quiet shelter of Bihe' behind 
 me. 
 
 Before resuming the narrative of my adventures, my 
 readers will not deem it amiss if I say a few words about 
 this country, so important and wealthy and yet so little 
 known to us in Portugal, where such knowledge should, 
 nevertheless, be of the highest interest. 
 
 The Bihe' is bounded on the north by the country 
 of the Andulo ; on the N.W. by the Bailundo ; on 
 the west by the Moma country ; on the S.W. by 
 the Gonzellos of Caquingne ; and on the south and east 
 by the free Ganguellas tribes. The river Cuqueima is 
 almost a natural boundary of the Bihe on the west, 
 south and east ; but, in point of fact, the authority of 
 
156 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 the native king of the Bihe extends beyond that river 
 at various points. The country is small in extent, but 
 is thickly peopled for Africa. 
 
 I roughly estimated its area at 2500 square miles, 
 and a still rougher calculation made me estimate its 
 population at 95,000 inhabitants, yielding thus barely 
 38 inhabitants to the square mile ; and. although this 
 number appears to us very small, as being less than a 
 third of that in our own country, it is considerable for 
 South Central Africa, where the population is, as a rule, 
 very scattered. 
 
 Not so very long ago, this territory of the Bihe' was 
 covered with dense jungle, abounded in elephants, and 
 boasted but a few sparse hamlets inhabited by the Gan- 
 guella race. 
 
 The river Cuanza, after its confluence with the 
 Cuqueima, divides the Andulo country from that of the 
 Gamba, which lies to the eastward. The monarch or 
 Sova of the Gamba was a certain Bomba, who had a 
 daughter of extreme beauty called Cahanda. This 
 Sova Bomba resided on the left bank of the river 
 Loando, an affluent of the Cuanza. 
 
 It happened that the beautiful princess Cahanda 
 requested her father's permission to visit certain relatives, 
 ladies of distinction in the village of Ungundo, the 
 only place of any importance in the Bihe of those days. 
 
 King Bomba's daughter having gone on this visit, 
 it also happened that a famous elephant hunter by the 
 name of Bihe, son of the Sova of the Humbe, attended 
 by a numerous suite, passed the Cunene and in the 
 pursuit of his sport reached those remote regions. 
 
 One day, this worthy disciple of St. Hubert being 
 hungry, and finding himself near the village of Un- 
 gundo, repaired thither to seek materials for a meal. 
 On this occasion he cast eyes upon the beautiful 
 Cahanda, and, as a matter of course, fell deeply in love 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 157 
 
 with her. In questions of love it would not appear that 
 there is much difference between Africa and Europe, 
 and very shortly after the accidental meeting of the 
 young people, Cahanda was wooed and won, and Bihe' 
 planted the first stockade of the great village which 
 remains to this day the capital of the country — a 
 country on which he bestowed his own name and 
 whereof he caused himself to be proclaimed the Sova 
 or king. The scattered Ganguella tribes were little by 
 little subjected, and the father of the first Queen of the 
 Bihe', becoming reconciled to his daughter, allowed a 
 considerable emigration of his people to the latter state. 
 The marriage of their sovereign was succeeded by many 
 other unions between the women of the north and the 
 huntsmen who had followed in his train, and thus was 
 the country of the Bihe' called into existence. 
 
 The Bihenos are therefore Mohumbes, — a name 
 bestowed in the western part of South Africa on the 
 descendants of the Eumbe race, who, however, are met 
 with not only in the Bihe, but in various other points, 
 more especially opposite the coast between Mossamedes 
 and Benguella, mixed with the Mundombes, who are 
 the genuine people of that country. At the present 
 date, the true Mohumbe race in the Bihe is represented 
 by what we may style " the nobility " and wealthy 
 inhabitants of the country, descendants of the huntsmen 
 of the first king ; but although thus boasting of high 
 lineage, it has greatly degenerated through the admix- 
 ture of many different races. This is intelligible 
 enough, for as the Bihe', from its very outset, was a 
 great emporium of the slave-trade, and was colonised 
 in great part by slaves of divers races, the lower classes 
 are the issue of an inexplicable mixture, and the 
 nobility itself, by its numerous amours, has introduced 
 among its descendants blood of the remotest countries 
 of South Africa. 
 
158 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 Of the union of Bihe and the beautiful princess 
 Cahanda was issue an only son, on whom was bestowed 
 the name of Iambi, and who succeeded his father in 
 the government of the country. Iambi had two sons, 
 whereof the elder was called Giraul and the second 
 Cangombi. Giraul was proclaimed king on the death 
 of his father, and jealous of his brother's power and 
 influence among the people, caused him to be seized 
 secretly at night, and sold as a slave to a negro who 
 was conveying a gang of such unfortunates to Loando. 
 
 By the merest chance Cangombi was purchased at 
 Loando by the Governor-General, whose favourite slave 
 he became. As time rolled on, the tyranny and 
 despotism of Giraul caused him to be so detested by his 
 people that they conspired against him, and certain of 
 the nobles departed secretly for Loando, laden with 
 ivory, to ransom his brother and set him on the throne 
 after deposing the tyrant. 
 
 The then governor of Angola, seeing the profit which 
 might be reaped by the Portuguese crown from this 
 dispute, not only delivered up Cangombi without any 
 ransom, but loaded him with presents, and even lent 
 him assistance in the struggle against his brother. So 
 it came to pass that Cangombi returned to the Bihe with 
 a large following, among whom were many Portuguese. 
 War being declared in due form against Giraul, he 
 was quickly defeated, being betrayed by the desertion 
 of his men ; and Cangombi, more generous than his 
 brother, when assuming the reins of power in his stead, 
 assigned to him a village, with territory attached to it, 
 for his support. 
 
 Four years afterwards, Giraul, untutored by past 
 events, revolted and tried to surprise the capital. Again 
 discomfited and made prisoner, he was delivered by his 
 brother into the hands of the Ganguellas, who dwelt 
 beyond the Cuanza, that they might eat him ; not that 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 159 
 
 these Ganguellas were positively cannibals, but from 
 time to time they had, it appears, no objection to feast 
 off a fellow-creature. 
 
 I did not succeed in learning the name of the 
 governor who lent armed assistance to the younger son 
 of Iambi in order to raise him to power, but I feel 
 convinced that some record of the circumstance must 
 exist among the archives of the Ministry of Marine and 
 Ultramar, as such' a step could not fail to be communi- 
 cated to the .authorities of the Home Government. 
 
 Cangombi became a great king, and had eight sons, 
 whereof six were reigning Sovas of the Bine', which is 
 not so surprising when we consider that the nearest in 
 point of kinship to the head of the family assumes the 
 reins of power. Thus so long as there are any sons 
 living of a native king, the grandsons are set aside, and 
 the eldest son of the eldest son only ascends the throne 
 in default of any uncles, — younger brothers of his 
 father. 
 
 On account of this law, Cahueue, the eldest son of 
 Cangombi, inherited his dignity, and through successive 
 deaths his brothers Moma, Bandua, Ungulo, Leamula, 
 and Caiangula, did so likewise. The two sons of 
 Cangombi who were not Sovas were Calali and Ochi, 
 they having died early. Ochi came next in order of 
 seniority to Cahueue, and leaving a son, the latter was 
 proclaimed Sova on the death of his uncle Caiangula, 
 as his father s eldest brother left no issue. 
 
 This Sova was named Muquinda, and on his death 
 the government passed to his cousin Gubengui, eldest 
 son of the Sova Moma, the nearest of kin to his father. 
 Gubengui was followed in turn by another brother 
 Quilungo, who died, in the act of his proclamation, 
 within his very capital. 
 
 Of all the eight sons of Cangombi, only one legitimate 
 descendant remained, son of the Sova Bandua, who 
 
160 
 
 THE KING'S EIFLE. 
 
 then assumed power. This was Quillemo, the reigning 
 potentate of the Bihe. 
 
 There nevertheless exists a natural son of Moma, by 
 name Canhamangole, who is pointed out as Quillemo's 
 successor. And as he has many sons, they will in all 
 human probability reign after him. 
 
 It will be seen from this brief summary of the history 
 of Bihe' that the country is of recent origin, and that 
 almost from its very commencement' intimate relations 
 existed between the Portuguese and Bihenos, through 
 the intervention of the Governor-General of Angola — 
 on belialf of the Sova Cangombi, the grandfather of 
 the reigning sovereign Quillemo, and grandson of the 
 founder of the Biheno monarchy. 
 
 It happens, therefore, that the Bihe', from the date 
 of its foundation, has been governed by thirteen Sovas 
 in five generations, as represented in the following 
 table : — 
 
 Bihe (Sova, the founder) ... 1st generation. 
 
 Iambi (.Sova) 2nd generation. 
 
 I 
 
 Giraiil (Sova) Cangombi (Sova) . . . 3rd generation. 
 
 I 
 
 II I I I I I I 
 
 Oahueue Ochi Moma Bandua Ungulo Leamula Caiangula Calali . 4th generation. 
 (Sova) (did not reign) (Sova) (Sova) (Sova) (Sova) (Sova) (did not 
 I I I reign) 
 
 Muquinda Gubengui Qnillrmo 5th generation. 
 
 (Sova) (Sova). (reigning Sova) 
 Quilungo 
 (did not reign) 
 
 In the map of Angola by Penheiro Furtado the 
 Bihe is marked ; but its origin could not long have 
 preceded the production of that map. 
 
 The Bihenos are little given to agriculture or to 
 any kind of manual labour. All the work is done 
 by women, wdio alone cultivate the earth. 
 
 The men are fond of travelling, their roaming 
 disposition being probably due to their origin, as their 
 forefathers came from distant parts ; and they have no 
 hesitation in penetrating into the most remote regions 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 161 
 
 to carry on their trade in ivory and slaves. Availing 
 themselves of this disposition, certain adventurous 
 spirits, such as Silva Porto, G-uilherme, Pernambucano, 
 Ladislao, Magiar and other traders, began to direct and 
 guide the Bihenos in their excursions, and by so doing 
 bestowed a great service upon the world at large, for 
 by opening new markets to trade they opened new 
 fields for civilisation. But it was not their trade alone 
 which little by little increased the commercial activity 
 of Benguella ; encouraged by example, and gradually 
 losing their fear of the white men, the natives of remoter 
 
 Fig. 19. — Woman of the Bihe, digging. 
 
 districts appeared with their wares and did business 
 directly with the commercial houses of Benguella. 
 
 The trading excursions into the interior of the 
 country, initiated by the whites, were soon imitated by 
 their black brethren, and at first a few, and afterwards 
 many, obtaining a certain credit in the Benguella 
 markets, proceeded to the Bihe to organise expeditions, 
 which started thence for the interior in search of wax 
 and ivory. 
 
 I became acquainted with many negroes who turned 
 over a capital of a thousand to twelve hundred pounds 
 sterling, and some even more ; one of them indeed, by 
 name Ohaquingunde, originally a slave of Silva Porto, 
 
 vol. I. M 
 
162 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 during my sojourn at the Bihe arrived from the in- 
 terior, where he had traded on his own account to the 
 extent of 14 contos of reis, or about £3500 sterling ! 
 
 It is not uncommon to fall in with a Portuguese 
 white at the Bihe, who has escaped from the prisons on 
 the coast, acting as secretary to some wealthy negro 
 trader. 
 
 Where travelling is concerned as connected with 
 trade, nothing comes amiss to the Bihenos, who seem 
 
 Fig. 20. — Biheno Carrier on the Marcii. 
 
 ready for anything. If they only had the power of 
 telling where they had been and describing what they 
 had seen, the geographers of Europe would not have 
 occasion to leave blank great part of the map of South 
 Central Africa. 
 
 The Biheno quits his home with the utmost in- 
 difference, and bearing a load of sixty-six pounds of 
 goods will start for the interior, where he will remain 
 two, three and four years ; and on his return, after that 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 163 
 
 lapse of time, will be received just as though he had 
 been on a journey of as many days. 
 
 Silva Porto, whilst engaged in doing business with 
 the Zambesi, was despatching his negroes in other 
 directions, and was trading at the same time in the 
 Mucusso country" and in the Lunda and Luapula terri- 
 tories. 
 
 The fame of the Bihenos has travelled far and wide, 
 and when G-raca attempted his journey to the Matianvo, 
 he first proceeded to the Bihe to procure carriers. 
 
 A Biheno rarely deserts his caravan, or makes off 
 with his load — events w T hich are by no means uncom- 
 mon among the natives of Zanzibar. But the Bihenos 
 have another great advantage over the latter. Al- 
 though much given to trade in slaves, they do not 
 themselves incite internal wars to procure them ; they 
 will purchase them of any who are willing to sell, but 
 they never seek to get them by force. This of course 
 is referable simply to their trade with the interior ; 
 for in their wars with neighbouring countries they do 
 pretty much as other negro tribes do, and commit un- 
 heard-of cruelties. 
 
 Notwithstanding many high qualities, great pluck 
 and readiness to undergo fatigue and danger, the 
 Bihenos have many grave defects ; and I do not know 
 in Africa a race more profoundly vicious, more openly 
 depraved, more persistently cruel and more cunningly 
 hypocritical, than they. 
 
 These people have a certain emulation among one 
 another as travellers, and I met with many who prided 
 themselves on having gone where no others had ever 
 been, and which they called discovering new lands. 
 They are brought up to wandering from their very 
 infancy, and all caravans carry innumerable children, 
 who, with loads proportionate to their strength, ac- 
 company their parents or relatives on the longest 
 
 M 2 
 
164 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 journeys ; hence, it is no uncommon thing to find a 
 young fellow of five-and-twenty who has travelled in 
 the Matianvo, Niangue, Luapula, Zambesi, and Mucusso 
 districts, having commenced his peregrinations at the 
 age of nine years. 
 
 A trader who arrives at the Bihe with the intention 
 of pushing into the interior has two means open to him 
 for obtaining carriers. One is to apply to the Sova or 
 the native chiefs for the required number, and make 
 them presents in return ; the other to give notice 
 of the journey and wait for the men themselves to 
 apply. 
 
 The former is a bad course, for beyond the great 
 expense incurred in the presents that it is absolutely 
 necessary to make to the persons to whom application 
 for the porters is made, the latter are obliged to 
 go, and the party obtaining them becomes responsible 
 for their lives towards their families or lords. And 
 besides, the persons applied to, with .the idea of extort- 
 ing more presents, throw all sorts of petty obstacles in 
 the way so as to retard the departure of the traveller, 
 and one may be sure that their exigencies will increase 
 if the trader be in any way dependent on them. 
 
 The second means is far the better, for they who 
 come forward under such circumstances are free blacks ; 
 they offer themselves spontaneously, and should any 
 unfortunately die during the trader's service, he 
 becomes, by the law of the country, in no way respon- 
 sible for the event, inasmuch as the men were under no 
 compulsion in making the offer. 
 
 This is a favourable occasion to speak of Quissongos, 
 to whom I alluded in my last chapter, and of 
 Pombeiros. Porters and carriers of whatsoever tribe, 
 Bihenos or not, form themselves into small parties 
 under the command of one among them who becomes 
 their chief. This chief, from the coast as far as 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 165 
 
 Caquingue, is called Quissongo, and in the Bihe and 
 Bailundo countries, Pombeiro. 
 
 It is the Pombeiro who comes forward to negotiate, 
 he having ten, or more, or fewer carriers at his call. 
 The parties or groups are very differently constituted. 
 Some are composed of kinsfolk, who select one of their 
 number to act as Pombeiro, and they are of course all 
 freemen. Others are formed of independent members, 
 freemen also, who combine together under the orders 
 of a Pombeiro in whom they feel confidence ; and there 
 are others, consisting of groups of slaves belonging to 
 the very Pombeiros who command them. 
 
 The duty of the Pombeiro is to watch over his band, 
 and he is responsible for its members to the head of 
 the caravan. He eats and sleeps with them, and in 
 fact may be looked upon as their captain. 
 
 The Pombeiro carries no load, but, in the event of 
 the sickness or death of one of his men, he takes his 
 place as temporary carrier. During the march his 
 place is at the tail of the train, and if a carrier lags 
 behind he is there to look after or assist him. 
 
 These men are never paid in advance, and in regular 
 trading journeys their recompense is very small. 
 
 For instance, a carrier will receive for the trip from 
 the Bihe to G-aranganja (Luapula) twelve pieces of 
 trade cloth to the value of about twelve shillings ster- 
 ling, and for the return journey a piece of ivory worth 
 say twenty more, making in all thirty-two shillings. This 
 is irrespective of his food, as it is the duty of the chief 
 of the caravan to feed all his people during the journey 
 with the exception of the first three days after leaving 
 the Bihe — the men carrying rations with them for 
 that time. 
 
 There is an exception also to this rule. Many traders 
 after leaving the Bihe appoint a certain number of 
 Pombeiros to start for different places, and these frag- 
 
166 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 mentary bands are either detached on their way or at 
 the end of the journey. They entrust to these officials 
 a certain number of loads, for which they are expected 
 to account on their return. These loads are called 
 banzos, and the Pombeiro and carriers engaged in such 
 separate ventures board themselves from the very 
 outset of the journey. Saving in this instance, the 
 trader is bound to keep his men and their Pombeiros 
 in food in the manner above described. 
 
 The Pombeiros never undertake a venture for any 
 determinate time, and their gains are the same for the 
 shorter as for the longer period. They are employed, 
 in fact, by the job, for it is well known that in Africa 
 the negroes make no account of time. 
 
 The customs of the Bihenos are pretty nearly the 
 same as those of the inhabitants of Caquingue, and 
 contact with the whites has produced no change for the 
 better among the natives. 
 
 They have no idea of any religious faith, they adore 
 neither sun nor moon, they setup no idols, but live on, 
 quite satisfied with their sorceries and divinations. 
 
 Nevertheless, a notion is prevalent among them as 
 to the immortality of the soul, or rather as to its exis- 
 tence in a kind of purgatory until such time as the 
 survivors are enabled to fulfil certain precepts or 
 perform certain acts of vengeance on behalf of the 
 dead. 
 
 Their form of government is an absolute monarchy, 
 and has a good deal of feudalism about it. 
 
 Every one is, for the most part, a judge in his own 
 cause, and when I speak of the mucanos I will describe 
 how justice is done in this part of the world. 
 
 The most striking incidents among the Bihenos are 
 those connected with their sovereigns or Sovas, and 
 more especially with regard to the proclamation and 
 death of the latter. Before, however, describing these 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 167 
 
 two greal events it is necessary to say a few words 
 about the court. 
 
 The Sova is surrounded by a certain number of 
 subjects who are styled Macotas, and are assimilated by 
 some to Ministers among ourselves, but this is really 
 not the case. The Macotas form, it is true, a sort of 
 council to which the Sova always submits his reso- 
 lutions, but of whose opinion he makes but little account. 
 They are seculos and favourites of the Sova, but nothing 
 more ; and by seculos must be understood the nobility, 
 sons of nobles, or personages ennobled by the sove- 
 reign. 
 
 Many of these seculos, who possess libatas, or fortified 
 places of residence, assume, within their enclosure the 
 airs of native sovereigns, and their people, when 
 addressing them, use the expression Nd coco, meaning 
 " Your Majesty." 
 
 In addition to the Macotas, there are three negroes 
 who are in attendance on the Sova, and who, when he 
 gives audience, squat upon the ground near him, and 
 carefully gather up the royal spittle, to cast it out of 
 doors. There is another who carries the royal seat or 
 chair, and there is the fool, an indispensable adjunct of 
 the court of every Sova and even of opulent and power- 
 ful seculos. To the fool is assigned the duty of clean- 
 sing the door of the Sova's house, and the space all 
 round it. 
 
 The libatas are defended by a strong wooden stockade, 
 almost always covered with enormous sycamores, and a 
 second stockade within the other defends and encloses 
 the residence of the great man. This second enclosure 
 is called the lombe. 
 
 Having given these brief explanations, I will say a 
 few words as to what occurs on the death or proclama- 
 tion of the sovereign. 
 
 The decease of the Sova is of course known to the 
 
168 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 Macotas, who keep the matter a profound secret. They 
 give out to the people that their king is ill, and there- 
 fore does not appear. Meanwhile they lay out the 
 corpse on the bed within the hut and cover it with a 
 cloth — at least, this is the custom in Caquingue, but in 
 the Bihe country they hang it up by the neck to the 
 roof of the hut. 
 
 The body so remains until putrefaction and insects 
 have left the bones bare ; or until, as in the Bihe, the 
 head drops from the body. 
 
 It is when this occurs that they announce his death 
 and proceed to the interment of his remains. The bones 
 are placed within an ox-hide and deposited in a hut 
 which exists within the lo/nbe, and serves as the 
 mausoleum of all the Sovas. The hut in which the 
 corpse putrefied is demolished and the material of which 
 it is composed is carried out of the enclosure and 
 scattered about the jungle. 
 
 From what has been already explained, it is scarcely 
 necessary to say that the death of a Sova is always 
 produced by sorcery or witchcraft, and that some 
 unfortunate has to pay with his life, not for the sorcery, 
 which he never committed, but the private vengeance 
 of one of the Macotas. No sooner is the death of the 
 Sova announced, than the people rush madly about, and 
 for some days not only strip and pilfer all persons who 
 are met with in the neighbourhood of the capital, but 
 make captives of the strangers themselves, and subse- 
 quently dispose of them for slaves. 
 
 The Macotas then seek out the rightful heir and 
 accompany him to the Libata grande or capital ; on his 
 arrival, however, he does not at first penetrate the 
 lombe or inner enclosure, but takes up his residence 
 among the people, living, for a time, as one of them. 
 No sooner, however, has the heir-apparent entered the 
 Libata, than two bands of huntsmen issue forth, one in 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 169 
 
 search of an antelope ( Catoblepas taunna), and the other 
 of a human victim. 
 
 An antelope being started, a member of the former 
 of the two bands fires at the animal and at once takes 
 to flight, his companions rushing forward to cut off the 
 creature's head, for should this be done by the hunts- 
 man who shot it down, he would be at once assassinated 
 and none might say by whose hand. 
 
 The other troop, in pursuit of human game, seize 
 the first poor wretch, man or woman, who falls in 
 their way, and hurrying the victim off to the jungle, 
 cut off the head, which they bring back with great 
 care, abandoning the body where it fell. On arriving 
 at the Libata, they wait for the troop on the hunt for 
 the antelope, as it is always much easier to find and 
 kill a man than to find and kill any particular animal. 
 
 Having put the two heads into one basket, the 
 medicine-man appears and begins to perform the 
 proper remedies to enable the new Sova to assume the 
 reins of government, and his tomfoolery being at an 
 end, he declares that the sovereign may enter the 
 lombe. Attended by the Macotas, the Sova enters 
 accordingly, in the midst of loud acclamations and a 
 great expenditure of gunpowder. 
 
 The first step taken by the Sova on attaining to 
 power, is to select from among his women the one he 
 chooses to make his wife, who is styled Inaculo ; the 
 others still continue to reside in the Lombe but not 
 within the precincts of the royal residence. 
 
 Polygamy, however, is an established institution of 
 the Bihe country, as it is of all South Central Africa. 
 
 Crimes in the Bihe are always tried in first instance 
 by the parties injured or offended, and it is only if the 
 convicted criminal refuses to submit to the payment of 
 the fine imposed, that the matter, and then only in 
 rare cases, is brought before the Sova. As a rule, 
 
170 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 sentence is passed and carried out by the injured 
 parties themselves. The word which strikes most 
 terror in the Bihe is miicano, a word that does not 
 merely express a crime committed, but an idea that 
 embraces both the crime and the payment of a fine. 
 
 All crimes among these people are expiated by 
 money, that is to say, the payment of a fine ; and there 
 are no intermediate penalties between a fine and death. 
 When a wealthy person upon whom a mucano is 
 pending, refuses to pay, the party injured, if he be 
 powerful, makes a seizure of some of the others 
 property, for a far higher value than the amount of 
 the fine ; and the property so seized remains in deposit, 
 to be subsequently sold, or appropriated by the person 
 effecting the seizure. 
 
 Should, however, a seizure be held unjust, the party 
 committing it is compelled by the Sova to make resti- 
 tution and give a pig, by way of solace, to the party 
 prejudiced. 
 
 This system offers a premium to extortion, and not 
 a day passes without the most stupendous mucanos 
 being put forward. 
 
 One of the most common excuses for its imposition 
 is adultery, wives being urged on by their affectionate 
 husbands to entangle some male friend or acquaintance 
 known to be possessed of means, so that he may be 
 subsequently compelled to pay a mucano. The head of 
 a caravan is bound to pay the mucanos of his negroes, 
 and he is responsible for their good behaviour. 
 
 When a white man, who is liable for the mucanos of 
 his negroes, has sufficient force at his command to refuse 
 to make such payment, his accusers will wait — some- 
 times for years — until they can fall in with another 
 and a weaker white, on whose goods they effect their 
 attachment, letting him know at the same time that 
 they make him the scapegoat of his brother pale- 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 171 
 
 face, out of whom he must get his compensation — if he 
 can. 
 
 If a man under the charge of a mucano should die, 
 the unfortunate wretch who heedlessly takes up his 
 quarters in the dead man's house, becomes responsible 
 for the former tenant. 
 
 The mode in which justice, so called, is administered 
 in the Bihe, is an enormous obstacle to trade, and 
 the source of most serious losses to the Benguella 
 houses. 
 
 During my stay in Silva Porto's residence, some 
 negroes came in, bringing with them a hen which 
 they intended using in certain remedies, and the 
 gardener, at sight of the fowl, happened to say that it 
 was very like one of his. These unlucky words became 
 the object of a mucano and cost the poor gardener some 
 8 yards of cotton stuff, which he had to pay the owner 
 of the bird. 
 
 No sooner does a stranger arrive at the Bihe with 
 goods in his possession, than attempts are made to render 
 him the victim of innumerable mucanos, under cover of 
 which great part of his property is niched from him. 
 
 The traders on reaching the Bihe are defrauded in 
 this way to such an extent, that in many instances only 
 a third of the goods they have brought with them is 
 left wherewith to do business in the interior. Quilherme 
 the Caudimba, Verissimo's father, on the very last 
 occasion of his going there for trading purposes, was 
 compelled to give up goods to the value of £150 ster- 
 ling on account of a mucano planted on him, through 
 one of his men having purchased a piece of mutton for 
 three cartridges and not paying for it on the same day 
 but offering payment on the day after, when it was 
 refused. During my stay at the Bihe, Silva Porto 
 himself had to pay a mucano of £175 on account of 
 even a greater trifle still. 
 
172 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 It is this mucano, this infamous, because legalised 
 and authorised mode of wholesale robbery, which is 
 the curse of the trade and the main cause of the decline 
 of the Bihe. 
 
 It was the mucano which drove Silva Porto and all 
 the other honest traders out of the country. 
 
 If this were once suppressed, and if the highway to 
 Benguella were rendered safe so that trade caravans 
 might pass to and fro unmolested, we should within an 
 incredibly short space behold the trade of Benguella 
 tripled, and new founts of wealth, now choked and 
 unused through want of security, welling forth and 
 giving life to European industry. 
 
 The people of the Bihe are admirably fitted to carry 
 out great undertakings. If we could only eradicate the 
 viper of ignorance which devours their very entrails, 
 raise them from their brute condition to the height of 
 men, and direct them in the right road, we should soon 
 see them take the lead in the march of progress and 
 leave most of the other African peoples far behind 
 them. 
 
 The African negroes are not unlike the best breeds 
 of horses, and those among them who at the outset are 
 the most difficult of control end by becoming, with 
 proper training, the most docile and obedient. 
 
 The tribes in which indolence and cowardice pre- 
 dominate can with difficulty be civilised : but the la- 
 borious and high-spirited would offer a far easier task 
 to their instructors. 
 
 The Bihenos, like all the tribes of this part of Africa, 
 are much given to drunkenness. The inevitable aguar- 
 dente has found its way thither, and where that fails 
 they manufacture capata. 
 
 Capata, quimbombo or chimbombo, for they call the 
 liquor indifferently by the three names, is a species of 
 beer made from Indian corn. In those parts where the 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 173 
 
 hop (Humulus lupulus) is cultivated, the people use the 
 conical seeds of that plant wherewith to make their 
 drink. 
 
 For this purpose the seeds are reduced to powder, 
 and being mixed with maize flour, the whole is put 
 with a large quantity of water into an enormous pipkin 
 and made to boil for some eight or ten hours. When 
 taken from the fire and allowed to cool, it is capata, 
 which is drunk at once. 
 
 Acetic fermentation predominates in this preparation, 
 and the alcoholic fermentation is so small that it 
 requires a great quantity to produce intoxication. As 
 the liquor is not filtered, it of course holds a good deal 
 of the flour in suspension, and is therefore rather a fluid 
 mass than a pure liquid. It must have great nourish- 
 ing power, as there are many of the negroes who will 
 pass a whole day and even more without food, as- 
 siduously imbibing capata. 
 
 In those districts where hops are wanting, their 
 place is supplied by a flour made of maize in a state of 
 germination ; the latter produced by burying the corn 
 or steeping it in water for a lew days. 
 
 In the honey season, considerable alcoholic fermenta- 
 tion is produced by the addition of honey to the capata, 
 which becomes, in the course of a lew days, transformed 
 into alcohol. The liquor thus prepared is very intoxi- 
 cating, and it then bears the name of quiassa. 
 
 There is also another drink which can scarcely be 
 termed refreshing, but is nevertheless both pleasant and 
 very nutritious. 
 
 This is made from the root of a herbaceous plant that 
 my imperfect botanical knowledge does not allow me 
 to classify, and which the negroes call imbundi. They 
 make a strong decoction of this root which, as con- 
 taining a great quantity of saccharine matter, 
 ferments readily, and add to it the flour of the Indian 
 
174 
 
 THE KING'S BIFLE. 
 
 corn, — drinking it when cold. This liquor they call 
 
 quissangua. 
 
 The food of the Bihe people is almost entirely vege- 
 table, for having little cattle, which they never kill to 
 eat, they go on for months tasting no animal food 
 beyond an occasional treat off the flesh of swine. Pigs 
 abound there in a domesticated state. They were, I 
 believe, introduced by Silva Porto. The country being 
 thickly peopled, game is scarce, and the little there is 
 consists of small antelopes (Ceplialophus mergens), diffi- 
 cult to bring down on account of their excessive shy- 
 ness. 
 
 It must not be thought, however, that the Bihenos 
 have any objection to flesh ; on the contrary, they 
 devour all that falls in their way, and prefer it in a 
 state of putrefaction. 
 
 Lions, jackals, hyenas, crocodiles, and all the carnivora 
 are consumed with like gusto, but they have a special 
 liking for dogs, which they fatten up for food. This 
 fondness may perhaps have arisen from the scarcity of 
 animal food existing in the country. They are not posi- 
 tively cannibals, but they do from time to time in- 
 dulge in a mouthful or two of a roasted neighbour. 
 They prefer, it appears, the old, and a white-haired 
 ancient is a present fit for a Sova or a wealthy native 
 chief who is going to give a banquet. 
 
 The sovereigns of the Bihe frequently hold high 
 festival in their libatas called the " Feast of the 
 Quissunge," at which are immolated and devoured five 
 persons ; viz. one man and four women, who may be 
 thus classified: one woman who makes pipkins; another 
 just delivered of her first child ; another who has a 
 goitre (a common complaint in the country) ; and 
 another who makes baskets. The man must be a 
 deer-hunter. 
 
 The victims being taken are decapitated and their 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 175 
 
 heads cast into the jungle. The bodies are brought 
 into the lombe or inner enclosure of the royal residence, 
 where they are quartered, and an ox being killed, its 
 flesh is cooked with the human flesh, partly by roasting 
 and partly boiling in capata ; so that everything which 
 appears at the banquet is mixed with human blood. 
 As soon as this sinister and repugnant meal is ready, 
 the Sova sends out notice that he is about to begin the 
 Quissunge, and all the inhabitants of the place hurriedly 
 flock to the entertainment. 
 
 The Bihenos, among other strange tastes, are passion- 
 ately fond of termites or white ants, and destroy their 
 habitations to seize and eat them raw. 
 
 The people when at home are thorough thieves, and 
 lay their hands upon anything which comes in their 
 way ; abroad, however, they not only abstain from 
 pilfering, but, as carriers, are most faithful to their 
 packs. 
 
 Should a caravan happen to camp in the Bihe', while 
 passing through the country, notice should at once be 
 given to the chief who owns the land, accompanied by 
 some trifling present; in default of which the inhabitants 
 of the neighbouring village would be authorised to pilfer 
 whatsoever they could lay hands on. The present, how- 
 ever, being made to the land-owner, he becomes at once 
 responsible for anything that is missing. 
 
 It is a matter of necessity also to make a present, or 
 rather pay tribute (quibanda), to the Sovereign. It is 
 not advisable to make this offering too costly a one, for 
 his Majesty, as a rule is never satisfied with what is 
 given, but always demands more. 
 
 The libatas or fortified villages (and they all of them 
 are more or less fortified from the coast to the Bihe), 
 are counterparts of each other, saving such trifling 
 deviations as are due to the configuration of the soil. 
 They are composed of groups of huts constructed of 
 
176 
 
 TEE KING S RIFLE. 
 
 wood and covered with thatch, surrounded by a 
 stockade or palisade, the height of which varies from 
 six to fifteen feet. This palisade is formed of stakes of 
 iron-wood, seven inches in diameter, some of which are 
 merely stuck into the ground, others are secured to 
 cross-pieces by means of withes, whilst others again are 
 strengthened by horizontal pieces fitting into enormous 
 forked uprights. 
 
 Another palisade of a similar character surrounds 
 
 Fig. 21. 
 
 Simple Palisade bound together Palisade with 
 
 Palisade. with withes. forked uprights. 
 
 the lombe or compound of the chief or sovereign of 
 the place. In many cases I observed groups of houses 
 isolated as it were by means of a palisade. 
 
 Most of the libatas, and the older ones more especially, 
 are shaded by leafy trees, and are almost invariably on 
 the banks of some river or brook. In many instances 
 they are built over the stream, which thus runs through 
 them. 
 
 The majority of them are rectangular in shape, though 
 some are elliptical or circular and others form very 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 177 
 
 irregular polygons. There is not the slightest order 
 observable in the buildings, and the formation of the 
 soil evidently dictates their arrangement. 
 
 Fig. 22. — Plan of a native Libata or fortified 
 
 VILLAGE IN THE BlHE. 
 
 Entrance. B. Conical hut where the Sovas are interred. C. Trophy 
 of Horns, a a a. Lombe, or residence of the Sova. E. Entrance 
 of the Lombe. o o. Sova's house. c c c. Houses of Sova's 
 concubines, d d d. Negroe's houses. 
 
 Fig. 23. — Post 
 
 ERECTED OUTSIDE 
 THE GATE OF THE 
 VILAGES. 
 
 The villages are fortified to resist the attacks of men, 
 as there are too few wild animals in the district to create 
 any fear of assaults from the latter ; indeed, this is so 
 clearly the case that in the interior of the country, 
 where wild beasts abound, the villages are open and 
 unprotected. 
 
 Wars among the blacks in this part of the world are, 
 in the majority of instances, utterly causeless, and a 
 reputation for wealth of any particular tribe will be 
 quite sufficient to ensure its being attacked. They 
 are purely freebooting expeditions. 
 
 When a sovereign has decided upon a war with 
 another potentate, or tribe, he sends his emissaries 
 round to the native chiefs and seculos of the vicinity, 
 to invite them to take part in the campaign ; they 
 hasten to the call, and, as was the case in Europe 
 
 VOL. I. X 
 
178 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 during the feudal times, they come with their warriors 
 to swell the armv of their suzerain. 
 
 There are some of these people who periodically and 
 systematically make war, and in the Nano country, for 
 instance, they swoop down every three years upon the 
 frontier lands, and carry off the cattle of the Mulonda, 
 Camba and Quillengues districts. Indeed they are apt 
 to boast that the inhabitants of the latter countries 
 breed cattle for them and act as their herdsmen. 
 
 It is a noteworthy circumstance as connected with 
 the wars in this part of Africa, that the attacking party 
 is ever the victor. 
 
 There are, of course, exceptions to this rule, but they 
 are very rare. 
 
 The most remarkable of these exceptions was the 
 attack made by Quillemo, the present Sova of the Bihe, 
 upon the Caquingue country, in which the Bihenos 
 were routed by the Gonzellos, and wherein Quillemo 
 himself became the prisoner of the Sova of Caquingue. 
 He would in all probability have lost his head as well 
 as his freedom, had it not been for Silva Porto and 
 G-uilherme Jose Goncalves (the Candimba), who paid a 
 heavy ransom for his recovery. 
 
 In the wars among the peoples of these countries, 
 perhaps not more than a fifth of the combatants carries 
 fire-arms, the other four- fifths being armed with bows and 
 arrows, hatchets and assegais. A war is looked upon 
 as something great and important, where every man 
 who carries a musket is supplied with thirty rounds ot 
 ammunition. The guns in use are tbose known in the 
 trade as lazarinas ; they are very long and of small 
 bore. They are manufactured in Belgium, and take their 
 name froma celebrated Portuguese gunmaker whoresided 
 in the city of Braga at the beginning of the century, 
 and whose productions acquired very considerable fame 
 both in Portugal and the colonies. His name of Lazaro 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 179 
 
 — lazarino, a native of Braga — is unblushingly engraved 
 on the barrels of the pieces manufactured in Belgium 
 for the blacks — and which are but a clumsy imitation 
 of the perfect weapon turned out by the celebrated 
 Portuguese gunsmith. 
 
 The Bihenos do not make use of leaden bullets, which 
 are, they say, too heavy, but manufacture iron ones 
 instead. The cartridges, which they also make, contain 
 fifteen gram mes of powder and are nine inches in length. 
 
 The iron bullets are of much smaller diameter than 
 the ordinary leaden ones, and weigh scarcely six to 
 seven grammes. Being of wrought iron, their shape 
 is rather that of an irregular polyhedron than a 
 sphere. 
 
 The guns thus loaded, are, as may well be imagined, 
 of but slight precision, and scarcely carry a distance of 
 a hundred yards. 
 
 The range of the arrow is from fifty to sixty yards, 
 but in the hands of the blacks it seldom does execution 
 at a greater distance than from twenty-five to thirty 
 yards. The assegais are composed entirely of iron; 
 are short and ornamented with sheep's or goats' hair. 
 They are never thrown — the Biheno in action grasping 
 the weapon tightly in his hand. 
 
 I said that the assegai was adorned with sheep's hair, 
 and I may mention, while upon the subject, that the 
 sheep in this part of the world have no wool. There 
 are two distinct species existing in the country, which 
 the blacks in Hambundo distinguish by the names of 
 ongue and omeme. The ongue has thick, short hair, 
 and the omeme, though furnished with much longer 
 hair, has no pretence to wool. 
 
 These animals, of exotic race, degenerate most de- 
 cidedly from the effects of climate and pasture. The 
 Bihenos have goats of a very inferior race, and their 
 horned cattle are small and of poor and weakly breed. 
 
 N 2 
 
180 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 Poultry abounds, but, similar to all the domestic 
 animals of the country, the birds are small of body. 
 
 Having thus gleaned from my notes what I con- 
 sidered most curious with respect to this interesting 
 country, reserving for a special chapter a fuller account 
 of its climate, capabilities and prospects, I again take 
 up my diary on the 14th of April, 1878. 
 
 The rains had been gradually decreasing, falling 
 from six to nine at night only, since the beginning of 
 the month, and yielding scarcely one-eighteenth of an 
 inch of water. The weather was splendid, and even the 
 few flecks of white cloud which after the rains floated 
 for a time at an enormous height in the upper air, at 
 length disappeared to leave the sky perfectly blue and 
 limpid, beautiful by day beneath the rays of a brilliant 
 sun, but infinitely more beautiful at night when spark- 
 lino: with myriads of stars which shed over this African 
 continent that strangely melancholy light which surely 
 is peculiar to the regions of the tropics. 
 
 The weather was admirably fitted for travelling ; it 
 was already the 14th of April, and yet I was detained 
 in the Bine' ! 
 
 The fact was, that I was still waiting for the bulk of 
 the goods and effects left behind in Benguella in the 
 month of November of the previous year, only a portion 
 having reached me at the beginning of March ! The 
 delay was becoming a very serious matter. Of the 
 seven bales of goods left me by Capello and Ivens four 
 had already melted away in the maintenance of my 
 Benguella followers and myself. 
 
 I had as yet made no present to the reigning chief, 
 who, I feared, would be applying for it, and altogether 
 the prospects of my enterprise looked anything but 
 promising. 
 
 I reduced my personal expenses to a minimum, which 
 necessitated my devoting a couple of hours to hunting 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 181 
 
 after game. Of larger game there was none, but on 
 the other hand a good many partridges were to be 
 bagged on the left bank of the river Cuito, on the 
 cultivated grounds belonging to Silva Porto. 
 
 I called the spot my " poultry yard," and I went 
 there daily to shoot one or two. I never exceeded that 
 number for fear my supplies should fall short. Some- 
 what like the gambler who made his livelihood out of 
 the table and retired with just sufficient gains to meet 
 his daily requirements, I had to restrain my sportsman's 
 instincts, and many times tear myself from the field 
 where I might easily have bagged a score of birds. It 
 was not, however, without a struggle that I did so, nor 
 without forcing upon my mind the reflection, that I 
 must not in the mere pursuit of pleasure expend my 
 ammunition, which was getting somewhat low, or 
 destroy the game which represented my future sus- 
 tenance. 
 
 It must not, however, be imagined that Silva Porto's 
 partridges alone furnished my modest table with a dish. 
 Hundreds of African wood-pigeons flitted in and out 
 the shelter of the trees on the banks of the Cuito and 
 in the mornings and evenings came down to wet their 
 beaks in the stream. My young negroes occasionally 
 caught the latter with gins and snares, when they 
 would make a no unwelcome pendant to my tonjours 
 perdrix, flanked by a dish or two of baked dough, made 
 with maize flour, and which did duty for bread. 
 
 In this way I managed to reduce my personal outlay, 
 which represented at least four yards of white calico 
 per day, the cost of a couple of fowls. 
 
 The delay, bringing with it, as it did, the rapid de- 
 crease of my resources, caused me to modify my plans. 
 The dreaded mucano was ever in my thoughts, and I 
 felt that if any one should* plant a claim upon me, it 
 would simply render my leaving the Bihe impossible. 
 
182 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 Besides this, the want of occupation was beginning to 
 tell prejudicially upon my men, and vices would creep 
 out which amid the fatigue and excitement of travel 
 lay dormant- 
 Danger therefore, in various shapes, like so many 
 swords of Damocles, hung suspended above my head ; 
 so after much cogitation I determined to give myself 
 the advantage of strength, and defend my property at 
 every hazard. 
 
 This determination required arms, and not arms 
 alone, but a good store of other munitions of war. I 
 possessed ten Snider rifles, given me by Capello and 
 I vens ; I managed also to obtain eleven of those left 
 behind him by Cameron at the termination of his 
 journey, and to supply these weapons I had four 
 thousand cartridges. Beside these I possessed some 
 twenty flint-lock muskets, some of the last on this 
 system used by the European armies; but I had no 
 ammunition for them. I then made known that I was 
 disposed to purchase all fire-arms considered useless 
 that were brought me. This notice procured me no 
 end of offers which enabled me to pick and choose. I 
 bought those I was able to repair, a matter of no great 
 difficulty to me, as I had learned to become a tolerably 
 good locksmith and gunsmith under the directions of 
 my father, himself a clever mechanician, who still is 
 accustomed to employ his leisure hours in his private 
 work-rooms, which I may truly say are far better fitted 
 up than half those belonging to regular professional 
 artificers. 
 
 This explanation reminds me of an amusing anecdote. 
 A gentleman one day, wishing to see my father upon 
 business, came to our villa on the Douro, and hearing a 
 hammering noise in a building not far from the house, 
 directed his steps thither. He found a capacious black- 
 smith's shop where two men, with arms bare to the 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 183 
 
 elbow, their feet encased in wooden shoes, red night- 
 caps on their heads, broad leathern aprons hanging 
 from their necks below their waists, their faces and 
 hands black with coal and iron, were hammering at a 
 red-hot bar stretched across an enormous anvil, whilst 
 sparks of fire were flying in every direction from 
 beneath their heavy blows. 
 
 The stranger stopped at the door, and inquired : " Is 
 the Doctor within ? " 
 
 My father, who was one of the smiths, answered him 
 with another query : 
 
 " Pray sir, what might you want with him ? " 
 
 The visitor, a techy person, felt his dignity offended 
 by this seeming familiarity of a mere workman, and 
 rejoined in no very polite terms that he had come to 
 see his Excellency and would not brook, what he con- 
 sidered an insult, from one of his menials. 
 
 My father, by his explanation that the blacksmith 
 and the doctor were one and the same person, only 
 made matters worse, for his interlocutor took it as 
 additional insolence, and as both parties were getting 
 very warm, the assistant smith, who was no other than 
 myself, was compelled to come to the rescue, and by 
 explaining matters convince the stranger of our 
 identity. 
 
 The circumstance of having been thus accustomed to 
 turn my hand to mechanical w T ork, served me then, as 
 at other times, in good stead, and in fact it might be 
 looked upon as one of the little brooks which helped to 
 swell the river of the happy results of my enterprise. 
 
 Another labour was thus added to the many which 
 occupied my days, and I shortly found myself the pos- 
 sessor of twenty-five more guns which the natives had 
 rejected as useless. 
 
 Still, ammunition was wanting, and ammunition I 
 must have. I found in Silva Porto's house a complete 
 
184 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 collection of the Gazeta de Portugal, so that there was 
 no want of paper for cartridges. I knew that among 
 the goods I was expecting from Benguella there must 
 be a good deal of powder, and therefore my chief care 
 was to obtain bullets. As to getting any lead, that 
 was impossible, and I consequently soon decided upon 
 making them of wrought iron. Iron was wanting, it 
 was true, but that was not so difficult of attainment. 
 
 I again gave out that I was prepared to buy all the 
 old iron offered me, an announcement that was speedily 
 answered by the appearance of a vast quantity of worn- 
 out spades and mattocks, and more especially of hoops 
 of brandy-casks. I had got together some 400 pounds 
 weight before I suspended my purchases. 
 
 I then procured four of the country blacksmiths, set 
 up two native forges in the inner court, to the great 
 scandal of the negress Rosa, administratrix of the 
 village of Belmonte, and my own men having produced 
 a lot of charcoal by burning the iron-wood palisade of 
 an abandoned enclosure, we soon commenced operations 
 in right good earnest. 
 
 The first labour was to reduce all that mass of iron 
 to cylindrical bars of the proper diameter of the bullets. 
 This the fellows succeeded in doing very dexterously. 
 The hoops were made up into bundles, eight inches 
 long by one and a half inch thick, and being taken 
 from the furnace when red-hot, were plunged into a 
 heap of rubbish and water. On their cooling they were 
 again put in the furnace, and having arrived at the 
 proper temperature they were readily dealt with and 
 reduced into a solid, homogeneous mas? From this 
 point the men's work was easy. 
 
 The purchase of the arms and iron had considerably 
 diminished my means, and yet I was far from having 
 everything I wanted. I had no beads — at least, no 
 available ones — for though a bag of them had been 
 
BELMONTE. 185 
 
 sent me by my late companions, they were not current 
 in the districts to which I intended proceeding. I 
 endeavoured to buy some in the Bihe, and with a good 
 deal of trouble managed to procure from the various 
 
 24. — Articles manufactured by the Bihenos. 
 
 1. Bellows. 2. Bellows ready mounted. 3. Earthenware muzzle. 4. Pincers. 
 5. Larse hammer. 6. A fragment of a musket with a wooden handle used by 
 the smith to r move small pieces from the furnace. 7. Small hammer. 
 8, Kitchen pots. 9. Large pipkin for capata. 10. Drums. 
 
 negroes a small quantity, enough to compose a porter's 
 load. This of course made a fresh hole in my stock of 
 cloth, so that by the 1 7th of April I had scarcely a 
 pack lett. 
 
186 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 There was one thing which, since my arrival at the 
 Bine', I missed exceedingly, and that was an alarum. I 
 had forgotten to bring one with me, and the omission 
 cost me, before my journey was over, very great in- 
 convenience and more than one fever. For instance, 
 whenever I had to make any observations after mid- 
 night, I was obliged to keep awake until the hour 
 arrived ; and it is not a little dull and trying to pass 
 the night, struggling against sleep, without a light, 
 and therefore with no means of killing time. 
 
 On the 19th Ivens came to call upon me, and caused 
 me, by his appearance, no little anxiety concerning the 
 state of his health. 
 
 He had got exceedingly thin, was deathly pale, and 
 bore a look of constant suffering upon his features. I 
 wanted him to come and dine with me the following 
 day, it being the anniversary of my birth, but he 
 excused himself on the score of his health. 
 
 Two days afterwards I went over to my late com- 
 panions' encampment to return Ivens' visit. Capello 
 was absent, having gone to determine the position of 
 the source of the Cuanza. 
 
 By the 25th I had ten thousand bullets ready, or 
 more correctly speaking ten thousand iron pellets, 
 roughly wrought, all pretending to a spherical shape. 
 They answered my purpose, however, and I dismissed 
 my operators. On that same day, the first Bailundos 
 arrived with the Benguella goods, and on the following 
 day more of them appeared. These Bailundos turned 
 out to be insolent fellows, and caused great disorder in 
 Belmonte, indeed the mischief would have assumed 
 larger proportions if I had not myself interfered to 
 check the rioters. I took from out the goods ten packs of 
 cloth, three casks of aguardente, and two bags of cowries. 
 
 I still wanted powder and salt, the two things that 
 were yet lagging behind. 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 187 
 
 I then got ready the present for the Sova, and 
 prepared for my departure, because having the cartridges 
 all in readiness, I knew that I could in two or three 
 days fill them with powder. I sent out messengers to 
 get the carriers together, so as to have everything in 
 a condition to start at a moment's notice. 
 
 Fig. 25. 
 
 QUINPA, OR STRAW BASKET LARGE SIEVE FOR PRYING 
 
 WniCH WILL HOLD WATER. RICE OR MAIZE FLOUR. 
 
 S9 
 
 Sifting Sieve. Ladle for watering the Capata. 
 
 On the 29th of April, Silva Porto's blacks robbed me 
 of some trifling article, which made me very angry and 
 threaten to send them back to Benguella. In order to 
 recover my good graces, they came to inform me that 
 they knew where four muskets, which had been stolen 
 from the expedition on the road from Benguella, were 
 
188 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 now concealed. One of them, it appears, had been 
 appropriated by Mr. Magalhaes, the owner of the 
 premises where I was first quartered in the Bihe. I 
 succeeded in recovering the whole of them. 
 
 I was just at this time so busy as to have scarcely a 
 moment to eat my dinner. I had to arrange the loads, 
 and be present at every operation to avoid being 
 robbed, for all the blacks, Silva Porto's and my own 
 into the bargain, were a band of thieves. 
 
 There was one exception, however, but one only. 
 This was my negro Augusto, who always displayed the 
 utmost fidelity towards me. When I engaged the 
 porters in Benguella, I hired Augusto among the rest, 
 and at the time attached no sort of importance to him, 
 as there appeared but little to distinguish him from the 
 others, unless it was perhaps his being given somewhat 
 more than they to drunkenness. 
 
 In distributing the fire-arms, the men made some 
 difficulty about accepting the Sniders whilst Augusto 
 on the contrary specially asked for one. This first 
 attracted my attention to him. One day, in the Douibe 
 country, I exercised the men in shooting at a mark, 
 and found he was a very tolerable shot. Later on, in 
 Quillengues, I heard that he had asserted among his 
 fellows his determination never to leave me, and as, on 
 account of his herculean strength, and courage, he had 
 secured a great ascendency over his companions, I made 
 him one of my body-guard. 
 
 At the time at which my narrative has arrived he 
 had improved his position, and from being a simple 
 carrier was promoted to the rank of chief, a position 
 which he filled most satisfactorily, for those who did 
 not like or respect him, and they were few, were afraid 
 of him. 
 
 Augusto was decidedly the best negro I met with in 
 Africa. But no one is perfect in this world, and 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 189 
 
 Augusto was far from being an exception to the rule. 
 Among his defects I must mention one, which I am 
 nevertheless inclined to treat rather tenderly, for though 
 it is unquestionably a serious failing in an African 
 traveller, it may elsewhere be ranked among the 
 virtues. 
 
 To describe it briefly : Augusto was desperately fond 
 of the fair sex. 
 
 Strong as a "buffalo, courageous as a lion, he deemed 
 it, I suppose, his duty to give protection and support 
 to the frail beings he met upon his way. 
 
 It would be too long to record his aventures galantes 
 from Benguella to the Bihe. Married in Benguella, he 
 took another wife at the Dombe, another at Quillengues, 
 a fresh one at Caconda, wedded anew in the Huambo, 
 and since his arrival at the Bihe had gone through the 
 marriage ceremony three or four times more. He was 
 in fact a true Don Juan, only a black one. 
 
 Obedient enough in all things else, he was completely 
 deaf to my admonitions on this subject. But one day, 
 as the complaints of his various wives were loud and 
 troublesome, I summoned him to my presence, repre- 
 hended him severely and threatened to turn him adrift 
 if he did not amend. He blubbered a good deal, threw 
 himself on his knees at my feet, made a thousand promises 
 to reform, and said if I would only let him have a piece 
 of cloth to divide among the women and stop their 
 tongues he would have nothing more to say to them, 
 but would remain faithful to his Marcolina, his Benguella 
 partner. 
 
 I gave him the cloth and felt delighted at having 
 brought about such sincere repentance. 
 
 That very evening, I was disturbed by an unusual 
 noise in a distant part of the village, wmere songs 
 and other sounds of merriment indicated some festive 
 event. 
 
190 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 I had the curiosity to learn the cause and sent some 
 one out to inquire. The reader may conceive my 
 feelings when I was told that it was Augusto celebra- 
 ting his fresh marriage with a girl from the village of 
 Jamba ! 
 
 There was no help for it. I saw that this mania of 
 getting married was stronger than his will, and I there- 
 fore determined in my own mind to interfere no more 
 with his matrimonial affairs which, after all said and 
 done, compromised no one, as the rascal always kept 
 within the limits of the law. 
 
 It was now the second of May, and as yet I had been 
 
 Fig. 26.— A Bm£ Head-Dress. 
 
 unable to get the carriers together, while I was still 
 waiting for the powder and salt that had been 
 despatched from Benguella. 
 
 Yerissimo was doing his best to collect the men, but 
 hitherto without success. 
 
 On the following morning as I was busy about the 
 house, I heard outside, to my astonishment, the sounds 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 191 
 
 of a violin, playing very melodious airs, and totally 
 different to the monotonous music usual among the 
 negroes. 
 
 I ordered that the minstrel should be brought in, 
 and there appeared before me a tall, spare, black man, 
 almost naked, with a countenance at once melancholy 
 and expressive. 
 
 The instrument he carried was a fiddle manufactured 
 by himself, and out of which he brought sounds as 
 melodious and powerful as could be yielded by a 
 Stradivarius. The body of the instrument, and 
 handle, very similar in shape to those of the European 
 violin, were cut out of a single block of wood, and a 
 thin piece of the same wood formed the top. 
 
 It was furnished with three strings of gut, the work 
 also of the musician's hand, and the bow was formed of 
 two similar strings in lieu of the usual horsehair. 
 
 It was undoubtedly an imitation of the European 
 fiddle, and not an original instrument. 
 
 The wood of which it was composed is called in the 
 country bole, and abounds in the forests of West Central 
 Africa. It might not be amiss to make some experi- 
 ments with this wood in the manufacture of stringed 
 instruments. 
 
 The negro musician sang an air in my praise, a 
 mezzo petto, in a most agreeable voice, with au accom- 
 paniment of his rude but harmonious violin. He was 
 much applauded by the natives who flocked around 
 him, and I was myself extremely pleased with this 
 unexpected and original music. 
 
 Several negroes from the trading station of Andulo 
 arrived at the village, offering for sale some very good 
 tobacco, which is extensively cultivated in that country. 
 It is the Andulo tobacco which the Bihenos purchase 
 and carry to Benguella, where it is sold under the 
 name of Bihe tobacco. 
 
192 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 I bought a lot of it, and it cost me, according to my 
 calculations, about a shilling a pound. 
 
 By way of curiosity I append the prices of various 
 articles at the Bihe, observing, at the same time, that 
 they are not precisely the same as I was compelled to pay. 
 
 A chicken is worth a yard of cloth ; six eggs may 
 be had for the same ; a two-year-old kid will cost 8 
 yards; a pig, weighing from 160 to 200 lbs. is valued 
 at one piece of white and one piece of blue cloth, known 
 as zuarte ; a peck and a half of maize flour may be 
 obtained for 2 yards of cloth, and a like measure of 
 manioc flour for 3 yards. The yards here referred to 
 are the ordinary trade ones, the price of which at the 
 Bihe must r,ever be reckoned higher than 10c?. 
 
 The name given to the trade yard in the Bihe 
 district is a pano ; two yards are called a beca ; four a 
 lencol ; and eight a quirana. 
 
 The goods proper for the Bihe' and commercial marts 
 frequented by the Bihenos are, white cloth; zuarte, or 
 blue stuff; printed zuarte; handkerchiefs of printed 
 zudrte ; fine handkerchiefs and checkered ones ; striped 
 and other cottons — all of most inferior quality. 
 
 The pieces of white cloth contain 28 yards each, and 
 others of better quality 30. The zuarte and striped, 
 18 yards; printed handkerchiefs, 8 yards; checkered, 
 6 ; and trade cloth, 12 yards. 
 
 Merchandise of good quality is very inconvenient to 
 the traveller in this part of Africa, because whilst it 
 enjoys no greater favour in the eyes of the natives it is 
 considerably heavier. 
 
 I had a couple of loads which I had prepared upon 
 the spot, each of which contained 624 yards ; and the 
 others, containing scarcely 180 yards of fine white cloth, 
 were much heavier.* 
 
 * By " a load" I mean as much as a man can conveniently carry, say about 
 seventy-five pounds. — The Author. 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 193 
 
 This will sufficiently prove the inconvenience of the 
 superior material, as in addition to its greater cost, 
 there is increased difficulty and expense in its convey- 
 ance : it requires three men to carry it, where one will 
 suffice in the other case. 
 
 The argument in favour of the inferior article applies 
 naturally with great force to the explorer, for as he 
 intends to employ his goods in the shape of money, to 
 barter away for the necessaries of life, the same number 
 of yards of common cloth will procure him just as much 
 as a like quantity of fine. 
 
 White cotton cloth of inferior quality, and zuart?, the 
 blue, are the best money the traveller can carry with 
 him in this part of the world. 
 
 The same rule will not hold so good with beads, 
 inasmuch as those which are held in high esteem in 
 some parts will scarcely be looked at elsewhere, in fact, 
 in some cases only a few miles distant ; for instance : 
 in the Bailundo country black beads are much sought 
 after, while in the Bihe they are not current at all. 
 
 Still, there is one class of beads which is pretty 
 generally received throughout South Central Africa,, 
 This is a small red article with a white eye, on which, 
 in Benguella, the trade has bestowed the name of 
 Maria Segunda. 
 
 The small cowry is current from beyond the Cuanza 
 to the Zambesi, but the larger kind is of no use at all. 
 
 Brass- or copper-wire is esteemed for bracelets, but it 
 should not in these parts ever exceed about an eighth of 
 an inch in thickness. 
 
 Scarlet caps, sandalled shoes, soldiers' uniforms, &c, 
 are a delusion and a snare, for though highly appreciated 
 as presents for Sovas and Seculos, they are the very 
 worst of money. 
 
 Again, blankets and, above all, those showy rugs used 
 by travellers in Europe, are greatly coveted by the 
 
 VOL. i. o 
 
194 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 natives, but must be classified with the uniforms and 
 caps, as forming excellent presents but a poor cur- 
 rency. 
 
 This same remark will equally apply to hand-organs, 
 musical-boxes, and other articles of a like nature. 
 
 Conjuring tricks and phenomena of physics and 
 chemistry make a certain impression on the natives, but 
 not nearly so deep a one as people in Europe are 
 inclined to think. Not understanding the causes which 
 produce such phenomena, they attribute them without 
 hesitation to sorcery or witchcraft, to which they assign 
 everything they cannot explain. 
 
 From my own experience that which produces the 
 greatest impression on the natives, and that which they 
 most admire, is skill in the use of fire arms. 
 
 If a man can bring down any prey in presence of an 
 assembly of blacks, if he can put six bullets into a small 
 and distant bull's eye, if he can sever the stalk of a fruit 
 hanging high above his head, or hit a bird upon the 
 wing, he will of a certainty receive great consideration 
 and become for a long time after the subject of conver- 
 sation. 
 
 In proof of this I may mention a little incident which 
 occurred to myself in the village where I was staying. 
 It happened one morning that a Biheno medicine-man 
 made his appearance bringing with him a " remedy " 
 which he asserted was a preservative against bullets. 
 
 The belief in such things is general among the 
 Bihenos, and there are many who have been known 
 to expend all they had in the world for the possession 
 of this inestimable medicine, which is supposed to 
 render them more invulnerable than was Achilles of 
 old, inasmuch as there is no possibility of killing them 
 even through a single heel. 
 
 A civilised Creole, educated in Benguella, whom I 
 fell in with, actually laughed at me when I told him 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 195 
 
 that in spite of any "remedy" to the contrary, I would 
 undertake to put a bullet clean through his body. 
 
 But to return to my story. My friend the medicine- 
 man exhibited a pipkin that might have held half-a- 
 pint full of this precious preservative, and asserted that 
 he who took it would become as invulnerable as was 
 the vessel which held the liquid ; the best shots in the 
 world, according to his account, having struck it again 
 and again without doing it the slightest injury. In 
 his desire to afford the public an irrefragable proof of 
 his assertion, he had the boldness to defy me to crack 
 the pipkin, taking care, however, to place it at such a 
 distance (eighty paces) as to render it, in his mind, 
 humanly impossible for me to hit so small an object. 
 
 I took my rifle and, amid the breathless attention 
 of the assembled blacks, raised it to my shoulder and 
 fired. The pipkin flew into a hundred fragments and 
 the precious liquor spirted far and wide. 
 
 Never, surely, was mortal more enthusiastically 
 applauded than I, by the natives there assembled. As 
 for the poor medicine-man, whose anticipated triumph 
 was thus turned into disastrous defeat, he slunk off amid 
 the uproar. 
 
 The best of the country marksmen are but mediocre 
 shots, and the arrow and the assegai in the hands of 
 the blacks are much more to be apprehended than fire- 
 arms. 
 
 Yerissimo set out to collect the carriers, returning on 
 the 5 th May with a few and a promise of others for 
 the following day. 
 
 On that same morning I received letters and goods 
 from Benguella, sent me by Pereira de Mello and Silva 
 Porto. The articles, and above all, the kindly words 
 which accompanied them, made a deep impression upon 
 my mind, and I am happy to be able thus publicly to 
 express mv sense of their considerate generosity. 
 
 o 2 
 
196 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 Pereira de Mello's parcels contained sixteen muskets, 
 sixty pounds of soap, a watch and a load of salt, all of 
 them articles of the utmost value to me. 
 
 But, as I repeat, my gratitude was less awakened 
 towards the worthy Governor of Benguella for this 
 valuable consignment, than for his letter and the 
 expressions of friendship it contained. 
 
 Among other things, he said that if I persisted in 
 continuing my journey I might reckon upon the entire 
 support he was able to give me in his official capacity, 
 and that if, perchance, superior orders should restrain 
 him as u the Governor," I might count upon him as 
 " the man " Pereira de Mello. 
 
 He further informed me that he had not received 
 from the authorities at home any orders not to furnish 
 me with such means as I might stand in need of ; 
 but that should such orders come to hand, he, and the 
 merchants of Benguella, were ready to forward me 
 anything I might require. 
 
 Next came Silva Porto's letter, which was no less 
 dear to me. 
 
 In it the thoughtful old trader said I must not start 
 without ample resources. That I must apply to 
 Benguella for whatsoever I might judge necessary, and 
 that he would undertake to despatch to the Bihe any- 
 thing I should ask for. 
 
 He concluded his epistle in these terms : — " lam an old 
 man but am still tough and strong : if, my friend, you 
 should find yourself in the interior surrounded by peril, 
 with all but hope gone, try and hold your own, and 
 despatch me a letter through the natives, at any 
 cost. Keep an even mind and wait : for within the 
 shortest possible time I will be with you, and will 
 bring help and means. You know I am not accustomed 
 to make vain, promises : if you want me, write, and I 
 will depart forthwith." 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 197 
 
 No commentary is needed upon words like these, nor, 
 beyond recording them, will I express my feelings of 
 gratitude and appreciation. 
 
 These things which I received from Benguella were 
 brought me by a brother of Verissimo's, Joaquim 
 Guilherme, who stated that on the following day the 
 remainder of the loads belonging to the expedition 
 would arrive, and with them the powder I was so 
 anxiously looking for. 
 
 As was always the case when a porter came from 
 Benguella, I received a little present from Antonio 
 Ferreira Marques, in the shape of some dainty or other 
 for the table. 
 
 On the 6th May, at last, the powder arrived, and I 
 at once set about the great task of filling the cartridges. 
 
 During the space of four days I kept between thirty- 
 six and forty men at work at this duty. Every thing 
 was ready by the 10th — and on the 11th May I had 
 collected the whole of my carriers. I distributed their 
 loads, made other preparations, and gave orders for the 
 departure on the following morning. 
 
 But when the actual day arrived, and I had every 
 reason to believe I was going to start in good earnest, 
 1 discovered there were but thirty men at hand, all the 
 others having taken to flight ! 
 
 I then learned that on the evening before, a negro, by 
 name Muene-hombo, belonging to Silva Porto, had, with 
 certain other blacks unknown, been among the Bihenos, 
 spreading the report that I intended to lead them to 
 the sea, whence they would never return, as it was my 
 object to sell them for slaves. 
 
 Muene-hombo had fled with the Bihenos, and I never 
 set eyes upon him again. 
 
 This intelligence caused me infinite depression of 
 spirits. 
 
 The carriers whom I had got together at so great a 
 
198 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 cost, whom I bad hired after the utmost labour and 
 pains, in whose minds I had had to overcome with such 
 care and patience the apprehensions they entertained 
 of my enterprise, had abandoned me after all, under 
 the hasty conviction that I intended to lead them to 
 perdition. 
 
 It was a terrible blow. 
 
 The news would soon spread throughout the Bihe ; 
 the conviction alluded to would shortly take possession 
 of every black in the place : it would override all my 
 arguments to the contrary, and then how would it be 
 possible to get a man to serve me ? 
 
 I almost myself lost faith in the undertaking, and 
 for the first time after those days in Lisbon when 
 I determined to become an explorer, a feeling of dis- 
 couragement crept over my mind, for I knew too well 
 how fruitless was the effort to struggle against a con- 
 viction of these people. 
 
 But who was it that could have induced this fellow, 
 Muene-hombo, to play me so treacherous a trick ? 
 
 Who were and whence came the negroes who were 
 his companions in the village the day before ? 
 
 Whose was the hand which pulled the strings in this 
 intrigue ? 
 
 Again and again did I put these questions to myself 
 without eliciting an answer that was other than a 
 vague suspicion. 
 
 All day was I engaged in turning the matter oyer 
 in my mind. At one time I thought of retracing my 
 steps to Benguella, when the letters of encouragement 
 from Silva Porto and Pereira de Mello suddenly oc- 
 curred to me. 
 
 W^hy should I not accept the suggestion made 
 me by the former, and beg him to come hither ? His 
 presence in the Bihe might procure me followers. 
 
 I determined that I would write to him next day. 
 
BELMONTR 
 
 199 
 
 and the resolution somewhat tranquillised the agitation 
 in my mind. 
 
 But with the night came further reflection : before 
 applying to him it was my duty to exhaust every means 
 of obtaining assistance through my own exertions. He 
 ought to be my very last resource. 
 
 When day broke on the 13th, I sent Yerissimo and 
 certain negroes in the enjoyment of Silva Porto's con- 
 fidence, to endeavour to contract other men. 
 
 They returned, not without hope of success, and 
 the work began anew of organising a fresh band — 
 a labour, as may well be believed, much more difficult 
 than before. 
 
 They advised my leaving Belmonte and pitching 
 my camp in the wood at some distance from the village, 
 as they assured me that a caravan upon the march would 
 be more likely to awaken a desire for enlistment. 
 
 On the 22nd of May, having succeeded in obtaining 
 a few, a very few carriers, I resolved to make a move 
 with them and my Quimbares on the following day, 
 the 23rd, a determination which I carried into effect 
 by forming an encampment in the Cabir woods. 
 
 At dusk of that day, eleven carriers put in an ap- 
 pearance conducted by a negro, Antonio, a man already 
 advanced in years, a native of Pungo Andongo who 
 had been in the service of two renowned traders, Luiz 
 Albino and Gruilherme Gonc,alves. 
 
 The night proved very cold and we were forced to 
 spend greater part of it watching by our fires. 
 
 The petty chief of Cabir paid me a visit next day, 
 bringing with him a pig as a present. This civility I 
 returned in kind and we were soon on excellent 
 terms. 
 
 He lent me some pestles and mortars and sent some 
 women to make maize-flour. 
 
 I walked round his village and passed through the 
 
200 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 plantations, where I found women engaged in field-work- 
 bent double as they hoed the ground. 
 
 On my return to the encampment I was met by a 
 black from Novo Redondo, who had been unable to 
 follow Capello and Ivens on account of the state of his 
 health. He could do little but crawl, and was a prey 
 to a burning fever. 
 
 I saw that his condition was hopeless and that his 
 
 Fig. 27 — BinE Women pounding Maize. 
 
 hold of life was of the meagrest. Still, as he begged me 
 not to abandou him, I had him carried into the camp 
 and placed under the care of Doctor Chacaiombe. 
 
 I received a visit from Tiberio Jose Coimbra, son of 
 Coimbra, Major of the Bihe, who obtained for me a 
 few carriers from among the natives of his village. 
 
 In the course of the day some twelve more came in 
 quite unexpectedly, under the leadership of the negro 
 ChaquiQonde, brother of Verissimo's mother. 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 201 
 
 Hope again began to revive within me, and I set 
 about organising my new caravan. 
 
 1 determined to make a start on the 27th and to 
 pitch my camp near the dwelling of Jose Alves, trust- 
 ing to complete there the number of natives I wanted. 
 I obtained from the petty chief of Cabir a few men to 
 convey thither the loads for which I had no carrier, 
 together with four men and a litter for my Novo 
 Redondo patient. 
 
 I was able to leave at the time appointed, stopping, 
 half an hour after we started, in the village of Cuionja, 
 the residence of Tiberio Jose Coimbra, where an 
 excellent breakfast was awaiting me, with capital tea. 
 There were even table-napkins ! 
 
 Two hours having been very pleasantly spent I 
 moved onwards, and after four hours' journey reached 
 the village of Caquenha. 
 
 I there halted to see old Domingos Chacahanga, the 
 chief man of the place. 
 
 Chacahanga, formerly a slave of Silva Porto, was at 
 the head of the celebrated expedition which the latter 
 sent from the Bine' to Mozambique, and which succeeded 
 in reaching Cape Delgado, on the coast of the Indian 
 Ocean ; and he was the only survivor of that bold 
 undertaking. 
 
 The old man received me very kindly and gave me a 
 young kid. 
 
 I had a long talk with him; but all my efforts were 
 vain to elicit from him any reliable data as to his course 
 on that occasion. 
 
 That it lay much farther to the north than the 
 indication given on the maps, I had no doubt whatso- 
 ever, inasmuch as there were three points which he laid 
 down most clearly. 
 
 One was the having, in the Zambesi, left to the 
 southward the country of the Machachas ; another, the 
 
202 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 having crossed the Luapula ; and the third, the having 
 skirted the northern part of Lake Nyassa. 
 
 Two hours after taking leave of Chacahanga I camped 
 in the Woods of the Commandant, about a mile and a 
 quarter S. E. of Jose Alves's enclosure. 
 
 Night had now fallen and I waited till next day 
 before calling upon this personage, whom Cameron has 
 made so widely known. 
 
 It was therefore on the 28th of May that I found 
 myself in presence of this renowned African trader. 
 
 Jose' Antonio Alves is a negro pur sang, born in 
 Pungo Andongo, who, like many others trading from 
 that place and from Ambaca, knows how to read and 
 write. 
 
 In the Bihe they call him a white, because they 
 bestow that name upon every man of colour who wears 
 trousers and sandalled shoes and carries an umbrella.* 
 In Benguella they condescend to style him a mulatto, 
 of a dark complexion, but the truth is, there is not a 
 drop of European blood in his veins, and he is not only 
 a black in colour and by descent, but has all the instincts 
 of the negro. 
 
 He came to the Bihe' in 1845, where he was employed 
 by one of the inland traders and subsequently commenced 
 business on his own account, being assisted by Ferra- 
 mentos of Benguella, now doing a large trade under the 
 firm of J. Ferreira Goncalves. 
 
 Jose Alves is a man about fifty-eight years of age, 
 somewhat grizzled, thin in body, and suffering from a 
 lung complaint. 
 
 He lives like any other black, and has all the customs 
 and beliefs of the untutored natives. 
 
 * This reminds me of a remark made by Ivens, when speaking of one of 
 these men, in that pleasant way of his which never abandoned him under the 
 most painful circumstances : " 1 saw," he said, " a jet black negro come into 
 my camp with sandals on, and a parasol in his hand, so I knew he was a 
 white man, and trembled accordingly.* 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 203 
 
 At the time of my arrival at Jose Alves's house he 
 was engaged in deciding a mucano. 
 
 In answer to my inquiries I was informed that a 
 mulatto in Jose Alves's employ had seduced one of the 
 girls belonging to the latter, and as the young fellow 
 had no property of his own, a mucano was pronounced 
 upon his mother's family, who did possess something 
 and from whom was demanded in payment of the 
 offence an ox 'or other animal by way of cleansing his 
 heart. As he gave me the explanation, the old fellow 
 passed the rugged palm of his huge hand over the part 
 of his trunk which was supposed to contain that organ, 
 and I thus learned that there were ways of dealing 
 with it other than those taught in our European 
 schools. 
 
 After the mucano had thus been decided, I spoke to 
 him about my journey, which could not, he thought, 
 be carried into effect with the restricted resources at my 
 disposal. 
 
 I got him to part with a few beads, but when I 
 broached the subject of carriers, he evaded giving a 
 direct answer by saying that he knew that Capello and 
 Ivens were near the Cuanza struggling against an 
 insufficiency of men ; but that if they chose to pay him 
 handsomely there would be no difficulty in arranging 
 matters to their satisfaction. This, of course, was tanta- 
 mount to saying that if I paid him well, he would let me 
 have them too. 
 
 I retired — for the first time pitying Cameron at 
 having been compelled to remain so long in such 
 undesirable company. 
 
 I found vegetation in this part of the Bihe very much 
 advanced, and observed in the vicinity of the river Cuito 
 the same termitic disposition of the ground which I de- 
 scribed on the banks of the Cutato dos Ganguellas. 
 
 As with the carriers who reached me on the 29th, 
 
204 
 
 THE KINO'S RIFLE. 
 
 sent by Verissimo's brother, Joaquim G-uilherme, I had 
 sufficient people to proceed upon my journey, I gave 
 orders to start on the following morning. 
 
 The powers, however, who preside over mundane 
 affairs had decreed otherwise. 
 
 In the afternoon of that day some one or other spread 
 among my men the same reports as were so fatal at 
 Belmonte, and the consequence was that many of them 
 came to me and declared their intention of returning 
 home. 
 
 I used all my eloquence to induce them to follow me, 
 but few were inclined to listen. 
 
 This was the second time in the Bihe that I 
 was left without people when on the very eve of my 
 departure. 
 
 A few Bihenos still remained, and I decided upon 
 getting rid of everything in the way of mere comfort 
 and abandoning all the provisions I had with me, so 
 that with a few more men I might be able to go on. 
 
 The difficulty was to get those few more, though I 
 did not despair of the undertaking. A strange ad- 
 venture which occurred on the 30th helped to crown 
 my hopes with success. 
 
 A lot of loose characters and deserters, who had 
 escaped from the military stations on the coast, sud- 
 denly appeared in the Bihe. 
 
 One of these worthy, or unworthy citizens called 
 upon me and pronounced a set speech, which, on 
 account of the profuse employment of the first consonant 
 in lieu of the seventeenth, and repeated use of terms 
 only used in my own province, betrayed him as a fellow- 
 countryman. 
 
 Even if the style of the discourse had not been that of 
 a consummate rogue, its essence would have sufficiently 
 stamped the orator as a villain, with a soul no better 
 than a sink of rottenness which exhaled, with every 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 205 
 
 phrase, more deadly poison than any fetid marsh of that 
 tropical clime. 
 
 After counselling me to use the arms and ammuni- 
 tion at my disposal in a most villainous undertaking, to 
 which he did me the honour of offering himself as an 
 associate, he terminated by saying that if I refused his 
 terms, he would at any cost employ the influence 
 which he possessed over the natives to compel them to 
 abandon me and thus render it impossible for me to 
 take another step in advance. 
 
 At the close of this peroration, which my man con- 
 sidered would be a triumphant argument to secure my 
 decision, he demanded an immediate reply. 
 
 I did not keep him long waiting. Calling my Quim- 
 bares I ordered them to seize and tie him up to the 
 first tree, and then caused to be administered to the 
 rascal some fifty lashes, that we might become better 
 acquainted with each other, for though I knew him 
 thoroughly before he had spoken a dozen words, he had 
 not had the same opportunity till then of knowing me. 
 
 After his flagellation, I made him a little speech in 
 return for his harangue, wherein I told him he must 
 consider himself my prisoner during the time we stayed 
 in the Bihe, and that his daily ration of food should be 
 accompanied by an equal dose of the lash if he attempted 
 to escape. 
 
 I then called all my people about me, and pointed 
 out to them that the heart of that white man was 
 blacker than the skin of any bystander. 
 
 The news of this act of justice spread like wildfire in 
 the villages all about, and raised me immensely in the 
 estimation of the negroes, on whose fears the fellow 
 had already begun to trade. 
 
 On the following morning, Sunday, Pombeiros of the 
 vicinity came to offer me carriers, whom they promised 
 to produce within three days. 
 
206 
 
 THE KINO'S RIFLE. 
 
 These promises were again and again made, but no 
 carriers were forthcoming, so that by the 5th of June, 
 being reduced almost to despair, I determined upon 
 abandoning a lot of baggage and going on with the 
 remainder. 
 
 With this view I called my Pombeiros together and 
 communicated to them my decision. 
 
 We held a long council in which I maintained my 
 determination, and gave orders for the carriers to ac- 
 company me to the river Cuito with the baggage I had 
 decided to part with, in order to cast it into the stream. 
 
 This resolution was in fact about to be carried into 
 execution when Dr. Chacaiombe put in his word and 
 begged me to defer the fulfilment of my project for 
 a few days ; he further advised me to hire a certain 
 number of men in the neighbouring hamlets to transport 
 the whole of the goods to the Cuanza, and that mean- 
 while he would make an effort to get what was needed 
 through a Sova ? a friend of his, and would meet me on 
 the banks of that river. 
 
 This advice having been duly discussed and adopted, 
 I decided upon starting on the 6th and remaining till 
 the 14th by the Cuanza ; this would allow Chacaiombe 
 eight clear days, beyond which, as I assured him, I 
 could not possibly wait. 
 
 My Pombeiros displayed the utmost devotion, and 
 upon a proposal of Miguel's (the elephant-hunter) they 
 all resolved to shoulder loads themselves, although this 
 was not only contrary to usage, but inconvenient upon 
 the march, where they have their own special duf 'es to 
 attend to. 
 
 Having obtained a number of men on hire, I made all 
 preparations for immediate departure. At the close 
 of that day my poor patient, the Novo Pedondo man 
 whom I had succoured in Cabir, sunk under his 
 disease. 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 207 
 
 At nine o'clock in the morning of the 6th of June I 
 broke up ray camp, having a lot of natives for temporary 
 carriers, hired at the rate of a yard of cloth per day. 
 
 I travelled eastward, and two hours later camped near 
 the village of Cassamba. 
 
 This place is nestled in the midst of an extensive and 
 dense forest which seemed a likely place for game, but 
 where I only succeeded in bringing down a few guinea- 
 fowl. 
 
 On starting the next morning, the 7th, I was met by 
 the chief of the Cassamba, who came to pay me his 
 compliments and offer me an ox as a present. 
 
 I excused myself for not making a suitable acknow- 
 ledgment of his civility then and there, on the ground 
 of my carriers being on the march, but begged him to 
 send some of his followers to my new encampment to 
 receive it at my hands. 
 
 After three hours' tramp, having during the two last 
 traversed extensive marshy plains, I arrived at the left 
 bank of the river Cuqueima which there ran northwards, 
 being eighty-seven yards wide and ten feet deep, with a 
 current running at the rate of thirteen yards a minute. 
 I fitted up my mackintosh boat and succeeded, though 
 with vast trouble and delay, in effecting a safe passage 
 to the other side with all the goods and men ; it was a 
 great achievement of its kind, for the little skiff would 
 only carry five persons, although the floating power of 
 its air-chest was considerably superior. 
 
 The passage being effected and finding myself on the 
 right bank on marshy soil, I sent to beg the Sova of the 
 Gando to allow me the use of some huts for the shelter 
 of my people during the night. 
 
 He came out himself to see me and to place at my 
 disposal the lombe of his village, which I accepted and 
 where I at once took up my lodging. 
 
 Shortly after, several negroes made their appearance 
 
208 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 sent by the chief of Cassamba to receive the present I 
 had promised him, bringing with them as a token the 
 assegai of their ruler, which I had seen in his hand that 
 morning. 
 
 It is a custom among these people where written 
 language is unknown to send some known object by the 
 bearer of a message, to prevent the possibility of doubt 
 in respect of the sender. 
 
 I of course returned by them the promised gift. 
 
 I had a long talk with the Sova lumbi of the Gando, 
 who was lost in wonderment at everything I had about 
 me. He gave me a splendid ox and was made happy in 
 
 Fig. 28. — Ganguella, Luimba and Loena Women — Method of 
 
 SHAPING THE INCISORS. 
 
 return with a piece of striped cloth and a few charges 
 of gunpowder. 
 
 Early the following morning we were again afoot, and 
 two hours afterwards camped about a mile to the west 
 of the village of Muzinda. 
 
 Before leaving I ordered my white prisoner to be 
 unbound and landed on the opposite bank of the river, 
 for having crossed the Cuqueima and consequently 
 being out of the Bihe territory, it was impossible that 
 he could do me any harm. 
 
 Several women from the village of Muzinda came to 
 
BKLMONTE. 
 
 209 
 
 my encampment ; some among them had their faces 
 painted green, there being two transverse stripes across 
 the head from ear to ear and two others descending 
 from them, crossing each other between the eyes, 
 passing along each side the nose and being connected 
 by another, traced above the upper lip. 
 
 The head-dresses of these Ganguella women are 
 wonderful to behold, many at a certain distance looking 
 like the bonnet of a European lady. 
 
 The whole of the men I saw had the two front 
 incisors of the upper jaw cut into a triangular shape, 
 thus forming a triangular aperture with the vertex 
 turned towards the gum. This operation is performed 
 with a knife, which is struck by repeated, slight blows. 
 
 One of the natives gave me a sugar-cane six and a 
 half feet long by half an inch in diameter, and assured 
 me that the plant was abundant in the neighbourhood. 
 
 During our stay a small caravan left Muzinda bound 
 for the regions beyond the Cuanza to procure wax in 
 exchange for dried fish of the Cuqueima. 
 
 The natives composing the party were almost naked, 
 their only covering being two scanty skins hanging from 
 a narrow leathern belt. 
 
 The women were even more scantily supplied with 
 clothing ! 
 
 I had a visit from the petty chief of Muzinda, who 
 brought me an ox as a present, which I returned in the 
 same way as I had done with the Sova Iumbi of the 
 Gando. 
 
 On the 9th of June, I camped on the left bank of the 
 river Cuanza, E. N. E. of the village of Liuica. At 
 that point the Cuanza is a less considerable stream than 
 the Cuqueima, as its width is 55 yards by 6 feet deep, 
 with a current of 16 yards per minute. 
 
 Its bed is comoosed of fine white sand, and the trans- 
 parency of its waters is noteworthy. 
 
 vol. i. p 
 
210 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 The river winds its serpentine course through a vast 
 plain from a mile and a half to two miles broad, enclosed 
 on either side by gentle green slopes clothed with trees. 
 
 The plain itself appeared covered with excessively 
 tall grass and reeds, so thick and stiff that it was difficult 
 to make a passage through. The soil was more or less 
 marshy. 
 
 As I had to wait there some five days, as agreed 
 with Dr. Chacaiombe, I at once, on my arrival, or- 
 dered a far larger encampment to be constructed than 
 I usually built for merely one night's shelter. 
 
 The Sova of Quipembe was the first to pay me a 
 visit. All the petty chiefs between the Cuqueima and 
 Cuanza are subject to him, and he is himself a tributary 
 to the Sova of the Bihe. His subjection is, however, 
 merely nominal, as he entertains no fear of being 
 attacked on account of the facility of defending the line 
 of the Cuqueima, and because the greater portion if not 
 all the boats upon the stream are owned by the Gan- 
 guellas. 
 
 He brought me a sheep as a gift, excusing himself 
 for not presenting me with an ox, on the ground of his 
 village being at so great a distance. 
 
 I had also a visit from the petty chief of Liuica, who 
 offered me an ox. 
 
 This chief, a man of comely face and figure, became 
 quite an habitue of the camp during my stay in the 
 neighbourhood. 
 
 One day, when he had been watching me fire at a 
 mark and admiring the precision of the aim, his great 
 herd of oxen happened to pass that way. 
 
 I proposed to him, laughingly, that he should give 
 me an ox if my young black attendant, Pepeca, could 
 kill it with a bullet. 
 
 He looked at the lad and gave his consent. 
 
 Pepeca, who was a very tolerable shot, having been 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 211 
 
 taught by myself, took his rifle and aiming at a fine 
 beast that was somewhat separated from the herd, 
 brought it down with tlis blow. The G-anguellas were 
 perfectly thunderstruck ; the chief however was as good 
 as his word, though he had evidently expected a 
 different termination to the affair. He merely re- 
 quested me to let him have the skin and a mouthful 
 of the meat, and gave me up the animal. 
 
 The G-anguellas between the Cuqueima and Cuanza 
 are of a different race to the other tribes bearing the 
 same name ; near the Cuqueima they are called 
 Luimbas, and near the Cuanza, Loenas. 
 
 On the 12th of this month there occurred an ex- 
 traordinary adventure, which I cannot refrain from 
 recording here. 
 
 I was leaving the camp for a stroll when some of my 
 negroes came up to me, accompanied by a mulatto, 
 who was a perfect stranger; they introduced him as 
 the chief of a caravan, who begged my permission to 
 accompany me some distance on the road I was travel- 
 ling, and allow him meanwhile to take up his quarters 
 in my encampment, to secure his safety. 
 
 I consented to his request, although I own it was 
 rather against the errain. 
 
 That same night I remained up later than usual 
 talking with my Pombeiros, and seated at the door 
 of my hut we discussed the probabilities of Dr. 
 Chacaiombe's success in his undertaking, when I heard 
 a singular noise in one corner of the camp. 
 
 It was as like as possible to the sound of a hammer 
 on an anvil ; and my curiosity being awakened I de- 
 spatched my henchman Augusto to discover the cause. 
 
 He returned after a few minutes with news that in 
 the part of the encampment occupied by the Biheno 
 mulatto who had asked me for shelter, there was a 
 gang of slaves, arrived that very evening from the Bihe. 
 
 p 2 
 
212 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 All my people were then asleep in their huts with 
 the exception of the three or four Pombeiros who were 
 keeping me company. 
 
 I restrained ray anger, which for a moment had 
 almost got the better of me, and summoned my unin- 
 vited guest to my presence. 
 
 He appeared at once and seated himself near the fire- 
 place in front of me. 
 
 I asked him what was the meaning of that clanking 
 sound of iron, to which he replied with the utmost 
 effrontery that they were chaining up some kids which 
 he was conveying into the interior for sale. 
 
 And so, in my own encampment, upon which floated 
 the Portuguese flag, there was actually a gang of 
 slaves ! 
 
 Keeping myself as cool as my nature would permit, I 
 let the fellow know that he was telling me a lie, and 
 bade him forthwith to knock off the chains of the 
 unfortunates he had with him, and deliver them over 
 to me, free. 
 
 This he not only refused to do, but received my 
 command with a grin of contempt. 
 
 I then lost all patience, and my rage, which had been 
 kept down with immense difficulty from the moment I 
 learned the character of my guest, now boiled over. 
 
 I made a dash at the fellow, seized him by the throat 
 and drew my knife with the intention of plunging it 
 into his body, when I became sensible that the muzzles 
 of two or three guns were within a foot of his head, 
 and were on the point of being fired by my attendants. 
 This brought me to my senses, and whereas the moment 
 before I would have killed the wretch without hesitation, 
 I now used my efforts to save his life. 
 
 The hubbub occasioned by this affair woke up all 
 my men, who came rushing to the spot, and a cry arose 
 to exterminate the whole Biheno caravan. 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 213 
 
 Knowing the ferocity of the negroes when they feel 
 they have strength on their side, I began to he alarmed 
 for the lives of the innocent who might he sacrificed 
 with the guilty. 
 
 Of course, with the exception of the Pomheiros who 
 had heen with me since the commencement, of the 
 scene, all were ignorant of the cause of the uproar. 
 They saw that I was in a tremendous rage, and they 
 became clamorous for a victim. 
 
 I succeeded at last in quelling the tumult and in 
 obtaining a hearing. 
 
 I then ordered Augusto to set the slaves free and 
 bring them before me, together with all the cords and 
 shackles they could discover in the huts where the poor 
 creatures were confined. 
 
 The shackles were all cast into the Cuauza with the 
 exception of those which I reserved to bind the blacks 
 who had acted as guards over the poor slaves. 
 
 As to the slaves themselves, I told them they might 
 go wheresoever they pleased, and that I would take 
 care that the guards should remain bound long enough 
 to prevent the possibility of their overtaking their late 
 prisoners. They disappeared in a twinkling with the 
 exception of one young girl who begged to be allowed 
 to remain with me, as she did not know where to go. 
 I may mention that it was not till I broke up my 
 encampment that I set at liberty the leaders and guards 
 of that gang of slaves. 
 
 The 13th of June came and passed without any news 
 of my Doctor, and in the evening of that day I dis- 
 tributed such loads as I was able to do, about eighty- 
 seven, which I afterwards, with infinite reluctance, 
 reduced by twelve, and made one heap of those which 
 
 were irremediably condemned. 
 
 */ 
 
 It may be credited that the choice w T as one of no 
 little difficulty, and I fancy that one of the hardest nuts 
 
214 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 that an explorer has to crack is to choose between such 
 goods as are positively indispensable and those he can 
 part with. If not a more difficult, it is at least as stiff 
 a problem as to discover the mode of determining a 
 good longitude. 
 
 I made up my mind to abandon whatsoever had only 
 convenience or comfort to recommend it ; to reject 
 everything in the shape of comestibles for my personal 
 use, together with part of those I carried for my people, 
 and several loads of beads given up to me by my late 
 companions, and which, being purchased in Loanda, 
 were of problematical value in the interior of the 
 country where I proposed to penetrate. 
 
 If on the morning of the 14th there was no news of 
 Cbacaiombe, the condemned loads were to be destroyed, 
 some by fire and others by sinking in the Cuanza. 
 
 "And why," my readers may perhaps inquire, 
 " should they be so destroyed ? " 
 
 Because the chief of a caravan on his march through 
 the interior of Africa, where he has to employ carriers, 
 is bound to destroy and render useless all articles he 
 may be forced to abandon, and this for two reasons — 
 one out of respect for his own people ; and the other, for 
 the natives of the districts he is passing through. 
 
 If he once consented that his own carriers should 
 appropriate as their property any portion of abandoned 
 goods, there would be a daily falling out of the ranks of 
 porters, on the plea of illness, as an excuse for making 
 off with what they had thus acquired, and a perfect 
 system of robbery and faithlessness would be inaugu- 
 rated. 
 
 On the other hand, if the natives of the country came 
 to learn that goods were left behind for want of men 
 to carry them, they would not fail to ply the porters 
 of any future caravans with unlimited capata, or other 
 intoxicating drink, so as to incapacitate the men and 
 
BELMONTE. 
 
 215 
 
 compel the chief of the troop to abandon his property, 
 which they would not dream of doing if they reaped 
 no advantage from it, through the system of destroying 
 all goods which cannot be carried on, 
 
 This was a lesson taught me by Silva Porto, and 
 one that I constantly put in practice. 
 
 It fell out therefore that when the 14th day arrived, 
 and no intelligence came to hand of Dr. Chacaiombe, I 
 destroyed sixty-one of my loads ! 
 
216 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 RAPED RETROSPECTIVE GLANCE. 
 
 The annexed Map shows my track from Benguella to the Bihe. 
 
 I have endeavoured to furnish it with all such details as it was possible, 
 in a journey of exploration, to collect in the shape of geographical and 
 topographical data. 
 
 Many of the places marked were determined astronomically, and the 
 intermediate ones were found roughly by the points of the compass and 
 projection of the distances gone over, distances that were obtained by the 
 pedometers and the time employed in traversing them. 
 
 The positions ot Benguella. Dombe, Quillengues, Ngola and Caconda, 
 which I have given on the map were fixed by Capello and Ivens, and as I 
 barely obtained the results of the calculations, I adopted the data as fur- 
 nished me by Ivens without the initial observations. From Caconda to 
 the river Cuanza, the positions astronomically determined by myself 
 appear preceded by such initial observations. 
 
 Eesult of the Observations of Capello and Ivens from the Coast to C&conda. 
 
 NarcesofPUce, 
 
 Latitude S. 
 
 Deflection of 
 the Needle. 
 
 Inclination of 
 the Needle. 
 
 Altitude 
 in leet. 
 
 Benguella . 
 Dombe Grande . 
 Quillengues . 
 Ngola 
 Caconda . 
 
 O 1 II 
 
 13 25 20 
 
 13 7 45 
 
 14 5 3 
 14 39 1 
 lfi 1 51 
 
 O 1 II 
 
 12 34 17 
 
 12 55 12 
 14 3 10 
 14 1G 46 
 
 13 44 0 
 
 o / 
 
 23 30 W 
 23 26 
 23 3 
 
 22 30 
 
 o / 
 
 39 37 
 3> 44 
 
 40 40 
 
 23 
 321 
 2,788 
 4,506 
 5,507 
 
 Having separated from my companions in Caconda I went on with the 
 work we had commenced together, but was unable to make any obser- 
 vations of inclinometer and magnetic force, because the only instruments 
 we brought out with us for this purpose remained in possession of 
 Capello. 
 
 I shall begin the recital of my labours by the determination of the 
 geographical co-ordinates from Caconda to the left bank of the Cuanza, to 
 which point the narrative, closed by the foregoiug Chapter, extends. 
 
 In the following Table I have endeavoured to condense the necessary 
 data with a view to verifying the results I set down. 
 
 The whole of these observations, calculated in Africa, were recalculated 
 in London by Mr. Selwyn Sugden, 1st Lieutenant of the Boyal Navy of 
 Great Britain. 
 
RAPID RETROSPECTIVE GLANCE. 
 
 217 
 
 ZHf?l22i2E2 l -3' n iiJ <0 o 2222""2^2 — — ^? <N ^ t ^2^ t ^2^r 
 
 ^ .::::::: - ::: :^ :j i : 
 Irslsrs ! I r ~h> MM! "MM 
 
 ^ CO - ~o 
 
 I I 
 
 — . o - ~ -o • o 
 
 I I I I I 
 
 inn s 
 
 22 : 2 : : 2 
 
 Ml 
 
 HI 
 
 SJ -SI3I -31 13 - -13 -IIIII5J -Slfil 
 
 a 
 
 0 
 
 a -J 
 
 * £ ^ ~ - S ° £ 30 ° 5 
 *' 0 S3a 0 Si 0 55a«3 
 
 = — ^rco^co — co co — > co 
 + + + I + I + + I + 
 
 O CO CO CO CO CO 
 
 3 gi^SS 5* S3 S 
 S : :°°SSr*§S :£2 :5 
 
 00003 CO tOO OS 
 
 ^QOOiONOOlOlOOiR >£2_^2_- 
 
 nil 
 
 | || | 
 
 I 1 J 
 I I ■! 
 
 £ £ a 
 
 „<C "N ,C0 -Got©*) CN CM CO in - ~ -CO , ji pi OS ~ 
 
218 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 Transit of Mercury across the Scn ox the 6th of May, 1878. 
 
 Date. 
 
 Place of 
 Observation. 
 
 Latitude. 
 
 Longi- 
 tude. 
 
 Time by 
 Cliron. to 
 Time of 
 Locality. 
 
 Height 
 of Sun. 
 Krrorofsp.vt 
 -1' 25". 
 
 Later 
 time of 
 Green- 
 wich. 
 
 Time of 
 1st inner 
 Contact. 
 
 Longi- 
 tude. 
 
 6 May, 
 1878. 
 
 Belmonte 
 
 o / // 
 12 22 40 
 
 O 1 II 
 
 16 43 24 
 
 Mean of 4 
 
 H. M. s. 
 
 10 6 50 
 
 Mean of 4 
 
 o / /; 
 
 74 36 55 
 
 H. M. s. 
 
 3 39 39 
 
 In the 
 Chron. 
 
 n. m. s. 
 
 11 35 29 
 
 o / / 
 
 16 50 15 
 
 It is worthy of note that the first longitude I determined in Belmonte 
 by the chronometer was very near the true one obtained by the transit of 
 Mercury. This longitude differed likewise but very little from that 
 obtained by the eclipse of the 1st satellite of Jupiter on the 23rd of April. 
 
 I do not include in this table the numerous observations made to check 
 the movements of the chronometers, which I propose some day publishing 
 sepnrately. 
 
 The great difference observable between the readings of different 
 chronometers proves that it must have arisen from the chronometers 
 themselves. 
 
 As will be remarked, the instrument used by me was the sextant with 
 the artificial horizon of mercury ; I had no other, as the aba, the only 
 universal theodolite brought out from Europe, remained in possession of 
 my companions. 
 
 My sextants came, one from Casella of London, reckoning 5," and the 
 other from Lorieux of Paris, reckoning 30". My azimuth compasses 
 were manufactured in Berlin, and had belonged to the unfortunate Baron 
 de Barth. 
 
 My chronometers were made by Dent of London, two being algebraic, 
 and another, marine, which was sent me to the Bihe from Benguella. 
 
 The last was an inferior one : but the other two were excellent, more 
 especially that which I distinguish in the calculations by the letter S. 
 
 Many of the altitudes were fixed by the hypsometer, and others by the 
 aneroid, compared with the hypsometer. 
 
 The altitudes are marked upon the map in English feet. 
 
 The Map of the Bihe country, undoubtedly very rough and incomplete, 
 was drawn up by the compass during my sporting excursions; but even 
 as it stands it possesses sufficient correctness to enable an opinion to be 
 formed of the territory. 
 
 I suspend for the moment any further mention of the details of my 
 maps, in order to give a rapid sketch of the country they represent. 
 
 From Benguella to the Dombe, as will be seen, I followed the coast over 
 calcareous ground which abounded in various mineral ores. 
 
 The tract is badly supplied with water during the dry season, and the 
 valley of the Dombe Grande has scarcely sufficient to render it greatly 
 productive. Vegetation there without being actually poor, does not 
 possess that richness which is peculiar to the intertropical countries. 
 Between Benguella and the Dombe the only drinking water obtainable 
 is from a small marsh in the Quipupa. 
 
RAPID RETROSPECTIVE GLANCE. 
 
 219 
 
 The territory is abundant in game, and a great variety of antelopes is 
 observable, the most common being; the tttrepsiceros Kudu, tike < ep'<alobus 
 w erg ens, the Cervict/ra huhor, and the Ore is canna. The rocks of car- 
 bonate of lime which form the orographic system of the Dombe Grande 
 abound in hyrax, and among the large and splendid plantations of manioc 
 which cover the plain, great numbers of hystrix find a dwelling : they are 
 somewhat lareer than the European ones and cause great devastation to 
 the cultivated grounds. The valley of the Dombe Grande is certainly the 
 best portion of land in the province of Angola. On the score of salubrity 
 there is not much to complain of, and the soil is of great fertility. A 
 seaport, the Cuio, is only a few miles from the best centre of production. 
 
 The mountains \\hich frame the valley are full of minerals and have 
 in many places been worked, but, always on a small scale owing to the 
 want of capital. Both sulphur and copper are to be met with there. 
 
 The native population are well-disposed and laborious, at least in so 
 far as the blacks left to their own devices are ever likely to be. 
 
 Between the Dombe and Qnillengues the country is deserted. By 
 the road we took, water was wanting ; but vegetation, which was poor at 
 the outset, assumed a most luxurious aspect the nearer we approached 
 Quillengues. 
 
 By following the course of the river Coporolo, there is no deficiency of 
 water, and I heard it stated that a rich vegetation extends all the way ; 
 and yet the country in those parts is uninhabited. 
 
 On leaving the Dombe the land rises suddenly to a height of 1804 feet, 
 and a system of mountains commences, running north and south with little 
 valleys in between. These mountains continue gradually rising, till near 
 Quillengues their summits attain an elevation of 2950 feet. It is in the 
 river Canga that the granitic formation begins, and with it a more 
 abundant vegetation. All the rivers marked upon the map up to 
 Quillengues are little better than mountain torrents in the rainy season ; 
 still, in many of them, it is possible to find water in the summer by simply 
 digging holes in their sandy beds. The Coporolo it. elf is liable to this 
 condition of poverty. 
 
 Quillengues is an extensive and fertile valley, very similar in character 
 to the Dombe, but naturally of infinitely less value, owing to want of 
 communication with the coast. 
 
 Its population is dense, and on its meadow lands thousands of heads 
 of cattle, of excellent bri ed, find abundant pasturage. 
 
 The Quillengues are a robust and warlike people, and in the attacks 
 they make upon the Mundombes, they always come out victorious, which 
 does not, however, prevent them being vanquished in turn by the people 
 of the Nano country, who make descents upon their territory and carry 
 off cattle and prisoners. 
 
 The Quillengues as well as the Dombe tribes are subject to the King of 
 Portugal, but are not so submissive as the Mundombes. 
 
 There is little doubt but that the country of Quillengues has a 
 prosperous future before it, attainable so soon as easy communications are 
 opened with the coast, with Huila and Caconda, and a proper administration 
 governs its affairs. 
 
 From Quillengues to Ca:onda the proper track runs through Caluqueme 
 
220 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 a thickly-peopled territory ; but I selected another one for motives which 
 I explain in my narrative. 
 
 On quitting Quill engues in a S. E. direction the traveller arrives at 
 the lofty mountain chain of the district, where the ground rises rapidly 
 to a height of 5725 feet ; the part where I crossed it bears the name of 
 Mount Quicecua. 
 
 There commences the vast and lofty table-land of South Central Africa, 
 and thence to the Bihe the encmous plain maintains the same altitude, 
 with the slightest possible depressions in the beds of the rivers, and a 
 trifling system here and there of isolated mountains. 
 
 From this table-land run permanent streams, the first I fell in with 
 being an affluent of the Cunene. 
 
 The arboreous vegetation upon this high ground is quite as strong as 
 at Quillengues, but the herbaceous is richer, if it is possible to be so. 
 
 The ground continues granitic and a greater abundance of termites 
 begin to appear. The only villages that are met with on the road are 
 Ngola and Catonga, which I have fully described elsewhere. 
 
 In Caconda the country is somewhat more undulated, and should be no 
 less rich and productive than that around Qnillengues. 
 
 It is cut through by permanent rivp.rs which irrigate it in every direc- 
 tion : these run into the Catapi, an affluent of the Cunene. 
 
 Miasmatic fever is endemieal in Caconda, precisely as at Quillengues 
 and on the coast, but it exhibits a milder character in the former district 
 and but rarely claims any victims. 
 
 As regards climate, Caconda differs essentially from the coast and even 
 from Qnillengues. 
 
 Though situated at only 13° 44' from the equator the climate, which 
 should be excessively hot, is tempered by the enormous height at which 
 the territory lies ; but it is on that account subject to those sudden 
 changes between day and night which are prevalent throughout the table- 
 land. There is a constant struggle going on between the altitude and 
 latitude, the result of which is, that the dominion of the latter is most 
 sensibly felt during the day, when a vertical sun darts down its rays of 
 fire, and the former reigns supreme at night, at an elevation of 1860 feet 
 above the sea-level. 
 
 I remember that Anchieta laughingly observed that one might be 
 perfectly comfortable in Caconda if an apparatus, in contact with a 
 thermometer, could be invented to put additional blankets upon one's 
 bed, while asleep, in proportion as the thermometer descended. 
 
 This vast disparity of temperature between the day and night becomes 
 most sensible when the sun has a northern declination ; as when the orb 
 is going towards the south of the equator it is much diminished. 
 
 I was informed over and over again that all the fruits of Europe are 
 produced in Caconda, but unfortunately I cannot state the fact of my 
 own knowledge as I did not fall in with them ; still I have reason to 
 believe that they might be acclimatised. The potatoes are very good and 
 abundant, not only in Caconda, but throughout the table-land ; their 
 transport to Benguella is, however, so difficult under present arrange- 
 ments, that all the potatoes consumed there are brought from Lisbon. 
 
 European potherbs and vegetables are plentiful and good. 
 
RAPID RETROSPECTIVE GLANCE. 
 
 221 
 
 Near the fortress the population is scanty, but at a certain distance it 
 is dense enough, and is there governed by independent chiefs. 
 
 From Caconda to the Bihe the country is very thickly peopled, and if 
 fewer rattle are raised than on the other side of Caconda, agriculture is 
 somewhat more attended to. 
 
 In the countries of the Nano, Huambo, Sambo, and Moma, the natives 
 are savage, warlike, and independent. 
 
 The land, as will be noticeable by the map, is intersected by various 
 streams, the waters being drained into three great arteries, the Cunene, 
 Cubango, and Cuanza. 
 
 To the north of the Sambo territory there is a vast tract of waste ground, 
 called in the country the Enlvna de Ambamba ; this is for the most part 
 marshy, and is the source of five important streams, two of which run 
 northwards, and three towards the south. 
 
 Of those which flow in a northerly direction, one is the Quebe, which 
 debouches into the sea at 10° 50' S. latitude, near the Tres Pontas, between 
 Novo Redondo and Benguella Yelha. 
 
 This river assumes at the lower part of its course the name of Cuvo. 
 The other is the Cutato dos Mongoias, which flows northwards and 
 becomes an affluent of the Cuanza. 
 
 The three that run to the south are the Cunene, the Cubango, and the 
 Cutato dos Ganguellas, which unites with the Cubango. 
 
 The most important system of mountains which I met with, was the 
 chain running from N E. to S. W., to the north of the country of the 
 Huambo, from whose slopes spring the Calaeand the Cucuce, which unite 
 and then flow into the Cunene. 
 
 A rough observation made with the aneroid proved the summit to be 
 upwards of 8200 feet above the level of the sea. 
 
 By way of exception to my rule not to baptise any rivers or mountains 
 in Africa, I bes'o^ed upon this chain the name of Andrade Corvo, it being 
 described in the country merely as the Huambo chain. 
 
 I could not discover among the natives any traces of the existence of 
 other ore than that of iron, by which I do not desire it to be inferred that 
 there is no other. 
 
 The soil is still granitic, and all that can further be said of it is, that in 
 many places it is of animal formation, being produced by the labours of 
 termites. 
 
 Besides the special disposition which I met with, and remarked upon, 
 in the termitic ground on the banks of the Cutato dos Ganguellas, there 
 are four distinct termitic formations, which I presume to belong to four 
 different species. 
 
 The slopes of the Andrade Corvo chain, between the Calae and the 
 Cucuce, abound With game; indeed, with the exception of the Zambesi, I 
 never saw a greater quantity in Africa. 
 
 In addition to the antelopes which I before referred to, when speaking 
 of the Dombe, there are abundance of the Eij>potrugus equiuus, Catobl^pas 
 tawina and Buhalus Coffer. 
 
 The forests are in great part formed of dicotyledonous trees, with 
 innumerable species of acacia. Of creeping or climbing plants there are 
 extremely few. 
 
222 
 
 THE KING'S BIFLE. 
 
 Crossing the divisional line of the waters between the Cubango and the 
 Cuanza we enter the Bihe country, certainly the most important in the 
 south-west part of Central Africa. 
 
 This country, whose people I described at length in the foregoing 
 chapter, is intersected by two important rivers, although they are un- 
 navigable, viz. the Cuqueima and the Cuito. Innumerable rivulets 
 water the land in all directions, and form affluents of these main arteries. 
 
 The climate is similar to that of Caconda, and the same atmospheric 
 conditions are observable in both places. 
 
 The soil is granitic, and of wonderfully productive power. The pas- 
 turage is excellent for sheep and cattle ; the country is poor in game ; but 
 by way of compensation there are few or no wild beasts. 
 
 I do not think it is rich in mineralogical products, inasmuch as, not- 
 withstanding the density of its population, no vestiges of any rich mineral 
 ores appear among the people ; which would scarcely be the case if they 
 existed, as I have ever observed in Africa that the first to discover gold, 
 copper, lead or iron, were the natives. 
 
 8 4 
 Fig. 20. — Ant-H ills, found between the Coast and the Bihe. 1 and 
 
 2 ARE A FEW INCHFS ABOVE THE GROUND. 3 AND 4 ARE FROM 3 TO 
 7 FEET HIGH. 
 
 What is really rich in the Bihe is the soil, and I know of no African 
 country more susceptible of prosperity through agriculture and trade 
 than that territory. 
 
 The European race cou^d reside there in the utmost comfort, and the 
 offspring of such as have settled in the country, and become connected 
 with the natives, is physically admirable. 
 
 During my stay in Belmonte, I made a careful study of its climatological 
 conditions; and more especially during the first month when that per- 
 tinacious rheumatism coutracte I during my jmrney, prevented my quitting 
 the bouse, I regularly observed the barometer and thermometer every three 
 hours during the day. 
 
 I exhibit below a Table of those observations over a space of thirty days 
 and at the same time remark that the equableness of temperature notable' 
 during the day is owing to the season of the year in which the observa- 
 tions were made, a season which corresponds to our autumn. 
 
 1 
 
RAPID RETROSPECTIVE GLANCE. 
 
 223 
 
 The rains fall at two different periods, with an interval of fine weather 
 between them, occurring in December and January. The first rains 
 commence about the middle of October, and continue till the beginning of 
 December; they are more moderate than the second, which fall from the 
 end of January to the commencement of March. 
 
 The prevalent winds are from the east, and at times they blow very 
 persistently and strongly from that quarter; this however is in the dry 
 season, for during the rains, the heaviest storms I remarked came from 
 W.S.W. and from the south. The rains are always, and more especially 
 in February, accompanied by electric meteors, which fall in the midst of 
 terrible thunderstorms. 
 
 The Table below exhibits my observations from the 25th of March to 
 the 23rd of April, 1878. 
 
 Year 187* 
 
 Day. 
 
 6 o'clock. 
 
 629- 8 
 632 0 
 
 629 5 
 t>30 • 0 
 
 630- 2 
 631*0 
 
 631- n 
 
 630 5 
 
 631 -0 
 630 • U 
 63**0 
 630-0 
 630-0 
 
 630- 0 
 62J-0 
 
 629- 5 
 
 631- 2! 
 630 -5 
 629 0 
 628-3 
 
 629 0 1 
 631-4 
 
 630 6 
 
 632 6 
 631-6, 
 U31-2 
 
 630- 7 
 
 631 o 
 630-0 
 630-3 
 
 191 
 
 20- lj 
 
 19- 4 
 19 4! 
 
 20- 6 
 
 18-3: 
 
 1 9 • 2 
 18 6 
 17o 
 18-8 
 18-6 
 18 8 
 J7-2 
 17-8 
 
 17- 6 
 
 18- 4 
 181 
 16 6 
 16 4 
 
 18 2 
 18-6 
 172 
 161 
 
 19 4 
 18-0 
 17-8 
 16-5 
 15 6 
 146 
 14-9 
 
 630 ■ 5 
 
 631- 9 
 
 632- 0 
 631*6 
 632 • 3 
 632-0 
 632-3 
 632-0 
 632*6 
 682*5 
 632-0. 
 032 0 
 032-3: 
 632 -O; 
 632-0 
 
 631 -5 
 
 632 8 
 631 9 
 629 9 
 630*0 
 
 631- 5 1 
 
 632- 6 
 
 632- 0 
 
 633- 0 
 632-0 
 632-2 
 631-9 
 
 631- l| 
 632*0 
 
 632 - o; 
 
 s t 
 
 20- 4 
 
 21- 2; 
 19 9 
 
 19- 9; 
 
 20- 8 
 20-6! 
 200 
 
 1 9 ■ 5 
 18-7j 
 
 20 0 
 20-2 
 20 0 
 19 8 
 
 19 7 
 199 
 20-4 
 
 20 5 
 20-2 
 2o 1 
 20 2 
 2 i-4 
 19 7 
 19 0 
 
 Noon. 
 
 n - 
 
 6 o'cl« ck. 
 
 629-2 
 
 22 
 
 •4 
 
 628-8 
 
 23-2 
 
 630-0 
 
 21 
 
 •6 
 
 630 8 
 
 21 
 
 6 
 
 629-8 
 
 21 
 
 ■5 
 
 629-5 
 
 21 
 
 C 
 
 629-6 
 
 21 
 
 •o 
 
 628 5 
 
 21 
 
 3 
 
 630-0 
 
 20 
 
 •6 
 
 629 5 
 
 20 
 
 4 
 
 6J9-0 
 
 22 
 
 1 
 
 629-0 
 
 21 
 
 6 
 
 630-0 
 
 21 
 
 •6 
 
 628-5 
 
 22 
 
 5 
 
 629-2 
 
 22 
 
 1 
 
 631-0 
 
 21 
 
 9 
 
 630 0 
 
 ti 
 
 2 
 
 629 • 9 
 
 21 
 
 3 
 
 631 2 
 
 20 
 
 9 
 
 629 • 2 
 
 21 
 
 3 
 
 631-0 
 
 20 
 
 4 
 
 630-6 
 
 20 
 
 4 
 
 630-0 
 
 19 
 
 9 
 
 630-0 
 
 19 
 
 8 
 
 .30 0 
 
 21 
 
 1 
 
 629-3 
 
 20 
 
 2 
 
 630-0 
 
 20-2 
 
 630-5 
 
 21 
 
 
 630-0 
 
 21 
 
 2 
 
 629-0 
 
 20 
 
 p 
 
 b30 0 
 
 21 
 
 2 
 
 629-5 
 
 21 
 
 6 
 
 630-0 
 629-8 
 
 20.7 
 
 (,30-3 
 
 21 
 
 
 630-0 
 
 22 
 
 0 
 
 20 
 
 1 
 
 631-0 
 
 20-4 
 
 630-5 
 
 21 
 
 
 630-0 
 
 20 
 
 2 
 
 631-5 
 
 21 
 
 0 
 
 629-0 
 
 22 
 
 7 
 
 630-0 
 
 21 
 
 5 
 
 630 0 
 
 21 
 
 5 
 
 629-5 
 
 22 
 
 8 
 
 630 • 0 
 
 21 
 
 3 
 
 631-0 
 
 21 
 
 8 
 
 629-3 
 
 22 
 
 6 
 
 629-8 
 
 21 
 
 1 
 
 631-5 
 
 21 
 
 7 
 
 629-4 
 
 22 
 
 4 
 
 63' >0 
 
 21 
 
 5 
 
 631-0 
 
 21 
 
 4 
 
 629-5 
 
 23 0 
 
 629-8 
 
 21 
 
 7 
 
 629-0 
 
 21 
 
 l| 
 
 627-0 
 
 22 
 
 6 
 
 629-0 
 
 21 
 
 8 
 
 629 • 6 
 
 21 
 
 6 
 
 629-4 
 
 22 
 
 3 
 
 629-5 
 
 21 
 
 1 
 
 630 6 
 
 22 
 
 0 
 
 629 5 
 
 23 
 
 1 
 
 630-0 
 
 21 
 
 7 
 
 631-0 
 
 21 
 
 3 
 
 630 -5 
 
 22 
 
 4 
 
 630-5 
 
 20 
 
 7 
 
 630 3 
 
 21 
 
 3 
 
 659-0 
 
 22 
 
 8 
 
 630 ■ 0 
 
 20 
 
 2 
 
 631-0 
 
 22-0 
 
 630-0 
 
 22 
 
 2 
 
 6 :0-0 
 
 20 
 
 0 
 
 6::0-0 
 
 20-4 
 
 629-7 
 
 22 
 
 7 
 
 629-9 
 
 19 
 
 8 
 
 630-6 
 
 21 
 
 0 
 
 630-1 
 
 23 
 
 0 
 
 630-5 
 
 19 
 
 7 
 
 630*4 
 
 21 
 
 2 
 
 630-0 
 
 22 
 
 - 
 
 « 
 
 630 0 
 
 2n 
 
 1 
 
 630 3 
 
 19 
 
 8 
 
 629 3 
 
 20-6 
 
 629-8 
 
 19 
 
 5 
 
 630 0 
 
 19 
 
 2 
 
 628-7 
 
 20- 4 
 
 629-0 
 
 19 
 
 4 
 
 630-5, 
 
 kO-O 
 
 629 2 
 
 21 
 
 3 
 
 630-0 
 
 20 
 
 0 
 
 By this series of observations, it will readily be seen how mild is the 
 climate of the Bihe during this period of the year. 
 
 The diurnal advance of the barometer is very remarkable, remaining 
 unchangeable in presence of the sudden changes in the atmosphere. 
 
224 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 A meteorological table drawn up at Oh. 43m. of Greenwich, or lh. 50m. of 
 the Bine, will complete the atmospheric study of this country during th«. 
 period under review. 
 
 Meteorological Table made at Oh. 43m. of G< eenvvich or lh. 50m. of the Bine. 
 
 
 
 t- 
 
 Oj 
 
 in 
 
 
 0 « 
 
 to 
 
 
 
 Month. 
 
 Day. 
 
 a 
 
 o 
 
 i: * 
 
 a * 
 
 l| 
 
 Direction of Wind. 
 
 State of the Atmosphere. 
 
 
 
 :q 
 
 H a 
 
 O 
 
 " S 
 
 a 
 
 
 March 
 
 25 
 
 628-7 
 
 22-9 
 
 20-2 
 
 40 
 
 S S.W. weak. 
 
 (1 minder during the 
 \ night ; to-day *ky clear. 
 
 )j 
 
 26 
 
 629-6 
 
 22-1 
 
 20 0; 2 
 
 W.S.W. weak 
 
 lOloiniy at night; fleecy 
 \ clouds by day. 
 Rain during the night. 
 
 >• 
 
 27 
 
 629 • 1 
 
 21 - 0 
 
 20-1 
 
 31 
 
 E. strong 
 
 >» 
 
 2o 
 
 coo . o 
 
 ^1 0 
 
 21-2 
 
 0 
 
 Calm . 
 
 Some clouds and fleece. 
 
 >» 
 
 29 
 
 629*0 
 
 22 • 3 
 
 21-6| 0 
 
 » • 
 
 
 " 
 
 
 /•OH . A 
 
 
 21-0! 0 
 
 v • > • 
 
 »» n ?> 
 
 
 31 
 
 629 • 5 
 
 215 
 
 20-8 
 
 0 
 
 E. strong 
 
 Cloudy. 
 
 April 
 
 1 
 
 630 5 
 
 20-2 
 
 194 
 
 17 
 
 Calm . . . 
 
 JCloudy. Thunder at 
 ( night trom the N.W. 
 
 *» 
 
 2 
 
 629 • 3 
 
 198 
 
 19-1 
 
 0 
 
 E. strong 
 
 Some clouds and fleece. 
 
 ♦» 
 
 3 
 
 630 ' 0 
 
 20; 9 
 
 19- I 
 
 0 
 
 E. moderate . 
 
 » »» j» 
 
 » 
 
 4 
 
 630 • 3 
 
 zl 0 
 
 20-2 
 
 0 
 
 »> 
 
 »» >♦ »> 
 
 
 5 
 
 630 5 
 
 21 *8 
 
 20-6 
 
 0 
 
 '» 
 
 »» »» »» 
 
 » 
 
 6 
 
 630 • 0 
 
 21 * 1 
 
 19-2 
 
 0 
 
 »» 
 
 V » J» 
 
 
 7 
 
 629 • 3 
 
 21 "8 
 
 19-7 
 
 0 
 
 »« 
 
 >> »> »> 
 
 
 8 
 
 628 • 1 
 
 22 -5 
 
 19-8 
 
 0 
 
 ') 
 
 » >» »♦ 
 
 »! 
 
 9 
 
 629 6 
 
 22-2 
 
 20-6 
 
 0 
 
 Calm . 
 
 •' 5» J» 
 
 Sky clear. 
 
 »' >» 
 
 Some fleecy clouds. 
 
 
 10 
 
 6^9 • 0 
 
 21*8 
 
 19-9 
 
 0 
 
 » • • • 
 
 >5 
 
 11 
 
 629-8 
 
 21-9 
 
 19-8 
 
 0 
 
 »» • • • 
 
 >» 
 
 12 
 
 627-8 
 
 21-8 
 
 19-8 
 
 0 
 
 
 »» 
 
 13 
 
 629-5 
 
 22-0 
 
 20-1 
 
 0 
 
 
 Cloudy. 
 
 »» 
 
 14 
 
 630-0 
 
 22-5 
 
 20-2 
 
 0 
 
 
 Some rleecy clouds. 
 
 
 15 
 
 630-5 
 
 21-6 
 
 19-6 
 
 0 
 
 E. str.mg 
 
 Sky clear. 
 
 »> 
 
 16 
 
 629-8 
 
 21-6 
 
 19-7 
 
 0 
 
 Calm . 
 
 Some fleecy clouds. 
 
 
 17 
 
 630-0 
 
 22-0 
 
 18-6 
 
 0 
 
 E. t>t ong 
 
 >» ?> 
 
 »» 
 
 18 
 
 630-0 
 
 22-2 
 
 20-3 
 
 0 
 
 
 »» » >» 
 
 »» 
 
 19 
 
 630-4 
 
 22-5 
 
 20- 1 
 
 0 
 
 E. moderate 
 
 ?> >» >» 
 
 
 20 
 
 630-2 
 
 22 • 0 
 
 20-2 
 
 0 
 
 
 »> »> »> 
 Sky clear. 
 
 >» 
 
 21 
 
 629-8 
 
 19-9 
 
 15-5 
 
 0 
 
 
 »5 
 
 22 
 
 629*6 
 
 19-9 
 
 161 
 
 0 
 
 
 5> 
 
 23 
 
 630-0 
 
 20-5 
 
 18-3 
 
 °! 
 
 E. strong 
 
 
 The foregoing figures show the results of thirty days' observations, and 
 I continued the same system during the entire journey, saving only where 
 interrupted by illness or occasional disturbances. 
 
 The land from Belmonte eastward slopes a little down to the Cuqueima 
 at that part where the river runs from south to north. On the right bank 
 of the Cuqueima it deviates somewhat in its descent to the valley of the 
 Cuanza. 
 
 In the eastern part of the country, the arboreous vegetation reappears 
 in all its wealth of foliage, and there are small but dense forests visible 
 here and there. 
 
RAPID RETROSPECTIVE GLANCE. 
 
 225 
 
 Throughout the vast territory comprised between the Bihe and Ben- 
 guella the tsee-tsee or titsee fly, that scourge of so many parts of South 
 Africa, which by destroying the horse and ox deprives man of two of his 
 best auxiliaries in practical life, is entirely unknown. 
 
 A species of epidemic, called in the country cahonhu, attacks both cattle 
 and sheep, but without committing anything like the ravage arising 
 from similar causes, noticeable in Europe and other parts of Africa. 
 
 The Horse sickness, which kills so many animals in the Transvaal and 
 in the Calaari, does not exist in this territory. Swine seem to prosper 
 quite as well as in Europe, and the people are able to preserve the meat 
 without difficulty, which they cannot do near the sea. 
 
 The country as far as the Cuanza, and even beyond that river, is 
 entirely without salt all that is used there being brought from the 
 coast. 
 
 There are no mines of rock-salt, and the waters, including those of the 
 lakes, are all drinkable. 
 
 In the foregoing brief summary, I have endeavoured to condense the 
 results of my observations, and give a general idea of the country ; I will 
 now conclude with my brief opinion concerning it. 
 
 Placed in a geographical position very different to that of the Trans- 
 vaal, the tract of territory comprised between the coast and the Bihe" 
 approximates thereto in the way of climate, and possesses a more fertile 
 soil. A comparison between the same plant growing in the two countries 
 makes this very evident. 
 
 It has a native population far more condensed than that of the Trans- 
 vaal, and infinitely more agricultural. It is not less abundant in good 
 pasturage, and is richer in woods and forests. 
 
 The Transvaal, it is true, possesses great mineral wealth, which is 
 wanting here, but I am of opinion, notwithstanding, that a more pros- 
 perous future is in store for this country than for the Transvaal, inas- 
 much as the latter is isolated from the rest of Africa by arid deserts and 
 the tsee-tsee fly, while the former is in easy communication with the 
 other territories of the interior, whose natural wealth is perhaps greater 
 than its own. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 Q 
 
226 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 AMOXG THE GANGU ELLAS. 
 
 Passage of the Cuanza— The Quimbandes — The Sova Mavanda — The Rivers 
 Varea and Onda— Tree-ferns — Tribulations— Slaves — The River Cuito 
 — The Luchazes — Emigration of Quibocos — Cambuta — The Cuando — 
 Leopards — The Ambuellas — The Sova Moem-Cahenda — Descent of the 
 River Cubangui — The Quichobos— Sudden Changes— I start for the 
 Cuchibi. 
 
 Ox the 14th of June, as I had determined, I broke up 
 my camp, and at ten o'clock commenced the passage 
 of the Cuanza, which took a couple of hours. 
 
 Fig. 30. — Crossing the Cuanza. 
 
 My mackintosh boat, purchased in London, did me 
 
AMONG THE GANG U ELLAS. 
 
 227 
 
 the greatest service ; and I had also four canoes which 
 were lent me by the Sova of Liuica. 
 
 The passage was effected without the slightest ac- 
 cident, and by noon I was able to continue my journey 
 which I did in an easterly direction, penetrating into 
 the country of the Quimbandes. Having passed near 
 the villages of Mnzeu and Caiaio, I encamped at about 
 two hours' journey E. S. E. of the village near the source 
 of the Mutanga rivulet, which runs N. W. into the 
 Cuanza. I noticed that the villages in these parts were 
 
 Fig. 31. — Quimbande Man and Woman. 
 
 not nearly so strongly fortified as those on the other 
 side of the Cuanza. The Quimbandes form a confede- 
 ration, their country being divided into small states 
 which always combine for the common protection. The 
 whole of the numerous villages around my camp were 
 under the sway of the Sova Mavanda, who is himself a 
 tributary of the Sova of Cuio or Mucuzo, situated on 
 the banks of the Cuanza but more to the northward. 
 The sight which first struck my attention among 
 the Quimbandes was the head-dresses of the women, the 
 most extraordinary I ever beheld in my life. Some 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 arrange the hair in such a way that — after it is em- 
 bellished with cowries — it looks for all the world like an 
 European woman's bonnet. Others friz it out, and twist 
 and turn it, till it wears the aspect of a Roman helmet. 
 
 Cowries seem to be profusely lavished in the adorn- 
 ment of the female head, and white or red coral is also 
 visible, but not to the extent observable among the 
 people to the west of the Cuanza. 
 
 The hair in these stupendous head-dresses is fixed 
 with a most nauseous red cosmetic, formed of a resinous 
 substance reduced to powder and castor-oil. 
 
 Castor-oil is prepared in great quantities among these 
 
 Fig. 32. — Quimbakde Girls. 
 
 people. After extracting the seeds of the Ricinm 
 communis, they dry them and then reduce them to 
 powder. This powder, kept for several hours in boiling 
 water, furnishes the oil, which, when cold, is roughly 
 separated from the water and preserved in small cala- 
 bashes. 
 
 The oil is not used by the natives as a purgative. 
 
 I speedily remarked that the feminine type among 
 the Quimbandes approaches somewhat to the Caucasian, 
 and I saw r some women who would have been called 
 pretty if they had not been black. 
 
 Immediately upon my arrival I sent a small present 
 
AMONG TEE GANG U ELL AS. 
 
 229 
 
 to the Sova Mavanda, who was profuse in his thanks, 
 although he pressed me further to give him a shirt. 
 
 A like request had already been made me by others, 
 proving a tendency in the direction of body-cover- 
 ing. 
 
 The male natives cover their nakedness with two 
 aprons of small antelope skins, which they suspend 
 before and behind from a broad belt of ox-hide. The 
 Sovas alone use leopard skins. As to the women, they 
 go almost naked, and a fragment of cloth does duty for 
 the traditional fig-leaf of our mother Eve. 
 
 Early on the following morning some of the chiefs 
 porters came to inform me that the men I was expecting 
 arrived the night before on the other side of the 
 Cuanza, where they were encamped. 
 
 I did not give the slightest credence to the news, 
 knowing so well, as I did, the habit of the people to 
 tell you anything they think may be agreeable to you 
 in order to extract a reward for the intelligence. Still 
 I told the messengers, who averred they had seen the 
 men, that I would suitably reward them if they would 
 procure me some token from Dr. Chacaiombe assuring 
 me he was on the track. 
 
 That same morning the Sova Mavanda sent certain 
 envoys to inform me that he was going to set out 
 immediately to attack a neighbouring village, where one 
 of his subjects had revolted against his authority, and to 
 beg me, at the same time, to aid him in his campaign. 
 I of course refused to render him any assistance, but I 
 did so in a mode that prevented him feeling angered 
 at my neutrality. 
 
 It was about mid-day when Mavanda's army passed 
 near my camp. 
 
 In front was carried a tricoloured flag, like that of 
 France but with the colours reversed, fluttering from 
 a lofty staff'. Then came two men carrying an 
 
230 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 enormous powder chest, by means of a rope and pole. 
 By the way they shouldered it, it was evidently empty. 
 They were followed by the Sova, surrounded by his 
 grandees or staff, and after them came the army in 
 single file. There might have been some 600 men 
 armed with bows and arrows, and eight carrying 
 muskets. A few steps ahead of the flag were a couple 
 of blacks beating war drums and making the most 
 horrible noise of which they were capable. 
 
 At nightfall the army returned without having had 
 an engagement, as the enemy had surrendered at dis- 
 cretion. 
 
 On reaching my camp they did me the honour to 
 treat me to a sham fight. 
 
 The bowmen spread out in one long line having the 
 flag in the centre, and behind it the powder chest and 
 the Sova. 
 
 This single line, for each man was isolated, gradually 
 began to surround the imaginary village they were 
 attacking, and contracted as it grew nearer. 
 
 Then, at a given signal by their chief, the soldiers 
 rushed upon the village, running and bounding in the 
 air, and uttering at the same time the most frightful 
 cries to intimidate their adversaries. 
 
 When I thought they were going straight to their 
 homes to attack their supper, I observed them return to 
 the position they occupied before the fight, and again col- 
 lected at the command of their sovereign, they re-entered 
 the village in the same order in which they had 
 left it. 
 
 Shortly after this exhibition was over the messengers 
 who had previously called upon me came again to say 
 they had seen my doctor, but that he would not give 
 them any token for me. This convinced me that my 
 suspicions were right, and that there was not a word of 
 truth in what they had told me. 
 
AMONG THE GANO UELLA S. 
 
 231 
 
 My encampment began io cause me serious alarm, for 
 being covered with dry grass it might catch fire at any 
 moment ,* and as my blacks were often shivering with 
 cold they did not calculate the danger, but kept up 
 enormous fires in the huts. 
 
 Between the river Cuqueima and Mavanda and even 
 beyond, the sugar-cane and cotton plant grow vigo- 
 rously. The Quimbandes cultivate cotton, which they 
 spin into threads on which to string cowries and beads. 
 
 On the following day the natives again asserted 
 that the carriers were on the banks of the Cuanza and 
 could not pass the river for want of canoes. 
 
 I resolved to send Augusto thither accompanied by a 
 Quimbande guide. 
 
 At eleven o'clock an envoy arrived from the Sova to 
 announce a visit from the latter. 
 
 Shortly after, Mavanda arrived surrounded by his 
 court ; and if he evinced surprise at sight of me, I am 
 sure I must have done so at sight of him, as he was 
 certainly the biggest man I had ever beheld in my 
 life. To an enormous height he added a trunk of 
 truly phenomenal proportions, and was otherwise inor- 
 dinately fat. Bound his huge waist was twisted an old 
 cloth, from which hung three leopard skins. 
 
 Several amulets were dangling from a collar of beads 
 round his massive throat. 
 
 It would seem as if Mavanda, being big himself, 
 delighted in things upon a large scale, for he made me 
 a present of the largest ox I ever saw in Africa. 
 
 After the customary compliments he said quite 
 abruptly that he had come to ask me a favour, which 
 was, to give him a " remedy " to save his herds of cattle. 
 These animals, being sent out to pasture, strayed 
 away, and not all of them returned to their shelter at 
 night : but, wandering in the woods, were devoured by 
 wild beasts or otherwise disappeared. 
 
232 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 I furnished him at once with a remedy in the shape 
 of a piece of advice, viz. to employ herdsmen who, 
 instead of allowing the cattle to stray wheresoever 
 they chose, might lead them to their pasture, and bring 
 them home again in the evening. This was a new idea 
 which struck him as not a bad one, and he said 
 that, although it was contrary to the customs of 
 the country to watch the herds, still it should be done, 
 and he would begin at once so as to save his beasts. 
 
 Fig. 33. — The Bihenos constructing Huts in the Encampments. 
 
 I show 7 ed him a barrel-organ, exhibited my rifles, 
 fired them off before him and observed with amusement 
 the surprise and w T onder depicted on those huge but 
 good-natured features. He retired in the evening, and 
 we parted mutually pleased with each other. 
 
 He w r as no sooner gone than envoys arrived from 
 the Sova Capoco with a letter for me. It furnished me 
 with news about Chacaiombe, told me he had sent 
 carriers, and begged me to allow one of his caravans, 
 
AMONG THE GANGUELLAS. 
 
 233 
 
 that he was desirous of despatching for purposes of 
 trade to the Zambesi, to travel with me. 
 
 This letter decided me upon remaining in my present 
 quarters for some six or seven days to wait for the 
 carriers, although I did not even now lay very much 
 stress upon their arrival, and it was in this sense that 
 I answered Capoco's epistle. 
 
 My resolution being taken, I ordered my encamp- 
 ment to be reconstructed, and the huts to be covered 
 with green boughs as a protection against fire. 
 
 Fig. 34. — Skeleton of a Hut. 
 
 The following morning, therefore, there was great 
 activity in and about the camp, which by noon began 
 to assume quite a pretty aspect. 
 
 It was composed of conical huts made of the trunks 
 of trees, each hut measuring ten feet in diameter at the 
 base by eight feet high. 
 
 My own hut, built by the Bihenos with more care 
 than the others, measured sixteen feet in diameter and 
 was twelve feet in height. 
 
 The encampment was formed by a circular line of 
 huts, connected by a hedge of thorny trees. 
 
234 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 My dwelling occupied the centre, and in front of it- 
 were piled the goods. My immediate attendants ar- 
 ranged their huts all round me and within call. 
 
 The labour of constructing the camp was just at an 
 end when I was informed that some messengers of the 
 Sova of the Gando wanted to see me. I ordered them 
 to be shown in, when I immediately recognised in one 
 of them a grandee of that chief whom I had seen by 
 his side when passing through the country. They 
 brought me a letter and a parcel which some petty 
 chief or other had forwarded to the Sova for me. 
 
 Fig. 35. — Hut built in an hook. 
 
 I opened the letter and found it was from my friend 
 Galvao da Catumbella, accompanied by a little present, 
 which he had addressed to the Bihe under the impres- 
 sion that I was still there. 
 
 The cordial feeling which I had managed to awaken 
 among the people I. had passed through, had produced 
 a good result, and the letter and packet thus reached 
 me in safety, passing from hand to hand. 
 
 I opened the parcel and found among other things a 
 box of Malaga raisins, a very welcome gift, as they 
 
AMONG TEE GANG UELLAS. 
 
 235 
 
 helped to relieve a little the monotony of my already 
 very poor provisions. 
 
 The letter gave me some European news, the last I 
 obtained until arriving at Pretoria. The sight of the 
 lines awakened in me the thought, accompanied by a 
 great sinking of the heart, of how long and weary a 
 period must yet elapse ere I could receive intelligence 
 about those w r ho were so dear to me, and I laid my head 
 on my pillow jthat night with uncomfortable presenti- 
 ments in respect of their safety. 
 
 At daybreak I had notice given me that a small 
 caravan, commanded by a black, and carrying wax 
 from the interior, was passing on its way to the Bihe'. 
 I sent for the head-man and requested him to convey a 
 letter for me to that place, there to deliver it to some- 
 one who could forward it to Benguella. He agreed, 
 but asked me to be quick as he intended to sleep that 
 night beside the Cuqueima. 
 
 My time was short, and who should I write to? I 
 must not lose the chance offered me by this unexpected 
 messenger of assuring my loved ones that I was still 
 alive. 
 
 I seized ray pen and traced a few hasty lines to 
 Doctor Bocage. I enclosed therein two small notes, 
 one to my wife, the other to Luciano Cordeiro. 
 
 The leader of the caravan, who had already become 
 impatient at the delay, received the letter and de- 
 parted. 
 
 I now know 7 that the packet reached Europe in safety 
 and w T as received by the person to whom it was 
 addressed, but I never learned how it was forwarded 
 from the Bihe to Benguella. Doubtless it owed its 
 safety to the protection and friendship with which I 
 was honoured by Silva Porto. 
 
 The Sova Mavanda passed the day with me, and we 
 had a long talk. I gave him various little articles, and 
 
236 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 among others a box of lucifer matches, with which he 
 was both astonished and delighted. 
 
 When he retired he said to his macotas, in a tone 
 and in words which I have not ceased to remember : 
 
 " You see afar off a bird which soars aloft and then 
 alights upon a distant tree, and you say it is a dove, 
 then you walk on until you are quite near, and are 
 astonished at its size, for it is an eagle. Thus it was 
 with the Manjoro," (a name they bestowed on me) 
 "when far from our village, we said he was a dove ; 
 now we live with him and know him, we find he is an 
 eagle ! " 
 
 During my rambles in the neighbourhood, pursuing 
 the antelopes, which were scarce, I drew up the map of 
 the country, or rather, was able to complete the map 
 of the territory lying between the Cuqueima and the 
 Cuanza. 
 
 The Sova Mavanda sent to inform me that the 
 greatest favour I could do him was to give him a pair 
 of trousers. I resolved to humour him, but having 
 nothing that could fit those stupendous limbs within 
 many ells, I called in old Antonio, and much to his 
 astonishment turned him into a tailor and sent him to 
 measure his Majesty for the wished-for garment. I 
 then cut out the pantaloons and set Antonio to work to 
 stitch them. I cannot say they were a wonderful fit ; 
 but they ought to have been big enough, as they took 
 five yards of wide calico ! The man was a veritable hip- 
 popotamus, though I must say a very good-tempered one. 
 
 On the morning of the 20th, an envoy from the Sova 
 came to inform me that as it was the time when the 
 people kept high festival (a species of carnival), his 
 Majesty, to do me honour, would come to my camp, 
 masked, and dance before me. 
 
 At eight o'clock some of his attendants arrived and a 
 great concourse of people soon assembled. 
 
AMONG TEE GANG U ELL AS. 
 
 237 
 
 Half an hour later the Sova himself appeared, his 
 head thrust into a huge gourd painted white and black, 
 and his enormous body made still larger by an osier 
 frame covered with grass-cloth, likewise painted black 
 and white. 
 
 Map No. 3. 
 
 A sort of coat, made of horsehair and the tails of 
 animals, completed his grotesque attire. 
 
 Immediately upon his arrival the men formed them- 
 selves into a line with the attendants behind, and the 
 women and girls removed to a distance. The attendants 
 
238 
 
 THE KING'S BIFLE. 
 
 and men, with upright and motionless bodies, then began 
 a monotonous chant which they accompanied by clap- 
 ping their hands. 
 
 His Majesty took up his station about thirty paces in 
 front of the line and began an 
 extraordinary performance, 
 wherein he acted the part of a 
 wild beast torn with rage, and 
 jumped and capered about amidst 
 the utmost applause from his own 
 people and mine. This lasted 
 half an hour, at the end of which 
 time he ran off at full speed 
 followed by his men. He re- 
 appeared shortly after and re- 
 turned to my camp, in his ordin- 
 ary attire, and passed the rest of 
 the day with me. Decidedly I 
 had succeeded in winning his 
 good graces. 
 
 I had utilised all the time I 
 could spare from my labours by 
 rearranging the baggage so as to 
 diminish, if possible, the number 
 of the loads. The goods I 
 possessed were of the most moderate quantity and my 
 entire monetary riches consisted of a sack of cowries 
 and of the beads I had purchased of Jose Alves, but the 
 cost of maintaining my people was great, and I saw, 
 with no little alarm, the diminution of my little store. 
 Game was scarce in the country and small, and with 
 the exception of a few gazelles (Cervicapra bohor), it 
 was of little or no account. 
 
 How often did not the miserable little heap of goods 
 and beads awaken in me the direst anxiety ! 
 
 How often did not a shudder of pain and alarm run 
 
 Fig. 37. — Quimbande Wo 
 
 MAN CARRYING HER LOAD. 
 
AMONG TEE GANG U EL LAS. 
 
 239 
 
 through me as the gloom hanging over my future 
 fate lowered upon my brain ! 
 
 How often were not the affectionate caresses of my 
 pet-goat Cora, and the chattering attentions of my 
 tame parrot, who flew upon my shoulder to obtain a 
 kindly word, left unheeded ! 
 
 And yet, just as often, a boundless faith in the work 
 I had in hand would fall upon my aching heart like a 
 balm and banish for the time all anxiety from my 
 mind. 
 
 Cold reason would occasionally step in and treat as 
 baseless the rays of hope which were so warm and 
 flattering; but they would not be extinguished, let 
 reason argue as it would, but burned the brighter for 
 the attempt to destroy them. 
 
 They are indescribable moments, these struggles of the 
 mind, in the man who stands thus isolated ; who is 
 himself the pro and contra of his own ideas, who has 
 no friend by him with whom to exchange his thoughts 
 or from whom to obtain a word of sympathy in suffer- 
 ing and sorrow. 
 
 In my youth I had my loves and hates, and with 
 them the pains and heart-burnings that follow in their 
 train — I was a father and saw a daughter I adored pass 
 away from my encircling arms ; but never in the past 
 did I feel such an utter void, so deep a depression, as 
 often fell upon me during this African journey ! 
 
 Alone ! perfectly alone as I was in the midst of an 
 ignorant and brawling multitude, whose language and 
 modes of thought were unknown to me, I would sonie- 
 jimes brood until fever and sickness fell upon me, if 
 it were not the approach of those frightful visitants 
 which caused the gloom in my mind. 
 
 I do not reckon as suffering the hunger, the sickness, 
 the utter discomfort which assail the explorer in regions 
 like these. Man is, and should be superior to their 
 
240 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 assaults. The real suffering is doubt and uncertainty ; 
 the not knowing how he is to cross the abyss which 
 reason tells him is haply yawning in his path. The 
 real suffering is to see a band of devoted followers 
 accompanying him blindly, and under the persuasion 
 that he who leads will conduct them in safety, walking 
 with him perchance to utter destruction. The real 
 suffering is the tremendous responsibility with which 
 his mission has weighted him. If I were not unwill- 
 
 
 
 
 
 o | 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 Fig. 38. 
 
 1. Pipe. 2, 2. Knives. 3, 3. Tomahawks. 
 
 ing that my detractors should experience a little of the 
 pangs of hunger and thirst, of annoyances and priva- 
 tions I had to undergo, I would not have the bitterest 
 of them suffer a thousandth part of the moral torture I 
 myself endured — although it is true that to suffer as 
 I did, a man must not be devoid of sensibility, heart 
 and conscience. 
 
 It was under the influence of the feelings I have 
 thus attempted to describe that I traced those lines to 
 
AMONG THE GANGUELLAS. 
 
 241 
 
 Dr. Bocage, and I greatly doubt whether he considered 
 my letter a cheerful one. 
 
 Let me, however, cast aside these reflections, which I 
 fear may not prove very interesting to my readers, and 
 resume the thread of my narrative. 
 
 The Quimbandes manufacture various articles of iron 
 and wood in a much more workmanlike manner than 
 the inhabitants west of the Cuanza. 
 
 The cold at night was very severe and the difference 
 between the maximums and minimums very great. 
 Notwithstanding the letter I received from the Sova 
 Capoco, I did not give much heed to the promise about 
 carriers or greatly expect the return of my doctor, 
 Chacaiombe. I therefore still continued reducing the 
 loads as much as possible, which could only be done by 
 breaking up some and stuffing their contents into the 
 others. But this, of course, had a limit, the limit of 
 weight the men could carry. 
 
 YVe reached the 22nd of June, the day on which the 
 time I had decided upon waiting for Capoco's carriers 
 expired. 
 
 My anxiety was great and I appreciated to the full 
 the troubles dwelt upon by former explorers in having 
 to abandon things which were absolutely necessary, 
 not merely for their comfort but almost for their sub- 
 sistence. 
 
 This question of choice is a very serious one, when 
 every single thing appears indispensable. 
 
 As I have before mentioned, I parted long ago with 
 everything intended for my mere convenience, and the 
 few tins of meat which remained I gave to my young 
 negroes as the readiest way of getting rid of them. 
 
 My carriers, seeing the difficulty I was in, offered to 
 carry the very maximum weight they could tramp 
 under ; but even this unexpected zeal would not suffice 
 to convey the whole of my store, for after all reductions 
 
 VOL. I. R 
 
242 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 and redistribution of loads, there were four of the latter 
 without porters. 
 
 Two of them contained the mackintosh boat, the 
 third a barrel of aguardente, and the last, fifty pounds 
 of gunpowder. 
 
 I resolved, with infinite regret, to abandon the boat, 
 and then to ask the Sova Mavanda for a couple of men 
 to convey the powder and spirit from encampment 
 to encampment until two of my porters should have 
 got rid of their loads ; which would not be long first, 
 considering the rate at which the stores were being 
 consumed. 
 
 The Sova took charge of the boat and gave me the 
 two men I asked for, and all preparations were made to 
 leave next day. 
 
 In accordance with this arrangement I broke up my 
 camp on the 23rd at eight o'clock, and after 3^ hours' 
 march arrived on the left bank of the river Varea, 
 which I crossed on a tolerable timber bridge. 
 
 The petty chief of Divindica, a hamlet situated on 
 the left bank of the Varea, at the confluence of the 
 Maconco rivulet, put in a claim for toll for crossing the 
 bridge, which I satisfied by the payment of four yards 
 of trade cloth. 
 
 The river Varea there runs towards the north, and 
 flows into the Cuime. Its width is 27 yards, and depth 
 6 feet with but little current, as there are no cataracts 
 near Divindica. I marked as about a mile to the south 
 the villages of Moariro and Moaringonga. 
 
 I then travelled eastward, camping at 2 p.m. on the 
 left bank of the river Onda, opposite the large village 
 of Cabango, the capital of the East Quimbandes tribes. 
 
 I had with me two bottles of 1815 port, the re- 
 mainder of a present made me by my friend E. Borges 
 de Castro, and just as we reached the spot where we 
 proposed encamping, the young nigger Moero, under 
 
AMONG THE GA NO UELLA S. 
 
 243 
 
 whose care they were, stumbled and fell, breaking one 
 of the bottles in the act. Imagine my dismay at 
 beholding the precious nectar colouring the ground, 
 without my being able to taste a single drop ! 
 
 From Mavanda to the sources of the Moconco, whose 
 course I followed until its confluence with the Yarea, 
 the trees are perfectly splendid, and the summits of the 
 lofty hills which border the rivulet are very richly 
 wooded. Beyond the Yarea the wealth of vegetation 
 is, if possible, even greater. 
 
 From the time of leaving the Cuanza I heard the 
 river Cuime spoken of as the largest stream in the 
 Quimbandes territory, an assertion that was confirmed 
 by the important affluents it received, and which 
 raised in me a great desire to inspect it with my own 
 eyes. 
 
 From the Cuanza eastward the country presents a 
 very different aspect to that which was observable on 
 the other side. The landscapes are more picturesque 
 and do not exhibit the monotony of the Bihe. The 
 rivers and rivulets dig deeper beds for their waters, 
 and the irregularities of the ground are more sensible. 
 The banks of the streams, whether large or small, 
 appear, beyond the limits of high-water mark, covered 
 with fine trees, while shrubs and underwood form 
 almost impassable barriers in the forests. 
 
 In the east part of the Quimbandes territory the 
 population begins to thin. The Sova of Cabango is 
 also a tributary to him of the Ouio or Mucuzo. 
 
 The customs of these people are similar to those of 
 the Bihenos, saving in the matter of activity, which 
 among the Quimbandes is changed for the most shame- 
 ful sloth. They go almost naked, do no work, under- 
 take no journeys, and carry on no trade. 
 
 There are but few fire-arms among them, as they 
 have no means with which to purchase them. They 
 
 r 2 
 
244 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 gather a little wax, which the Bailundos take from them 
 in exchange for cowries and beads, but the barter is 
 effected upon the smallest possible scale. 
 
 The ground is cultivated by the women, aud its 
 production is rich. I remarked that manioc and gin- 
 cjerba were most prevalent in the plantations. 
 
 This country ought to receive particular attention. 
 Bordered by navigable rivers which flow into a large 
 navigable tract of the Cuanza, with a magnificent 
 climate and most fertile soil, where cotton and the 
 sugar-cane, cereals and grass for pasturage, flourish in 
 equal abundance and perfection, inhabited by a people 
 easily subjected, it is in the very best condition for 
 rapid development. 
 
 On the 24th of June I crossed the river Onda and 
 encamped on the right bank three miles distant from 
 my last resting-place. 
 
 The river Onda at Cabango is about 16 yards wide 
 by 16 feet deep, and runs from the east to the N.W. 
 to flow into the Yarea. 
 
 After determining the position of my encampment, I 
 took a stroll up the river and met with a good deal of 
 game. I found that above Cabango the Onda speedily 
 narrows to 11 yards, but has a depth of 18 feet with 
 a current of 11 yards per minute; a current, be it 
 remarked, which extends to the very bottom, as T dis- 
 covered, not only by sounding, but by the inclination 
 of the plants growing there ; which was easily visible 
 on account of the crystalline clearness of the waters 
 and the fine white sand forming the river bed. 
 
 I saw but one kind of fish in this river, to which 
 the natives give the name of Ditassoa; it is not unplea- 
 sant eating. 
 
 While walking on the river banks I perceived at a 
 distance a group of trees which stood out in fine relief 
 from the landscape and which I took to be palms ; on a 
 
AMONG THE GANG UELLAS. 
 
 245 
 
 nearer approach, however, I recognised them as most 
 beautiful specimens of the Fetus arboreos or tree fern. 
 
 The banks of the Onda are cut vertically and there 
 is the same depth of water at the sides as there is in 
 the middle. It is navigable like the others before 
 mentioned, and therefore presents another natural road- 
 way through this superb country. 
 
 On returning to camp an agreeable surprise awaited 
 me, for Dr. Chacaiombe was the first person who met 
 me at the entrance. 
 
 I was the more pleased to see him, as his disappear- 
 ance was one of the black clouds which helped to make 
 parts of my journey so gloomy. 
 
 Fig. 39. — Ditassoa — Fish of the Eiver Onda. 
 
 I have frequently spoken about Dr. Chacaiombe, and 
 never explained to my readers who he was. 
 
 He was the diviner who, it may be remembered, 
 predicted such agreeable things in respect of my future 
 fate, when I was temporarily staying in the house of 
 the Captain of the Quingue's son. 
 
 Uniting in his own proper person the functions of 
 medicine-man and diviner, he had come, unsolicited, to 
 attach himself to my staff when in the Bihe, and had 
 never left me until he started on the mission to obtain 
 carriers from Capoco, and whence I thought he never 
 intended to return. 
 
 After many words of compliment, Chacaiombe in- 
 formed me that carriers would arrive within a couple 
 of days, so I resolved to wait for them. 
 
246 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 My man Augusto then communicated that the Sova 
 of Cabango had been to pay me a visit, and had gone 
 away much annoyed at not finding me. 
 
 I at once despatched my pombeiro, Chaquiconde, to 
 his Majesty with a request for a couple of men to be 
 
 Fig. 40. — Tree-Ferns on tiie Banks of the Onda. 
 
 sent to Mavanda to fetch the boat I had left behind, 
 much to my own sorrow and that of my people, who 
 appreciated the services it had rendered us in crossing 
 the Cuqueima and the Cuanza. 
 
 This done, T dried myself thoroughly at the fire 
 
AMONG TEE GANGUELLAS. 
 
 247 
 
 (having arrived very wet from the river), as I remem- 
 bered with a shudder my frightful attack of rheumatism 
 in the Bihe. 
 
 The following morning, early, I went out to seek for 
 game, directing my steps northward, where the country 
 was covered with dense forest. After a walk of some 
 eight miles, I fell in with the river Ouime just below its 
 great cataract. I then turned back, and did not reach 
 
 Fig. 41. — Cabango Woman's Head-Dress. 
 
 the camp before night, when I was regularly fagged 
 out. My sport, however, had been good, and I had seen 
 the river I so ardently desired to behold, so I soon 
 forgot my fatigue. The stream is certainly a very 
 important one, and, if I am to believe the natives, it is 
 navigable from the great cataract to the Cuanza. 
 
 Next day I again explored the Onda, and was greatly 
 surprised at the appearance of a hamlet which I descried 
 at a distance on its banks. On a nearer approach I 
 
248 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 found that what I took for negro habitations were no 
 other than the residences of white ants {termites), 
 collected in considerable groups, with conical tops and 
 having all the appearance, seen afar off, of native huts. 
 On getting back to camp I found the Sova of Cabango, 
 who had just arrived with a suite of sixty men and a 
 great many women. 
 
 Fig. 42. — Cabango Man. 
 
 Though in almost a complete state of nudity of body, 
 they were extraordinarily dressed about the head. 
 The head-dresses were infinite in variety, in fact were 
 true works of art, and have a technology of their own. 
 
 The hair worn by the women, frizzed into the shape 
 of a Roman helmet is called tronda, and that which falls 
 in braids on each side of the head is styled cahengue. 
 
 The male head-dresses, on the other hand, are known 
 under the designation of sanica. 
 
AMONG TEE GANG U ELL AS. 
 
 249 
 
 The Sova offered me an ox, which T returned in a 
 fashion that seemed perfectly to satisfy him. 
 
 On that same day the carriers from Capoco arrived ; 
 they were but four, it is true, but four were then 
 enough, two being required for the boat and two others 
 to help carry the heavier loads. 
 
 Fig. 43. — Cabango Man. 
 
 In the evening my negroes and those of the locality 
 had a jollification, which lasted amid great uproar until 
 past ten. 
 
 The cold that night was intense, and the thermometer 
 registered at 3.30 a.m. 0° F. The inequality between 
 the maximum and minimum was most extraordinary, 
 and the dryness of the atmosphere extreme, as my 
 meteorological records show. 
 
 The Sova paid me another visit and furnished me 
 
250 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 with scraps of information about the country. He 
 stated that be did not recognise the sovereignty of the 
 Sova of Cuio or Mucuzo, but • nsidered himself inde- 
 pendent. 
 
 There is a good deal of wax about the woods, and the 
 Bailundos come to seek it in exchange for cowries and 
 beads. The natives work in iron and maka large 
 hatchets, balls and knives, but their war hatchets, 
 arrows and assegais, are obtained from the Luchazes and 
 their spades from the Ganguellas, Nhembas and Gon- 
 zellos. 
 
 I discovered that the Sova, whose name was Cha- 
 quiunde, was rather loose in his principles and did 
 not adhere very strictly to the truth when it suited his 
 purpose to act otherwise. After another long talk 
 with me, he pretended that he was entitled to a variety 
 of things on the ground of another ox he had given me, 
 which was a pure invention. I saw myself under the 
 necessity of desiring him to leave my encampment; 
 when observing my firmness he changed his tone, and 
 sought to excuse his want of faith by alleging that 
 his Macotas had put him up to the ruse with the idea 
 of dividing among themselves whatever could be got 
 out of me. 
 
 Fortunately, about this time, the two Quimbandes 
 arrived with the boat, and I made up my mind to start 
 next day, the 28 th. 
 
 This resolve I carried out, but not so early as I 
 intended, as the thermometer at 6 a.m. was only two 
 degrees above zero and piercingly cold. I therefore 
 broke up my camp at 8, and after nearly three hours' 
 walk in an E.S.E. direction I stopped again on the 
 banks of the river Onda. 
 
 Our marches were of necessity short ones on account 
 of my carriers being so heavily laden. 
 
 The ground from the river Yarea to that point was 
 
AMONG TEE GANG UELLAS. 
 
 251 
 
 covered with a layer of sand, the subsoil being formed 
 of stiff clay varying in colour from a dirty white to 
 ash grey. 
 
 Near the bed of the Onda the soil appeared to be 
 composed of a thick layer of mould, resting upon the 
 same subsoil of grey clay. Beside the river I observed 
 a few ant-hills which were cobalt blue in colour. 
 
 The open ground was inhabited by a different species 
 of ants {termites) to that which was located in the 
 forests. The former constructed hills with rounded tops, 
 exhibiting the appearance of stumps of trees covered 
 with hemispherical cupola, being from thirty-two to 
 forty inches in diameter at the base by about the 
 same in height. In the forests, on the other hand, they 
 are true cones from two to three inches in diameter at 
 the base, and from ten to twelve inches high. 
 
 Being very close together, they have a resemblance 
 to a fence of thorns, stuck into the ground. 
 
 These forest ants evidently use in the construction 
 of their dwellings the first material which comes to 
 hand, as the mould forming the surface soil of the 
 woods appears to be that selected, and notwithstanding 
 the cement employed in the fabric, the mounds have 
 not that tenacity and durability noticeable in the hills 
 raised by the ants of the open ground. The latter 
 employ the stiffest clay, and the consequence is, their 
 habitations are nearly as hard as stone. In fact, so 
 strong are they that, though the interior is honey- 
 combed like a bee-hive, a Snider bullet will not 
 penetrate deeper into them than four or five inches. 
 
 As I before observed, on the banks of the Onda 
 these ants crowd their hills into limited spaces, and they 
 have, at a distance, a remarkable resemblance to Quim- 
 bandes villages. 
 
 For upwards of an hour after leaving the encamp- 
 ment I strolled along the river upon open ground, 
 
252 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 but I then came upon a splendid forest, tnrough which 
 ran several brooks, affluents of the On da. 
 
 At times the forest assumed the aspect of one of 
 those extensive English parks where the ground was 
 completely clothed with a soft green turf. I wandered 
 on and on, until at length my steps were arrested as if 
 by magic, while my eyes contemplated with delight one 
 of the most charming prospects they had ever beheld. 
 
 Before me lay in perfect repose a lake of crystalline 
 water, whose bed of fine sand was visible at a consider- 
 able depth. Enormous trees springing from the borders 
 of the lake formed an appropriate frame, while the rich, 
 deep green of the foliage, reflected to the smallest bough 
 on the placid surface of the water, greatly enhanced 
 the beauty of the landscape. The green turf to which 
 I have alluded ceased only at the water's edge, and 
 hundreds of birds chirped and twittered amid the 
 dense foliage, and at times skimmed rapidly over the lake. 
 
 The natives of the country, who are not much given 
 to poetry or sentiment, are nevertheless sensible of the 
 extreme loveliness of this spot, and call the sheet of 
 water — of which they had frequently spoken to me — 
 by the name of Lake Liguri. 
 
 All the rivulets in this territory have marshy banks, 
 and I constantly observed in the stagnant water a red 
 deposit which I at first attributed to the presence of 
 iron, but afterwards discovered that it must be an 
 error, as the green tea made with the water gave no 
 evidence, by the formation of tannate of iron, of the 
 presence of that substance. No doubt the red colour 
 is due to an accumulation of infusory animalcula. 
 
 I further observed on my way hither from the Bihe', 
 that all those places which have stagnant water abound 
 in leeches, and that these creatures were still more 
 abundant in the little pools collected beside the affluents 
 of the Onda. 
 
AMONG TEE GANGUELLAS. 
 
 253 
 
 The river continued to be between 11 and 13 yards 
 broad with a depth of 13 to 16 feet, without any very 
 sensible current. Its banks contained a large quantity 
 of game. 
 
 On the following day I travelled S.E., still upon the 
 right bank of the Onda, for a space of three hours, 
 forcing a passage with some difficulty through a dense 
 forest, and wading with even greater difficulty, on 
 account of the slimy nature of its bed, through the 
 
 Fig. 44. — Lake Liguri. 
 
 Cobongo rivulet — 13 feet wide by 3 deep. After some 
 three more hours I got tired of the Onda, and on 
 meeting another little affluent, the Cangombo, kept 
 along its edge for some distance, then crossed it and 
 encamped on the left bank of a third rivulet, the 
 Bitovo. 
 
 On the 30th of June I continued my journey east- 
 ward on the bank of the Bitovo, traversed some miles 
 of forest, and then reached the valley of the Chiconde, a 
 
254 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 rivulet whose course I followed till I reached the Cuito, 
 where I camped. I was much moved on falling in with 
 the Chiconde to observe its waters running rapidly 
 towards the river Cuito, for until then I had only met 
 with streams which ran towards the Atlantic ; and their 
 waters, whose ripple and rush had so often lulled me to 
 sleep, were, so to speak, a tie which still bound me 
 to my dear country, as they emptied themselves into 
 the same ocean which bathed the shores of my native 
 Portugal. Could those waters only have conveyed the 
 sighs and whispered words that were uttered over 
 them, how many tender messages would they not have 
 carried to my dear ones ! 
 
 On leaving the Bitovo, that tie which united me to 
 the Western Coast was snapped, and Heaven onlv 
 knew whether it would again be joined. That very 
 day a year had passed since I bade farewell to my dear 
 old father ; and how vividly did I not remember his 
 parting words and the expression of his fears that we 
 were bidding each other an eternal adieu ! 
 
 My camp was next pitched in the country of the 
 Luchazes, the Quimbandes being left behind me when 
 I quitted the Bitovo. 
 
 Several men and women from the village on the 
 right bank uf the Cuito came into camp ; but they 
 brought nothing with them for sale, and we wanted 
 food. They promised, however, next day to let us have 
 some canary-seed, as it appeared they did not grow 
 either Indian corn or massambala. 
 
 They cultivate in their fields, canary- seed (massango), 
 a little manioc, beans, castor and cotton, but all upon a 
 small scale ; indeed, barely necessary for the consump- 
 tion of the growers. 
 
 They collect a good deal of wax about the forest, 
 from the hives built in the trees where the bees swarm. 
 This wax they barter for dried fish from the Cuanza, 
 
AMONG TEE GANGUELLAS. 
 
 255 
 
 which the Quimhandes bring over, as their own river, 
 the Cuito, apparently produces no fish. 
 
 The Luchazes are little given to travelling, and 
 rarely leave their villages except to hunt the antelopes 
 for the sake of their skins. Their field work is carried 
 on by both men and women. 
 
 The petty chief who governs the sparse hamlets on 
 the borders of the river Cuito is the Moena-Calengo, 
 who pays tribute to another chief, Moena-Mutemba, the 
 
 Fig 45. — A Luchaze of the Baxks of the River Cuito. 
 
 situation of whose village I could not precisely ascer- 
 tain. 
 
 The Luchazes work in iron and produce all such 
 implements as they require. Iron is to be found within 
 the country. 
 
 One thing particularly struck me among these 
 barbarians, viz. the use of tinder to procure fire, by 
 means of a flint and steel. The flints are imported 
 by the Quibocos or Quiocos, and exchanged for wax, 
 
256 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 and the steels are manufactured by themselves out of 
 wrought iron, tempered by cold water into which they 
 are thrown while the metal is red-hot. The tinder is 
 prepared from cotton mixed with the kernel contained 
 in the stone of a fruit called micha, well crushed. 
 
 The Luchazes women use baskets of a different kind 
 to those employed by the Quimbandes, and carry them 
 differently, inasmuch as they are suspended from their 
 heads by a broad strip of the bark of a tree, and fall 
 upon their backs. This mode of disposing of their 
 
 Fig. 46. — Tinder-Box, Flint and Steel. 
 
 baskets prevents them carrying their children in the 
 mode generally in use in Africa, upon their shoulders, 
 so that the little ones are slung by their sides. 
 
 On the morning of the following day, several women 
 came to offer us some canary-seed (rnassango), but in 
 such small quantities that it rather aggravated than 
 appeased our hunger. 
 
 The river Cuito, at the point where I crossed it, 
 is 23 feet wide by 3 deep, and has a current of 82 feet 
 per minute. 
 
AMONG TEE GANG UELLAS, 
 
 257 
 
 It is an affluent of the Cubango, and at its confluence 
 stands the important village of Darico. 
 
 It takes its rise in the table-land of Cangala, at no 
 great distance from the sources of the Cuime and 
 Cuiba (affluents of the Cuanza), and that of the Lungo- 
 e-ungo, an affluent of the Zambesi. 
 
 Being unable to procure provisions, I resolved to go 
 forward, and while giving orders to break up the 
 
 Fig. 47. — A Luchaze Woman on the Road. 
 
 encampment, a gang of female slaves, conducted by- 
 three negroes, arrived on the banks of the Cuito. 
 
 I seized the three blacks, and had the poor creatures 
 set at liberty. When they were assembled in my camp, 
 I informed them that they were free, and that if they 
 chose to join my company, I would find means of 
 sending them on to Benguella. 
 
 I assured them they had nothing more to fear from 
 
 VOL. I. S 
 
258 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 their guards, and that they were quite at liberty to act 
 as they pleased. To my astonishment, they one and all 
 declared that they did not desire my protection, but 
 wished to continue their course, which I had interrupted. 
 
 Whence came they ? None could furnish me with an 
 intelligible reply. What then was to be done ? I felt 
 a natural repugnance to take them with me against 
 their own will ; so, after due deliberation, I resolved to 
 let the poor women follow the sad fate, which they 
 had the means, but lacked the inclination, to escape. 
 
 And after all, would they have been better off if they 
 had followed me? It is no easy matter, whatever 
 people may think of it in Europe, to set a gang of 
 slaves at liberty when the operation has to be performed 
 at a distance from European dominion and influence. A 
 batch of slaves consists of natives of different districts, 
 some of which are exceedingly remote. If he who sets 
 them at liberty is desirous of restoring them to their 
 families, he will have to traverse a great part of 
 Africa in search of the homes of his proteges, which is 
 practically impossible. 
 
 To abandon them after giving them their freedom is 
 tantamount to delivering them up as a prey to the 
 first tribe which they fall in with. 
 
 It frequently happens that these unfortunates, carried 
 off from their villages in tender years, lose all recollec- 
 tion of the place where they were born, and learning to 
 speak a language different to that which they babbled 
 in childhood, end by adopting as their country the land 
 of their slavery, and, in fact, know no other. 
 
 Nowadays, that the English and Portuguese vessels 
 of war are cruising in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, 
 the exportation of human cargoes is considerably im- 
 peded ; slavery constitutes an object of barter solely in 
 the interior, and the system of the infamous trade is 
 considerably modified. 
 
AMONG TEE OA NO UELLA S. 
 
 259 
 
 A slave, for instance, appears in Africa under two 
 guises : either as a prisoner of war, or in payment of a 
 debt due from the parents. 
 
 In former times wars were waged for the express 
 purpose of making prisoners and converting them into 
 slaves, nor has the system, unhappily, quite worn out 
 at the present day. 
 
 A human creature given by an impecunious parent 
 in payment of a debt contracted or of a fine levied, is 
 common enough. 
 
 Where wars occurred in the olden time, every 
 prisoner became a slave, and it was not easy for him, 
 even as an adult, to return to Africa after being once 
 landed on the American coast. The Atlantic Ocean 
 formed a pretty safe barrier. 
 
 Those same adults, as being capable of doing much 
 more work, were always preferred to mere youths and 
 children. 
 
 But it is not so to-day. A grown man takes to 
 flight, and has ever in his mind the thought of returning 
 to the nest whence he has been dragged, and this hope 
 never abandons him so long as he treads the soil of 
 the continent on which his country lies. As a negro 
 himself said to me : — u they are always running away? 
 
 A child, a youth and a woman offer far greater 
 security to the owner, for being more irresolute of spirit, 
 they do not dare face the thought of crossing vast tracts 
 of country to arrive at their own. 
 
 It consequently happens that at the present time, in 
 South Central Africa, a child and a woman have greater 
 value, and in the gangs of unhappy creatures who drag 
 their cruel irons across the African soil, it is a rare thing 
 to find a full-grown man. 
 
 England, Portugal and France have, of late years, 
 vied with each other in making war upon this trade in 
 human flesh, and the change that time has brought 
 
 S 2 
 
260 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 about upon the American continent has aided very 
 considerably in diminishing the horrible traffic and, as 
 a matter of course, in essentially modifying its condition, 
 in Central Africa. 
 
 Nevertheless I will venture to assert that it is not 
 this generation or the next that will see the slave 
 disappear from the African soil. 
 
 The same principle that was formerly dominant in 
 America of using slaves as colonists exists, and will exist 
 for a long time to come in Africa. 
 
 Negro governments have likewise their colonising 
 policy, and we do not possess between them and the 
 places whence the slaves are derived a "silver streak" 
 whereon to float our squadrons and lend these poor- 
 creatures the protection of batteries of steel. It is only 
 by the aid of a wide-spread civilisation that we may 
 hope one day to see the end of slavery, but unhappily 
 that day is, as yet, far distant, because the arguments 
 that have been hitherto used have been found far less 
 eloquent and persuasive than rifled shot have proved 
 in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. 
 
 I am myself of opinion that the abolition of slavery 
 in the interior of South Central Africa will only become 
 an accomplished fact when polygamy ceases to exist 
 among the blacks, for although the principles of civili- 
 sation may do away with slavery as an institution, the 
 brutal sensuality of the negro will retain the female slave. 
 
 I do not wish it to be inferred from this that I would 
 treat as useless any efforts that may be made to put 
 down this most shameful trade. I want merely to 
 point out the difficulty, as I consider it, of its complete 
 annihilation. The subject, however, is leading me away 
 from matters of more immediate interest. So I resume 
 my narrative. 
 
 I mentioned that the girls did not care to be set free, 
 and were therefore allowed to follow their leaders. 
 
AMONG THE GANG U ELL AS. 
 
 261 
 
 I also prepared for my departure, compelled thereto 
 more especially by the necessities of the stomach, which 
 in journeys of exploration are just as imperious, and in 
 fact even more so than geographical societies. 
 
 I therefore set out in an easterly direction, and after 
 a two hours' march sighted a village and pitched my 
 camp on the banks of a rivulet close up to it. I learned 
 that both rivulet and village bore the name of Bern be. 
 
 When the work of cutting down the wood for our 
 encampment commenced, I saw a sudden commotion 
 among my blacks, who then took to their heels in every 
 direction. Not understanding the cause of their panic; 
 I immediately proceeded to the spot to make inquiries. 
 On the very place which I had selected for my camp, 
 appeared issuing from the earth millions of that terrible' 
 ant called by the Bihenos quissonde, and it was the 
 sight of these formidable creatures which scattered my 1 
 men. The quissond ; 3 ant is one of the most redoubtable' 
 wild beasts of the African continent. The natives say it; 
 will even attack and kill an elephant, by swarming into 
 his trunk and ears. It is an enemy which, from its 
 countless numbers, it is quite vain to attack, and the 
 only safety is to be found in flight. The length of the 
 quissonde is. about the eighth of an inch ; its colour is a 
 light chestnut, which glistens in the sun. 
 
 The mandibles of this fierce hymenopter are of great 
 strength and utterly disproportioned to the size of the 
 trunk. It bites severely, and little streams of blood 
 issue from the wounds it makes. 
 
 The chiefs of these terrible warriors lead their 
 compact phalanxes to great distances and attack any 
 animal they find upon the way. 
 
 On more than one occasion during my journey I had 
 to flee from the presence of these dreadful insects. 
 Occasionally upon my road I have seen hundreds of 
 them, apparently crushed beneath the foot, get up and 
 
262 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 continue their march, at first somewhat slowly, but 
 after a time with their customary speed, so great is 
 their vitality. 
 
 It will not be out of vjlace here to say a few words 
 about some other African ants of a more ordinary kind 
 than the quissonde. 
 
 One is a black ant, only half the length of the 
 quissoncle, but, like the latter, armed with powerful 
 mandibles. The Bihenos call it the ohinginge. It is 
 the sworn enemy of the termites, against which it wages 
 the fiercest wars, and generally comes off victorious, 
 notwithstanding the smallness of its size. 
 
 These little ants are, however, a positive benefit to the 
 natives, owing to the enormous havoc they make among 
 the larvse, nymphae and eggs of the termites. 
 
 In certain places I found in the dwellings of the 
 termites a large quantity of giant ants, some of which 
 measured five-eighths of an inch in length, and which 
 prey upon the abundant neuroptera of South Africa. 
 
 These ants, as I presumed, being but little given to 
 build houses for themselves, take up their lodging with 
 their more industrious neighbours. 
 
 None of these insects, with the exception of the 
 quissonde, will attack man, but the latter will do so 
 always, with the result of putting him to flight, as 
 my carriers were ignominiously forced to do on the 
 banks of the Bembe. 
 
 I had therefore to seek out another spot, as far 
 removed as possible from the former one, on which to 
 pitch my camp. 
 
 Some messengers whom I had despatched to the 
 village of Bembe returned with the unpleasant news 
 that the petty chief of the place had given orders to 
 his people to sell me no provisions. 
 
 We w r ere all beginning to feel the cravings of hunger ; 
 game there was none, and our entire food during the 
 
AMONG TEE GANG UELLAS. 
 
 263 
 
 day Lad been a handful or so of massango, which 
 fell to each of us in the division I made of what was 
 obtained on the banks of the river Cuito. 
 
 The country in which we now stood was completely 
 unknown to all of us, and as the natives without excep- 
 tion gave us a wide berth, we had no means of removing 
 our ignorance. 
 
 I called my pombeiros together, and pointed out to 
 them the absolute necessity of pushing ahead next day, 
 in the hope of reaching a more hospitable region. 
 
 They agreed with me as to the necessity of doing so, 
 and resolved to urge on their men as much as possible ; 
 no easy matter, however, on account of their being 
 weakened through insufficiency of food. For the last 
 two days I had observed vestiges of the country having 
 been at one time exceedingly populous — ruins of old 
 villages, some of them very old, being scattered here 
 and there. 
 
 The questions arose, why had they been deserted ? 
 was the devastation due to slavery ? was it owing to 
 the insalubrity of the climate ? was it caused by the 
 dearth of game ? Was it the inferior quality of the 
 soil ? 
 
 I could find no satisfactory solution to these queries ; 
 but the first suggestion appeared to me the most likely 
 one. 
 
 Any way, this unexpected dearth of population caused 
 us the greatest embarrassment ; and as to myself, I that 
 night suffered positive torture from the cravings of 
 hunger. 
 
 Next morning, early, we had another mishap through 
 one of the carriers falling ill, but my Doctor, Chacai- 
 ombe, though he could not cure the patient, nevertheless 
 remedied the evil by shouldering the sick man's pack. 
 
 Just as we were leaving we had a visit from some 
 of the natives— envoys of the chief of the Bembe — 
 
264 
 
 -TEE KING'S BIFLE. 
 
 who came to solicit something on his behalf. My only 
 answer was a speech about what I thought of their 
 dusky master, with which I sent them about their 
 business. 
 
 I started at twenty minutes to nine. I had to wade 
 across the river Bembe, which at that spot was 2h 
 yards wide and 3 feet deep, and was running in a S.W. 
 direction into the Onto. 
 
 The right bank was mountainous, but the left, after 
 an almost vertical cutting 11 yards in depth, stretched 
 out in a level and marshy plain nearly a mile in width. 
 
 The journey across, or rather through, the marshy 
 ground cost us an hour, and was very fatiguing to the 
 half-famished caravan. 
 
 The ground afterwards appeared slightly inclined 
 and covered with scrub, which was very difficult of 
 passage. After a trying march of another hour or so, 
 we came to an incline, at foot of which appeared a plain 
 whose extent was incalculable, owing to a dense forest. 
 We descended for some 60 yards or so till we reached 
 the edge of the wood, but had then to alter our course, 
 as the jungle was simply impenetrable. 
 
 We lighted upon the track of some animal, which we 
 followed now eastward, now north-westward, and then 
 south, until we came to a dead stop on the edge of a 
 precipice, 300 feet at least in depth, at foot of which 
 was brawling a mountain torrent. 
 
 The difficulty of the path, the heavy loads with 
 which the men were weighted, and the weakness of the 
 latter, induced me to call a halt and pitch our camp. 
 
 The hunger from which we were suffering was 
 beginning to get unbearable. There was but one hope 
 which animated me, namely the having seen vestiges 
 of game. 
 
 It was not a pleasant circumstance that immediately 
 upon our arrival we should be visited by a cobra, which 
 
AMONG THE GANG U ELL AS. 
 
 265 
 
 we fortunately killed. My Doctor averred that it was 
 of a most poisonous kind, but that he possessed an anti- 
 dote to its bite. In spite of this assurance I felt more 
 confidence at seeing it most effectually put out of the 
 way. It was upwards of a yard in length, of a dusky 
 red upon the back and of a lighter tint upon the belly. 
 The eyes were green and brilliant as emeralds, and it 
 had a bipartite tongue. 
 
 The mouth was armed with four teeth disposed like 
 those of a dog. I mention these features as they may 
 be serviceable to those who follow me on this road. 
 
 I felt that game must be obtained, for nature could 
 not hold out much longer. Having therefore made my 
 arrangements, I started off in one direction and sent 
 my attendants Augusto and Miguel, the only trust- 
 worthy woodsmen I possessed, in another. 
 
 Shortly after leaving the camp I found the track of a 
 herd of buffaloes, and at once followed it. 
 
 I may here mention incidentally that few sportsmen in 
 Europe can form an idea of what it is to hunt for actual 
 food. If it can be called a pleasure it has a good alloy 
 of pain in it. 
 
 It may be likened in some measure to the mixed 
 feelings of a gambler who approaches the table for 
 the purpose of gaining the wherewithal to pay a debt 
 of honour, and who, while delivering himself up to the 
 feverish joy of play, has in his heart the tearing anxiety 
 of uncertainty. The eyes of the man, while devouring 
 the cards which slowly fall from the banker's fingers, 
 and seeking to penetrate through the bits of cardboard, 
 the quicker to remove his agony of doubt as to whether 
 it is safety or destruction they will bring to him, must 
 surely wear some such expression as that of the half- 
 famished huntsman who follows the trail of an animal 
 whose possession is to him a matter of life or death. 
 
 There, however, the resemblance between them 
 
266 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 ceases ; for the huntsman can at least, in singleness 
 of heart, invoke Divine assistance in his quest and his 
 success. 
 
 How different again from the sensations of the hunter 
 stimulated by hard necessity, are those of the sportsman 
 whom pleasure only brings into the field ! However 
 keen may be the zest with which the latter pursues his 
 prey, he is not so indifferent to surrounding objects 
 but that he can stop awhile to admire the lovely land- 
 scape or pluck a brilliant flower, conscious as he is that 
 if he fail in bringing down his quarry, his table will be 
 none the less well supplied, or his bodily comforts be 
 less carefully ministered to. 
 
 The other man sees nothing, hears nothing, but that 
 has a bearing upon the one desired object. Heedless of 
 the thorns that tear him, or the boughs that bruise him 
 in pushing them too carelessly aside, with set teeth and 
 beating heart, his empty stomach egging on his waning 
 courage, he pushes forward to reduce to the utmost the 
 distance lying between him and his prey, the surer 
 and the deadlier to make his aim. 
 
 The trail I followed led me at length to the very 
 bottom of the precipice, where the w r ater was brawling 
 over its uneven bed, and for a considerable time I kept 
 along its right bank, till, finding an opportunity, I 
 crossed to the other side, whence I perceived my buffaloes 
 grazing at the outskirt of a dense virgin forest. 
 
 They were at least 500 yards from me. 
 
 Then began the fatiguing operation of stalking — my 
 gun on the trail, wading, as it were, through a sea of 
 dry grass. From time to time I would raise my head 
 to see how much my distance had been shortened, and 
 to make sure the creatures had not taken the alarm. 
 The very idea brought the moisture to my skin, for I 
 longed in fancy to return to the camp and bid my 
 followers hie to the banks of the torrent, where they 
 
AMONG THE GANG UELLAS. 
 
 267 
 
 would find provision to stay the cravings of their 
 hunger. 
 
 My hopes and fancies were dispersed as if by an 
 enchanter's wand. When I lifted up my head for the 
 last time, not a buffalo was visible. They must have 
 disappeared within the forest. 
 
 I rose in all haste and, with the utmost speed of 
 which I was capable, followed in the direction they 
 must have taken. It was perfectly in vain. The thick 
 and springy moss which covered the ground left not a 
 trace of their passage, nor could my keenest endeavours 
 overcome the difficulty. 
 
 It was a deep disappointment, unrelieved by any after- 
 success ; so that about six in the evening, worn out with 
 fatigue and hunger, I made my way back to the camp, 
 having, as I calculated, covered some twelve miles in vain. 
 
 The others, however, had been more happy than 
 myself. Augusto came running out to meet me with 
 a radiant face, and with no little triumph led me up to 
 a superb antelope which he had shot a little while before. 
 It was an enormous Hippotragus equinus, as bulky as 
 an ox. 
 
 I lost no time in cutting it up and dividing it equally 
 among us all ; and after so lengthened a fast, which, as 
 being most involuntary, I am afraid cannot be placed to 
 the credit side of my account hereafter, I made such 
 a meal as onlv those who have been in the same fearful 
 straits can adequately appreciate. 
 
 The contentment caused in my whole being by the 
 consumption of a hearty supper was somewhat dashed 
 at the aspect of my worthy Miguel, the elephant 
 slayer, who appeared before me with such a long face 
 that I was sure something very serious had occurred to 
 disturb him, and when I learned the cause, I did not 
 wonder, though I could not help being inwardly amused, 
 at his dismay. 
 
268 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 During his absence my pet goat Cora had got into 
 his tent and sacrilegiously munched up the wonderful 
 charm which he possessed for slaying elephants ! 
 
 This marvellous talisman consisted of a human 
 tooth fallen from the jaw of some antiquated skull, 
 wrapped up in straw and rags by a medicine-man of 
 high repute who had imbued it with sovereign 
 virtues, so that the possessor of the treasure would 
 find it easy to fall in with and slay elephants without 
 the slightest danger to himself. Miguel was for a 
 time inconsolable, but I managed at length to pacify 
 him by the promise of a far more effective charm than 
 the one he had lost. 
 
 Nor did I deceive him in making such a promise, 
 since the excellent rifle I intended to bestow upon him, 
 when we reached the elephant country, would, I con- 
 ceived, be of far greater value than any amount of 
 rotten teeth packed up in rags and straw. 
 
 After our meal, my pombeiros gathered about my 
 fire, and, amid other things, related that, during my 
 absence, the men had wandered about the wood, where 
 some had collected a lot of honey, and others had 
 gathered quantities of a fruit which the Bihenos called 
 atundo, and which grew upon a stunted herbaceous 
 plant. The fruit-stalks spring from the stem quite 
 close to the ground, and the fruit is just as much below 
 as above the earth. It is agreeable enough to the 
 palate, but 1 doubt it being very nutritive. 
 
 It was necessary to be on the move betimes the 
 following morning, so that we broke up our camp much 
 earlier than usual, 'in spite of the cold. 
 
 We started in a S.E. direction, and after two hours' 
 march, came upon a river that was very difficult to 
 cross over. Its width was rather more than four yards, 
 and depth quite as much, with a violent current. 
 
 I gave orders for the felling of some large trees and 
 
AMONG TEE GANG U ELL AS. 
 
 269 
 
 managed to throw them across the stream by way of 
 bridge, over which my entire caravan passed in safety. 
 A little below the spot where we crossed the stream, 
 it receives the waters of a rivulet running from the 
 eastward I followed the course of this rivulet on its 
 right bank for upwards of an hour, and subsequently 
 halted near two villages. 
 
 Immediately upon our arrival several of their inhabi- 
 tants gathered . about us, with whom we had a parley 
 about provisions. A lot of massango — the canary-seed 
 
 Fig. 47a. — Atundo, Plant and Fruit. 
 
 before alluded to — was soon brought into camp by 
 negroes who were almost entirely destitute of clothing, 
 and, as we did not dispute about price, we shortly had 
 sufficient for that day's consumption. 
 
 Friendly relations were soon established between the 
 natives and my people. I learnt from them that the 
 rivulet by which we encamped the evening before was 
 called Licocotoa, the one over which we had thrown 
 
270 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 the bridge, Nhongoaviranda, and the brook by whose 
 sources we were now staying, Cambinbia. 
 
 The two villages built upon the left bank of the 
 little stream were Luchazes, but that to the N.W. of my 
 camp was inhabited by Quiocos or Quibocos. They 
 were the latter with whom we were in communication. 
 
 I consumed more than a pint of massango boiled in 
 water, and did not find it an unpleasant food. 
 
 After satisfying my appetite, I calculated the position 
 in which the planet Jupiter would be that night at the 
 time of the eclipse of the first satellite, which I wanted 
 to observe, but my camp was pitched in a dense forest 
 which prevented me seeing the stars. 
 
 Directly I found by calculation the position of the 
 planet at the desired moment, I selected a fitting spot 
 on which to plant my telescope and gave orders to 
 make a sufficient clearance of the wood about me to 
 allow my observations to be made. 
 
 The tangled jungle was tremendously thick, but my 
 Bihenos, hatchets in hand, set to work with a will, and 
 in a couple of hours gave me a clear opening. The 
 Quioco or Quiboco women who visited our camp carried 
 their children by their sides like the Luchazes, that is, 
 suspended from the opposite shoulder by means of a 
 sling formed of the bark of a tree. 
 
 In addition to the massango, they brought with them 
 for sale certain tuberculous roots called genamba, which 
 my people seemed to enjoy immensely, but which I found 
 anything but agreeable. They do not grow maize, 
 and feed almost entirely on massango. 
 
 The extravagant head-dresses to which I have more 
 than once alluded are not observable among the 
 Quibocos or Quiocos, and their body covering is more 
 miserable than that adopted by the Quimbandes. The 
 women, as usual, are more scantily clad than the men. 
 
 My readers may, perhaps, feel some surprise to hear 
 
AMONG THE GANG UELLAS. 
 
 271 
 
 me talk of Quiocos when I am in the very heart of the 
 Luchaze district, and I can assure them that my as- 
 tonishment was quite as great at finding them there. 
 
 The constant emigration of the Quiocos and the 
 colonisation by them of the Luchaze territory are 
 undoubted facts. 
 
 The country of these Quiocos or Quibocos (for they 
 are called indifferently by both names) is situated to 
 the north of Lobar, on the eastern slopes of the Serra 
 daMozamba. Livingstone makes it cut by parallel 11 
 south, and by the 20th meridian east of Greenwich. 
 
 The Quiocos are travellers and bold huntsmen. Many 
 of them, dissatisfied with their own country, emigrated 
 southwards, crossed the Lobar, and established them- 
 selves on the right bank of the Lungo-e-ungo in the 
 Luchaze territory. 
 
 Finding themselves unmolested, they were soon 
 followed by others, so that at the present day the 
 emigration is constant. They have not, however, all 
 stopped there, many having gone still farther south- 
 wards and settled on the banks of the Cubango. The 
 greater part of the inhabitants of Darico are Quiocos. 
 
 In answer to my inquiries as to the motives which 
 induced them to leave their country, they said it was 
 sickness and the scarcity of game. 
 
 The Quiocos with whom we were in communication 
 were only recent settlers and had no store of provisions 
 to dispose of; but they informed me that on the other 
 side of a lofty serra lying to the eastward, there were 
 several Luchaze villages and abundance of food. 
 
 I hired guides to take us thither and resolved on 
 starting the very next day, which, however, I was 
 prevented doing by the illness, during the night, of 
 several of the men. 
 
 My young nigger Pepeca appeared before me in the 
 morning with an enormous goitre-like swelling, and 
 
272 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 almost all my people were suffering more or less from 
 the stomach, no doubt owing to the massango they had 
 eaten, but to which they got quite habituated later on. 
 Happily, I myself felt no inconvenience from the new 
 kind of food. 
 
 I sent to the two Luchaze villages on the left bank 
 of the Cambinbia, but my messengers returned empty- 
 handed, as the natives refused to sell them anything. 
 We owed to the Quibocos the provisions we required 
 for that day's consumption. 
 
 There were some of the men on the sick list the next 
 day, but we were compelled to leave, as the natives 
 pointed out the impossibility of furnishing me with 
 anything more to eat. I obtained from them a few 
 men to supply the place of the carriers who were 
 invalided, and at nine next morning we left the camp 
 and, preceded by the guides, directed our course to the 
 Serra Cassara Caie'ra, the lofty mountain to which 
 allusion had been made the day before, and beyond 
 which we were to find abundance of provisions. 
 
 The actual height of the mountain is 5298 feet above 
 the sea-level, or 450 feet above my camp on the Cam- 
 binbia. It forms a table-land with tolerably steep 
 slopes. The climb to the top was fatiguing. During 
 the process the carriers beguiled the time, and perhaps 
 lightened their labours, by a monotonous chant, which 
 literally translated ran as follows : 
 
 " The cobra has no arms, no legs, no hands, no feet. 
 And yet he climbs the mount! Why should not we 
 get up as well, with arms and legs and hands and 
 feet?" 
 
 I went on for about an hour along the summit of the 
 serra from w T est to east until I came to the descent. 
 
 From the highest point, a magnificent panorama 
 meets the eye of the spectator, extending from N.E. to 
 N.W. The entire course is visible of the river Cuango, 
 
AMONG TEE GANG UELLAS. 
 
 273 
 
 the southern affluent of the Lungo-e-ungo. The 
 eye can distinguish the vast watershed of the latter 
 river from Cangala to the confluence of the Cuango, 
 together with the higher watersheds of the rivers 
 Cuito, Cuime and Cuiba. The extent of prospect is 
 truly surprising. 
 
 On the western slope of the Serra the arboreous 
 vegetation is splendid ; the summit, which, as I have 
 hinted, is of considerable length, is somewhat poor, 
 but the eastern slope again is wonderfully rich in trees 
 and shrubs. This eastern side bears the name of 
 Bongo-Jacongonzelo. 
 
 I pitched my camp at the source of the Cansampoa, 
 a rivulet which runs into the Cuango ; not having 
 met with a drop of water throughout the day's 
 journey. 
 
 In the immediate vicinity of my camp, but on the 
 other side of the rivulet, were five Luchaze hamlets. 
 They are all governed by a petty chief who does 
 homage to the Sova Chicoto, whose village is situated 
 at the confluence of the Cuango with the Lungo-e'-ungo. 
 The other two Luchaze hamlets, which are on the 
 Cambinbia, are subject to the Moene Calengo on the 
 river Cuito. 
 
 The petty chief before alluded to, and who rejoices 
 in the name of Cassangassanga, came to call on me, 
 bringing with him a kid by way of present. A few 
 beads made him quite satisfied. He promised to send 
 me some massango, and guides to conduct me to the 
 village of Cambuta, where, as he alleged, I should find 
 abundance of provisions. He was as good as his word, 
 and the massango and guides appeared in due course. 
 
 The massango, when divided, supplied a scanty 
 ration to each of us, and, as the kid was but a small 
 one, we went to bed with appetites very inefficiently 
 satisfied. 
 
 VOL. I. T 
 
274 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 The natives cultivate massango, a little manioc, still 
 fewer beans, the castor-oil plant, in tolerable quantities, 
 and a few hops. 
 
 They work in iron with considerable skill, the ore 
 being found in the country. 
 
 On the 6th of July I started in an easterly direction, 
 and, after three hours' journey, the last of which 
 was along the bank of the Cansampoa rivulet, I 
 camped near the river Biceque, which runs in a 
 
 N.E. direction to unite its waters with those of the 
 Cutangjo, an affluent of the Lungo-e-ungo. The 
 country is dotted over with hamlets, whose populations 
 obey the Sova of Cambuta. I was able at the latter 
 place to get a tolerable supply of massango, the sole 
 article of food they cultivate in any quantity, and con- 
 sequently the only one they offered for sale. 
 
 Fortunately there were large flocks of wood- 
 pigeons : indeed, I never saw them, more abundant 
 than in this district ; and I managed to bring down 
 
AMONG THE GANGUELLAS. 
 
 275 
 
 not a few, charging my gun with little pebbles from 
 the bed of the rivulet. 
 
 At this time, several of my carriers fell ill ; some 
 suffering from goitre, and others from inflammation 
 of the stomach, arising doubtless from bad and in- 
 sufficient food. 
 
 Among the girls who came into my camp to dispose 
 of massango I noticed more than one of elegant form 
 and graceful carriage. It could not be said that they 
 
 Fig. 49. — Luchaze Woman of Cambuta. 
 
 owed anything to art, for clothing they had none ; 
 a little strip of the bark of a tree doing duty for the 
 traditional fig-leaf. 
 
 I further observed that both men and women, 
 without exception, had their four front incisors 
 fashioned like a triangle, so that, the teeth being 
 closed, there appeared a lozenge-shaped aperture in 
 the middle. 
 
 The cold continued intense during the night, and 
 
 t 2 
 
276 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 we could get no rest except in the neighbourhood of 
 our fires. 
 
 On the following day there appeared greater sickness 
 than ever in camp. It is worthy of remark that the 
 Bihenos only were attacked, whilst the Benguella 
 negroes, who are far less inured to the exposure and 
 vicissitudes of travel, almost entirely escaped. 
 
 In the morning a large and ferocious bird was killed 
 
 Fig. 50. — Luchaze Man of Cambuta. 
 
 in the neighbourhood of the camp. It might have been 
 want of special knowledge on my part, but I could not 
 assign it to any of the kinds into which the family of 
 diurnal birds of prey are divided. I considered it a 
 species of vulture, although solitary of its kind. It 
 certainly greatly resembled the vulture, saving that 
 its dimensions were somewhat smaller, measuring but 
 3 feet 9 inches from wing to wing. 
 
 Vulture or not, it was a bonne-bouche to my Bihenos, 
 
AMONG THE GANG UELLAS. 
 
 277 
 
 to whom, in matters of gastronomy, nothing came amiss, 
 from their fellow men to cormorants, with crocodiles, 
 leopards and hyenas in between : all were welcome to 
 their insatiate jaws. 
 
 On that day, as the day before, every hour that I 
 could spare from my observations I spent in scouring 
 the neighbourhood and drawing up a rough map of the 
 
 Fig. 51. — Articles manufactured by the Luchazes. 
 
 1 and 3 Hatchets. 2. Arrow. 4, 4. Arrow-points. 5. Spade. 
 
 district, taking in three miles to the south of the source 
 of the Biceque, which area comprised the source of 
 another river, the Cuanavare, a great affluent of the 
 Cuito. Near the source of the Cuanavare I came upon 
 the village of Muenevinde, governed by a woman, 
 whose husband, by name Ungira, had no active voice 
 or part in the government. 
 
 I never could be said to be passionately fond of 
 
27S 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 kidney-beans, but that night, on niy return to camp, 
 I had a small present of these dainties made me, and, 
 truth to say, I devoured them with infinite appetite. 
 
 The Sova of Carnbuta was absent at the chase, and 
 the honours of his house were done me by his wives, 
 with whom I was soon on the most cordial terms. I 
 obtained from them not only a good share of massango, 
 but a dozen porters to carry it, and two guides to lead 
 me to the sources of the Cuando and the Cubangui, an 
 affluent of the latter — rivers which the natives of the 
 country told me were the largest in the world. 
 
 Grandiloquent as this designation undoubtedly is, it 
 is not bestowed without a show of reason, and, with the 
 permission of my readers, I will here say a few words 
 about these magnificent streams. 
 
 The river Cuando, of a certainty the largest affluent 
 of the Zambesi, was not first known to me through the 
 information furnished by the Luchazes of Carnbuta. 
 In my journey from the Bihe to that place, I kept 
 much more to the north than the Biheno caravans are 
 accustomed to do ; and this I did purposely, fully aware 
 that sooner or later I should fall in with the watershed 
 of that great artery. J was influenced in the course I 
 took by conversations with Silva Porto, who had 
 already descended that river from the Cuchibi to 
 Liniante, conveying goods in canoes. 
 
 He had furnished me with certain data as to the 
 sources of the river (with the central and lower portions 
 of which he was personally acquainted), and which, from 
 information supplied him by the natives, he fixed at 
 very nearly the spots where I actually found them. 
 
 If Silva Porto could only give to the places that 
 he knows in South Central Africa their correct posi- 
 tions in latitude and longitude, many of the blanks 
 that now exist in the maps of the country would 
 speedily be filled up. 
 
AMONG TEE GANG U ELLAS. 
 
 279 
 
 On leaving Cambuta, therefore, in search of the 
 sources of the Cuando, I was only completing the itine- 
 rary I had traced out, and was endeavouring to solve 
 one of the problems that I most ardently desired to 
 unravel. As I went on, I was collecting at every 
 step interesting matters of detail ; the general features 
 having already been delineated by Silva Porto. 
 
 My guides had informed me that we should have to 
 traverse, beyond the river Cutangjo, a waste and un- 
 populated region, so that it behoved us to provide 
 ourselves with ample stores for the journey. It was 
 this communication which led me to purchase so large 
 a quantity of massango, and to hire of the Sova's wives 
 twelve men to carry it. 
 
 I started on the 9 th of July, at 9 o'clock in the 
 morning : three hours later I crossed the river 
 Cutangjo, and camped on the right bank of that 
 river near the village of Chaquissembo. The Cutangjo 
 is there 4i yards wide by 3 feet deep, and runs 
 N.N.E. towards the Lungo-e-ungo. I observed that 
 in the plantations there was some manioc and a great 
 deal of massango — that terrible massango, which 
 literally haunted me in Africa ! 
 
 The Luchazes cultivate, to some extent, the cotton 
 and castor-oil plants. They work the iron which they 
 obtain from the banks of the Cassongo, and are 
 very skilful smiths. 
 
 Almost all the Luchazes are furnished with a beard 
 beneath the chin and a small moustache. But the 
 extraordinary fancy in head-dress, which I have more 
 than once referred to as exciting my wonder and 
 admiration, is unknown among them. 
 
 The men wear a broad belt of untanned leather, 
 fastened with buckles of their own manufacture ; they 
 cover their nakedness with skins, and further shelter 
 themselves from the cold with licondes, a rough kind 
 
280 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 of cloth woven from the bark of various forest- 
 trees. 
 
 They make no pots or pipkins, and those thej use are 
 obtained by barter from the Quimbandes. 
 
 They fashion bracelets out of copper, which is supplied 
 by the Lobares in exchange for wax, the Lobares them- 
 selves obtaining the metal from the Lunda. 
 
 I paid a visit to the village of Chaquicengo, which, 
 
 Fig. 52. — Luchaze Woman of Cutakgjo. 
 
 like the whole of the inhabited places throughout the 
 country, is very pretty and extremely neat. The houses 
 are made of the trunks of trees, about 4 feet in height, 
 which is in fact the height of the walls. The space 
 between each upright is filled in, occasionally with clay, 
 and in other cases with straw. The roofs are thatched, 
 and, as the frame -work is composed of very fine rods, 
 the thatch bends inwards and produces an effect similar 
 to the roofs of the Chinese. The granaries are perched 
 
AMONG TEE GANGUELLAS. 
 
 281 
 
 at a considerable height upon a timber frame-work, 
 entirely of straw, and a movable cover, so that it is 
 necessary to remove it to get inside to seek for stores. 
 
 Fi.g 53. — Luchaze Pipe. 
 
 Access is obtained by means of a hand-ladder, and 
 they are, in fact, little more than gigantic water-proof 
 baskets, on which conical covers have been placed. 
 
 Fig. 54. — Luchaze Fowl-house. 
 
 The fowl-houses are quadrangular pyramids of twigs 
 of trees, placed upon four lofty feet or stakes, to protect 
 the inmates from the attacks of small carnivora. 
 
 In the centre of the village I observed, as in the 
 
282 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 Cuambo, a Kiosque or temple for meeting or conver- 
 sation. 
 
 I found several men squatted round the hearth, busy 
 making bows and arrows. They received me very 
 courteously, and offered me for drink a liquor composed 
 of water, honey and powdered hops, which they mix 
 together in a calabash, where it is allowed to ferment. 
 They called it " bingundo," and I thought it the most 
 alcoholic stuff I had ever tasted. 
 
 The Luchazes make use of a gin or trap to catch 
 small antelopes and hares, It is ingenious in con- 
 
 Fig. 55. — The Urivi, or Trap for small Game. 
 
 struction, and will be readily understood by a glance at 
 the drawing. The name they give it is Urivi, 
 
 On my return to camp, after an excursion to the 
 sources of the Cutangjo, I was accompanied by a large 
 number of men and women, who were never tired of 
 looking at and watching me. They were none of them 
 remarkable for beauty ; but, on the other hand, among 
 the natives on the banks of the Cutangjo, I saw not a 
 few male specimens of perfectly revolting ugliness. 
 
 These people not only collect a great deal of wax 
 from the forest, but encourage the bees by furnishing 
 them with hives, formed of bark and strips of wood, 
 which they fasten in the branches of the trees. 
 
AMONG THE GANG UELLA S. 
 
 2S3 
 
 Fig. 57. — Luc haze Articles. 
 1. Knife-sheath. 2. Basket. 3. Wooden bolster. 4. Bee-hive. 
 
284: 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 On the 10th of July we started at 8 in the morning, 
 and half an hour later, notwithstanding the presence of 
 the guides, we lost ourselves in a forest of excessive den- 
 sity, from which we only managed to emerge, with con- 
 siderable trouble, at 10 o'clock. We then traversed a 
 space that was free of underwood, but covered with 
 gigantic trees, which shaded us delightfully from the 
 sun. This pleasure, however, was short-lived, for in 
 another half-hour we were in a thick jungle again, 
 where locomotion was difficult and even painful. At 
 last, at 20 minutes past 11, I descried the pleasant slope 
 of an eminence, at whose feet lay the sparkling water 
 of a little lake, surrounded by a verdant carpet of 
 waving grass. 
 
 Just as I reached it, I knocked over an animal, which 
 I believe is called Leopardus jubatus, whose skin went 
 to swell the number which constituted my feline bed. 
 This skin, on which I slept as far as Pretoria, I sub- 
 sequently presented to Dr. Bocage. 
 
 The Leopardus jubatus must be rare, as I only saw 
 two specimens throughout the course of my journey. 
 Its sight, I presume, is defective in the daytime ; my 
 supposition being based on the fact that both of those 
 animals, on my falling in with them, turned their ears, 
 rather than their eyes, in my direction, as if they 
 trusted more to their sense of hearing than their sight. 
 
 Having determined the position of the sheet of 
 water, 1 drew off from it, and had my camp pitched 
 some hundred yards or so to the south upon the rising 
 ground, and about 90 feet above the surface of the 
 marsh ; for the spot where the great affluent of the 
 Zambesi takes its rise rather deserved that name than 
 the designation of a lake. 
 
 In the midst of my labours I had a sudden and 
 violent attack of fever, which completely prostrated me 
 for some three hours. When I came to my senses, 1 
 
AMONG THE GANG UELLAS. 
 
 285 
 
 could scarcely refrain from smiling at my curious 
 plight. I was literally covered with amulets, my chest 
 alone being thickly strewed with the horns of small 
 antelopes, full of the most precious medicines. A 
 bracelet of crocodiles' teeth encircled my right arm, 
 and two enormous buffalo-horns were suspended from a 
 couple of poles set upright in my tent. 
 
 During the fever, my negroes had lavished the 
 greatest care* upon my person, and, in obedience to 
 Dr. Chacaiombe's instructions, had heaped these things 
 upon me with the utmost faith in the result. 
 
 A strong dose of quinine, which I took as soon as I 
 was able, brought about my speedy recovery, a result 
 that was no doubt, however, set down to the virtues of 
 the amulets. 
 
 My attendants, Augusto and Miguel, went out upon 
 the hunt for game, but brought nothing back with 
 them, though they sighted a few leopards in their 
 rambles. Many traces of larger game were, however, 
 visible on all sides. 
 
 Early next day I drew up a rough map of the 
 marsh ; rectified my position, and constructed a small 
 monument of clay in the hut where I made my obser- 
 vations. Within this tumulus I buried a bottle which 
 had contained quinine, carefully wrapped up, and 
 containing a paper, on one side of which I wrote the 
 names of the members of the Central Geographical 
 Commission, headed by that of His Majesty the King 
 of Portugal, and on the other the co-ordinates of the 
 spot and the date. 
 
 After mid-day the Luchaze guides took me to see 
 the source of the river Queimbo, an affluent of the 
 Cuando, on the western side. I set it down at 6 
 geographic miles S.W. of the marsh, forming the 
 source of the Cuando itself. 
 
 My twelve Luchaze carriers were very home-sick, 
 
286 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 and complained bitterly of the cold. The country 
 is depopulated, and should contain a great deal of 
 game, judging from the traces that were observable. 
 Another clear evidence of the fact was the number 
 of leopards we started, but, unfortunately for us, we 
 started nothing else. And we could not afford to 
 linger, for our provisions were rapidly disappearing, 
 and our only chance of relieving our hunger was to 
 reach the Ambuella villages without delay. 
 
 On the morning of the 1 2th July, with a temperature 
 only 2 degrees above zero, I broke up my camp and 
 prepared to leave, though we did not make a start 
 before 8 o'clock. 
 
 Thousands of paroquets, that were harboured in the 
 woods, were all shrieking at once, and the noise they 
 made was perfectly deafening. 
 
 I kept along the right bank of the Cnando for a 
 couple of hours, and then, at the direction of the 
 guides, crossed over to the left, by a bridge which we 
 improvised out of the trunks of trees. 
 
 The river measured there between 6 and 7 feet wide, 
 and about the same in depth, with an excessively rapid 
 current. 
 
 I was just crossing the river, when I observed a 
 herd of gnus, at which, however, I could not get 
 a shot. 
 
 I encamped beside the river. The banks of the 
 Cnando are mountainous, and from its source to that 
 point they are flanked by marshy ground, some 30 to 
 40 yards wide, yielding abundance of water, which 
 drains into the river. 
 
 This peculiarity is noticeable with almost all the 
 rivers of those regions, which thus receive enormous 
 quantities of water, so that, even without any subsidiary 
 streams, they become navigable at only a few miles' 
 distance from their unpretending sources. 
 
AMONG THE GANGUELLAS. 
 
 287 
 
 I observed on the right bank of the river, both at 
 that spot and others, several vertical stratifications of 
 a red, white, and azure colour. 
 
 The next morning, at 8, I was again on the move, 
 and tramped on till noon, camping at that hour near a 
 brook which ran into the Cuando. 
 
 Fig. 58. — The Cuchibi. 
 
 I had some of the men on the sick-list, a few suffering 
 with goitre, and others with inflammation of the legs. 
 
 Happily, for their sake, the loads of provisions had 
 sensibly diminished, and I had now carriers to spare. 
 The marshy banks of the Cuando abounded in leeches, 
 and I had a lot of them caught to apply to such of my 
 patients as stood in need of their assistance. 
 
 The woods I had passed through, and the one where 
 I was now encamped, were almost exclusively composed 
 
288 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 of enormous trees, which the Bihenos styled Cuchibi, 
 and that turned out most serviceable to my half- 
 famished caravan. They produced a fruit not unlike a 
 French bean, having one bright scarlet seed enclosed 
 in the dark-green husk. After a lengthened decoction, 
 the scarlet envelope separates from the white sheaths 
 and forms the edible portion of the fruit. These seeds 
 are very oleaginous, and both the Ambuellas and 
 
 Fig. 59. — Leaf and Fruit of the Cuchibi. 
 (Natural size.) 
 
 Luchazes extract from them the oil with which they 
 moisten their food. 
 
 This fruit is undoubtedly a great resource to the 
 hungry traveller, but it is of no use to the hurried one, 
 as the decoction is a work of time. 
 
 There is also another fruit in these parts, and which 
 is exceedingly common. The Bihenos call it Mapole. It 
 is the product of a tree of medium size, the Mapoleque, 
 
AMONG THE GANG UELLAS. 
 
 289 
 
 and resembles an orange both in colour and dimensions. 
 It hangs vertically from the branches of the tree, 
 suspended from a longish stalk. The outer rind and 
 its lining, closely adhering to each other, form a husk 
 about an eighth of an inch in thickness, and hard as 
 horn. It can only be broken with a strong hatchet. 
 
 Fig. 60. — The Mapole, Tree and Leap. 
 
 When opened, it displays a thick and coagulated 
 liquid, full of seeds similar in size and appearance to 
 the stones of small plums. 
 
 This liquid, of an acid-sweet taste, taken in any 
 quantity, is very purgative ; but the Bihenos assured 
 me that it was most nutritive, and would support a man 
 
 VOL. I. U 
 
290 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 for a day or two easily enough. I did not myself put 
 it to a personal test. 
 
 The next day I left the river Cuando, which already 
 at that spot inclines to the S.S.E., and, in obedience to 
 the orders of the guides, travelled eastward in search 
 of the sources of the Cubangui, a river which they 
 asserted to be very large. 
 
 After an hour's march, I passed a brook running to 
 the south, through marshy land, a hundred yards or so 
 in width, which it cost some labour to traverse. Four 
 miles further on I came upon another large brook, 
 running parallel to the previous one. 
 
 Between the beds of these brooks, as well as between 
 those of the affluents of the Cuando to the eastward, 
 is a chain of mountains lying north and south. These 
 mountains belong to a more important system, which 
 to the north lies east and west, and terminates in the 
 valley of the Lungo-e'-ungo. 
 
 At about half-past III arrived at the summit of 
 the Serra, whence the guides pointed out to me, in the 
 far distance, the sources of the river Cubangui. I could 
 define them perfectly to the eastward, but as I could 
 not, immediately on my arrival, determine the latitude, 
 I took a rest, and at noon fixed the latitude of the point 
 where I stood, which was the same as that of the 
 sources of the river ; the two lying due east and w r est 
 of each other. 
 
 At 2 in the afternoon I camped hard by the sources 
 themselves, and found them to be similar in character 
 to those of the Cuando. The axis of the marsh in 
 which the river takes its rise lies north and south, and 
 extends three-quarters of a mile in length ; the width 
 varying from 80 to 100 yards. 
 
 No game was visible, but many traces of it appeared, 
 and during the night the lions all about the camp kept 
 up a horrible concert. 
 
AMONG THE GANG U ELL AS. 
 
 291 
 
 Our last rations were here served out, and hunger 
 again stared us in the face. » 
 
 The guides averred we were at no great distance 
 from the villages, but it would take us at least a couple 
 of days to reach them, owing to our numerous invalids, 
 and more especially a pombeiro of the name of 
 Canhengo, who was very ill ; forced marches, under 
 the circumstances, were therefore out of the question. 
 
 I felt excessively anxious, my great fear being that 
 
 Fig. 61. — Mapole, Fruit and arrangement of the Branches. 
 
 hunger and fatigue would so aggravate the condition 
 of the sick as to prevent me obtaining the requisite 
 resources for us all, in time to be of any use. 
 
 On the following day, in spite of all my efforts, I 
 could not keep up the march of the caravan over four 
 hours, and was compelled to camp alongside the 
 Cubangui, which river, in fact, I had not left from the 
 time of making its source. At the place where I came 
 to a halt it was already 3 yards wide, and between 
 3 and 4 feet deep. 
 
 u2 
 
292 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 A gnu which I shot, and a little honey which the 
 negroes gathered in the forest, furnished our only 
 rations for that day. 
 
 Next morning I went on again, following the right 
 hank of the stream, and after another 4 hours' march 
 camped heside the Linde rivulet, opposite three 
 Amhuella villages. I at once despatched messengers, 
 not only to those places, but to others lying on the 
 same side of the river as ourselves, hut all we obtained 
 was a scanty supply of massango. We, however, 
 received the information that another day's march 
 would bring us to the lands of the Sova, and that from 
 the latter we could obtain provisions. 
 
 I found by measurement that the Cubangui's dimen- 
 sions were increasing apace. Here, at the confluence 
 of the Linde, it was upwards of 5 yards across, and 
 was 9 feet deep. 
 
 My invalids improved very slowly, which could not 
 be attributed to want of strict diet. They must have 
 suffered too not a little from actual fatigue, as it took 
 6 hours next day to reach the Sova's village, Cangamba. 
 I forthwith despatched a present to the great man, in 
 the shape of an old uniform of an infantry captain, with 
 which he was delighted, and gave prompt orders to his 
 people to supply me with food. We obtained, in ex- 
 change for beads, some of that eternal — I had almost 
 said cursed — massango, from which there appeared now 
 to be no escape. 
 
 I discharged my guides and the 12 Luchazes who 
 had accompanied me thus far, and who took their leave 
 well satisfied with what I gave them. 
 
 They fraternised easily with the inhabitants of the 
 Ambuella villages, which are in fact partly peopled by 
 Luchaze natives. Of this I had a clear proof a day or 
 so after my arrival, when several Luchaze families, 
 who had emigrated from their own country to establish 
 
AMONG THE GANG UELLAS. 
 
 293 
 
 themselves in this district, pitched their camp within a 
 stone's throw of mine. 
 
 I saw and conversed also with a band of hunters who 
 were travelling southwards in search of elephants. It 
 was the first time I had heard speak of elephants, as not 
 one is to be found throughout the country 1 traversed 
 
 Fig. 62. — Moene-Cahenga, Sova of Cangamba. 
 1. Fly-flap. 
 
 from Benguella to the Cubangui, nor did I come upon 
 any old trace of them. Their haunts were even at a 
 considerable distance from the spot where we stood, as 
 the hunters informed me they had still 6 days' inarch 
 before them ere they could hope to fall in with the 
 desired game. 
 
 A couple of days after my arrival, 1 received a visit 
 
294 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 from the Sova of Cangamba, by name Moene Cahenga, 
 who brought with him as a present four chickens and 
 a large baske'tful of massango. 
 
 He was wearing the uniform I sent him, to which he 
 had added a belt hung round with leopard-skins. He 
 carried in his hand an instrument formed of antelopes' 
 tails, with which he kept off the flies. 
 
 Field operations in the country appeared to be carried 
 on by both men and women, who cultivate in small plots 
 massango, cotton, a little manioc and, in even less 
 quantity, sweet potatoes. 
 
 Fig, 63. — (Chimtjisnzengue.) Hatchet of the Ambltellas of 
 Cangamba. 
 
 The natives work a good deal in iron, which they 
 extract from the mines situated on the right bank of 
 the river, to the north of Cangamba, and which we had 
 passed on our way thither. 
 
 In Cangamba they reverse the practice common 
 among the other Ganguella natives, as in that village 
 the men make the baskets and the women the mats. 
 
 They weave the cotton they grow in rude looms, 
 and produce cloths about the size of an ordinary 
 towel, and very good they are. 
 
 Among the articles offered for sale was a little 
 tobacco, which they asserted to have been cultivated in 
 
AMONG THE GANG TJ ELLAS. 
 
 295 
 
 the country, but I did not see any growing in the 
 plantations I visited. 
 
 Their arms consist of bows and arrows, and small 
 hatchets. 
 
 The Cubangui, as it flows near Cangamba, is 16 yards 
 wide and 19 feet deep, with a current running at the 
 rate of 13 yards a minute. 
 
 The natives told me it contained plenty of fish, 
 which I afterwards found to be the case ; but all I saw 
 in the neighbourhood were dried, and measured from 
 16 to 20 inches in length. 
 
 One soon learns to be thankful for small mercies, 
 and manioc and dried fish appeared in our eyes 
 
 Fig. 64. — Ambuella Pipe. 
 
 material for a luxurious banquet, after being so long 
 condemned to that abominable massango ! 
 
 The river Cubangui is no exception to the general 
 law of the streams on the African continent, being 
 tolerably rich in crocodiles. They do not seem, 
 however, to be of a very voracious kind, if I can 
 believe the Ambuellas, who assured me there had 
 been no instance of a human being falling a victim to 
 their huge jaws. 
 
 I paid a farewell visit to the Sova, who was not by 
 any means a bad fellow. As his people no longer 
 offered for sale anything but massango, I begged him 
 to favour me with some manioc and sweet potatoes. 
 
296 
 
 THE KINO'S BIFLE. 
 
 He did so with a good grace, but the quantity was 
 very small ; and, as he gave it me, he apologised for 
 the scanty supply upon the unanswerable plea that he 
 had no more. 
 
 And so matters stood for three more days ! Three 
 drtys wherein we regaled upon massango ! 
 
 Having obtained guides, a few carriers and a good 
 store of the despised food, I decided upon making a 
 fresh start on the 22nd July in the direction of the 
 villages under the sway of the Sova Cahu-heu-iie on the 
 river Cuchibi, through which runs the road originally 
 traversed by Silva Porto. The former part of that 
 track I abandoned at the Cuanza, to pursue a more 
 northerly direction. 
 
 My guides informed me that I should have to 
 travel through a desert country for 8 whole days, and 
 that I must consequently be well provided with pro- 
 visions. My invalids had, by this time, considerably 
 improved with the long rest and more abundant 
 food ; but they were far from being recovered, so that 
 Moene-Cahenga supplied me with 10 men to assist 
 in the carriage of the massango with which he fur- 
 nished me. 
 
 The guides having assured me that for a couple of 
 days we should have to stick to the rivers bank, I 
 took it into my head to descend the stream in my 
 india-rubber boat. Having ordered it to be conveyed 
 to the river, I broke up my camp, and, entrusting the 
 command of the caravan to Yerissimo, I embarked 
 with two young niggers, my attendant Catraio and 
 another little fellow, about 12 years of age, called 
 Sinjamba, the son of a Biheno carrier, whom I had 
 selected for his knowledge of the Ganguella tongue, 
 and converted into my interpreter. 
 
 I confess that it was not without a certain trepida- 
 tion that I pushed off from the bank into the middle of 
 
AMONG THE GANG UELLAS. 
 
 297 
 
 an unknown stream, with mere children for com- 
 panions and a fragile canvas boat beneath me. 
 
 The river, which has its source 30 miles to the 
 N., and is, as I have already mentioned, 16 yards 
 across and 19 feet deep at Cangamba, widens out 
 a little below that village, and shortly displays a 
 breadth of 40 to 50 yards, and occasionally even more. 
 
 Its bottom, varying from 10 to 19 feet ia depth, 
 is covered with a fine white sand, which evidently 
 rests upon a bed of mud, as the aquatic flora is some- 
 thing wonderful. 
 
 Many kinds of rushes and other aquatic plants take 
 root in the prolific bed, shoot their leaves and stems, 
 in constant motion with the current, through nearly 
 20 feet of water till they reach the surface, where they 
 display their multi-coloured and elegantly shaped 
 flowers. Ocasionally this wealth of vegetation will 
 occupy the whole expanse of the river, and seem to 
 bar the passage of any floating thing. At the outset 
 I had some hesitation about venturing my boat upon 
 this aquatic meadow, as I thought it betokened too 
 shallow a depth of water for navigation ; but when 
 my sound constantly gave me 12 and then 20 feet of 
 depth, I acquired more confidence, and steered boldly 
 through the floating garden. 
 
 There were points, indeed, where we came to a dead- 
 lock. These were places where the current, owing to 
 some peculiarity of the river-bed, was scarcely percep- 
 tible, and the vegetation was so thick that it was more 
 like a virgin forest than the growth of aquatic plants. 
 
 I saw abundance of fish darting hither and thither 
 through the watery mass, many of them being at least 
 a couple of feet in length. 
 
 Flocks of geese fled at my approach, astonished, 
 doubtless, at so unseemly an interruption as the visit of 
 such a monster to regions hitherto sacred. 
 
298 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 Thousands of birds chirped and fluttered among the 
 reeds and canes which lined the banks ; the weight 
 of a dozen of them producing scarce an impression on 
 the gigantic grass-stems. 
 
 Occasionally a brilliant kingfisher would be seen 
 hovering motionless in the air, until at a given moment 
 it would descend from its lofty observatory like an 
 arrow from a bow, and carry off its glittering prey 
 from the surface of the water. 
 
 The birds were not the sole inhabitants of the cluster- 
 ing rushes on the banks. A sudden commotion amid 
 the green stems would attract my attention, and a 
 rapid glance would discover a crocodile just disappear- 
 ing beneath the waters. Or the splash of a heavy body 
 in the stream would betray the presence of an otter, 
 either alarmed at our approach or, like the kingfisher, 
 intent upon his daily meal. The whole place was 
 instinct with life, and death, as usual, was following 
 quickly in its train. 
 
 The rirer, whose general direction is north and 
 south, winds in the most capricious manner ; to such an 
 extent, indeed, as to quadruple the journey. The right 
 bank is a vast marsh of very variable width, attaining 
 in some places to a thousand yards. It yields, iu 
 drainage, a huge volume of water, which produces a 
 perceptible influence upon the growth of the stream. 
 
 Some three miles below Cangamba I came upon a 
 bevy of 18 women, who were standing on the bank and 
 fishing up small fry by means of osier-baskets. 
 
 At one of the turns of the river T perceived three 
 antelopes, of an unknown species, at least to me ; but, 
 just as I was in the act of letting fly at them, they 
 leaped into the water and disappeared beneath its 
 surface. 
 
 The circumstance caused me immense surprise, which 
 was increased as I went further on, as I occasionally 
 
Is 
 
 ■si 
 
AMONG THE OANO UELLA S. 
 
 299 
 
 came across several of these creatures, swimming and 
 then rapidly diving, keeping their heads under water, 
 so that only the tips of their horns were visible. 
 
 This strange animal, which I afterwards found an 
 opportunity of shooting on the Cuchibi, and of whose 
 habits I had by that time acquired some knowledge, is 
 of sufficient interest to induce me for a moment to 
 suspend my narrative, to say a few words con- 
 cerning it. 
 
 It bears among the Bihenos the name of Quichobo, 
 and among the Ambuellas that of Buzi. Its size, when 
 full grown, is that of a one-year-old steer. The colour 
 of the hair is dark grey, from one quarter to half an 
 inch long, and extremely smooth ; the hair is shorter on 
 t Lie head, and a white stripe crosses the top of the 
 nostrils. The length of the horns is about 2 feet, the 
 section at the base being semicircular, with an almost 
 rectilinear chord. This section is retained up to about 
 three-fourths of their height, after which they become 
 almost circular to the tips. The mean axis of the horns 
 is straight, and they form a slight angle between them. 
 They are twisted around the axis without losing their 
 rectilinear shape, and terminate in a broad spiral. 
 
 The feet are furnished with long hoofs similar to 
 those of a sheep, and are curved at the points. 
 
 This arrangement of its feet and its sedentary habits 
 render this remarkable ruminant unfitted for run- 
 ning. Its life is therefore, in a great measure, passed 
 in the water, it never straying far from the river-banks, 
 on to which it crawls for pasture, and then chiefly 
 in the night-time. It sleeps and reposes in the water. 
 
 Its diving powers are equal, if not superior, to 
 those of the hippopotamus. Daring sleep it comes 
 near to the surface of the water, so as to show half its 
 horns above it. 
 
 It is very timid by nature, and plunges to the 
 
300 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 bottom of tlie river at the slightest symptom of 
 danger. 
 
 It can easily be captured and killed, so that the 
 natives hunt it successfully, turning to account its 
 magnificent skin and feeding off its carcass, which is, 
 however, but poor meat. 
 
 Upon leaving the water for pasture, its little skill 
 in running allows the natives to take it alive; and it is 
 not dangerous, even at bay, like most of the antelope 
 tribe. The female, as well as the male, is furnished 
 with horns. 
 
 There are many points of contact between the life of 
 this strange ruminant and that of the hippopotamus, 
 its near neighbour. 
 
 The rivers Cubangui, Cuchibi and the upper Cuando 
 offer a refuge to thousands of Quichobos, whilst they 
 do not appear either in the lower Cuando or the 
 Zambesi. I explain this fact by the greater ferocity 
 of the crocodiles in the Zambesi and lower Cuando, 
 which would make short work of so defenceless an 
 animal if it ventured to show itself in their waters. 
 
 In an interview which I had at Pretoria with a 
 celebrated antelope-hunter, Mr. Selous, 1 learned that 
 he had heard my antelope spoken of by the natives of 
 the upper Cafucue, a stream which, it appears, con- 
 tained an animal similar to the one I had met with. 
 
 I regret that my very limited knowledge of zoology 
 did not permit me to make a more minute study of a 
 creature which I deem worthy the attention of men of 
 science on account of the strangeness of its habits. 
 
 Resuming my narrative, I cannot but speak in the 
 highest terms of praise of my mackintosh boat, which 
 carried me so bravely over the waters of the Cubangui. 
 Its only drawback was its restricted size, which confined 
 me to so constrained a position that by 4 o'clock in the 
 afternoon every joint in my body was aching. 
 
AMONG THE OA NO UELLA S. 
 
 r>oi 
 
 I had seen no signs of my people since T left Can- 
 gamba, and, at the hour above mentioned, to the pain 
 caused by my cramped posture were added considerable 
 anxiety of mind and undoubted hunger of body. My 
 young rowers were perfectly exhausted with fatigue. I 
 made them pull up on the left bank, and ordered little 
 Sinjamba to climb to the top of a tree in order that he 
 might, from that elevation, see whether there were 
 any signs on the other bank of the smoke of the 
 encampment. 
 
 He thought that he perceived smoke in a N.W. 
 direction, and consequently higher up the stream than 
 the point we had then reached. 
 
 We therefore retraced our course, and, after some 
 difficulty, I managed to get ashore upon the marsh on 
 the right bank, and threaded my way towards the 
 spot whence the smoke appeared to proceed. 
 
 I had walked about three-quarters of a mile, when I 
 came upon traces of my caravan towards the south. 
 The impressions of the men's footsteps might have 
 misled me, but there was no mistaking the tracks of 
 my goat and the dogs. 
 
 I returned to the boat, and again steered clown the 
 river. From time to time we pulled up, and the boy 
 was set to climb a tree and look out. but the operation 
 was repeated in vain. 
 
 Evening was now coming on, and my anxiety 
 increased. Not only were we all desperately hungry, 
 but I did not like sleeping away from the camp, on 
 account of my chronometers, which would not be 
 wound up. 
 
 The sun at last disappeared, and, as twilight is 
 exceedingly short in these latitudes, I deemed it wiser 
 to go ashore ; which I did, with the two young niggers, 
 on the left bank of the stream. Before we had settled 
 ourselves down, I fancied I heard the distant report of 
 
302 
 
 THE KINO'S RIFLE. 
 
 a gun to the S.W. We at once got back into the 
 boat, and pushed on vigorously upon hearing another 
 report, to which I replied. 
 
 My signal was immediately answered by another, 
 the flash of which I saw at some 200 yards' distance. 
 I steered the boat in that direction, and shortly came 
 upon my henchman Augusto, who was up to his waist 
 in water in the marsh, along with a Biheno who had 
 accompanied him. His delight at seeing me was very 
 great, and he and his companion lost no time in pulling 
 me out of the boat and conveying me across the marsh 
 to the higher ground. 
 
 It was an arduous task, which it took half-an-hour 
 to accomplish, but we reached terra flrma at last. The 
 lads, having secured the boat to some canes, quickly 
 followed us. Augusto informed me that the camp was 
 at some distance, and that we should have to cross a 
 dense forest ere we reached it. 
 
 Unfortunately the night was pitch-dark, and loco- 
 motion was excessively difficult, owing to the uneven- 
 ness of the ground and the resistance of the underwood. 
 
 Stumbling here, falling there, covering a dozen 
 yards of ground in about as many minutes, tearing 
 one's clothes, and one's flesh too, with the thorns of the 
 brambles ; such are the incidents which accompany a 
 journey by night through a virgin forest. 
 
 After an hour of violent exercise, we heard, with 
 indescribable pleasure, the report of rifles and the buzz 
 of human voices. 
 
 They came from my own people, who were speedily 
 gathered round us. 
 
 Yerissimo Goncalves appeared at the head of a troop 
 of Bihenos, who insisted upon conveying me to the 
 camp on a litter which they improvised with stout poles 
 and the branches of trees. 
 
 It was in this guise that I returned to the encamp- 
 
AMONG THE GANG UELLAS. 
 
 303 
 
 ment, where at midnight, beside a roaring fire, I 
 appeased my hunger, made almost ravenous with a 
 36 hours' fast. 
 
 I remained in this spot the whole of the next day ; 
 but on the following one, at early morning, I com- 
 menced the passage of the river, which was a work 
 of time, as my mackintosh boat was the only floating 
 thing I had to. trust to. 
 
 At about 9, I set out with my people along the left 
 bank of the river, and an hour afterwards I fell in 
 with a brook, and started a good deal of game. Con- 
 tinuing on, I came to a halt at 1 o'clock, pitching my 
 camp close to another little stream which, like the 
 former one, is a tributary of the Cubangui. 
 
 While here, I was visited by two Ambuellas, who 
 styled themselves " wax-hunters,'' and who informed my 
 guides that it would be highly imprudent to proceed 
 just then to the Cuchibi, inasmuch as a chief of one 
 of the districts we should have to pass through had 
 recently died, and that we should run the risk of 
 being fleeced and maltreated, in accordance with the 
 customs practised on such occasions. 
 
 The guides duly communicated this sinister intelli- 
 gence to me ; but, as I had resolved to go on, I told them 
 I should do so in spite of the decease of all the Sovetas 
 of the country. In proof of my sincerity, I broke up 
 the camp next day, and, after a somewhat forced 
 march of 6 hours' duration, I reached the right bank 
 of the river Cuchibi. 
 
 I must here remark that several of my followers 
 were on the sick-list, suffering from a malady which, 
 though sufficiently painful, was not without a touch 
 of the ridiculous. Some 18 or 20 of them had got a 
 goitre ! 
 
304 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 CHAPTER YIII. 
 
 THE KING OF THE AMBUELLAS' DAUGHTERS. 
 
 The Cuchibi — The Sova Cahu-heu-ue — The Mucassequeres— Opudo and 
 Capeu — Abundance— Kindness of the Aborigines — Peoples and Customs 
 — A Ford of the Cuchibi — The River Chicului — Game — Wild Animals 
 — The River Chalongo — An awful day — The Sources of the Ninda — The 
 Tomb of Luiz Albino — The Plain of the Nhengo — Labour and Hunger — 
 The Zambesi at last ! 
 
 It was the 25th July that I camped on the right bank 
 of the river Cuchibi. 
 
 The ground lying between this river and the Cuban- 
 gui is clothed with a primeval forest, the vegetation 
 of which is of the richest nature. 
 
 A botanist would there discover a vast field for 
 lengthened study, so great is the variety of plants 
 growing, one in the shadow of the other, in that 
 enormous jungle. 
 
 In places it was most difficult to force a passage, and 
 again and again the hatchets were drawn from the 
 stout leather belts, to cut a path through underwood 
 which had never probably before been invaded by the 
 presence of man. 
 
 While traversing the forest, I became conscious of a 
 most delicious and delicate odour, which I found to 
 emanate from the flower of a tree that grew abund- 
 antly about me. There is not perhaps any known 
 flower that has a more fragrant perfume than the 
 blossom of the Oilco, for by that name do the natives 
 designate the plant. 
 
THE KING OF THE AMB UELLAS ' DAUGHTERS. 305 
 
 The configuration of the tree, the arrangement of 
 its leaves, the flowers in clusters, and, above all, my 
 ignorance of botany, induced me to speak of it in my 
 diary as an acacia. 
 
 Some time after my return home, the apothecary of 
 my village called upon me, and, turning over one 
 of my sketch-books, he came upon a drawing of this 
 particular tree. With the frankness which belongs to a 
 villager, he observed : " Your Worship has committed 
 a great blunder here. This can't be the flower of an 
 
 Fig. C6.— The Ouco. 
 
 Flower ten times the natural size. The flowers form bunches 3 cent, long by 15 mm * 
 in diameter. White petals, brown ovary and stamens; delicious perfume. 
 
 acacia, for it has only 2 petals and 3 stamens, whilst 
 the blossom of the acacia has 5 petals and 10 
 stamens ; it therefore belongs to the Papilionaceous 
 family, and comes under the class of Leguminous plants, 
 as I will show you presently, from the pages of 
 Candolle. . . " " Don't trouble yourself," I said, as he 
 was about to run off for his authority ; " I will take 
 your word for it. The flower is correctly represented, 
 though I may be wrong about its parentage." 
 
 This tree, whose delicious flowers many a lady in 
 
 VOL. I. X 
 
306 
 
 TEE KING'S EIFLE. 
 
 Europe would have rejoiced to possess, 1 never met 
 with before reaching this particular spot, and I looked 
 for it in vain as I approached the river Ninda. 
 
 There was another tree I also found in this forest 
 that attracted my attention, — not, however, this time 
 on account of the scent of its blossom, but the delicate 
 flavour of its fruit, — and which the natives called 
 Opumbulume. The fruit is, in shape, like that of the 
 
 Fig. 67. — The Opumbulume. 
 
 Mapoleque, but with a different taste, and springs from 
 a tree of a very dissimilar kind. 
 
 The river Cuchibi presents a different aspect from that 
 of the other affluents of the Cuando, at least up to the 
 point I investigated it. It flows through a long valley, 
 enclosed by the gentle slopes of mountains covered 
 with thick wood. This valley is perfectly dry. and 
 not marshy, like almost all those through which flow 
 the numerous streams of South- Western Africa, and 
 
THE KING OF THE AMBUELLAS' DAUGHTERS. 307 
 
 which occasionally present a surface of water 6 miles 
 in breadth. The river winds along, not in curves of 
 short radius, like the Cubangui, but in a long undulated 
 line, so that at a distance it seems almost straight. 
 
 Rich and abundant grasses cover its banks, but stop 
 at the rather steep sides which enclose the river-bed, 
 while the water, of the clearest crystal, courses along 
 and allows the white sand beneath to be distinctly 
 visible. It is entirely wanting in aquatic flora, so 
 abundant in the Cubangui, although its fauna, of which 
 I shall have something to say by and by, is by no 
 means inferior. 
 
 Game was not wanting, and I was fortunate enough 
 to bring down a songue, an antelope common enough 
 on the banks of the Cuando and its affluents. 
 
 On that day several of my carriers complained to 
 me of certain tumours which had broken out in the 
 joints of the k'gs, and prevented them walking. 
 Happily, the consumption of stores left a few of my 
 men with nothing to carry, so that they were enabled 
 to relieve the sufferers of their loads. 
 
 Most of the carriers were suffering from wounds of 
 the ankle, instep and tendo Achillis, which there were 
 no means of curing. I was soon at the end of my 
 medical science borrowed from Chernoviz. and the 
 same was the case with Dr. Chacaiornbe, though his 
 medicaments w T ere supported by the most potent 
 charms and stupendous arts of sorcery. Nothing 
 would do them any good. 
 
 I attributed the sores, rightly or wrongly, to two 
 causes, viz. the constant exercise of walking and the 
 insufficiency or unwholesomeness of their food.- 
 
 Let not my readers imagine that I am about to 
 indulge in another tirade against that innocent 
 massango. Oh, no ! I am far too loyal an enemy to 
 attack that pet aversion of mine during its absence : 
 
 x 2 
 
308 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 I leave the massango alone, with the remark that it is 
 in itself an inoffensive, and may be even a good and 
 wholesome diet, — for those who take to it. 
 
 The food to which I refer, and to whose charge I 
 lay in great part the fruitlessness of my efforts and 
 those of Dr. Chacaiombe, is a very different one. 
 
 I have already had occasion to mention that the 
 Bihenos will eat any mortal thing, and prefer their 
 meat, when they can get it, in a state of putrefaction. 
 
 The circumstance which I am about to record will 
 
 Fig. 68.— Eat. 
 
 speak volumes upon this subject, and the fact that it 
 does so must serve as my excuse for the somewhat 
 disgusting narration. 
 
 My favourite hound, Traviata, had a litter of eight 
 pups, all born dead. I gave orders to Augusto to bury 
 them secretly in as inaccessible a place as possible, so 
 as to remove them out of the way of the voracious jaws 
 of my Bihenos ; but two of those in the rear tracked 
 out their burial-place, dug them up, and incontinently 
 feasted upon them. 
 
 But it was not surprising that they should consider 
 
THE KING OF THE AMBUELLAS* DAUGHTERS. 309 
 
 young pups a delicacy, when they hunted out and 
 devoured termites with as insatiable an appetite as an 
 ant-eater, gathering them as they ran, and cramming 
 them by handfuls into their mouths ! 
 
 Rats, too, were a favourite food ; one kind in par- 
 ticular, a small species which burrowed in the bee-holes, 
 and doubtless fed on the honey, being highly esteemed 
 by these epicures ! 
 
 To return to my narrative. The part of the river 
 Cuchibi where I was encamped was entirely unpopu- 
 lated, and the guides informed me that it would take 
 4 days' march to arrive at human habitations. 
 
 Next morning we recommenced our journey, follow- 
 ing the downward course of the river by the right 
 bank. 
 
 About noon I discovered that many of my people 
 were absent. I called a halt, and retraced my steps to 
 look for them, when I found several of the fellows in 
 the wood, bartering my cartridges, which they had 
 stolen, with sundry Ambuella natives, for Quichobo 
 flesh, fish, and other articles. 
 
 On finding themselves discovered, they took to their 
 heels, saving two, viz. the pombeiro Chaquiconde 
 and Doctor Chacaiombe, whom I caught in the act. 
 The latter threw himself on his knees and prayed for 
 pardon ; but not so Chaquiconde, who drew his hatchet 
 and made a movement as if to strike me. I wrenched 
 the weapon from his grasp, and gave him such a blow 
 with the haft of it on the head, that it felled him 
 senseless to the ground. I thought I had killed him : 
 a mishap which occasioned my mind less pain than the 
 cause which led to it, as it was the first time I had 
 experienced positive insubordination from one of my 
 own people. I turned to the men, who had now 
 gathered about me, and ordered them to carry the 
 wounded man into camp, which they at once did, the 
 
310 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 sight of the blood oozing from a rather ugly wound 
 rendering them very silent and submissive. 
 
 On an examination of the hurt, I felt convinced 
 that it was not mortal ; and wounds in the head, if 
 they do not kill at once, soon heal up. I did what 
 my little skill dictated on behalf of the foolish fellow, 
 and then called a council of the other pombeiros, to 
 decide what punishment should be awarded for his 
 double crime. The majority of them were for putting 
 him to death, the rest for thrashing him within an 
 inch of his life. As he had recovered his senses, I 
 ordered him to be brought up for judgment, and having 
 harangued him on the heinousness of his offences, 
 ordered him to be set at liberty, with an injunction 
 to " sin no more." My forbearance produced a great 
 effect, though at first the fellows had a difficulty in 
 believing that I was in earnest. 
 
 On the following day Ave had a march of 6 hours, 
 still along the right bank of the river. 
 
 A good deal of game was visible in the course of 
 the journey, but it was very wild, and the only animal 
 killed was a songue. 
 
 This elegant creature differs considerably from the 
 one on which the Bihenos bestow the same name 
 between the coast and the Bihe country. 
 
 The one I shot measured 4 feet 7 inches to the 
 shoulder, and was 4 feet 5 inches in length from the 
 shoulder to the root of the tail. 
 
 Its short hair was of a reddish yellow, and uniform 
 in tint. I found, on examination, that it could cover 
 17^ feet in a leap, and I saw several of them go over 
 the tops of canes which stood t> feet out of the ground. 
 
 When brought to bay, it will fight with great 
 courage and ferocity. The flesh is tasty enough, but, 
 like that of all antelopes, it is very dry. 
 
 It feeds in herds, and always in the open ; and sets 
 
THE KING OF THE A MB UELLA S ' DAUGHTERS. 311 
 
 a watch while grazing. It takes to the forest only 
 when it is closely pursued, on which occasions it will 
 not hesitate to swim across a stream. Beyond the 
 upper reaches of the river Ninda it disappears 
 altogether. 
 
 Fig. 69.— The Songue. 
 
 Slot of the Songue. 
 
 Next day I pursued my journey. As I got lower 
 down the stream, I observed that the level ground on 
 each side kept increasing in width, and that the 
 antelopes — the songues more especially — abounded. 
 
 Our stores of provisions had again run dry, and 
 
312 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 on this day we consumed our last rations of mas- 
 sango. 
 
 It was on the 29th July, after a march of 3 hours, 
 that we pitched our camp opposite the village of 
 Cahu-heii-ue, w^here the Sova of the Cuchibi has his 
 residence. 
 
 Before speaking of the Ambuellas tribe, and of the 
 rich country watered by the Cuchibi, I wish to say a 
 few words about my mode of travelling, or rather mode 
 of life in Africa. 
 
 Undoubtedly all my predecessors have had their 
 own particular system ; those that come after me 
 will have theirs, and each will think his own the 
 best. My custom, therefore, with very rare exceptions, 
 was the following. I rose at 5 o'clock ; removed my 
 clothes (as I always slept dressed and armed), and 
 took a bath in water at a temperature of 65° Fahren- 
 heit. 
 
 The English are accustomed to bathe in cold water, 
 which is a capital tonic ; I, for my part, used simply 
 to wash for the purpose of cleanliness, and always 
 had an iron pot with hot water ready, to produce the 
 desired temperature. In referring to this subject, I 
 must not fail to speak of my india-rubber bath, which 
 came from the firm of Mackintosh of London. I found 
 it a perfect treasure, and it still, after long and rough 
 usage, is in capital condition. But this praise is due 
 to all the india-rubber wares produced in England. 
 
 After my bath came my toilet. My wash-basin 
 was formed out of a calabash, 18 inches in diameter. 
 My towels were of the finest G-uimaraes linen. 
 
 The brushes, sponges, soaps and perfumery (I used 
 a good deal of the latter in Africa) were of the very 
 best quality, furnished by Charles Godfroy, whose 
 goods, though very dear, are all excellent of their 
 kind. My toilet over, in which I was assisted by my 
 
THE KING OF THE AMBUELLAS' DAUGHTERS. 313 
 
 body-servant Catraio, that worthy collected and put 
 carefully away all articles that had been used, and 
 then brought me the chronometers, thermometers and 
 barometer. 
 
 I wound up and compared the first, and registered 
 the indications of the others. 
 
 By that time, young Pepeca had got tea ready, and 
 brought it in. 
 
 It was served in a china tea-service to which I 
 attached the very highest importance, it having been 
 the gift of the wife of Lieutenant Eosa in Quillengues. 
 
 Fiue as a sheet of paper, transparent in texture and 
 elegant in form, that tea-service was my delight, and 
 I t ought the beverage never had the same flavour 
 taken from any other vessel as out of tnat delicate 
 porcelain cup. 
 
 Having swallowed three cupfuls of green tea with- 
 out sugar, as 1 had not got any, the traps were packed 
 up, and I gave orders to start ; which, however, we 
 rarely did before 8 o'clock, as it was next to impossible 
 to get the men away from the fires, round which they 
 gathered out of the intense cold. 
 
 Our order of march was the following. The lead 
 was taken by Silva Porto's negro, Cahinga, bearing 
 the flag, and immediately behind him came the cases 
 containing the cartridges, and the wood and ropes for 
 camp use. The other carriers followed indiscrimi- 
 nately, in single file, and I, Verissimo, and the pom- 
 beiros brought up the rear. 
 
 If a carrier, from any cause, had to fall out and lay 
 down his load, the pombeiro under whose charge he 
 was stopped also to assist and look after him. 
 
 During the journey I noted the course we took, and 
 calculated our marches by the pedometer and watch. 
 Our regular marches might be reckoned at from 8 to 
 10 geographic miles, although, when circumstances 
 
314 
 
 THE KING'S BIFLE. 
 
 required it, they were much longer. Then came 
 camping-time, and for the next hour all hands were 
 employed in constructing huts. 
 
 In order to do so, some of the men were set to felling 
 timber, others to lop off branches, and others again to 
 gather grass. I meanwhile, if I had nothing else to 
 do, stretched myself on the turf and slept, or at least tried 
 to do so, till they came and told me my hut was ready. 
 
 It generally took about an hour ; but, before I re- 
 tired to my quarters, I used to take my observations 
 for the meteorological record, which was regulated at 
 0 hr. 43 min. of Greenwich. 
 
 To learn the hour, I consulted a watch which Pereira 
 de Mello had sent me from Benguella to the Bihe ; it 
 was in a brass case, was a pure cylinder, of Swiss make 
 with 8 rubies, &c, and went admirably. 
 
 At the proper time I called Catraio, who brought me 
 the instruments. I used a swing-thermometer which 
 had been the property of the ill-fated Baron de Barth ; 
 and each time I moved the instrument the whole of the 
 Biheno carriers would stand at a distance watching 
 the operation in wonder, and though it was regularly 
 repeated every day, they always did the same thing, 
 and always expressed the same mute surprise. 
 
 The observations having been duly registered, the 
 young nigger, Moero, brought in the plates and my 
 ration ; for I cannot dignify with the name of dinner 
 the handful of massango, boiled in w r ater, which con- 
 stituted the repast. 
 
 When it was over, if I were too tired to hunt up 
 game or scour the neighbourhood, I employed my time 
 in writing up my diary from my rough notes, in 
 calculating observations, or in drawing. The ink 
 which I used for all my work was obtained from small, 
 so-called, " magic " ink-bottles, each of which lasted me 
 from two to three months. 
 
TEE KING OF TEE AMBUELLAS' DAUGHTERS. 315 
 
 This system of taking notes during the marches and 
 in the daytime, and subsequently transcribing them in 
 the diary, gave me a duplicate record of my proceedings, 
 and thus allowed me the chance of saving one, even if 
 the other were lost. The daily notes were written in 
 pencil, in little note-books, which, when full, I sealed 
 up with wax. Besides the transcript of actual facts, T 
 recorded in these little books all the initial observations, 
 both astronomical and meteorological. On quitting 
 Darban, I despatched them to Portugal via England, 
 and they all arrived safely at Lisbon. They still 
 remain there, unopened, whilst the copy which was 
 made up from them remained constantly in my posses- 
 sion, and constitutes the basis of the narrative which I 
 am now composing. 
 
 Until this journey was undertaken, I never knew the 
 entire value of time, or how much can be done with it, 
 if judiciously employed. 
 
 When night fell, the wood crackled on the temporary 
 hearth, and gave me warmth and light. If I had no 
 observations to make during the hours of darkness, or if 
 — as was often the case — my fatigue compelled me to 
 seek rest, I would lie down on the leopard-skins which 
 formed my bed, using as a pillow the little valise in 
 which I kept my papers. 
 
 A habit which I acquired during the journey, 
 springing probably in the first instance from the cold 
 which always preceded daybreak, was to wake regu- 
 larly at 3 o'clock. I then rose and replenished the 
 expiring fire, came to the door of the hut, just outside 
 which hung a thermometer, and noted the point at 
 which the mercury stood, for at that hour I could 
 obtain a pretty correct minimum. I had not got with 
 me any maximum and minimum thermometer, and 
 therefore the figures which appear under these heads in 
 my records are only approximate ones ; the maximum 
 
316 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 temperature being that recorded at 1 hr. 30 min. of 
 my register, or 0 hr. 43 min. Greenwich time. 
 
 From 3 a.m. till 5, my time was passed beside the 
 fire, smoking ; and I would often thus consume from 
 10 to 12 cigars, whilst thinking of my country and 
 the dear ones I had left behind me. 
 
 How often at that hour — my time for meditation 
 and sad reflections — did I not cogitate over present 
 troubles and the uncertain future which lay before me ! 
 
 At the time of which I am now writing I was on the 
 Ouchibi, at 20 degrees E. of Green wich and 14^ to 
 the S. of the Equator. I was far removed from all 
 assistance of which I might stand in need, and where 
 was I to seek for means and resources to pursue my 
 onward journey ? 
 
 From the Bilie to that point I possessed the few bales 
 of cotton of which I made use ; but the last pieces 
 were now before me, and they constituted my entire 
 stock of money. 
 
 In all the villages I passed through I met with more 
 or less facility in bartering cotton-stuff for food, the 
 zuarte, printed zuarte and white being most preferred. 
 
 On very rare occasions could business be done with 
 the striped or trade cloth. Cowries, which are highly 
 esteemed among the Quimbandes and disregarded by 
 the Luchazes, recover all their value by the Cuchibi, 
 although in the latter place they put them to a different 
 use. Instead of employing them for the adornment of 
 the head, they convert them into girdles, upon which 
 they bestow extraordinary care. 
 
 The Maria II. beads have great value everywhere ; 
 but on the Cuchibi they are preferred to all other 
 articles, powder only excepted. 
 
 On reaching the Cuchibi, I was asked, for the first 
 time during my journey, for copper bracelets, and for 
 wire to make them. 
 
THE KINO OF THE AMBUELLAS' DAUGHTERS. 3l7 
 
 Immediately after my encampment was completed, a 
 stranger came to me, stating that he was a Biheno, 
 and had been left behind, on account of sickness, by a 
 caravan three years before. 
 
 Being recognised by several of my carriers, I en- 
 gaged him in my service. 
 
 I was now upon the track of the Bine' caravans, and 
 as I intended remaining there a few days, I sent a 
 little present to the Sova, and a message informing him 
 of my determination. 
 
 I learned from the stranger Biheno that news 
 had come of a revolution in the Baroze country, the 
 native chief, Manuauino, having been expelled and 
 another proclaimed in his stead, about whom little or 
 nothing was known. 
 
 This intelligence was anything but agreeable to me, 
 for I had heard that, though Manuauino was ferocious 
 and sanguinary with his own people, he was very 
 hospitable to strangers. 
 
 The Ambuellas among whom I was now sojourning 
 were of the pure Ambuella race, whilst those of the 
 Cubangui are a good deal mixed with the Luchazes. 
 
 The inhabitants of the Cuchibi are at enmity with 
 the Ambuellas of the west, and they are frequently 
 engaged in internecine war. 
 
 The Ambuella race occupy the whole of the country 
 watered by the upper Cuando, and are collected more 
 especially in the district where that river receives 
 its confluents, the Queimbo, Cubangui, Cuchibi and 
 Ohicului. 
 
 The villages on the river Cubangui are constructed 
 either on the islands which dot the stream or upon piles 
 driven down into the river. As the inhabitants are the 
 only people possessed of canoes, they repose at night 
 in their aquatic habitations without the slightest fear 
 of molestation. 
 
318 
 
 THE KING'S EIFLE. 
 
 The Sova lost no time in sending me provisions and 
 a good supply of maize. AY hat a treat was not that 
 dish of boiled Indian corn ! I saluted it with reverence, 
 moved by the reflection that the reign of massango 
 was for the moment at an end ! His Majesty further 
 sent me word that he would pay me a visit next day. 
 
 Early on the following morning I turned out for a 
 stroll, but found walking difficult on account of the 
 thorny nature of the underwood. Still, I managed to 
 
 Fig. 70. — The Sova Cahu-heu-ue. 
 
 get about 3 miles from the encampment, when I came 
 across an enormous snare for catching game. 
 
 It was formed of a lofty hedge, which must have 
 been a mile or two in extent, enclosing a nearly 
 circular space. At about every 20 yards there was 
 an opening in the fence, which led into smaller 
 enclosures, carefully covered by a strong gin or urivi. 
 A band of men being assembled, they beat the wood all 
 
TEE KING OF TEE AMBUELLAS' DAUGETERS. 319 
 
 round, and with loud cries frightened the hares, small 
 antelopes and other animals, which, in their efforts to 
 escape, darted into the enclosures referred to, and were 
 caught in the urivi prepared for their reception. 
 
 On my way back to the huts I found in the wood 
 an encampment of Mucassequeres, which gave evi- 
 dence of being only recently abandoned. 
 
 The Sova called on me in due course. I found him 
 a man somewhat advanced in years, of a sympathetic 
 countenance, and rather a Jewish profile. He was ex- 
 tremely well dressed, wearing, over a sort of uniform, 
 a cloak of white linen, with a large and handsome 
 kerchief round his neck. His head was covered with 
 a cap of red and black list, and in his hand he carried 
 a concertina, out of which he wrung the most painful 
 sounds. 
 
 He made me a fresh present of maize, manioc, beans 
 and fowls, which I returned in the shape of a few 
 charges of powder, the most valuable gift that could be 
 made on the Cuchibi. 
 
 The old chief retired, extremely satisfied, and pro- 
 mised shortly to return. 
 
 In the course of our conversation, he informed me 
 that the sovereigns of the Baroze were accustomed to 
 demand tribute of him, and that, in order to avoid 
 war, he had duly paid it, thus establishing a species of 
 vassalage ; that he knew little or nothing of the 
 revolution on the Zambesi, and less of the new poten- 
 tate who was in the ascendant, so that I still remained 
 in utter ignorance of the state of the country I was 
 about to enter. 
 
 During the afternoon my negroes captured in the 
 forest two Mucassequeres, whom they at once brought 
 before me. 
 
 The poor savages were trembling with fear, and 
 gave themselves up for lost. 
 
320 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 They knew a little of the Ambuella dialect, and by 
 means of an interpreter we were able to understand 
 each other. They imagined that sentence of death 
 was about to be passed upon them, or that, at the least, 
 the rest of their days was to be spent in slavery. 
 
 I desired my men to let them go, and return them 
 their arms. I then told them that they were free, and 
 might return to their people, and I gave them also a 
 few strings of beads for their wives. 
 
 Their surprise knew no bounds, and they had much 
 ado to believe that I was in earnest in what I said and 
 did. Having ordered them something to eat, I inquired 
 whether they would take me to see their camp. 
 
 After a warm discussion between them, carried on 
 in a language unknown to all the bystanders, and 
 completely different in intonation to any tongue I had 
 hitherto heard spoken in Africa, they said they were 
 quite willing to conduct me to their tribe, if I would 
 trust myself to go alone. I accepted the offer, and 
 immediately started with the two ill-favoured abori- 
 gines. 
 
 Accustomed as I was to the forest, I had much ado to 
 keep up with my agile guides, who more than once had 
 to wait for me to join them. 
 
 An hour's fatiguing walk brought us to a patch of 
 cleared ground, in the middle of which was the en- 
 campment of the tribe. 
 
 Its inmates were three other men, seven women and 
 five children. 
 
 A few branches of trees, bent downwards, with others 
 interlaced in front, constituted their only shelter. 
 
 Of cooking-appliances there was not a semblance. 
 Their food consisted of roots and fragments of flesh 
 roasted upon wooden spits. Salt is quite unknown to 
 them. 
 
 Both men and women barely cover their nakedness 
 
THE KING OF THE AMBUELLAS' DAUGHTERS. 321 
 
 with small monkey-skins. Their arms are bows and 
 arrows. 
 
 I had come among them, but was perfectly at a loss 
 how to act, now I had done so, for we neither of us 
 could understand the other. 
 
 I thought the best thing to do was to ingratiate the 
 women, so gave them a few strings of beads I had 
 brought with me for the purpose. They received 
 them, however, without the slightest sign of pleasure 
 at the gift. 
 
 I was touched by the abject misery of these poor 
 people. I examined them closely, and was much struck 
 by their excessive ugliness. The eyes were small, and 
 out of the right line ; the cheek-bones very far apart 
 and high ; the nose flat to the face, and nostrils dis- 
 proportionately wide. The hair was crisp and woolly, 
 growing in separate patches, and thickest on the top of 
 the head. 
 
 A few strips of the skin of some animal, encircling 
 their wrists and ankles, constituted their sole ornament, 
 and these were perhaps worn rather as amulets than 
 for the purpose of adornment. 
 
 I managed to make my guides understand that I 
 wanted to return, when, without leave-taking, they 
 preceded me, and just as night fell left me at the edge 
 of the wood, where I could hear the voices and merry 
 songs of the people of my camp. 
 
 During my stay on the Cuchibi I managed to gather 
 a few more scraps of information about these strange 
 aborigines. 
 
 The Mucassequeres occupy, jointly with the Ambu- 
 ellas, the territory lying between the Cubango and 
 Cuando, the latter dwelling on the rivers and the 
 former in the forests ; in describing the two tribes, one 
 may say that the latter are barbarians and the former 
 downright savages. 
 
 VOL. I. Y 
 
322 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 They hold but little communication with each other, 
 but, on the other hand, they do not break out into 
 hostilities. 
 
 When pressed by hunger, the Mucassequeres will 
 come over to the Ambuellas and procure food by the 
 barter of ivory and wax. 
 
 Each tribe would seem to be independent, and not 
 recognise any common chief. If they do not fight with 
 their neighbours, they nevertheless quarrel among 
 themselves ; and the prisoners taken in these conflicts 
 are sold as slaves to the Ambuellas, who subsequently 
 dispose of them to the Bihe caravans. 
 
 The Mucassequeres may be styled the true savages 
 of South tropical Africa, They construct no dwelling- 
 houses or anything in the likeness of them. They are 
 born under the shadow of a forest-tree, and so they are 
 content to die. 
 
 They despise alike the rains which deluge the earth 
 and the sun which burns it ; and bear the rigours of 
 the seasons with the same stoicism as the wild beasts. 
 
 In some respects they would seem to be even below 
 the wild denizens of the jungle, for the lion and tiger 
 have at least a cave or den in which they seek shelter, 
 whilst the Mucassequeres have neither. 
 
 As they never cultivate the ground, implements of 
 agriculture are entirely unknown among them; roots, 
 honey, and the animals caught in the chase constitute 
 their food, and each tribe devotes its entire time to 
 hunting for roots, honey and game. 
 
 They rarely sleep to-day where they lay down 
 vesterclay. The arrow is their only weapon ; but so 
 dexterous are they in its use, that an animal sighted 
 is as good as bagged. Even the elephant not unfre- 
 quently falls a prey to these dexterous hunters, whose 
 arrows find every vulnerable point in his otherwise 
 impervious hide. 
 
THE KING OF TEE AMBUELLAS' DAUGHTERS. 323 
 
 The two races which inhabit this country are as 
 different in personal appearance as they are in habits. 
 
 The Ambuella, for instance, is a black of the type of 
 the Caucasian race ; the Mucassequere is a white of the 
 type of the Hottentot race, in all its hideousness. 
 
 Many of our sailors, browned by the sun and beaten 
 by the winds of many a storm, are darker than the 
 Mucassequeres, whose complexion besides has so much 
 of dirty yeHow in it as to make the ugliness more 
 repulsive. 
 
 I regret exceedingly my inability to obtain more 
 precise data concerning this curious race, which I 
 consider to be worthy the special attention of anthro- 
 pologists and ethnographers. 
 
 In my opinion this branch of the Ethiopic race may 
 be classified in the group of the Hottentot division. In 
 form it possesses many of the characteristics of the 
 latter, and we may observe in this peculiar race a 
 sensible variation in the colour of the skin. The 
 Bushmen to the south of the Calaari are very fair of 
 hue, and I have noticed some who were almost white. 
 They are low of stature and thin of body, but exhibit 
 all the characteristics of the Hottentot type. To the 
 north of that same desert tract, more especially about 
 the salt-lakes, there is another nomad race, that of the 
 Massaruas, strongly built, of lofty stature, and of a deep 
 black, who possess the same Hottentot type, and who 
 indubitably belong to the same group. I was told on 
 the Cuchibi that between the- Cubango and the Cuando, 
 but a good deal to the south, there existed another 
 race, in every respect similar to the Mucassequeres, 
 both in type and habits, but of a deep black colour. 
 
 In consideration, therefore, of the affinity of character, 
 I have no hesitation in admitting that the Hottentot 
 group of the Ethiopic race extends to the N. of the 
 Cape as far as the country lying between 'the Cubango 
 
324 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 and the Cuando, passing through sundry modifications 
 of colour and stature, due probably to the conditions 
 under which they live, to altitude, to the great differ- 
 ence of latitude, or even to other causes that are less 
 apparent. 
 
 The subdivisions of the Ethiopic race in tropical 
 Africa will remain for a long time but indifferently 
 known in Europe, on account of the difficulty of collect- 
 ing reliable data wherewith to complete their stud v. 
 
 Where can we find any members of these barbarous 
 tribes willing to allow their forms to be moulded ? 
 And, even if this difficulty could be overcome, how 
 could the anthropologist convey thither materials to 
 form his moulds, or how, if taken, could he convey his 
 moulds to the coast ? How could he manage to collect 
 skeletons, or even skulls, in countries where the pro- 
 fanation of a grave might lead to the ruin of an expedi- 
 tion ? How could he conceal from his own caravan, 
 from the very carriers in his service, these human spoils, 
 which would be regarded as articles of witchcraft ? 
 
 Photography, of all means the most incomplete 
 whereon to base serious studies, presents in itself 
 almost insuperable difficulties. 
 
 In the first place, it is no easy matter to employ 
 photography on a journey of exploration. Fancy, for 
 instance, the conveyance of an apparatus, with its 
 appliances in glass bottles, upon the head of a carrier 
 who stumbles and falls at least a dozen times a day ! 
 My own experience will, I am sure, in this particular be 
 supported by that of Capello and Ivens. 
 
 And, even supposing that that difficulty were got 
 over, and that photography could be effectively em- 
 ployed, where is the native of the interior who would 
 allow an apparatus to be set up, and stand before it as 
 a subject for the camera obscura ? 
 
 In the course of my narrative I shall have occasion 
 
THE KING OF THE AMBUELLAS 1 DAUGHTERS. 325 
 
 to relate an adventure which occurred to myself and a 
 Swiss photographer, a M. Gross, where I managed to 
 obtain a group of Betjuanos who were in a semi-civilised 
 condition, after an expenditure of patience and time 
 that was almost incalculable. 
 
 In respect of the Mucassequeres, I did not even 
 succeed in making a satisfactory sketch with pencil and 
 paper. 
 
 But to return to our narrative. 
 
 Fig. 71. — Ambuella Woman. 
 
 When my Mucassequere guides left me, as related, 
 at nightfall at the edge of the forest, they uttered a 
 few words, which probably meant a farewell, and 
 disappeared in the darkness. The ruddy state of 
 the atmosphere, due to the numerous camp-fires, and 
 the sound of merry voices, guided my footsteps, and 
 shortly after I found myself within the precincts of 
 the encampment, where, to the notes of the barbarous 
 
326 
 
 TEE KING'S BIFLE. 
 
 music of the Ambuellas, the fellows were capering like 
 madmen. 
 
 There were several Ambuella girls who were 
 dancing with my carriers, and the bangles on their 
 arms and wrists made a tinkling accompaniment to 
 their motions. 
 
 I was much struck with the type of many of these 
 girls, which was perfectly European, and I saw several 
 
 Fig. 72.— Opudo. 
 
 whose forms, as they undulated in the dance, would 
 have raised envy in the hearts of many European 
 ladies, whom they equalled in beauty and surpassed in 
 grace of motion. 
 
 What followed was calculated to increase my 
 surprise. 
 
 It would appear that these Ambuellas, on the arrival 
 in the country of a caravan, are accustomed to flock 
 into the camp, to sing and dance ; and, as night 
 
THE KING OF THE A31BUELLAS' DAUGHTERS. 327 
 
 advances, the men retire, and leave their women-folks 
 behind them. It is their hospitable custom thus to 
 furnish the stranger wayfarers with a few hours of 
 female society. 
 
 On the following morning, at daybreak, the visitors 
 steal away to their villages, and rarely fail to return 
 to bring gifts to their husbands of a night. 
 
 This custom led to an extraordinary adventure which 
 befell myself. 
 
 Moene Cahu-heu-iie, the old Sova, sent me his two 
 daughters, Opudo and Capeu. 
 
 Opudo was about 20, and Cape'u counted some 1 6 
 years. 
 
 The elder was a plain girl enough, and was won- 
 derfully haughty in manner ; but the other was an 
 attractive little creatuiv, with a smiling and agreeable 
 countenance. 
 
 From the moment of my setting foot in Africa I had 
 determined to lead an austere life, a practice which 
 gave me considerable influence over my negroes, who, 
 seeing me only drink water, and detecting me in 
 no aventure gala?ite, looked upon me as altogether a 
 superior being. 
 
 But now, notwithstanding my fixed determination, 
 I was called upon to exercise no little restraint upon 
 my feelings to resist the temptations of the younger 
 daughter of the Sova Cahu-heu-ue. 
 
 Capeu only spoke the Ganguella dialect, which I did 
 not understand, but Opudo talked Hambundo fluently. 
 
 " Why do you despise us ? " she inquired in an 
 imperious tone. " Are the women in your country 
 more lovely and loving than my sister ? Any way, we 
 intend to sleep here ; for it shall never be said that the 
 daughters of the chief of the Ambuellas have been 
 thrust out of his tent by a white man." 
 
 Here was a ridiculous position for a man to be placed 
 
328 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 in ! I was indeed so taken aback that I had not a word 
 to say for myself. 
 
 Of course, a ready reply might have been found, but 
 it was just the one that I had no intention to give. 
 
 There sat the two girls upon my leopard-skins, and 
 there stood I. The large fire which separated us cast 
 over the interior of the hut a ruddy light, somewhat 
 subdued and softened by the green foliage which lined 
 the cabin walls. The bright flame displayed to great 
 
 Fig. 73— Capeu. 
 
 advantage the undraped figure of the young girl, whose 
 languishing eyes were occasionally fixed upon me with 
 an expression half-pouting, half-beseeching. My own 
 looks wandered away, but involuntarily turned again 
 and again to the statuesque and graceful figure. 
 
 Without, the noisy sounds of the barbarous music 
 had ceased ; the voices were more subdued, and silence 
 was gradually taking the place of the previous uproar. 
 
 My braves were evidently selecting their companions 
 
THE KING OF THE AMBUELLAS' DAUGHTERS. 329 
 
 for the night ; and there was I, still shut up with those 
 irrepressible girls. 
 
 " We intend to remain here," repeated the haughty 
 Ambuella princess. " I don't mean to expose my 
 sister to the scorn of all the old women of the villages ; 
 and let me tell you, white man, that if you are a chief 
 of the White King, I am the daughter of a Sova." 
 
 The ridicule of my position increased; I was com- 
 pelled to put the firmest restraint upon myself, and, 
 conscious that if I looked or spoke softly I was lost, I 
 had to assume a severity of aspect and hardness of 
 behaviour that were quite foreign to my character. 
 
 Still, things could not remain in the state in which 
 they were, and I did not know how to alter them. I 
 would have preferred, a thousand times over, risking a 
 conflict with the warrior father to continuing this 
 colloquy with the amorous little daughter. 
 
 Suddenly the skin which formed the door of my hut 
 was raised, and some one entered. 
 
 It was little Mariana, who had overheard our limited 
 conversation and came to the rescue. 
 
 She approached the fire, which she mended and 
 replenished. Then, turning to the Ambuellas and 
 repeatedly clapping her hands, as is the customary 
 mode of complimentary salutation in the country, she 
 uttered the words Cb-que-tu Co-qiie-tu, and added : 44 The 
 white man does not scorn you ; but if he does not wish 
 you to sleep here it is because I am the only one who 
 does so, the white man is mine. My hut is alongside 
 this one, and you are quite welcome to sleep there." 
 
 The daughters of Sova Cahu-heu ue at once rose and 
 left with Mariana, to whom I felt myself very greatly 
 indebted for getting me out of my dilemma ; but a few 
 moments after, Opudo came back and whispered fiercely 
 in my ear, " To-night we sleep elsewhere, but my sister 
 does not mean to let you off." 
 
330 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 I must confess it, this young woman inspired me with 
 more fear than the wildest of wild cats could occasion. 
 
 I lay down on my couch, reflecting upon my extra- 
 ordinary adventure, and beginning to credit, with more 
 sincerity than I had hitherto done, the story of a certain 
 Joseph who left his garment behind him in Egypt. 
 
 Next day the chiefs daughters came in the usual 
 way, to bring me presents. I gave them a few beads in 
 return, and they retired without alluding to the scene 
 of the previous night. 
 
 Shortly afterwards a messenger came from the father, 
 to announce that he expected me that afternoon, and 
 that he would send a boat to convey me to his village. 
 
 Our encampment had fresh visitors, in the shape 
 of some cobras, which the negroes declared to be 
 venomous, and several black scorpions, from 4 to 4^ 
 inches in length. One or two of the men were 
 bitten by these disgusting reptiles, whose poison, 
 however, pioduced no further mischief than violent 
 pain and swelling of the parts affected. 
 
 The Ambuellas were the first people I fell in with on 
 my journey who did not conceal their plantations in 
 the forest. 
 
 Their fields under cultivation were all in the open, 
 by the banks of the stream, and to this cause may be 
 attributed their reputation as husbandmen. 
 
 The inundations which occasionally occur leave 
 deposits on the land of the richest kind, and the fields 
 become thereby naturally manured. 
 
 Although they do not, so to speak, irrigate the land 
 — an operation which I never saw any African tribe 
 practise — they nevertheless take the precaution, as I 
 observed, of draining the ground by digging deep 
 trenches beside their plantations. 
 
 My occupations had so engaged me during the day 
 that it was not till evening that I remembered the canoe 
 
THE KING OF THE AMBUELLAS' DAUGHTERS. 331 
 
 which the Sova told me would be in waiting near the 
 river to convey me to his village. 
 
 On reaching the appointed spot my surprise was 
 considerable at finding the frail skiff referred to manned 
 by Opudo and Capeu, the two daughters of the chief! 
 I do not consider myself a man of a particularly timid 
 nature, but the sight of these two girls caused me some 
 alarm. 
 
 This was no time, however, for indulging in such 
 feelings, so I stepped into the canoe, and settling myself 
 down, gave the signal for departure. The dexterity 
 of these young women was remarkable, and they soon 
 cleared the little creek or canal which led into the river. 
 
 The sun was fast nearing the horizon. The canoe 
 
 Fig. 74. — Cuchibi Canoe and Paddle. 
 
 sped swiftly through the open spaces left by the 
 abundant aquatic vegetation, which displayed upon the 
 surface of the water a vast wealth of beautiful flowers. 
 So thick were the clusters of Victoria-regias and many 
 species of the Nenuphar, that at times they held us as 
 in a net. On one occasion we were so imprisoned 
 that I fully expected an upset, and in imagination saw 
 those dark-skinned nymphs and myself struggling in 
 the water among the crocodiles. 
 
 No such mishap, however, occurred. By a skilful 
 manoeuvre of the paddles we were set free, and Opudo 
 then found her tongue. 
 
 " It is too late now," she said, " to go to our father's 
 house. We waited for you long. We will return by 
 land, and you shall come to-morrow." 
 
332 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 Shortly after, at a convenient spot, we went ashore, 
 and they accompanied me to the camp. 
 
 Night fell, and found the Sova's daughters again 
 within my hut, conversing on indifferent subjects, 
 whilst the sounds of dancing and merriment were 
 heard without. 
 
 When the noise attendant on these festivities had 
 ceased, they lay down near the 
 entrance of the hut, beside the 
 brightly burning fire. I wanted 
 them to take up their quarters 
 once more in the hut of little 
 Mariana ; but Opudo declined, 
 saying she was a fawn of the 
 forest, and little cared where she 
 took her rest. 
 
 In the course of that day 
 Augusto, who had been scour- 
 ing the wood for game, fell in 
 with a troop of small monkeys, 
 the first I had come across in 
 my journey from the coast west- 
 ward. 
 
 On the following morning I 
 paid my visit to the Sova ; but, 
 being desirous of avoiding further 
 adventures, I got out my india- 
 rubber boat, and proceeded to 
 the village in that conveyance. 
 The canal I traversed communicated with an arm of 
 the river, 22 yards wide by 19 feet deep, with a rapid 
 current coursing along at the rate of 54 yards per 
 minute. 
 
 The river divides, forming aits, little bays and 
 marshes, which are the beds of thick and lofty canes. 
 It is upon these small islands, themselves intersected 
 
 . 75. — Drum used at 
 Ambuella Feasts. 
 
THE KING OF THE AMBUELLAS' DAUGHTERS. 333 
 
 by other channels, which form a perfect labyrinth, 
 that these Ambuella villages are planted, springing 
 from a marshy soil, on the level of the river. The 
 houses are perfectly imbedded in the thick tufts of cane. 
 Their walls are formed of reeds ; their foundations are 
 stakes driven into the muddy ground, and the roofs are 
 composed of thatch. 
 
 .As may readily be imagined, they are wretched 
 habitations,' badly constructed, and affording little effec- 
 tive shelter. Outside the doors, suspended from large 
 poles, are immense calabashes, in which the inhabi- 
 tants preserve their wax and other articles. 
 
 The huts themselves are filled with calabashes. 
 Indeed, among the Ambuellas these useful vegetables 
 perform the office of trunks, cupboards, and other 
 household receptacles. 
 
 The store-bouses only differ from the dwelling-houses 
 in being raised upon stakes a couple of yards high, 
 and therefore out of the reach of the inundations of 
 the river. 
 
 On one of the small islands above referred to a little 
 group of buildings constitutes the residence of the Sova 
 Moene Cahu-heu-ue. One hut is occupied by himself, 
 four more are assigned to his four wives, and the rest 
 are store-houses. 
 
 I observed near the chief's own habitation a kind 
 of rustic trophy, composed of the skulls and horns of 
 animals and other spoils of the chase. 
 
 The Sova received me very graciously, he having 
 two of his favourites by his side. 
 
 No sooner was I seated than my interpreter and one 
 of the favourites commenced vigorously clapping the 
 palms of their hands together, after which, scraping 
 up a little earth, they rubbed it on the breast, and 
 repeated many times, in a rapid way, the words bamba 
 and calunga, terminating with another clapping of 
 
334 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 hands, not quite so vigorous as before. This com- 
 pleted the ceremony of introduction. 
 
 The chief expressed a wish to see my boat, and made 
 a little excursion in it upon the river. His wonder at 
 the floating power of this portable canoe knew no 
 bounds ; and again and again he urged upon me not to 
 sell any such to the iVmbuellas of the Cubangui, for 
 that, if I did, he and his people were lost. 
 
 I pacified him on this head by the assurance that 
 the whites did not wish for war between them, and 
 would take all possible care not to furnish them with 
 the means of waging it. 
 
 On our return to his island-home he sent for a 
 calabash of bingundo and a tin cup, together with a pot 
 of Lisbon marmalade, left there by some Biheno trader 
 during one of his business journeys. 
 
 Having filled the cup, the chief allowed some drops 
 of the foaming liquid to fall upon the ground, and, 
 covering the place with damp earth, he drank off the 
 contents without drawing breath. 
 
 The interpreter having informed him that I only drank 
 water, he passed the calabash round to his favourites, 
 who lost no time in disposing of what was left in it. 
 
 At noon I took my leave, and returned to the 
 encampment. 
 
 I passed the rest of the day with a petty chief, the 
 brother of the Sova, who informed me that he intended 
 starting for the Zambesi by way of the Cuchibi and 
 Cuando. 
 
 I found him to be a very intelligent fellow, speaking 
 Portuguese pretty fluently, he having picked up the 
 language while serving as a soldier in Loanda, to which 
 place he had been sent as a slave when the horrid 
 traffic was in the ascendant. He was a great hunter, 
 and had frequently scoured the banks of the Cuando as 
 far as Linianti during his sporting excursions. 
 
THE KING OF THE AMBUELLAS' DAUGHTERS. 335 
 
 He assured me that the Cuando was completely 
 navigable, that it was without rapids, and occasionally 
 spread over so wide a bed as to present but little depth. 
 Its aquatic vegetation was, however, so abundant and 
 powerful that it not unfrequently barred the passage 
 of any boats, and made navigation a matter of con- 
 siderable difficulty. 
 
 He further asserted, and I had afterwards occasion 
 
 Fig. 77. — The Soya's Brother. 
 
 to confirm the correctness of the assertion, that the 
 river Cuando bears that name as far as Linianti, and 
 thence to the Zambe either Cuando or Linianti, but 
 never Chobe or Tchobe, as designated on the maps. 
 
 The Ambuella race continue on the Cuando the 
 same system of existence as they practise on the Cu- 
 chibi, and the little islands are always selected for the 
 establishment of their villages. 
 
336 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 On the banks of the Cuehibi the preposterous head- 
 dresses, which disappear among the Quimbandes, again 
 become visible. Cowries, too, are once more in high 
 esteem among the people, not for the purpose of adorn- 
 ing the head, but for the enrichment of their belts, 
 which appear quite studded with them. 
 
 At the end of the canal where I embarked on my 
 visit to the Sova I observed two faggots of thick sticks 
 placed vertically at a few yards' distance from each 
 other. From these sticks were hanging remnants of 
 rush-mats, half-rotten by exposure to the weather. On 
 inquiry, I learned that they were places where the rite 
 of circumcision was practised upon male children of 6 
 to 7 years of age, who were subsequently turned adrift 
 in the wood, bereft of their usual garment until they 
 were completely cured, food being supplied them by 
 those who had undergone the operation the year before. 
 A piece of matting was given them to cover their 
 nakedness, and, on being re-admitted to their village- 
 homes, they left their mats hanging to the stakes 
 where the operation had been performed. 
 
 I was also shown in this place another contrivance, 
 of a very curious character. 
 
 Upon two stout pitch-forks, sticking half a yard or 
 so out of the ground, was laid a sort of club, about a 
 yard in length and 8 or 10 inches in diameter, wrapped 
 tightly round with straw, looking for all the world like 
 a large rolling-pin. 
 
 This notable apparatus was the work of a medicine- 
 man of great fame, who had endowed it with most 
 extraordinary virtues. When a husband had reason to 
 suspect his wife of sterility, he sent for the doctor, who 
 conducted her to this place of cure. 
 
 While muttering sundry cabalistic words, he passed 
 the mysterious rolling-pin over her breast and sides, 
 and so infallible was the result, as the Sova assured me, 
 
TEE KING OF TEE AMBUELLAS' DAUGHTERS. 337 
 
 that nine months had barely elapsed than the desired 
 end was attained. 
 
 Notwithstanding the deep faith reposed by the 
 Ambuellas in this system of putting an end to sterility, 
 I could not conscientiously recommend it for practice 
 in Europe. 
 
 My relations with the aborigines continued to be 
 most cordial and pleasant. 
 
 The Sova's daughters were indefatigable in bringing 
 me presents, and, in fact, my own food and that of the 
 young niggers about my person was supplied entirely 
 by these good Samaritans. 
 
 Anything for which I expressed a wish was at once 
 procured, and presumably their desire was to make 
 others believe that closer ties than those of platonic 
 friendship existed between us. I had learned by this 
 time that they would have been held up to scorn if 
 suspected of being repudiated by the stranger of their 
 choice, and, out of regard for their feelings, I allowed 
 them to have their own way. 
 
 We consequently lived on, the best friends in the 
 world, and their co-operation was really of the highest 
 importance in procuring me the carriers and stores of 
 which I stood in need for traversing a vast depopulated 
 space, where provisions would be simply unattainable. 
 
 By their exertions, chiefly, I was thus enabled to get 
 together a good store of maize and a certain quantity 
 of beans. 
 
 My pecuniary resources were drawing to an end, 
 and, saving a quantity of powder in the shape of car- 
 tridges, a few beads, and a little copper for bangles, I had 
 literally nothing left. Two of my carriers were bearers 
 of the present I had reserved for the sovereign of the 
 Baroze, the chief article being a small organ, having a 
 couple of automatic dolls, which executed a dance to 
 the sound of the music. This was a universal source 
 
 TOL. I. Z 
 
388 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 of amusement to the aborigines. Augusto turned it to 
 very profitable account, and many an egg did he con- 
 jure from the natives by the exhibition of the dancing 
 figures. I was amused to find him testing his eggs by 
 putting them into water, before accepting them in pay- 
 ment of the show, for, owing to the popularity of the 
 entertainment, the eager sight-seers had more than once 
 endeavoured to palm off on him eggs which they had 
 surreptitiously abstracted from beneath a sitting hen ! 
 
 Moene Cahu-heii-ue, no doubt upon the recommen- 
 dation of his daughters, solved every difficulty as it 
 arose, and actively aided me in my preparations for 
 departure. 
 
 The daughters themselves had resolved to accompany 
 me to the borders of their father's territory, and it was 
 Opudo who assumed the command of my escort. 
 
 Before resuming the narrative of my journey, I 
 deem it well to say a few words about the country 
 of the Ambuellas and the people themselves, whose 
 hospitality towards me had been so remarkable. 
 
 The Ambuella tongue is no other than that used by 
 the Ganguellas, and which is heard for the first time to 
 the east of the river Cuqueima. 
 
 Like the Hambundo, of which it is a dialect, it is 
 exceedingly poor, very irregular in the verbs, and 
 wanting in all those words which express noble and 
 generous sentiments. 
 
 Can it be that these people are so unhappy that they 
 do not feel the necessity of giving utterance to such 
 sentiments in words, from the fact of their being foreign 
 to their nature ? 
 
 I tried in vain to discover if it were so, but I should 
 have no difficulty in believing the conjecture a true one. 
 
 In this country, where I was received as a friend, and 
 was therefore unbiassed by any influence adverse to 
 the African, I sought in vain to read in the negro soul 
 
THE KING OF THE AMBUELLAS' DAUGHTERS. 339 
 
 other than the most sordid cupidity, the most sensual 
 appetites, cowardice in presence of the strong, and 
 tyranny to the weak. 
 
 Of all the peoples I met with on my road, the 
 Ambuellas were the greatest and most successful 
 cultivators of the soil, which repays with wonderful 
 prodigality the care and labour bestowed upon it. 
 
 Beans, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, ground-nuts, the 
 castor-oil plant and cotton, are raised among enormous 
 fields of maize of excellent quality. Manioc is like- 
 wise grown by these people, but I was able, unfortu- 
 nately, to obtain little, owing to the destruction of the 
 crops that year by inundations of an unusually heavy 
 character. 
 
 Domestic poultry is the only live-stock possessed by 
 the Ambuellas. Their mode of life, constantly dis- 
 turbed by apprehensions of attacks from their neigh- 
 bours, prevents them ever becoming herdsmen or 
 shepherds; so that vast tracts of land, covered with 
 admirable pasture, upon which enormous flocks and 
 herds might be easily raised, are totally abandoned. 
 
 Cattle disappear with the last of the Quimbandes. 
 Among the Luchazes one may meet occasionally with 
 a few goats, and still fewer swine, whilst pigs abound 
 in the Bihe and between the Bine' and the West Coast. 
 
 Why happens it that, in countries covered with the 
 richest pasture, unvisited by the terrible tzee-tzee fly, 
 and having all the requisite conditions for the breeding 
 of cattle, no cattle whatsoever should be found ? 
 
 An answer to this question may not perhaps be far 
 to seek. Cattle constitute the greatest wealth of the 
 African peoples, and, as a matter of course, always 
 excite the cupidity of their neighbours ; in fact, as I 
 have already had occasion to explain, they are the per- 
 manent cause of the wars ever waging between the 
 tribes residing between the West Coast and the Bihe'. 
 
 z 2 
 
340 
 
 THE KING'S BIFLE. 
 
 This apprehension of being rich, and of being in 
 consequence open to attack and robbery, no doubt has 
 its weight in making cattle scarce between the Cuanza 
 and the Zambesi. Among these barbarians, paradoxes 
 are common enough, and we find principles planted 
 and rooted among them that would with difficulty be 
 comprehended in Europe. 
 
 The dog, that faithful and devoted friend of man, 
 does not torfeit among the negroes his character as a 
 sociable companion and trusty guard, and he is found 
 among all the tribes of the Ganguella race. It is true 
 that a variety of shaggy hounds and a few degenerate 
 water-spaniels are almost the only specimens of the 
 canine race that are met with in this part of Africa. 
 Among the Quimbandes and Bihenos the dog is treated 
 
 contumeliously enough — 
 and little wonder, seeing 
 that he is used there only 
 as an article of food. He 
 is most esteemed when he 
 is dead, for his flesh is held 
 to be a delicacy. 
 
 The Ambuellas, as I ob- 
 served above, though fur- 
 nished with the elements to 
 become the first breeders 
 of sheep and cattle in South 
 Central Africa, possess 
 neither cattle nor sheep, 
 and breed common poultry 
 only, and that of a small 
 and inferior kind. 
 
 Among the inhabitants 
 of the river Cuchibi there 
 are no places set apart for 
 Their Sovas are buried 
 
 Fis. 78. — Ambuei.la Hunter. 
 
 the interment of the dead 
 
THE KING OF THE AMBUELLAS' DAUGHTERS, 341 
 
 in any convenient spot in the wood, but the people 
 find an unmarked grave in the mud by the river- 
 side. 
 
 The customs of the Ambuellas may be designated as 
 
 mild and sociable, and their hospitality, as will be 
 
 fathered from what I have alreadv recorded, is of the 
 <~> • 
 
 frankest order. 
 
 They are tolerable woodsmen, and gather a great deal 
 of wax from' the forest. 
 
 Women enjoy much more consideration among them 
 than with any other tribes I had hitherto visited, for, 
 
 Fig. 79 — Chinguene. 
 
 One-fourth the natural size. Soft skin without scales. Brown back with darker 
 spots: triangular shape, the back being the vertex; 3 belly fins, 2 subdorsal 
 and 2 dorsal. Two muscular feelers upon the mouth, and two on the lower jaw. 
 It belongs to a family that is very common in Africa and which comprises many 
 species. 
 
 as a rule, they are the most abject slaves of their 
 husbands. 
 
 The Ambuellas are skilful fishermen, which of 
 course is not surprising, living as they do upon a river 
 whose aquatic fauna is extremely varied. 
 
 In fact, of all the rivers I had come across, it was the 
 richest in fish I had yet beheld. 
 
 During my stay I was able to obtain from the natives 
 18 different varieties, and they assured me that the 
 specimens were far from complete. 
 
 I enumerate below, under the names furnished me 
 by the aborigines, those which I was enabled to see 
 and examine. 
 
342 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 Small Fish, measuring under 8 inches. 
 
 1. Mussozi Skin fish. 
 
 2. Mango do. 
 
 3. Chinguene do. 
 
 4. Chibembe do. 
 
 5. Limbunibo do. 
 
 6. Dipa Scaly fish. 
 
 7. Chitnngulo do. 
 
 8. Lincuuiba do. 
 
 9. Nhe]e do. 
 
 10. Lin«iimveno do. 
 
 Fig. 80. — Lincumba. 
 
 Natural size. Scales broad and hard; grey back, silver white belly ; 5 belly-fins, 
 1 lumbar, all soft. 
 
 Large Fish, between 8 and 20 inches. 
 
 11. Cho Skin fish. 
 
 12. Mucunga Scaly fish. 
 
 13. Undo do. 
 
 14. Chinganja do. 
 
 15. Nassi do. 
 
 16. Bnla do. 
 
 17. Ganzi do. 
 
 18. Boei-io do. 
 
 Fig. 81. — Chipulo or Nheee. 
 
 Natural size. Scales hard and small ; back of a reddish-grey ; belly reddish-white ; 
 3 belly fins, 2 super-ventral, and 1 lumbar, occupying the whole back, and spiky. 
 
THE KING OF THE AMBUELLAS' DAUGHTERS. 343 
 
 Six different large Mammiferi inhabit the River Cl'cuibi. 
 
 1 . The Hippopotamus. 
 
 2. The Quicbobo or Buzi (antelope). 
 
 3. The Nhundo (common Otter). 
 
 4. Libao (large Otter, spotted with white). 
 
 5. Chitoto (small Otter, perfectly black). 
 
 6. Dima (herbivorous, about the size of a small goat ; without horns, existing 
 
 under the same conditions as the Quichobo or Buzi). 
 
 The reptiles, also, which inhabit the waters of the 
 river are fmmerous, but the crocodiles are small at id 
 not of a very voracious character, and the cobras are 
 not all of them venomous. 
 
 There is a great variety of the frog-tribe ; but the 
 Ambuellas do not specially distinguish them, but bestow 
 upon all, generally, the name of Manjunda. 
 
 In canals and pools where the waters stagnate there 
 exist myriads of leeches, as is the case with all the 
 rivers in this part of Africa. 
 
 I had made a great provision of maize, and had got 
 together carriers to convey it, under the command of 
 the daughters of the Sova ; so that on the 4th August I 
 took my departure, after the most cordial adieux, and 
 continued the descent of the river upon its right bank. 
 
 Two hours after leaving Cahu-heu-ue the guides 
 pointed out to me a ford where the passage of the 
 river might be safely effected. They themselves 
 crossed over to show me the way, and I observed that 
 a man of medium stature could wade breast-high for a 
 space of 21 yards. 
 
 The river at that spot was between 77 and 87 yards 
 in width. I stripped off my clothes, and proceeded to 
 examine the ford. I found it was a narrow bar, with a 
 depth immediately above and below it of 10 to 12 feet, 
 with a very hard sandy bottom. The current of the 
 river over the tord was at least 65 yards a minute. 
 Under these circumstances the passage must be always 
 difficult to a laden caravan. 
 
344 
 
 THE KINO'S RIFLE. 
 
 I gave orders to commence the passage, which took 
 a couple of hours in the performance. I remained the 
 whole of that time in the water, with Verissimo and 
 Augusto, the only two who were capable of swimming, 
 ready to assist any of the men who should lose their 
 footing. Not the slightest accident, however, occurred ; 
 nor, indeed, such was our care and precaution, was a 
 single package wetted. 
 
 The passage of the river having been an excessively 
 fatiguing operation, I determined to pitch our camp 
 shortly after crossing, which was done on our arrival at 
 the village of Lienzi. 
 
 The natives soon flocked in great numbers into the 
 camp, bringing with them presents, and provisions for 
 barter or sale. I never saw before in Africa so manv 
 fowls as were that day brought over by the Ambuellas. 
 There was not a carrier or the youngest nigger but 
 feasted that day on roast chicken. 
 
 I could not help being struck by the moderation and 
 good-nature of the natives, which were really remark- 
 able for an African people. 
 
 The whole of the men were armed with bows and 
 arrows ; a few of them carried assegais, and there were a 
 good many who, besides the native arms, were pos- 
 sessed of long flint-lock guns of Belgian manufacture. 
 
 Both men and women cut the two front incisors in 
 the shape of a triangle, but with a much more open 
 angle than I observed among the Quimbandes. 
 
 Their arms are manufactured by themselves, the 
 iron-work being of a very inferior kind. The iron 
 itself is extracted from mines lying below the con- 
 fluence of the Cuchibi and Cuando. 
 
 Those Ambuellas who use fire-arms greatly favour, 
 as I have before had occasion to mention, the " Laza- 
 rinas " now manufactured in Belgium, and round the 
 barrel of each gun they fasten a strip of skin of the 
 
THE KING OF THE A MB UELLA S ' DAUGHTERS. 345 
 
 animal it has brought down in the chase, which 
 enables any one by a mere inspection of the weapon 
 to know how many victims have fallen to its share. 
 
 The only result is to spoil the look of the gun and 
 injure its utility by destroying the aim ; but as they 
 only risk a shot at 10 paces, they sometimes accident- 
 ally bring down their prey. 
 
 The hunter who had been most successful in his sport 
 displayed no more than ten strips of skin about the 
 barrel of his weapon. 
 
 This being the case, the poor people would get but 
 few skins wherewith to cover their nakedness, if it 
 were not for the snares they set in the woods. 
 
 Powder is an extremely rare commodity amongst 
 them, and it is only very occasionally, with an interval 
 
 Fig. 83. — AS>EGAIS OF THE AMBUELLAS. 
 
 of months between, that a Biheno trader passes that 
 way and sells them — for an enormous equivalent — the 
 smallest possible quantity. 
 
 Among the Ambuellas who came into the encamp- 
 ment was one exceedingly pleasant-mannered fellow. 
 He tried every possible means to convince me that I 
 should be driving a capital bargain by exchanging a 
 charge of powder for a fine cock he carried under his 
 arm. I was much diverted with the ingratiating way 
 in which he tried to persuade me to effect the ex- 
 change ; and at last I told him that I would consent if 
 he could kill the cock at 50 paces' distance with a 
 bow and arrow. 
 
 He accepted the proposal, and I measured the dis- 
 tance. 
 
 The cock being set up at the allotted place, eight 
 
346 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 arrows, each of which wns infinitely wide of the mark, 
 were fired at the intended victim. 
 
 A lot of the bystanders got quite excited with the 
 sport, and at length a perfect cloud of arrows might 
 be seen flying in the direction of the poor cock ; but 
 though the distance had been lessened to 40 paces, the 
 best shot was still half a yard away from the mark. I 
 then told the Bihenos that I would make the cock a 
 present to whomsoever could kill it. The best marks- 
 men from my caravan now came forward ; the most 
 successful of whom was Silva Porto's negro Jamba, who 
 
 Fig. 84. — Ambuella Arrow-Heads. 
 
 planted an arrow within a quarter of an inch of the 
 cock, which might, however, have lived and crowed 
 for some time longer had I not put an end to the sport 
 with a bullet from mv Winchester rifle. 
 
 We discovered in the wood in which we were en- 
 camped an enormous quantity of white spiders, with 
 bodies as large as the top of the thumb. They bit 
 sharply, causing a violent though transitory pain. 
 
 Our camp was the resort of a considerable number 
 of women, attracted probably by the presence of the 
 daughters of their chief. They wore a great quan- 
 
THE KING OF THE AMBUELLAS' DAUGHTERS. 347 
 
 tit j of iron bangles round their wrists, about an 
 eighth of an inch in thickness, of a quadrangular 
 section, having the two outer edges indented. When 
 they danced (and the Ambuellas are much given to 
 dancing) the tinkle of these bangles had a very musical 
 sound. 
 
 They compliment each other by repeatedly striking 
 their open palms upon their naked breasts. 
 
 A custom which I met with among all the Ganguella 
 people, but more rigorously observed in the Cuchibi 
 than elsewhere, is noteworthy, and refers to the mode 
 of addressing the Sova or Soveta. 
 
 The person who wishes to speak to the great man does 
 not do so directly, but addresses his words to one of the 
 negroes standing by the chiefs side : he in turn repeats 
 ihe remark or request to a second negro, who transmits 
 it to the Sova. The reply passes through the same 
 channel. 
 
 The explanation that was given to me of this ar- 
 rangement was the following. The party who first 
 speaks, by hearing his words repeated twice, has an 
 opportunity of correcting any wrongful interpretation 
 of his idea, and this is likewise the case with the 
 party who answers. 
 
 My own notion, however, is that the Sovas have 
 established the custom in order, during the triple 
 repetition of the phrase, to secure time to prepare a 
 suitable reply. 
 
 From Lienzi I went on a hunting-excursion down 
 the river to its confluence w T ith the Cuando, the position 
 of which I marked roughly, being unable to take any 
 observations ; but I feel pretty confident in its being 
 correct, on account of my having perfectly determined 
 the position of Lienzi itself. 
 
 Close to the confluence of the Cuchibi I fell in with 
 two large Ambuella villages, Linhonzi and Maramo, 
 
348 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 and between them and Lienzi a large Chirnbambo 
 village. 
 
 At the confluence of the river Queimbo is situated 
 the village of Catiba, governed by a black from Cahu- 
 heu-ue, and subject to the Sova of the Cuchibi. 
 
 When I got back to the encampment I found my 
 followers so given up to the delights of Capua, that 
 there was no tearing them from the arms of the lovely 
 daughters of this new African Nineveh. 
 
 The double intoxication produced by bingando and 
 love made the fellows deaf alike to entreaties and 
 threats. 
 
 The Soveta of Lienzi came to call upon me, in com- 
 pany of a Mucassequere his guest. I gladly engaged 
 the latter to serve as my guide to the sources of the 
 river Niuda, which I was desirous of reaching ; and as 
 the inclination was strong upon me to start at once, I 
 called the pombeiros together and told them of my 
 intention to go on with the Ambuellas and my young 
 attendants, and that they might remain behind if they 
 thought proper, but that, in any case, I should carry 
 away with me the whole of the rations. 
 
 Having made them this communication, I set off 
 under the guidance of the Mucassequere, and accom- 
 panied by the daughters of the Sova and their followers. 
 
 My Quimbares, seeing me in earnest, at once left the 
 camp and followed me, leaving the Quimbundos and 
 Verissimo's niggers behind. 
 
 After a painful march of 6 hours through the 
 tangled forest, and where not a drop of water was 
 met with, we reached the right bank of the Chicului, 
 parched with thirst. 
 
 This river runs through a desert and swampy plain 
 from 1800 to 2000 yards in width, and the forest, of 
 unvarying density, only terminates where the marsh 
 begins. 
 
THE KING OF TEE A MB UELLA S ' DAUGHTERS. 349 
 
 During the night the lions and leopards roamed 
 incessantly around my encampment, roaring in the 
 most frightful manner. 
 
 Next morning, at daybreak, I decided upon crossing 
 to the opposite bank. 
 
 I passed the river at a place where a bridge had 
 evidently at one time been thrown across the stream 
 by Biheno .caravans, and which I reconstructed. The 
 passage was effected easily enough, but it was not so 
 easy to reach the forest on the left bank, as we had to 
 traverse the swampy plain, where we occasionally sunk 
 to above our waists. 
 
 My little nigger Pepeca more than once remained 
 with only his head out of the bog, and we had much 
 ado to disinter him; and there were 1600 yards of this 
 most trying and fatiguing swamp to gei over. 
 
 The river I found to be 16 yards in width by 12 to 
 15 feet deep, with a current running at the rate of 45 
 to 50 yards per minute. I saw quantities of fish in the 
 stream, both large and small, and a few crocodiles, but 
 of no great size. 
 
 .After crossing the river, I sighted, at about 600 
 yards down stream, a considerable herd of Songues, 
 and, stealing a rapid march upon them through the 
 brushwood, I managed to kill three. 
 
 My favourite goat Cora never left ray side for a 
 moment, and since she had heard the roaring of the 
 lions was in a constant state of nervous alarm. 
 
 A good many birds were caught by my negroes, 
 among which were a variety of quails and a white 
 lapwing witli white legs. 
 
 About 1 o'clock in the day my Quimbundos made 
 their appearance, with the pombeiros, who in very 
 humble guise entreated my pardon for not having come 
 on with me the day before. 
 
 I was in no mood just then to be too hard upon them, 
 
350 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 so forgave their temporary desertion, and shortly 
 after I went on a fishing-excursion, with a very large 
 net, by the aid of which I caught a good many fish, 
 very similar to the mullet of the Portuguese rivers. 
 
 This same net or barbal, as it is called by the river 
 Douro fishermen, was a present made me by my father, 
 and which on various occasions proved our sole re- 
 source against the cravings of hunger. 
 
 The serious illness of one of my blacks induced me 
 to remain a couple of days in that place, which put me 
 out exceedingly ; for, having with me a numerous 
 company of Ambuellas, the provisions I had brought 
 from the Cuchibi were disappearing rapidly, and I had 
 before me an enormous tract of country to get over 
 ere reaching the Zambesi, with the prospect of meeting 
 with no resources beyond the spoils of the chase — a 
 very problematical source of supply in Africa. 
 
 During one of those days the Ambuellas penetrated 
 the forest in search of honey, guided by the Indicators, 
 and were fortunate in securing a goodly quantity. 
 
 Many w T ell-known naturalists from the time of 
 Sparmann and Leveillant, the first who studied the 
 habits of this curious bird, down to the most modern 
 explorers, have made it the subject of lengthened 
 description. Nevertheless, I must be pardoned if I say 
 a few words more about so interesting a creature, 
 dictated by my own experience and observation of its 
 habits in Africa. 
 
 Whether the indicator is or is not a cuckoo is a 
 matter which I will not attempt to discuss, but leave it 
 to the authority of the Bocages and the Giinters. Nor 
 will I enter upon the other question, of deciding 
 whether it should be called Cuculus albirostris, as 
 Temminck asserts, or simply Indicator as averred by 
 others. To attempt to describe it, with my limited 
 knowledge of ornithology, would be presumption, so I 
 
2 BE KING OF TEE AMBUELLAS' DAUGHTERS. 351 
 
 shall confine myself to relating what I saw it do, and 
 draw my own conclusions from the observation. 
 
 No sooner does man penetrate into one of the 
 extensive forests of South Central Africa than the 
 indicator makes its appearance, hopping from bough 
 to bough, in close proximity to the adventurer, and 
 endeavouring bv its monotonous note to attract his 
 attention. This end having been attained, it rises 
 heavily upon the wing, and perches a little distance 
 off, watching to see if it is followed. 
 
 If no attention be paid to it, it again returns, hopping 
 and chirping as before, and, by its conduct and the 
 mariner of its flight, evidently invites the stranger to 
 follow in its wake. The wayfarer yields at length, 
 moved by the pertinacity of the bird, which, now 
 flying, now hopping, but so as never to get out of sight 
 of its follower, guides him through the intricacies of 
 the forest, almost unerringly, to a bee's nest. 
 
 This is the most common instance, and the abo- 
 rigines who are hunting after wax invariably allow 
 themselves to be guided by its indications. 
 
 Some explorers, and among them the Portuguese 
 Gamito, declare that the bird likewise entices men on 
 to the den of the wild beast. This I cannot endorse of 
 my own experience, as I have followed dozens of 
 indicators, nor did I ever hear it affirmed by any 
 native. 
 
 True, this restless bird has guided me and others to 
 the carcass of some animal wasting in putrefaction, 
 to an encampment recently abandoned, to a lake, or to 
 other wayfarers ; but why it should do any of these 
 things is a mystery, inasmuch as it is in no wise a 
 gainer by such a proceeding. But the fact remains 
 that it shows man almost always the way to honey, and 
 I believe it to be its fixed intention so to do ; although, 
 if the other destinations to which I have alluded, and 
 
352 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 which have produced the impression made upon many 
 travellers, have been reached upon the road, it can 
 scarcely be deemed remarkable in African forests. 
 
 For the same reason, it is very possible that a lion's 
 den may stand in the way, without its being the bird's 
 intention to entice the traveller into the beast's jaws. 
 
 Admitting, however, that the general rule, that the 
 indicator points the road to where honey may be found, 
 has exceptions, the examples of the rule being fol- 
 lowed are so many and so various, that I have no 
 hesitation in pronouncing this bird to be a friend to 
 humanity. 
 
 I found near the river Chicului a cobra's skin, 22 feet 
 long by 1 foot 5 inches wide, and was assured by the 
 natives that even larger ones existed in the neighbour- 
 hood. 
 
 It was on the 9th of August that I was at length 
 enabled to pursue my journey. I was very desirous 
 that the daughters of the Sova of the Cuchibi should 
 return home with their followers, as the rations we had 
 with us were decreasing visibly, and my anxiety, as I 
 surveyed the future, was anything but light. 
 
 After a march of 3 hours we fell in with a rivulet 
 running S.S.E , and, having waded across it, we 
 came upon a lake a couple of hundred yards wide, 
 which we were also foiced to wade through, with the 
 water up to our waists. 
 
 The rivulet, which empties itself into the Chicului 
 near its mouth, is the Chalongo, and is probably the 
 same that figures on the maps under the name of Longo, 
 and which, through erroneous information, our carto- 
 graphers have made debouch into the Zambesi. 
 
 Whilst crossing the lake we observed several 
 vultures hovering round, and descending to one par- 
 ticular spot about a quarter of a mile from us. Moved 
 by curiosity, I went to see what was the special object 
 
THE KINO OF TEE AMBUELLAS' DAUGHTERS. 353 
 
 of attraction of these disgusting birds ; and, as I drew 
 nearer, I saw a perfect flock of them whirling about 
 some large carcass that was surrounded by hyenas, 
 which made off without my being able to get a shot at 
 them. On reaching the spot, I found an enormous 
 malanca (Hippotragus equinus) recently killed by a lion. 
 
 The skin of this superb antelope was torn into 
 strips by the lion's talons, and, what was remarkable 
 
 Fig. 85. — Malanca. 
 
 and inexplicable, the animal's hoofs were completely 
 gnawed away. 
 
 The eyes had been torn out of the sockets, evidently 
 by the rapacious birds. 
 
 My Quimbundos, who had followed in my steps, no 
 sooner saw the malanca than they literally threw 
 themselves upon it, and disputed with each other for 
 the remnants of the carcass, mangled as it was by the 
 
 vol. I. 2 a 
 
354 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 beasts and birds of prey : an infinitely more horrible 
 spectacle in my eyes than that which I had observed a 
 few minutes before, when the wild beasts were at their 
 dreadful work. Of the two, the men were the more 
 deserving of the title. 
 
 And be it observed that at this particular time there 
 was no necessity for their so acting, as I had killed 
 
 game but recently, and 
 the stores brought from 
 the Cuchibi were not yet 
 exhausted. 
 
 My very Quimbares 
 could not resist the temp- 
 tation, and soon joined the 
 Quimbundos in their dis- 
 gusting banquet. 
 
 Setting the caravan 
 once more in order, we 
 pursued our onward way, 
 I pondering, as I went, on 
 the power which savage 
 life exercises over the 
 
 negro. 
 
 Fig. 86.— 1. Direction of horns seen from Here Were these Qllim- 
 
 the front bares, who came from Ben- 
 
 2. Slot of the Malanca. 
 
 guella, and were, so to 
 speak, semi-civilised, and yet they were no better than 
 the Quimbundos in savagery and brutishness. 
 
 I cannot at times help thinking that what is con- 
 sidered by many people in Europe as quite possible, 
 viz. the civilising the negro in Africa is a pure 
 chimera. 
 
 The civilising element is, at all events at the present 
 time, so infinitesimal as compared with the savage 
 element, that the latter must inevitably preponderate 
 until the other shall assume far larger proportions. 
 
THE KING OF THE AMBUELLAS' DAUGHTERS. 355 
 
 In order to realise this dream of many exalted spirits 
 in the old world, there must be a white man for every 
 black upon the African soil, as by such means only can 
 the element of civilisation be made to outweigh the 
 savage. 
 
 We have an instance of this among the Boers of the 
 Transvaal, who, European by origin, have in less than 
 a century of time lost all the civilisation tbey brought 
 with them from Europe, have become conquered by the 
 savage element amid which they have been living, and 
 now, though Europeans in colour and professing 
 the faith of Christ, are the veriest barbarians in 
 customs and behaviour. 
 
 It should be borne in mind that, in my journey 
 hither, I had passed through many barbarous peoples, 
 among whom not the slightest civilising element had 
 ever permeated, and that, with the sole exception of the 
 Bihenos, I had met with none in contact with the 
 civilisation of the Western coast. 
 
 As I trudged on, I frequently thought of these 
 things, and revolved in my mind a phrase which had 
 been often repeated to me by my friend Silva Porto : 
 44 Mark this, — the best of the Bihenos are incorrigible ; 
 impress this truth upon your memory, and you are safe 
 in dealing with them." 
 
 It was after I became acquainted with the Ham- 
 bundo dialect that I learned to value them at their true 
 price. 
 
 Occasionally at night, when quiet in my hut, I over- 
 heard the snatches of talk uttered around me, and no 
 one would believe what I did hear. 
 
 One night, in particular, the subject of conversation 
 turned upon certain episodes of a war that had broken 
 out in the Bihe a year previous against certain Bihenos 
 who refused to recognise the authority of the Sova 
 Quilemo, when, in the midst of roars of laughter and 
 
 2 a 2 
 
356 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 other signs of approbation from his listeners, one of the 
 fellows told the following story. 
 
 He made, it appears, a couple of prisoners, a lad and 
 a young girl, and as the latter annoyed him with her 
 tears and cries, he bound her arms strongly together, 
 and cut off one of her ears. As this did not tend to 
 make the unhappy victim more quiet, he struck his 
 hatchet into her breast, but was careful to give such a 
 blow as should not at once destroy life. The wretch 
 then described to his auditors, in dramatic style, the 
 contortions and groans of his poor captive, and narrated 
 in sickening detail the mode by which he at length 
 produced her death. It was a grim satisfaction to me 
 to hear that he repented of what he had done, as her 
 family, unknowing of her fate, had come to offer, in 
 ransom, three able-bodied slaves, by whose aid he might 
 have set up in business. 
 
 It would be painful and unnecessary to multiply 
 descriptions of such horrible scenes as the foregoing ; 
 but it may well be believed that no chief of bandits 
 in Europe requires, to maintain discipline among his 
 horde of miscreants, greater energy and firmness than 
 the European in Africa requires to lead and keep in 
 hand savages of such a nature. 
 
 My camp was pitched at the source of a little 
 brook called Combule, which, at about a mile from its 
 spring-head, after a westerly course, empties itself into 
 the river Chicului ; it's waters at no time being strong 
 enough to move a mill. 
 
 I succeeded in persuading the Sova's daughters to 
 return to their father's roof; and they departed, after 
 a very cordial leave-taking. Even Opudo deigned 
 to entreat me to take Cuchibi on my return, and come 
 and live among them ; whilst Capeu made her suppli- 
 cation still more eloquent by a glance of her eve, — 
 one of those women's glances which are so powerful 
 
THE KING OF THE AMBUELLAS* DAUGHTERS. 357 
 
 when spontaneous, and not acquired in the school of 
 coquetry. 
 
 It was not without regret that I saw those two 
 faithful girls depart ; the only examples, as they were, 
 that I had met with in Africa of natives forming an 
 actual friendship. 
 
 When they were gone, my Mucassequere guide came 
 to me and said : 
 
 u I have passed my life upon the road you are about 
 to take from here to the Limbai, and I therefore know 
 the country well. Have your best rifle always ready 
 to your hand, and be ever on the alert while in the 
 jungle, for you will be many days surrounded by wild 
 beasts. Above all, be careful of the buffaloes of the 
 Ninda. Many a grave will you pass — and some, too, 
 covering the white man — that contain victims of those 
 ferocious beasts. I am your friend, for you never 
 did me harm, but gave me powder and beads, and 
 therefore I put you on your guard." 
 
 After the departure of the Ambuellas, I was alone 
 with my own people, and discovered, not without some 
 alarm, that there was an enormous reduction in the 
 provisions. 
 
 On the following day we penetrated into an exten- 
 sive thorny forest, through which we had literally to 
 cut our road. 
 
 After a fatiguing march of 5 hours, the most 
 difficult and painful I had yet had in the country, we 
 pitched our camp at the source of the river Ninda, 
 having left a great part of our wearing apparel on 
 the brambles by the wayside. Half-an-hour after our 
 arrival I must have cut a very ridiculous figure in 
 the eyes of any one but a native, as I was covered 
 with bits of court-plaster where the thorns had picked 
 out pieces of my flesh. 
 
 I had then at length reached the birthplace of that 
 
358 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 Ninda which was so renowned for the ferocity of the 
 denizens of its banks. The lions which favoured it 
 had not yet succeeded in devouring me ; but I could 
 not help thinking if they wished to do so they must 
 make haste about it, or they would find only the 
 miserable remnants left by thousands of insects who 
 considered me fair prey. 
 
 As evening fell, a cloud of flies, so small that they 
 were impossible of measurement, swooped down upon 
 the encampment, and, whirling about in a mad dance, 
 penetrated the nostrils, the mouth, the ears and eyes, 
 till we were nearly wild with pain and annoyance. 
 
 The encampment was surrounded by strong palisades 
 and enormous abattis, and every precaution was taken 
 to protect ourselves against any possible attack of wild 
 beasts. 
 
 I had a visitation of another kind, in the shape of 
 a violent attack of fever, which did not, however, 
 prevent me getting up more than once during the 
 night, and turning out to learn why the dogs were 
 barking. 
 
 All through the dark hours the lions roared about 
 the camp, and towards morning a chorus of hyenas 
 helped to complete the infernal uproar. 
 
 I will not hesitate to put here upon record, — for the 
 benefit of those who, in the enthusiasm of a fearless 
 heart, have built up pleasant illusions concerning the 
 delights of a sylvan life, — that where that life is 
 thickly sprinkled with wild beasts it is positively most 
 unpleasant. 
 
 I remained where I was till the afternoon of the 
 next day, in order to determine my position, and then 
 moved my camp a mile further to the eastward. 
 
 Close to the spot where I took up my new quarters 
 was the grave of a fellow-countryman, the trader Luiz 
 Albino, who was there killed by a buffalo. Among my 
 
TEE KING OF TEE AMBUELLAS* DA UGETERS. 359 
 
 followers I had Luiz Albino's favourite negro, old 
 Antonio de Pungo Andongo, the very man I converted 
 into the Sova Mavanda's tailor. 
 
 Luiz Albino had left the Bihe with a large quantity 
 of goods which he was carrying to the Zambesi to trade 
 with, and pitched his camp on the very same spot 
 where mine was then standing. He turned out to give 
 chase to a buffalo, which he wounded in the leg, — a 
 proof that he was no great sportsman, as it was not the 
 place to hit- the animal. 
 
 Seeing it fall, he came back to camp, and summoning 
 old Antonio (who was young Antonio then), bade him 
 call the men and go out to seek a buffalo he had 
 mortally wounded. 
 
 The Bihenos, who push caution to a fault, declined 
 the task, and Albino, calling them a set of cowards, 
 started off with Antonio for sole companion. On 
 reaching the wood, the buffalo, which like all wounded 
 buffaloes was waiting its chance to avenge the blow it 
 had received, staggered to its feet and rushed at him. 
 Luiz Albino fired off in quick succession, but without 
 taking aim, both barrels of his gun ; they had no effect 
 in stopping the animal, which drove its horns into the 
 unfortunate man's body. 
 
 Antonio fired with better success, but too late to 
 save his master, for the corpse of the huge beast 
 toppled over on to the corpse of the white man. 
 
 A strong wooden stockade, enclosing a piece of 
 ground, some 15 feet square, protects a rude timber 
 cross, and reminds the wayfarer of the necessity of 
 having his rifle prepared and his arm steady when 
 sojourning in these regions. 
 
 I had now reached the first stage of my journey 
 where elephants appear, and I therefore deemed it 
 advisable to send out some men as scouts, but they 
 returned without discovering anything but old tracks 
 
360 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 of them. I then took a stroll into the wood, but saw 
 nothing at which I could get a shot. 
 
 I continued my journey next day, still keeping on 
 the right bank of the Ninda, without anything of note 
 disturbing us on our mai'ch. 
 
 On the 13th August I shifted my camp 10 miles to 
 the eastward of the spot where I had been staying the 
 day before. A vague apprehension was beginning to 
 take possession of my mind. The provisions were 
 rapidly melting away, and I was still at a long distance 
 from any country where resources were attainable. I 
 beat about the forest for game, but without any result, 
 although I perceived recent evidence of its existence ; 
 I thought I even saw some in the distance, but too far 
 to be within rifle shot. 
 
 The following morning, the 14th, I happened to be 
 marching along at the head of the caravan, with no 
 other companion than young Pepeca, when, on reach- 
 ing the place where I resolved to come to a halt for 
 the day, I perceived an enormous buffalo quietly 
 grazing. 
 
 Sheltered by the wood, I was able to get close up 
 to him, and let fly at about 35 yards, aiming at the 
 shoulder-blade, as he stood right across me. The 
 animal fell like a stone, to my great astonishment, 
 because the point I aimed at, if attained, would have 
 produced death, it is true, but not so suddenly as 
 occurred on this occasion. My surprise was redoubled, 
 on examining the beast, to find that the ball instead of 
 hitting him where I intended, struck just 6 inches 
 higher, cutting the vertebrae and producing instan- 
 taneous death by the solution of continuity of the 
 spinal marrow. 
 
 This circumstance caused me very grave reflection, 
 inasmuch as such a deviation of the ball might one day 
 be the cause of my ruin. So that, no sooner was the 
 
THE KING OF THE AMBUELLAS' DAUGHTERS, 361 
 
 encampment got a little straight, than I began testing 
 the rifle at 30 yards. 
 
 The vertical deviation observable in firing at the 
 buffalo continued to show itself. 
 
 It was my Lepage rifle, of large calibre and steel 
 balls. 
 
 Its trajectory being very curved, the gunsmith had 
 calculated the last groove of the rise for 87 yards, and 
 as I had not used the gun for a shorter distance, I had 
 not become .aware of the danger I ran in aiming at 20 
 to 30 yards. So it happened that at those distances, 
 and when, on account of the rifling, I could ill discover 
 the culminating point of the aim, the vertical deviation 
 was constant. 
 
 I at once took measures to remedy the defect, and 
 little by little managed to deepen the groove of the 
 rise, until I obtained the greatest precision at the 
 shorter distance. 
 
 This episode, which I registered in my diary and 
 now describe here, although of no interest whatsoever 
 to the majority of my readers, may be useful as a hint 
 to those who follow me in Africa, a hint that may 
 perhaps serve them in good stead. 
 
 The river Ninda runs through a plain, slightly rising 
 to the eastward, and which I was assured extends 
 southward all the way to the junction of the Cuando 
 and Zambesi. 
 
 Up to the point where I was encamped the forest 
 descended thickly to the very brink of the river, but 
 from that spot onwards there are merely groups of trees, 
 scattered here and there over the enormous plain. 
 
 The Oiico, before referred to, is there a grand tree, 
 and so abundant is it, and so plentiful its blossom, that 
 for hours and hours the wayfarer is living in an atmos- 
 phere of almost overpowering perfume. 
 
 Next day we had a 6 hours' march, and deviated 
 
362 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 somewhat from the bank of the river, as the reeds and 
 canes which lined it were an obstacle to our progress. 
 We then encamped alongside a lake of good water, not 
 far from the little village of Calombeu, an advanced 
 post of the sovereign of the Baroze country. 
 
 The people would sell us nothing, and provisions 
 were beginning to get scarce. 
 
 Not liking my position, and yet being unable to re- 
 sume my march on the following day, on account of 
 several of the men being on the sick-list, I moved my 
 camp a mile further to the eastward, and continued to 
 draw water from the lake, or rather marsh, for it 
 partook more of the character of the latter. 
 
 I was now in the vast plain of the Nhengo, lying 
 3900 feet above the level of the sea, which extends 
 eastwards to the Zambesi and southwards to the 
 confluence with that river of the Cuando. 
 
 The ground, dry in appearance, is little better than 
 a sponge, yielding slowly but surely to the pressure of 
 the body, the water oozing up and filling the cavity 
 thus made. 
 
 During the nights that I was forced to stop there, I 
 lay down on a bed that was dry enough, formed of 
 dry leaves and covered with skins, but I always woke 
 up in a puddle. 
 
 My life at this particular time was one of constant 
 torment, as I failed to procure during the dark hours 
 that refreshing sleep which repairs the fatigues of the 
 day and helps one to bear better the troubles and 
 apprehensions of the mind. 
 
 The dearth of provisions to which we were fast 
 hurrying, the difficulties presented by the country that 
 lay before me, the state of my own health, which I felt 
 was deeply shattered, and the unsatisfactory condition 
 of my people, among whom symptoms of in subordi- 
 nation had frequently shown themselves, affected my 
 
THE KING OF THE AMBUELLAS' DAUGHTERS. 363 
 
 spirits to such a degree that I was in a constant state 
 of ill-humour. 
 
 On the 16th August there came upon me a feeling 
 of despair. I felt myself alone, — completely alone, — 
 not a man of my whole crew seemed to have a scrap 
 of energy left in him. 
 
 Besides the tangible difficulties which rose up be- 
 fore me, all the fellows created, or seemed desirous of 
 creating, imaginary ones. I had to interfere in, and to 
 decide the minutest questions, — pure matters of detail 
 with which I ought never to have been bothered at all. 
 
 I do not mean that my followers absolutely shirked 
 their work, or purposely worried me, but what they did 
 was clone without heart or brain ; they would obey 
 an order if given to them in precise terms, but were 
 incapable of procuring from others a like obedience. 
 
 Verissimo was no coward, but he was timid, 
 wanting in strength of will, and irresolute ; in fact, 
 had no power to ensure obedience to his commands. 
 Besides this, from being connected with some of the 
 pombeiros, he had little or no hold over them. The 
 consequence was, I had not only to issue orders, but 
 myself see that they were obeyed. 
 
 I transcribe a few lines from my diary at this period, 
 which will show the state of mind through which I was 
 then passing. 
 
 " This upset me, and put me in a very bad humour. 
 Great Heaven ! how much will, how much pertinacity, 
 how much energy are required by the man who, 
 standing alone, surrounded by difficulties, created as 
 much by his own followers as by natural causes, strives 
 to fulfil a mission such as mine ! Alone as I am in 
 the centre of Africa with a great duty to perform and 
 the honour of my country's flag to sustain, how much 
 do I not suffer ! Shall I ever bring it through un- 
 tarnished ? Truly, in situations such as these one 
 
364 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 must be either an angel or a demon, and at times 
 I cannot help thinking I play the double part ! " 
 
 It was on the day I wrote the above entry that we 
 were put upon rations, and maize was the only article 
 we had left. 
 
 Seated at the door of my hut, as evening was fall- 
 ing, I was finishing my frugal meal, and listlessly 
 watching my carriers, who were squatting about and 
 eating in silence. 
 
 It seemed as if some profound sadness had fallen 
 upon the camp, and cast a spell over the whole of its 
 inmates. 
 
 Suddenly my dogs started up and ran towards the 
 wood, barking furiously. 
 
 A stranger man, followed by a woman and two lads, 
 came from the bush, and, paying no heed to the dogs, 
 entered the encampment, and giving a rapid glance 
 round, advanced and seated himself at my feet. 
 
 He was a negro, whose bits of rags scantily covered 
 his nakedness. What had once been a mantle hung 
 from his bare shoulders. On his head he wore what 
 only a great stretch of the imagination could call 
 a cap, and in his hand be carried a stout stick. 
 
 His weapons were borne by the lads who followed him. 
 
 The energetic physiognomy, keen eye, and decision 
 of manner of the stranger immediately commanded 
 my attention. 
 
 " Who are you ? " I enquired, " and what do you 
 want of me?" 
 
 He answered me in Hambundo : "1 am Caiumbuca, 
 and I have come to seek you." 
 
 On hearing the name of Caiumbuca I could not 
 restrain my emotion. 
 
 I beheld before me the boldest of the Bihe traders. 
 The name of Caiumbuca, the old pombeiro of Silva 
 Porto, is known from the Nyangwe to Lake Ngami. 
 
THE KING OF THE AMB UELLAS ' DAUGHTERS. 365 
 
 In Benguella Silva Porto said to me : " Seek out 
 Caiumbuca ; engage him in your service, and you will 
 have the best assistant you can meet with in all South 
 Central Africa." 
 
 On reaching the Bihe I sought him high and low, 
 but none could give intelligence of him. 
 
 44 He is gone into the interior, and nobody knows 
 where." This was the unvarying answer to my inquiries. 
 
 It happened that Caiumbuca was on the Cuando, just 
 below the confluence of the Cuchibi, when, hearing 
 of my approach, he started across country, with the 
 woman and two young niggers, to join me. 
 
 I had a talk with him for an hour, I even read him 
 a letter which Silva Porto had given me in Benguella 
 for him : I made him my proposals, and by nightfall, 
 everything being settled, I called my carriers together, 
 and presented him to them as my second in command. 
 
 On the 17th August T made a forced march of 6 
 hours' duration, for our provisions were at an end, and 
 it was absolutely necessary to reach human dwellings. 
 
 I camped on the right bank of the river Nhengo, 
 which is in fact the Ninda, after receiving from the 
 north an affluent of considerable volume, the Loati. 
 
 The Nhengo is from 87 to 110 yards wide, by up- 
 wards of 12 feet in depth, with an almost imperceptible 
 current. At times it looks like a long lake in which 
 thousands of aquatic plants are growing. Both banks 
 are clothed with trees, so thick and luxuriant that 
 their vigorous branches occasionally meet across the 
 river, intertwine and form a romantic shade. 
 
 This important affluent of the Zambesi runs through 
 the immense plain of which I have already made 
 mention, a plain so spongy and humid that it may be 
 considered a veritable swamp. It is the resort of 
 myriads of snails, which drag their spiral houses 
 through and over the short and wiry grass. 
 
366 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 A vast number of tortoises (Emydes) also find a 
 home in that congenial territory, and a few palm-trees 
 the- first I had seen since leaving Benguella, were 
 likewise visible, their elegant heads waving with the 
 passing wind. 
 
 My negroes made a good collection of the tortoises, 
 which hunger induced them to devour with avidity, not- 
 withstanding the disgusting smell which emanates 
 from these peculiar creatures. 
 
 Caiumbuca having informed me that at a short 
 distance from the encampment there were some native 
 villages, I decided upon stopping where I was for 
 another day, in order to obtain provisions. 
 
 Early next morning I sent off some of the men for 
 the purpose, but the natives turned out to be so shy, 
 that they fled at their approach, and would not even 
 listen to them. 
 
 Our position was now sufficiently serious, as we had 
 literally nothing to eat, and all attempts both at hunt- 
 ing and fishing yielded no result whatsoever. 
 
 A group of our fellows, headed by Augusto, came 
 running into shelter, pursued by several lions, which 
 only retired on hearing the noise of the encampment. 
 
 I held a conference with Caiumbuca, and we decided 
 on making a long march next day, as far as certain 
 villages, which he called Cacapa, and where he assured 
 me we should be able to obtain food. 
 
 We set off again, therefore, on the 19th, having 
 eaten our last ration on the morning of the 17th ! 
 
 The march was kept up for 8 hours, and at the close 
 we pitched our camp near a lake, having left the banks 
 of the river in order to get nearer to the villages. 
 
 In spite of the fatigue of the journey and the weak- 
 ness produced by hunger, I sent off a deputation to 
 procure provisions, Caiumbuca himself being one of the 
 party. At nightfall they returned, but empty handed. 
 
THE KING OF THE AMBUELLAS' DAUGHTERS. 367 
 
 They obtained absolutely nothing. And the natives 
 not only refused to part with any stores, but showed a 
 disposition to hostilities ! 
 
 What was to be done ? To attempt another march, 
 weakened as we were by hunger, was to run the risk of 
 fainting and dying by the way. I therefore called the 
 pombeiros together, and pointed out to them the 
 precarious circumstances of the caravan ; but I found 
 them so disheartened, that they had not the ghost of a 
 counsel to pffer me. 
 
 I then summoned some of the negroes who had been 
 up to the villages, and questioned them as to the 
 actual existence of stores among the inhabitants. On 
 their answering me in the affirmative, I took an 
 immediate resolution, and I bade the pombeiros en- 
 courage their men with the assurance that next 
 morning they should have a good feed. 
 
 When alone with Caiumbuca, I informed him of the 
 resolution I had taken to march on to the villages and 
 procure provisions at any cost. 
 
 In pursuance of this determination, at daybreak of 
 the 20th I again sent off Augusto with a few negroes 
 to the villages, to request the people to sell me maize 
 or manioc, and explain the circumstances under which 
 we were placed. 
 
 The only reply my envoys obtained were insults 
 and threatened blows. 
 
 Thereupon I collected all my people who were not 
 completely prostrated by exhaustion, amounting to 
 some eighty semi-valiant men. 
 
 I placed myself at their head, and at once attacked 
 the chief's compound ; but, after a skirmish with no 
 casualties, the place surrendered at discretion. 
 
 I lost no time in repairing to the general stores, 
 which were full of sweet potatoes, and took out the 
 quantity required to appease my people's hunger, 
 
36<8 
 
 THE KING'S EIFLE. 
 
 returning afterwards to the camp with the petty chief 
 and a few other negro prisoners. I then gave them 
 the value of the potatoes in beads and powder, and 
 set them at liberty, after pointing out to them that in 
 future it would be far better to act in a more hospitable 
 spirit. They were astounded at my generosity, and 
 promised to supply me with everything I needed 
 directly I applied for it. 
 
 At 1.30 p.m. of that day, the sky being clear, saving 
 a dark bar on the horizon, a hurricane swept down 
 from the N., shifting subsequently to the S.W. Its 
 focus was fortunately three-quarters of a mile to 
 the west of us, where it tore up trees and destroyed 
 everything on its passage. 
 
 Even in camp the wind was so powerful that we 
 were compelled to lie down flat on the ground until 
 its chief violence was spent. 
 
 The thermometer rose from 20 to 32 degrees, and 
 the barometer fell from 667mm. to 663. This was 
 the most rapid barometric oscillation that I observed 
 in tropical Africa. 
 
 At 2.30 the wind calmed down as suddenly as it 
 rose, leaving the atmosphere completely covered with 
 a dense fog. 
 
 The villages, which lay at somewhat less than a mile 
 to the south of where I was camped, are called Lutue ; 
 but Caiumbuca informed me that among the Bihenos 
 they are known by the name of Cacapa, on account 
 of their being so rich in sweet potatoes, which in the 
 Hambundo dialect is called ecdpa. 
 
 The inhabitants of these villages, like all the abori- 
 gines of the Nhengo plain, are of the Ganguella race, 
 subjected, by force, to the Luinas, or Barozes. They 
 are a miserable and intractable set. 
 
 Towards evening, a troop of Luinas arrived at the 
 camp. It appears they were scouring the country 
 
THE KING OF THE AMBUELLAS' DAUGHTERS. 369 
 
 round, and, learning that it was my intention to come 
 to a halt in the neighbourhood, they gave me a look up. 
 
 The band was commanded by three chiefs, the 
 principal of w r hom w r as named Cicota. 
 
 These chiefs were wonderfully civil, and offered me 
 their services. On my requesting them to obtain 
 provisions for me, they replied that they were them- 
 selves badly off in the way of food ; but that on the 
 following day they would accompany me to other 
 villages, where resources were to be obtained. They 
 offered to guide me to the residence of the King of the 
 Lui, and said I should want for 
 nothing on the road so soon as I 
 reached the Luina villages, now 
 only at a short distance from us. 
 
 My Luina visitors were of good 
 presence, tall, and robust. An ante- 
 lope's skin, nicely dressed, passed 
 between the legs and was fastened 
 to the leather belt in front and at 
 the sides, and an ample mantle of 
 skins completed the costume. All 
 three chiefs had rifles, of large bore, 
 of English manufacture. The men 
 carried shields of an oval shape, 
 measuring 4^ feet long, by 20 inches 
 wide, and were armed with a sheaf 
 of assegais for casting. The chest 
 and arms were covered with amulets. 
 The wrists were adorned with brace- 
 lets of copper, brass, and ivory, and 
 below the knees were from three to Fig. 87.— Luina Shielu 
 five very fine brass bangles. Their 
 heads were the most remarkable, not on account of 
 their hair, which was cut short, but from the way in 
 which they were adorned. 
 
 vol. i. 2 b 
 
370 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 That of the chief, Cicota, for example, was covered 
 with an enormous wig made out of a lion's mane. The 
 others had plumes of multi-coloured feathers, completely 
 shadowing their features. 
 
 During the night we were visited by numerous 
 scorpions, and some of my men were bitten by them. 
 
 Fig. 88— The Chief Cic6ta. 
 
 The ground continued spongy and wet, which must 
 render life in such a country a perfect torment. 
 
 The palm-trees appeared in greater abundance ; and 
 the termites presented, in their ingenious habitations, a 
 new form and aspect. 
 
 On August 22nd I broke up the camp, and 5 
 hours later pitched it again, close to the village of 
 Canhete, the first occupied by the Luina race. A dense 
 fog prevailed during the morning. 
 
THE KING OF THE AMB UELLAS ' DAUGHTERS. 371 
 
 We passed through woods composed of enormous 
 trees, but without any jungle, so that locomotion was 
 easy and pleasant. 
 
 No sooner were my huts raised, than, at Cicota's 
 instigation, many girls came into camp, bringing me 
 poultry, manioc, massamballa and earthy-nuts. 
 
 During the whole of the afternoon presents continued 
 to pour in, which I returned in the best way I could, 
 so that before nightfall there was abundance of food ! 
 
 Fig. 89. — Ant-hills of the Khengo. 
 
 I asked for tobacco (of which, by the by, I had still 
 a good store), and salt. Salt ! which I had not tasted 
 for many months past ! 
 
 To this they answered that, much to their regret, 
 they were unable to comply with my wishes, as tobacco 
 and salt could neither be given nor sold without a 
 special licence from the King. 
 
 Hear it, ye free-traders ! There is a country in the 
 heart of Africa where there are two articles of contra- 
 band ! Fortunately there are no custom-houses yet. 
 
 I paid a visit to the village of Canhete. In the fields 
 there tobacco and the sugar-cane were growing in the 
 utmost luxuriance. 
 
 The houses were built of reeds, covered with thatch ; 
 their shape being sometimes semi-cylindrical, with a 
 radius of a yard and a half, and at others oval, of no 
 greater height than the former. 
 
372 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 The store-houses or granaries are similar to those 
 of the Ambuella villages, but of smaller dimensions. 
 
 The Luinas returned my visit, and treated me in the 
 camp to a war-dance, a very picturesque performance, 
 in which a masked figure played the part of buffoon. 
 
 When night had fallen, my negro Cainga, whom I 
 had despatched two days previously to the King to 
 inform him of my arrival in his country, returned in 
 safety. 
 
 Fig. 90. 
 
 1 & 2. Luina houses, 4 ft. 7 in. high. 3. Granary. 4. 4. Luina hoe. 
 
 With him came various chiefs, bearing presents from 
 his Majesty, among which were 6 oxen ! 
 
 I could scarcely believe my eyes, and kept repeating, 
 " Beef! We have really got beef to eat ! " 
 
 Cainga told me that he seemed very proud at the 
 idea of my visiting him by order of the Mueneputo, the 
 White King, and that he intended giving me a splendid 
 reception. 
 
THE KING OF THE A MB UELLA S ' DAUGHTERS. 373 
 
 The news did not put me quite at my ease, for I 
 knew the negroes well, and was aware of the treachery 
 which frequently underlies their blandishments ; never- 
 theless, I was not displeased at the intelligence. 
 
 With a view to display his greatness, he had ordered 
 many boats to be got in readiness, so that my whole 
 caravan might cross at the same time. 
 
 Cainga informed me that he was a young man of 
 some twenty years of age, and that when he learned I 
 was myself young, he said we should be friends. 
 
 I ate so much meat and so many potatoes, seasoned 
 too with salt, which I obtained through contraband, 
 that I made myself quite ill, and passed a horrible 
 night. 
 
 The Luina chiefs, who came direct from His Majesty, 
 brought orders for the people to supply me with what I 
 wanted, gratis. This was a mercy, as I had little left 
 to pay them with. 
 
 Just as I was breaking up my camp, fresh envoys 
 arrived from the King, bringing salt and tobacco as a 
 present, and with them a message desiring me not to 
 follow the direct road to the mouth of the Nhengo, 
 as he wished, to punish the inhabitants of the villages 
 lying on the route, by depriving them of the pleasure 
 of my visit. 
 
 I sent word, in reply, that I intended to come by 
 no other road, as it was the one that would suit me 
 best. That I could not think of becoming the means 
 whereby he should punish his delinquent subjects, 
 and that if he did not send me boats at the point of 
 the Zambesi I had indicated, I should cross the river 
 without his assistance. 
 
 No sooner had we quitted Canhete than we fell in 
 with a horrible swamp, which, though scarcely 550 
 yards wide, took us an hour to pass. We travelled 
 eastward, and 3 hours later reached the village of Tapa, 
 
374 
 
 THE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 where I accepted a house offered me by the chief, it 
 being impossible to camp without the precincts of the 
 village, owing to the swampy character of the ground. 
 
 The houses in this place were shaped like a trun- 
 cated cone, being built of canes plastered both inside 
 and out with mud. The doors were about 14 feet high 
 and l(i inches wide. The house I occupied was sur- 
 rounded by another one of granite, of concentric 
 shape, with 3 feet greater radius. The roof covered 
 both houses, and was also formed of canes covered with 
 thatch. 
 
 The chief made me a present of a brace of fowls and 
 some sweet potatoes. 
 
 I marked, at 2 miles to the south of my position, the 
 large village of Aruchicho. 
 
 Fig. 91. — Vertical Section of a Ldina House in the 
 Village of Tapa. 
 
 a. Interior house, b. Space between the two walls, c. Internal door, ft. by 
 16 iii. d. External door, 3 ft. by lj ft. e. Ventilator. /. Wall, of cane and 
 mud. g. Cane wall, 6 ft. h. Framing of cane. k. Thatch-roof. 
 
 On the 24th August we started at 8 o'clock in the 
 morning. After crossing a swamp similar to that of the 
 day before, we reached the right bank of the Nhengo 
 at 9 o'clock ; and, keeping along it until half-past 10, 
 we arrived at that hour at the Zambesi. 
 
TEE KING OF THE AMB UELLA S * DAUGHTERS. 375 
 
 With what enthusiasm did I not salute the grand 
 river ! A group of hippopotami were poking their 
 huge snouts out of the water, at some 30 yards' dis- 
 tance, and two of them fell victims to their imprudence. 
 An enormous crocodile, that was hasking in the sun 
 on an island hard by, shortly after shared the same 
 fate. 
 
 I had thus appropriately saluted the mighty 
 Liambai, by dyeing its waters with the blood of its 
 ferocious denizens ! 
 
 It was while the enthusiasm of my own people and 
 of the numerous Luinas who accompanied me was 
 at its height that the King's canoes arrived, and at 
 mid-day we crossed to the left bank of the river. 
 
 Keeping still in an easterly direction, at 2 o'clock 
 we fell in with another branch of the Liambai, which 
 separates from it near Nariere. We therefore pro- 
 ceeded to a large island, on which there are hamlets, 
 the chief of which is Liondo. 
 
 The branch of the river above referred to, although 
 164 yards wide, is very shallow, and we waded across 
 it. On the other bank a good many natives were 
 assembled, envoys of the King. 
 
 Still proceeding on, at 3 o'clock I arrived at a large 
 lake near the village of Liara, which I crossed in a boat. 
 This lake, formed by the overflowing of the Zambesi 
 in the rainy season, is called Noroco. 
 
 My course continued easterly, and led through a 
 perfect labyrinth of little lakes that had to be avoided, 
 and it was not until 5 in the evening that I reached 
 Lialui, the great capital of the Baro^e or Kingdom of 
 the Lui. 
 
 I found the King had drawn up a programme ! 
 
 Two great surprises had, therefore, come upon me 
 within scarcely more than as many days ; for they were 
 surprises to one who was already half a savage, and 
 
376 
 
 TEE KING'S RIFLE. 
 
 upon whose memory European customs were growing 
 dim. Tobacco and salt were articles of contraband, 
 and here was an African king making programmes ! 
 
 Some twelve hundred warriors were drawn up 
 in parallel lines, extending to the house I was pro- 
 visionally to occupy, and one of the grandees of the 
 Court, accompanied by 30 attendants, formed my 
 suite. 
 
 On my arrival at the Uouse, which had a large pateo 
 or court-yard, surrounded by a cane fence, I found a 
 dais, on which I was compelled to sit to receive the 
 compliments of the Court. 
 
 Four of the Kings counsellors, with Gambella their 
 President at their head, then arrived. At their back 
 came all the grandees forming the Court of King 
 Lobossi . 
 
 They seated themselves, and then began, both on 
 their side and mine, a series of compliments and cere- 
 monies, with a thousand protestations of friendship. 
 
 When they gravely retired, their place was taken 
 by other envoys, who only left me when night had 
 fallen. 
 
 I was then able to retire to the house set apart for 
 me, and which was one of those semi-cylindrical ones I 
 have already described ; but I got little or no sleep, 
 owing to my speculations on the future of my enter- 
 prise. 
 
 As the reader knows, I was at the end of my 
 resources ; and if the King did not energetically pa- 
 tronise my journey, what could I do ? But for his 
 generosity, I should not at that moment have had 
 wherewith to stay the pangs of hunger. 
 
 He had informed me that next day we should meet 
 and converse. What would be the result of our 
 conference ? That Gambella, the President of the 
 Council, who had only recently left me, the man 
 
THE KING OF THE AMBJJELLAS ' DAUGHTERS. 377 
 
 who, as I was informed on all sides, was the de facto 
 king, how would he act towards me ? 
 
 The following chapter will show that it was not 
 without reason that an undefined presentiment of evil 
 took possession of my mind, and caused me that sleep- 
 less night on the 24th of August, 1878. 
 
 END OF VOL. I.