Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa Part 26

The country between the Coanza and Pungo Andongo is covered with low trees, bushes, and fine pasturage. In the latter, we were pleased to see our old acquaintances, the gaudy gladiolus, Amaryllis toxicaria, hymanthus, and other bulbs in as flouris.h.i.+ng a condition as at the Cape.

It is surprising that so little has been done in the way of agriculture in Angola. Raising wheat by means of irrigation has never been tried; no plow is ever used; and the only instrument is the native hoe, in the hands of slaves. The chief object of agriculture is the manioc, which does not contain nutriment sufficient to give proper stamina to the people. The half-caste Portuguese have not so much energy as their fathers. They subsist chiefly on the manioc, and, as that can be eaten either raw, roasted, or boiled, as it comes from the ground; or fermented in water, and then roasted or dried after fermentation, and baked or pounded into fine meal; or rasped into meal and cooked as farina; or made into confectionary with b.u.t.ter and sugar, it does not so soon pall upon the palate as one might imagine, when told that it const.i.tutes their princ.i.p.al food. The leaves boiled make an excellent vegetable for the table; and, when eaten by goats, their milk is much increased. The wood is a good fuel, and yields a large quant.i.ty of potash. If planted in a dry soil, it takes two years to come to perfection, requiring, during that time, one weeding only. It bears drought well, and never shrivels up, like other plants, when deprived of rain. When planted in low alluvial soils, and either well supplied with rain or annually flooded, twelve, or even ten months, are sufficient to bring it to maturity. The root rasped while raw, placed upon a cloth, and rubbed with the hands while water is poured upon it, parts with its starchy glutinous matter, and this, when it settles at the bottom of the vessel, and the water poured off, is placed in the sun till nearly dry, to form tapioca. The process of drying is completed on an iron plate over a slow fire, the ma.s.s being stirred meanwhile with a stick, and when quite dry it appears agglutinated into little globules, and is in the form we see the tapioca of commerce. This is never eaten by weevils, and so little labor is required in its cultivation that on the spot it is extremely cheap. Throughout the interior parts of Angola, fine manioc meal, which could with ease have been converted either into superior starch or tapioca, is commonly sold at the rate of about ten pounds for a penny. All this region, however, has no means of transport to Loanda other than the shoulders of the carriers and slaves over a footpath.

Cambambe, to which the navigation of the Coanza reaches, is reported to be thirty leagues below Pungo Andongo. A large waterfall is the limit on that side; and another exists higher up, at the confluence of the Lombe (lat. 9d 41' 26" S., and about long. 16d E.), over which hippopotami and elephants are sometimes drawn and killed. The river between is rapid, and generally rushes over a rocky bottom. Its source is pointed out as S.E. or S.S.E. of its confluence with the Lombe, and near Bihe. The situation of Bihe is not well known. When at Sanza we were a.s.sured that it lies nearly south of that point, and eight days distant. This statement seemed to be corroborated by our meeting many people going to Matiamvo and to Loanda from Bihe. Both parties had come to Sanza, and then branched off, one to the east, the other to the west. The source of the Coanza is thus probably not far from Sanza.

I had the happiness of doing a little good in the way of administering to the sick, for there are no doctors in the interior of Angola.

Notwithstanding the general healthiness of this fine district and its pleasant temperature, I was attacked by fever myself. While confined to my room, a gentleman of color, a canon of the Church, kindly paid me a visit. He was on a tour of visitation in the different interior districts for the purpose of baptizing and marrying. He had lately been on a visit to Lisbon in company with the Prince of Congo, and had been invested with an order of honor by the King of Portugal as an acknowledgment of his services. He had all the appearance of a true negro, but commanded the respect of the people; and Colonel P., who had known him for thirty years, p.r.o.nounced him to be a good man. There are only three or four priests in Loanda, all men of color, but educated for the office. About the time of my journey in Angola, an offer was made to any young men of ability who might wish to devote themselves to the service of the Church, to afford them the requisite education at the University of Coimbra in Portugal. I was informed, on what seemed good authority, that the Prince of Congo is professedly a Christian, and that there are no fewer than twelve churches in that kingdom, the fruits of the mission established in former times at San Salvador, the capital.

These churches are kept in partial repair by the people, who also keep up the ceremonies of the Church, p.r.o.nouncing some gibberish over the dead, in imitation of the Latin prayers which they had formerly heard.

Many of them can read and write. When a King of Congo dies, the body is wrapped up in a great many folds of cloth until a priest can come from Loanda to consecrate his successor. The King of Congo still retains the t.i.tle of Lord of Angola, which he had when the Jinga, the original possessors of the soil, owed him allegiance; and, when he writes to the Governor of Angola, he places his own name first, as if addressing his va.s.sal. The Jinga paid him tribute annually in cowries, which were found on the island that shelters Loanda harbor, and, on refusing to continue payment, the King of Congo gave over the island to the Portuguese, and thus their dominion commenced in this quarter.

There is not much knowledge of the Christian religion in either Congo or Angola, yet it is looked upon with a certain degree of favor. The prevalence of fever is probably the reason why no priest occupies a post in any part of the interior. They come on tours of visitation like that mentioned, and it is said that no expense is incurred, for all the people are ready not only to pay for their services, but also to furnish every article in their power gratuitously. In view of the desolate condition of this fine missionary field, it is more than probable that the presence of a few Protestants would soon provoke the priests, if not to love, to good works.

Chapter 22.

Leave Pungo Andongo--Extent of Portuguese Power--Meet Traders and Carriers--Red Ants; their fierce Attack; Usefulness; Numbers--Descend the Heights of Tala Mungongo--Fruit-trees in the Valley of Ca.s.sange--Edible Muscle--Birds--Ca.s.sange Village--Quinine and Cathory-- Sickness of Captain Neves' Infant--A Diviner thrashed--Death of the Child--Mourning--Loss of Life from the Ordeal--Wide-spread Superst.i.tions--The Chieftains.h.i.+p--Charms--Receive Copies of the "Times"--Trading Pombeiros--Present for Matiamvo--Fever after westerly Winds--Capabilities of Angola for producing the raw Materials of English Manufacture--Trading Parties with Ivory--More Fever--A Hyaena's Choice--Makololo Opinion of the Portuguese--Cypriano's Debt--A Funeral--Dread of disembodied Spirits--Beautiful Morning Scenes-- Crossing the Quango--Ambakistas called "The Jews of Angola"--Fas.h.i.+ons of the Bas.h.i.+nje--Approach the Village of Sansawe--His Idea of Dignity--The Pombeiros' Present--Long Detention--A Blow on the Beard--Attacked in a Forest--Sudden Conversion of a fighting Chief to Peace Principles by means of a Revolver--No Blood shed in consequence--Rate of Traveling--Slave Women--Way of addressing Slaves--Their thievish Propensities--Feeders of the Congo or Zaire--Obliged to refuse Presents--Cross the Loajima--Appearance of People; Hair Fas.h.i.+ons.

JANUARY 1, 1855. Having, through the kindness of Colonel Pires, reproduced some of my lost papers, I left Pungo Andongo the first day of this year, and at Candumba, slept in one of the dairy establishments of my friend, who had sent forward orders for an ample supply of b.u.t.ter, cheese, and milk. Our path lay along the right bank of the Coanza. This is composed of the same sandstone rock, with pebbles, which forms the flooring of the country. The land is level, has much open forest, and is well adapted for pasturage.

On reaching the confluence of the Lombe, we left the river, and proceeded in a northeasterly direction, through a fine open green country, to the village of Malange, where we struck into our former path. A few miles to the west of this a path branches off to a new district named the Duke Braganza. This path crosses the Lucalla and several of its feeders. The whole of the country drained by these is described as extremely fertile. The territory west of Braganza is reported to be mountainous, well wooded and watered; wild coffee is abundant, and the people even make their huts of coffee-trees. The rivers Dande, Senza, and Lucalla are said to rise in one mountain range. Numerous tribes inhabit the country to the north, who are all independent. The Portuguese power extends chiefly over the tribes through whose lands we have pa.s.sed. It may be said to be firmly seated only between the rivers Dande and Coanza. It extends inland about three hundred miles to the River Quango; and the population, according to the imperfect data afforded by the census, given annually by the commandants of the fifteen or sixteen districts into which it is divided, can not be under 600,000 souls.

Leaving Malange, we pa.s.sed quickly, without deviation, along the path by which we had come. At Sanza (lat. 9d 37' 46" S., long. 16d 59' E.) we expected to get a little seed-wheat, but this was not now to be found in Angola. The underlying rock of the whole of this section is that same sandstone which we have before noticed, but it gradually becomes finer in the grain, with the addition of a little mica, the farther we go eastward; we enter upon clay shale at Tala Mungongo (lat. 9d 42' 37" S., long. 17d 27' E.), and find it dipping a little to the west. The general geological structure is a broad fringe of mica and sandstone schist (about 15 Deg. E.), dipping in toward the centre of the country, beneath these horizontal and sedimentary rocks of more recent date, which form an inland basin. The fringe is not, however, the highest in alt.i.tude, though the oldest in age.

While at this latter place we met a native of Bihe who has visited the country of s.h.i.+nte three times for the purposes of trade. He gave us some of the news of that distant part, but not a word of the Makololo, who have always been represented in the countries to the north as a desperately savage race, whom no trader could visit with safety. The half-caste traders whom we met at s.h.i.+nte's had returned to Angola with sixty-six slaves and upward of fifty tusks of ivory. As we came along the path, we daily met long lines of carriers bearing large square ma.s.ses of beeswax, each about a hundred pounds weight, and numbers of elephants' tusks, the property of Angolese merchants. Many natives were proceeding to the coast also on their own account, carrying beeswax, ivory, and sweet oil. They appeared to travel in perfect security; and at different parts of the road we purchased fowls from them at a penny each. My men took care to celebrate their own daring in having actually entered s.h.i.+ps, while the natives of these parts, who had endeavored to frighten them on their way down, had only seen them at a distance. Poor fellows! they were more than ever attentive to me; and, as they were not obliged to erect sheds for themselves, in consequence of finding them already built at the different sleeping-places, all their care was bestowed in making me comfortable. Mashauana, as usual, made his bed with his head close to my feet, and never during the entire journey did I have to call him twice for any thing I needed.

During our stay at Tala Mungongo, our attention was attracted to a species of red ant which infests different parts of this country. It is remarkably fond of animal food. The commandant of the village having slaughtered a cow, slaves were obliged to sit up the whole night, burning fires of straw around the meat, to prevent them from devouring most of it. These ants are frequently met with in numbers like a small army. At a little distance they appear as a brownish-red band, two or three inches wide, stretched across the path, all eagerly pressing on in one direction. If a person happens to tread upon them, they rush up his legs and bite with surprising vigor. The first time I encountered this by no means contemptible enemy was near Ca.s.sange. My attention being taken up in viewing the distant landscape, I accidentally stepped upon one of their nests. Not an instant seemed to elapse before a simultaneous attack was made on various unprotected parts, up the trowsers from below, and on my neck and breast above. The bites of these furies were like sparks of fire, and there was no retreat. I jumped about for a second or two, then in desperation tore off all my clothing, and rubbed and picked them off seriatim as quickly as possible. Ugh!

they would make the most lethargic mortal look alive. Fortunately, no one observed this rencounter, or word might have been taken back to the village that I had become mad. I was once a.s.saulted in a similar way when sound asleep at night in my tent, and it was only by holding my blanket over the fire that I could get rid of them. It is really astonis.h.i.+ng how such small bodies can contain so large an amount of ill-nature. They not only bite, but twist themselves round after the mandibles are inserted, to produce laceration and pain, more than would be effected by the single wound. Frequently, while sitting on the ox, as he happened to tread near a band, they would rush up his legs to the rider, and soon let him know that he had disturbed their march. They possess no fear, attacking with equal ferocity the largest as well as the smallest animals. When any person has leaped over the band, numbers of them leave the ranks and rush along the path, seemingly anxious for a fight. They are very useful in ridding the country of dead animal matter, and, when they visit a human habitation, clear it entirely of the destructive white ants and other vermin. They destroy many noxious insects and reptiles. The severity of their attack is greatly increased by their vast numbers, and rats, mice, lizards, and even the 'Python natalensis', when in a state of surfeit from recent feeding, fall victims to their fierce onslaught. These ants never make hills like the white ant. Their nests are but a short distance beneath the soil, which has the soft appearance of the abodes of ants in England. Occasionally they construct galleries over their path to the cells of the white ant, in order to secure themselves from the heat of the sun during their marauding expeditions.

JANUARY 15TH, 1855. We descended in one hour from the heights of Tala Mungongo. I counted the number of paces made on the slope downward, and found them to be sixteen hundred, which may give a perpendicular height of from twelve to fifteen hundred feet. Water boiled at 206 Degrees at Tala Mungongo above, and at 208 Deg. at the bottom of the declivity, the air being at 72 Deg. in the shade in the former case, and 94 Deg. in the latter. The temperature generally throughout the day was from 94 Deg. to 97 Deg. in the coolest shade we could find.

The rivulets which cut up the valley of Ca.s.sange were now dry, but the Lui and Luare contained abundance of rather brackish water. The banks are lined with palm, wild date-trees, and many guavas, the fruit of which was now becoming ripe. A tree much like the mango abounds, but it does not yield fruit. In these rivers a kind of edible muscle is plentiful, the sh.e.l.ls of which exist in all the alluvial beds of the ancient rivers as far as the Kuruman. The brackish nature of the water probably enables it to exist here. On the open gra.s.sy lawns great numbers of a species of lark are seen. They are black, with yellow shoulders. Another black bird, with a long tail ('Centropus Senegalensis'), floats awkwardly, with its tail in a perpendicular position, over the long gra.s.s. It always chooses the highest points, and is caught on them with bird-lime, the long black tail-feathers being highly esteemed by the natives for plumes. We saw here also the "Lehututu" ('Tragopan Leadbeaterii'), a large bird strongly resembling a turkey; it is black on the ground, but when it flies the outer half of the wings are white. It kills serpents, striking them dexterously behind the head. It derives its native name from the noise it makes, and it is found as far as Kolobeng. Another species like it is called the Abyssinian hornbill.

Before we reached Ca.s.sange we were overtaken by the commandant, Senhor Carvalho, who was returning, with a detachment of fifty men and a field-piece, from an unsuccessful search after some rebels. The rebels had fled, and all he could do was to burn their huts. He kindly invited me to take up my residence with him; but, not wis.h.i.+ng to pa.s.s by the gentleman (Captain Neves) who had so kindly received me on my first arrival in the Portuguese possessions, I declined. Senhor Rego had been superseded in his command, because the Governor Amaral, who had come into office since my departure from Loanda, had determined that the law which requires the office of commandant to be exclusively occupied by military officers of the line should once more come into operation. I was again most kindly welcomed by my friend, Captain Neves, whom I found laboring under a violent inflammation and abscess of the hand. There is nothing in the situation of this village to indicate unhealthiness, except, perhaps, the rank luxuriance of the vegetation. Nearly all the Portuguese inhabitants suffer from enlargement of the spleen, the effects of frequent intermittents, and have generally a sickly appearance. Thinking that this affection of the hand was simply an effort of nature to get rid of malarious matter from the system, I recommended the use of quinine. He himself applied the leaf of a plant called cathory, famed among the natives as an excellent remedy for ulcers. The cathory leaves, when boiled, exude a gummy juice, which effectually shuts out the external air. Each remedy, of course, claimed the merit of the cure.

Many of the children are cut off by fever. A fine boy of Captain Neves'

had, since my pa.s.sage westward, shared a similar fate. Another child died during the period of my visit. During his sickness, his mother, a woman of color, sent for a diviner in order to ascertain what ought to be done. The diviner, after throwing his dice, worked himself into the state of ecstasy in which they pretend to be in communication with the Barimo. He then gave the oracular response that the child was being killed by the spirit of a Portuguese trader who once lived at Ca.s.sange.

The case was this: on the death of the trader, the other Portuguese merchants in the village came together, and sold the goods of the departed to each other, each man accounting for the portion received to the creditors of the deceased at Loanda. The natives, looking on, and not understanding the nature of written mercantile transactions, concluded that the merchants of Ca.s.sange had simply stolen the dead man's goods, and that now the spirit was killing the child of Captain Neves for the part he had taken in the affair. The diviner, in his response, revealed the impression made on his own mind by the sale, and likewise the native ideas of departed souls. As they give the whites credit for greater stupidity than themselves in all these matters, the mother of the child came, and told the father that he ought to give a slave to the diviner as a fee to make a sacrifice to appease the spirit and save the life of the child. The father quietly sent for a neighbor, and, though the diviner pretended to remain in his state of ecstasy, the brisk application of two sticks to his back suddenly reduced him to his senses and a most undignified flight.

The mother of this child seemed to have no confidence in European wisdom, and, though I desired her to keep the child out of currents of wind, she preferred to follow her own custom, and even got it cupped on the cheeks. The consequence was that the child was soon in a dying state, and the father wis.h.i.+ng it to be baptized, I commended its soul to the care and compa.s.sion of Him who said, "Of such is the kingdom of heaven." The mother at once rushed away, and commenced that doleful wail which is so affecting, as it indicates sorrow without hope. She continued it without intermission until the child was buried. In the evening her female companions used a small musical instrument, which produced a kind of screeching sound, as an accompaniment of the death wail.

In the construction of this instrument they make use of caoutchouc, which, with a variety of other gums, is found in different parts of this country.

The intercourse which the natives have had with white men does not seem to have much ameliorated their condition. A great number of persons are reported to lose their lives annually in different districts of Angola by the cruel superst.i.tions to which they are addicted, and the Portuguese authorities either know nothing of them, or are unable to prevent their occurrence. The natives are bound to secrecy by those who administer the ordeal, which generally causes the death of the victim.

A person, when accused of witchcraft, will often travel from distant districts in order to a.s.sert her innocency and brave the test. They come to a river on the Ca.s.sange called Dua, drink the infusion of a poisonous tree, and perish unknown.

A woman was accused by a brother-in-law of being the cause of his sickness while we were at Ca.s.sange. She offered to take the ordeal, as she had the idea that it would but prove her conscious innocence.

Captain Neves refused his consent to her going, and thus saved her life, which would have been sacrificed, for the poison is very virulent. When a strong stomach rejects it, the accuser reiterates his charge; the dose is repeated, and the person dies. Hundreds perish thus every year in the valley of Ca.s.sange.

The same superst.i.tious ideas being prevalent through the whole of the country north of the Zambesi, seems to indicate that the people must originally have been one. All believe that the souls of the departed still mingle among the living, and partake in some way of the food they consume. In sickness, sacrifices of fowls and goats are made to appease the spirits. It is imagined that they wish to take the living away from earth and all its enjoyments. When one man has killed another, a sacrifice is made, as if to lay the spirit of the victim. A sect is reported to exist who kill men in order to take their hearts and offer them to the Barimo.

The chieftains.h.i.+p is elective from certain families. Among the Bangalas of the Ca.s.sange valley the chief is chosen from three families in rotation. A chief's brother inherits in preference to his son. The sons of a sister belong to her brother; and he often sells his nephews to pay his debts. By this and other unnatural customs, more than by war, is the slave-market supplied.

The prejudices in favor of these practices are very deeply rooted in the native mind. Even at Loanda they retire out of the city in order to perform their heathenish rites without the cognizance of the authorities. Their religion, if such it may be called, is one of dread.

Numbers of charms are employed to avert the evils with which they feel themselves to be encompa.s.sed. Occasionally you meet a man, more cautious or more timid than the rest, with twenty or thirty charms round his neck. He seems to act upon the principle of Proclus, in his prayer to all the G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses: among so many he surely must have the right one. The disrespect which Europeans pay to the objects of their fear is to their minds only an evidence of great folly.

While here, I reproduced the last of my lost papers and maps; and as there is a post twice a month from Loanda, I had the happiness to receive a packet of the "Times", and, among other news, an account of the Russian war up to the terrible charge of the light cavalry. The intense anxiety I felt to hear more may be imagined by every true patriot; but I was forced to brood on in silent thought, and utter my poor prayers for friends who perchance were now no more, until I reached the other side of the continent.

A considerable trade is carried on by the Ca.s.sange merchants with all the surrounding territory by means of native traders, whom they term "Pombeiros". Two of these, called in the history of Angola "the trading blacks" (os feirantes pretos), Pedro Joao Baptista and Antonio Jose, having been sent by the first Portuguese trader that lived at Ca.s.sange, actually returned from some of the Portuguese possessions in the East with letters from the governor of Mozambique in the year 1815, proving, as is remarked, "the possibility of so important a communication between Mozambique and Loanda." This is the only instance of native Portuguese subjects crossing the continent. No European ever accomplished it, though this fact has lately been quoted as if the men had been "PORTUGUESE".

Captain Neves was now actively engaged in preparing a present, worth about fifty pounds, to be sent by Pombeiros to Matiamvo. It consisted of great quant.i.ties of cotton cloth, a large carpet, an arm-chair with a canopy and curtains of crimson calico, an iron bedstead, mosquito curtains, beads, etc., and a number of pictures rudely painted in oil by an embryo black painter at Ca.s.sange.

Matiamvo, like most of the natives in the interior of the country, has a strong desire to possess a cannon, and had sent ten large tusks to purchase one; but, being government property, it could not be sold: he was now furnished with a blunderbuss, mounted as a cannon, which would probably please him as well.

Senhor Graca and some other Portuguese have visited this chief at different times; but no European resides beyond the Quango; indeed, it is contrary to the policy of the government of Angola to allow their subjects to penetrate further into the interior. The present would have been a good opportunity for me to have visited that chief, and I felt strongly inclined to do so, as he had expressed dissatisfaction respecting my treatment by the Chiboque, and even threatened to punish them. As it would be improper to force my men to go thither, I resolved to wait and see whether the proposition might not emanate from themselves. When I can get the natives to agree in the propriety of any step, they go to the end of the affair without a murmur. I speak to them and treat them as rational beings, and generally get on well with them in consequence.

I have already remarked on the unhealthiness of Ca.s.sange; and Captain Neves, who possesses an observing turn of mind, had noticed that always when the west wind blows much fever immediately follows. As long as easterly winds prevail, all enjoy good health; but in January, February, March, and April, the winds are variable, and sickness is general.

The unhealthiness of the westerly winds probably results from malaria, appearing to be heavier than common air, and sweeping down into the valley of Ca.s.sange from the western plateau, somewhat in the same way as the carbonic acid gas from bean-fields is supposed by colliers to do into coal-pits. In the west of Scotland strong objections are made by that body of men to farmers planting beans in their vicinity, from the belief that they render the mines unhealthy. The gravitation of the malaria from the more elevated land of Tala Mungongo toward Ca.s.sange is the only way the unhealthiness of this spot on the prevalence of the westerly winds can be accounted for. The banks of the Quango, though much more marshy, and covered with ranker vegetation, are comparatively healthy; but thither the westerly wind does not seem to convey the noxious agent.

FEB. 20TH. On the day of starting from Ca.s.sange, the westerly wind blew strongly, and on the day following we were brought to a stand by several of our party being laid up with fever. This complaint is the only serious drawback Angola possesses. It is in every other respect an agreeable land, and admirably adapted for yielding a rich abundance of tropical produce for the rest of the world. Indeed, I have no hesitation in a.s.serting that, had it been in the possession of England, it would now have been yielding as much or more of the raw material for her manufactures as an equal extent of territory in the cotton-growing states of America. A railway from Loanda to this valley would secure the trade of most of the interior of South Central Africa.*

* The following statistics may be of interest to mercantile men. They show that since the repression of the slave-trade in Angola the value of the exports in lawful commerce has steadily augmented. We have no returns since 1850, but the prosperity of legitimate trade has suffered no check. The duties are noted in Portuguese money, "milreis", each of which is about three s.h.i.+llings in value.

Return of the Quant.i.ties and Value of the Staple Articles, the Produce of the Province of ANGOLA, exported from ST. PAUL DE LOANDA between July 1, 1848, and June 30, 1849, specifying the Quant.i.ties and Value of those exported in Portuguese s.h.i.+ps and in s.h.i.+ps of other Nations.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Portuguese s.h.i.+ps. In s.h.i.+ps of other Nations. Articles. ------------------------ ---------------------------- Amount. Value. Amount. Value. ----------------- --------- -------------- ------------- -------------- L. s. d. L. s. d. Ivory. . . Cwt. 1454 35,350 0 0 515 12,875 0 0 Palm oil . " 1440 2,160 0 0 6671 1 qr. 10,036 17 6 Coffee . . " 152 304 0 0 684 1,368 0 0 Hides. . . No. 1837 633 17 6 849 318 17 6 Gum. . . . Cwt. 147 205 16 0 4763 6,668 4 0 Beeswax. . " 1109 6,654 0 0 544 3,264 0 0 Orch.e.l.la . Tons 630 23,940 0 0 .... .... -------------- -------------- 69,247 13 6 34,530 19 0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

TOTAL Quant.i.ty and Value of Exports from LOANDA.

L. s. d.

Ivory . . . Cwt. 1969 . . . . 48,225 0 0 Palm oil. . " 8111 1 qr. . . . . 12,196 17 6 Coffee. . . " 836 . . . . 1,672 0 0 Hides . . . No. 2686 . . . . 952 15 0 Gum . . . . Cwt. 4910 . . . . 6,874 0 0 Beeswax . . " 1653 . . . . 9,918 0 0 Orch.e.l.la. . Tons 630 . . . . 23,940 0 0 ------------- L. 103,778 12 6

ABSTRACT VIEW of the Net Revenue of the Customs at St. Paul de Loanda in quinquennial periods from 1818-19 to 1843-44, both included; and thence in each year to 1848-49.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tonnage Dues, Duties on Duties on Duties on Duties on Store Rents, Years. Importation. Exportation. Re-export- Slaves. and other ation. incidental Receipts. --------- ------------- ------------ ---------- ------------ ------------- Mil. reis. Mil. reis. Mil. reis. Mil. reis. Mil. reis. 1818-19 573 876 ... .... 137,320 800 148,608 661 1823-24 3,490 752 460 420 .... 120,843 000 133,446 892 1828-29 4,700 684 800 280 .... 125,330 000 139,981 364 1833-34 7,490 000 1,590 000 .... 139,280 000 158,978 640 1838-39 25,800 590 2,720 000 .... 135,470 320 173,710 910 1843-44 53,240 000 4,320 000 .... 72,195 230 138,255 230 1844-45 99,380 264 6,995 095 .... 17,676 000 134,941 359 1845-46 150,233 789 9,610 735 .... 5,116 500 181,423 550 1846-47 122,501 186 8,605 821 .... 549 000 114,599 235 1847-48 119,246 826 9,718 676 4097 868 1,231 200 146,321 476 1848-49 131,105 453 9,969 960 1164 309 1,183 500 157,152 400 ------------- ------------ ------------ 717,763 420* 54,790 987 756,195 550 = L.102,680 = L.7827 = L.108,028 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- * This figure was originally miscalculated as 718,763 420, which probably affected its conversion into Pounds.--A. L., 1997.

------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net Revenue Revenue from Total Net Total Amount Years. of Customs. other Sources. Revenue. of Charges. --------- -------------- ---------------- -------------- -------------- L. s. d. L. s. d. L. s. d. L. s. d. 1844-45 26,988 5 5 9,701 10 8 36,689 16 1 53,542 5 4 1845-46 36,284 14 2 24,580 4 10 60,864 19 0 56,695 9 7 1846-47 28,919 16 11 23,327 9 11 52,247 6 10 52,180 9 7 1847-48 29,264 5 10 24,490 11 8 53,754 17 6 53,440 8 8 1848-49 31,430 9 7 18,868 3 10 51,298 13 5 50,686 3 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------

The above account exhibits the total revenue and charges of the government of St. Paul de Loanda in each year, from 1844- 45 to 1848-49, both included. The above three tables are copied from the appendix to a dispatch sent by Mr. Gabriel to Viscount Palmerston, dated the 5th of August, 1850, and, among other facts of interest, show a very satisfactory diminution in the duties upon slaves.

The returns from 1818 to 1844 have been obtained from different sources as the average revenue; those from 1844 to 1849 are from the Custom-house records.