77?^ Pedras Negras of Pungo Andongo in Angola 2 7 



At a certain distance the rocks of Pungo Andongo appear poor 

 in vegetation, only a few of the higher mountain peaks shewing 

 small clusters of trees or shrubs, here and there mingled with a few 

 single tall trees. 



However, the nearer we approach the rocky mountains the 

 richer and more varied becomes the vegetation, the more luxuriant 

 and greener the forests, the more flowery the open fields, the more 

 numerous the crystal brooks. These, surrounded by succulent 

 meadows, pour forth from zig-zag ravines or cross valleys, or fall in 

 cascades from the walls of the higher rocks, down to the feet of the 

 traveller, spreading freshness through the stifling atmosphere all 

 around. The winding way, edged in on both sides by grotesque- 

 looking rocks, leads us on a gradually steeper incline at last through 

 one of the narrow clefts into the charming oblong valley, where 

 the Presidium itself is situated. The little town itself consists of 

 modest, neat dwelHngs grouped around the little church, and the 

 more stately residence of the governor, and other buildings abutting 

 against the elevated rocks. Many houses of a newer style, several 

 stories high, in the midst of orchards and kitchen gardens, are 

 scattered about in the adjoining valley inlets, adding materially to 

 the idyUic charm of this beautiful secluded Eldorado. In the 

 centre of the place stands a splendid Adansonia, marking the spot 

 where the Portuguese concluded their peace, in far past ages, with 

 the Amazon queen of the Gingas, Single groups of trees hide the 

 huts of the poorer black or mulatto population. A dense 

 dark-green primeval forest, the so-called Mata do Pungo, occupies 

 the side valley on the N.W., and forms a marked contrast with the 

 neighbouring, partly denuded, rock walls. Wells and brooks, with 

 the freshest water, in every direction ; luxuriant bushes overshadow- 

 ing all ravines ; exposed rock-blocks clothed with elegant creepers, 

 or fiery-flowered aloes and sweet-scented orchids ; the mountain 

 slopes, with their succulent meadows, enlivened by pasturing herds ; 

 and still higher the gigantic gray or dark black massive rocks, 

 projecting high into the air, and crowned with the fascinating azure 

 of the tropical sky — this is the justly praised, romantic Presidium 

 of the Pedras Negras. 



If Pungo Andongo commands the full attention of every traveller 

 by its picturesque situation and its exceptionally healthy climate in 

 a tropical region, it deserves in a still higher degree the interest of 

 natuialists, and especially that of botanists. Excepting the high 

 table-lands of Huilla, further south, there is hardly another place 



