Dec. 30, 1875] 



NATURE 



163 



Congo to Mossamedes no dense forest is seen from the 

 sea, and from thence not a single tree, it is said, for hun- 

 dreds of miles to the Orange River. A little mangrove, 

 lining the insignificant rivers and low places in their 

 vicinity, is all that varies the open scrub, of which the 

 giant Adansonios and Euphorbias have taken, as it were, 

 exclusive possession^ Nowhere on the coast is seen more 

 than an indication of the wonderful vegetation, or varied 

 beauty and fertility, which generally begins at a distance 

 of from thirty to sixty miles inland. 



" At this distance, a ridge or hilly range runs along the 

 whole length of Angola, forming the first elevation ; a 

 second elevation succeeds it at about an equal distance ; 

 and a third, at perhaps twice the distance again, lands us 

 on the central high plateau of Africa." 



Each of these successive elevations is accompanied by 

 a corresponding change in the character of the vegeta- 

 tion. This varied vegetation Mr. Monteiro describes 



wth considerable minuteness as he'makes his way from 

 the Congo to Mossamedes, stopping at many places to 

 make minute explorations of the country around. As we 

 have said, Mr. Monteiro has chosen the Congo as the 

 northern boundary of Angola, because it presents a well- 

 marked line of division in respect of climate, fauna, 

 nature, and customs, between Angola and the rest of the 

 west coast. He refers to some very remarkable facts in 

 confirmation of this. The Congo is the southern limit of 

 the gorilla and of several species of monkeys and even 

 of birds, butterflies, and insects. He says truly that it 

 would well repay a naturalist to investigate the number of 

 species the Congo cuts off ; it is a pity he had not time 

 to undertake the work himself ; no one could be more 

 competent. 

 With regard to the universal fetishism of the natives, 



Mr. Monteiro gives abundant intormalion, much of which 

 we are sure will shed a new light on this degrading and 

 depressing superstition. It seems almost impossible to 

 eradicate it. Many of the Angolan tribes were converted 

 and educated by the old Portuguese missionaries, and to 

 this day many of the tribes transmit the " trick," as Mr. 

 Monteiro calls it, of reading and writing. But this seems 

 to have had no effect in abolishing fetishism, but on the 

 contrar>' has rather furnished it with new materials on 

 which to flourish. In some respects fetishism seems to 

 resemble the Polynesian " tabu." " Fetish " is often used 

 as equivalent to charm or magic, and many objects are 

 used by the natives to carry about with them to be used 

 as charms against evil, and in some places rude houses 

 are built as a dwelling for a fetish, who may be repre- 

 sented by a rude image. But besides this it is possible 

 to fetish a person, or thing, or.animal, in the same way as 



in some of the Pacific Islands certain objects may be 

 tabu. Certain animals are fetish, and these a native dare 

 not injure ; and indeed it seems possible and easy to 

 render anything whatever fetish, and once at least Mr. 

 Monteiro took legitimate advantage of the custom for his 

 own protection. Their fetishes have, however, no power 

 for good or evil over the white man, who belongs to 

 another and more powerful god than do the natives, who 

 themselves received the idea of God or Creator from the 

 Portuguese missionaries. 



The Celis and Mucelis, tribes dwelling inland from 

 Nova Redondo to the north of Benguella, are, Mr. 

 Monteiro believes, the only cannibals in Angola ; the 

 Quinbundos, a superior tribe to the south of the Quanza, 

 are not so, "though a traveller who made a few days' trip 

 up the river has asserted they are." The natives on the 

 Quanza and to the south for many miles are great bee- 



