CHAPTER II 



MADEIRA TO ANGOLA BY THE WEST 

 AFRICAN ISLANDS 



OX 4th July, the first Angola-bound ship 

 entered Funchal harbour, and through 

 niy friend Hinton's influence my passage 

 was secured. That night, as Madeira faded into 

 the shadows, I felt that at last the weary 

 weeks of waiting were over, and new lands and a 

 happier life lay ahead. 



The Mossamedes, which now sailed under the 

 green-and-red flag of Portugal, had been once 

 the P. & O. liner Sumatra, an old friend, met 

 years ago, bound for Indian seas. Far-away days 

 those of youngsters eagerly looking forward to 

 life in India : of youth and hope and comradeship, 

 which time and war have sadly changed. 



But now we sailed, a very different company. 

 There were Portuguese officials, both military 

 and civil, merchants, planters, and agents, bound 

 not only for Angola, but for one or other of the 

 West African islands as well. A large number 

 of the Portuguese were mulattoes, and some of 

 those who had no negro blood were very dark, 

 probably through an old-time Moorish ancestry. 

 There seemed to be no colour line and class dis- 



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