104 THROUGH ANGOLA 



Though only 100 miles from Huilla to Mossa- 

 incdcs, the journey takes over twelve hours, and 

 at times our " express " steamed so slowly that 

 the guard could run alongside of it for exercise. 

 I look back on that tiring night journey with 

 anything but regret, because after many years I 

 saw again the sun set and rise in a desert. 



As the train moved westwards towards the 

 sea it passed through country which became ever 

 more barren ; until within 20 miles of the coast 

 there was not a bush or even a blade of grass to 

 be seen, but only rolling sand-dunes with here and 

 there reefs of rock emerging from the sand. Just 

 before Mossamedes one passes from empty desert 

 to an oasis where plantations have grown up in 

 the bed of the Giraul River, one of those streams 

 \vhose water runs beloAv the sandy bed for all 

 the year except when storm water floods its surface. 



The town of Mossamedcs, with perhaps 3000 

 white people, lies at the head of an open bay. 

 It is an old-world place, founded in 1787 ; its fort, 

 palace, and church overlooking the sea are the 

 solid buildings of a former century, with that 

 dignity that never seems quite to come from the 

 modern buildings. 



Surrounded by desert, Mossamedes is the 

 healthiest of the Angolan ports. The cold current 

 that sweeps round these shores from the southern 

 ocean brings coolness where otherwise there would 

 be heat ; though it does bring a fog in winter when 

 there is sunshine in similar latitudes on the 

 opposite coast of Africa. 



II the: e is monotony in the glare of the white 



