306 THROUGH ANGOLA 



ganca, and the Coanza between Pungo Andongo 

 and Dondo, are found sandstone conglomerates 

 and clay-slates, which, from the frequent occur- 

 rence of coal, appear to be related to the well- 

 known South-African Karoo formation. Striking 

 examples of conglomerate " massifs " are the 

 steep rocky hills of Pungo Andongo, the scene of 

 many a tribal fight, and the last stand of the 

 Kings of Angola. 



Eastward of Melanje, where the plateau rises 

 to 3000 feet (temperature 52 to 81, rainfall 

 35 inches, and a white man's country except for 

 malaria), there begins a sandstone formation like 

 that at Zumbo in the Congo province. The so- 

 called hills of Tala Magongo and Muenga are 

 probably the walls of a rift through which flows 

 the Lui River, and the valleys of the Cuango 

 itself may be such another rift. 



The minerals occurring in North Coanza district 

 are petroleum near the coast and the Dande 

 River, coal, copper, and iron at Zenza de Itombi, 

 and gypsum just north of Luanda. 



In the next district, that of South Coanza, 

 the conditions are similar to those of North 

 Coanza, but the average temperature and rainfall 

 slightly less. The temperature of the coastal belt, 

 of which Novo Rcdondo is the main port, has an 

 average of 70 to 80 F., and a rainfall of some 

 10 inches ; the hinterlands of low plateaux have 

 somewhat similar temperatures, with a drier atmo- 

 sphere during the cold season, though the higher 

 rainfall with its average of 40 inches renders the 

 climate equally humid and more trying in the rains. 



