THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 313 



poses. The merchants gave to each of his men a good horse and 

 an elegant uniform, and also, by a public subscription, presented 

 to Livingstone handsome specimens of all their articles of trade, 

 and two donkeys. 



Having at length recovered from the fever, he prepared to re- 

 enter Africa and make a crossing by way of the Zambesi, if that 

 should prove possible, which his slight knowledge of the stream 

 led him to believe could be done. 



He says : " I took with me a good stock of cotton cloth, fresh 

 supplies of ammunition and beads, and gave each of my men a 

 musket. As my companions had amassed considerable quantities 

 of goods, they were unable to carry mine, but the bishop fur- 

 nished me with twenty carriers, and sent forward orders to all the 

 commandants of the districts through which we were to pass to 

 render me every assistance in their power. Being now supplied 

 with a good new tent made by my friends on board the Philo- 

 mel, we left Loanda on the 20th of September, 1854, and passed 

 round by sea to the mouth of the River Bengo." 



He ascended the Bengo for a hundred miles and then took to 

 the country, passing over the same route he had come for several 

 hundred miles, as he found any deviation from the regular route 

 impracticable. In order to familiarize himself with the district 

 generally, he made short incursions on transverse water-ways to 

 villages, in many of which he found primitive iron works and 

 sugar refineries, which had been abandoned, no doubt, on account 

 of wars, for there were proofs that they had been profitable when 

 unmolested. 



AMONG THE ANGOLAS. 



ONE of the most interesting people whose country borders the 

 Bengo river, and also the Atlantic, are the Angola tribe, which at 

 one time possessed a higher culture than at present. Through- 

 out their country may still be seen ruins of convents and forts, 

 as well as of manufacturing industries. They have greatly retro- 

 gradedj but from what cause is indifferently understood. The 

 chief recreations of the natives of Angola are marriages and 

 funerals. When a young woman is about to be married, she is 



