CONGO. 



125 



Congo. 



vicinity of the capital. Carli and Lopez agree with 

 him in opinion as to the existence in the country of such 

 mines ; but if the fact actually be so, it would appear, 

 at least, that they have hitherto escaped the keen-sight- 

 ed avarice, in respect to such objects, of the Europeans 

 who have settled in that quarter ; a circumstance for 

 which, indeed, it has been endeavoured, though it 

 may be judged by some rather unsuccessfully, to ac- 

 count. 

 Soil. The soil of Congo is naturally very fertile. The 



principal article of its vegetable produce is rice, which 

 grows here in great abundance, as does also Indian 

 corn, barley, and beans. The Indian wheat grows very 

 strong, and is very well filled. This being ground, is 

 made into bread, or boiled with water into a kind of 

 pap. The other sorts of grain raised here, contribute, 

 in like manner, to the nourishment of the inhabitants ; 

 but what, it is said, they chiefly live upon, is a kind of 

 nut like our filberts, which fall to the ground of them- 

 selves, and are to be found every where ; every nut that 

 so falls producing a new shrub in the succeeding year. 

 . - t All the fruit trees common in Asia and in Africa 



shrubs &c! prosper in Congo, and they even succeed there remark- 

 ably, attaining to such magnitude, that a single tree 

 may be sufficient for the construction of a great number 

 of houses or of canoes. Vegetation is here so rapid, 

 that, if Lopez may be credited, he has seen a citron 

 tree rising to a considerable height within four days 

 from the time that he had planted it in the state of a 

 seed. Among the fruit trees that are found here, there 

 are mentioned besides, citrons, lemons, bananas, palm- 

 trees ; it is even alleged, that in the marshy grounds 

 there grow sugar canes, of which the inhabitants make 

 no use. There is also a kind of pepper, known by the 

 name of malaguette, or manegette, which is an object 

 of commerce with this people. Cassia, tamarinds, and 

 other drugs that are held in esteem, grow here in abun- 

 dance. It is said that the fruit trees found in these 

 parts have in general been introduced by the Portu- 

 guese. Of palm-trees, which are exotic and brought 

 from America, there occur no less than eight sorts, all 

 excellent in their kinds, and which, in almost every 

 part of them, are turned to useful account. The oil 

 obtained from these trees is used instead of butter; with 

 the moss that grows about the trunks, the rich common- 

 ly stuff* their pillows, and the Giagas apply it to their 

 wounds with good effect. With the leaves, the Moors 

 cover their houses ; and they draw from the trees by 

 incision, a pleasant liquor like wine, which, however, 

 turns sour within a few days. From the Congo palm- 

 tree, so called because it thrives better in that country 

 than any of the other sorts, there is obtained a liquor 

 which is reckoned as valuable as the wine that is brought 

 from Europe, though it is rather a kind of milk, sweet 

 and agreeably tart, which will become sour in three 

 or four days, and is so strong that a pint of it will 

 produce intoxication. The fruit of this tree, not un- 

 like a peeled chesnut in colour, taste, and substance, 

 is, as has been remarked, the common food of the poor- 

 er class of the people. With the oil that is drawn from 

 it, the natives chess their victuals, but the Europeans 

 only burn it in their lamps. Of the shrubs of this 

 country, may be mentioned the capano, or the fig of 

 hell, from the nut of which is extracted an oil for the 

 lamp, of which use is also made in the composition of 

 ointments and plasters, while the leaves burnt to ashes, 

 afford a good lye, with which the natives wash their 

 bodies. Vines have been brought here from Candia, 



and they yield excellent grapes twice a-year. The ma- Congo. 

 nioc, which is used for making bread, is the same that is S ~""Y~*"" 

 employed for the like purpose in Asia and America. The 

 potatoes, and other roots of a like kind, yield a grateful 

 nourishment. Wheat, it is said, is the only kind of ve- 

 getable produce that will not prosper here. It pushes 

 forth, indeed, the straw and the ear ; the former, we 

 are told, even rising to such a height as to hide a man 

 on horseback, while the latter continues empty, or with- 

 out a grain in it fit for use. Father Labat, however, 

 having, as he says, observed the same thing in some of 

 the American islands, and having had the curiosity to 

 examine those ears more carefully, found in them a few 

 grains, which, having sowed afresh, they produced very 

 long ears, full of large heavy grain ; whence he con- 

 cludes, that if the like experiment had been tried by 

 the Portuguese in their African settlements, it might 

 have been attended by a similar result. In the low- 

 lands of Congo, the grass grows so high, rank, and 

 thick, as to become one of the most dangerous recepta.- 

 cles for wild beasts, serpents, and venomous insects. 

 Travelling through the country is thus rendered very 

 dangerous, there being in the whole of it but few beaten 

 roads, and the only passage being consequently over 

 vast plains, where hazard is at once encountered from 

 the destructive creatures by which these are frequented, 

 and from the manifold diseases that are produced by 

 the unwholesome dews with which the grass is covered 

 during some part of the day. The flowers of these 

 parts are exceedingly beautiful and numerous, almost 

 every field and grove yielding, in this respect, a much 

 noblef prospect than is presented by the European gar- 

 dens, even after all the pains bestowed on their culti- 

 vation. These flowers are remarkable, not only for the 

 prodigious variety of their colours, but for the vast 

 quantity of heads which grow upon one stalk. The 

 "lilies which grow naturally in the fields, vallies, and 

 woods, surpass those cidtivated in Europe, not only 

 by their extreme whiteness, but also by a most delight- 

 ful fragrancy. The tulips that in like manner grow 

 wild, have something surprisingly charming in the va- 

 riety and combination of their colours, and their flowers 

 grow 10 or 12 upon a stalk, which continue long in full 

 bloom, and diffuse a very reviving and agreeable sweet- 

 ness. The tuberoses, hyacinths, and other native flowers, 

 are distinguished by similar properties, springing up in 

 vast groupes of 100 or 200 from one root, some of them 

 finely variegated, and all yielding an agreeable smell. 

 The roses, jessamines, and other exotics brought from 

 Europe or America, come up likewise in great perfec- 

 tion, and by due care may be long kept in that state. 

 The fruit trees that have been introduced here, those 

 that have been already mentioned, together with oran- 

 ges, granates, cedars, and others, thrive, it is said, as 

 well in this as in their native soil. 



The kingdom of Congo, like most other parts of A- Wild aci 

 frica, breeds a prodigious variety of living creatures, ma; * 

 both wild and tame. Those of the former sort are par- 

 ticularly numerous. The most remarkable of the ani- 

 mals in this class is the elephant, which is found cluef- 

 ly in the province of Bamba, a province that abounds 

 with woods, pasture, and plenty of water. They go 

 commonly in troops of 100 or more ; and some of them 

 are of such a monstrous size, that the prints of their 

 hoofs are said to measure from four to seven spans in 

 diameter. They delight much in bathing themselves 

 during the heat of the day. Lopez remarks, that they 

 are of very gentle temper, and a*e much at ease as tP 



