CONGO. 



127 



Congo, poisonous, insomuch that their hite will occasion death 

 •*■■" 'y mm ^ within the space of 24- hours • but it is said, that the 

 natives are acquainted with remedies that are sovereign 

 for a cure, if seasonably applied. Of all the descrip- 

 tions of creatures, however, from which danger is to 

 be apprehended, none occur here more pernicious and 

 fatal than the ants, of which there are enumerated not 

 less than six several species of different colours and si- 

 zes, all of them formidable, on account of their prodi- 

 gious numbers, and the mischief they do, not only to 

 the fruits of the earth, but to men and beasts, whom, 

 upon occasions, they will surround in vast multitudes, 

 and devour to the very bone. They are not less in- 

 jurious to clothes, linens, and such other stuffs, to 

 which even the hardest wood is not found to afford an 

 adequate defence against them. Yet, amidst this num- 

 ber and variety of destructive insects, there is found 

 here also one species of a more friendly and profitable 

 kind, viz. the industrious bee, which furnishes the in- 

 habitants with honey and wax in such plenty, that 

 there is scarcely a hollow tree, a cleft of a rock, or a chop 

 in the earth, in which their combs are not deposited in 

 great quantities, 

 omplex- The inhabitants of Congo, their colour excepted, which 

 >"> & c > is commonly black, though not unfrequently also of an 

 olive hue, have a great resemblance to the Portuguese. 

 Their hair is black and finely curled ; some have it also 

 of a dark sandy colour. Their eyes are for the most 

 part of a fine lively black ; in particular instances they 

 are of a dark sea-colour. They have neither flat noses 

 nor thick lips, like the Nubians and the most part of 

 negroes. Their stature is mostly of the middle size. 

 The general indolence of their dispositien has been al- 

 ready noticed, which is such as to prevent them in a 

 great measure from reaping the advantages easily with- 

 in their reach from a soil which, if duly cultivated, 

 would yield not only two, but sometimes even three, 

 crops in the year. These people seem to consider it as 

 unworthy of them to engage in any other exercises 

 than those of dancing, leaping, shooting, and hunting, 

 or on other occasions in smoking and more indolent re- 

 creations ; whilst the laborious part of their household 

 affairs, as also the operations of digging, sowing, reap- 

 ing, and the like, are left to the conduct of their 

 slaves, * or in other instances of their wives ; and 

 though they have plenty of domestic animals which 

 might easily be trained to undergo the more laborious 

 services, and it might be expected that the example of 

 the Portuguese would incite them to endeavour to turn 

 them in this manner to useful account, it does not ap- 

 pear that they have ever thought of taking the trouble 

 which would be necessary for bringing them into a con- 

 dition to yield them such valuable assistance. The 

 backward state of things among this people seems not 

 to be in any degree, or to be but little, the conse- 

 quence of a want of a natural capacity ; on the con- 

 trary, it is said, that with all their repugnance to any 

 kind of labour in the least degree painful, they have 

 even a most happy disposition for the practice of 

 the mechanical arts. Tliis is exemplified in the sin- 

 gular aptness that has been remarked among the in- 

 habitants of the eastern limits of the kingdom, for 

 the fabrication of different sorts of stuffs, such as vel- 

 vets, satins, tissues, &c. The thread which they make 

 use of for preparing these stuffs, they draw from the 



leaves of different trees, which they prevent from rising Congo. 

 to too great a height for their purpose, by cutting them *-"—v*"— 

 annually, and which, by means of frequent watering, 

 they cause to send forth leaves more tender than they 

 would naturally yield, and consequently better fitted 

 for.the formation of soft and smooth cloths. The same 

 barks, moreover, as well as other parts of the trees, 

 and indeed generally the different natural productions 

 of their country, they shew not a little ingenuity in 

 turning to various other useful purposes for the arts, or 

 for their better accommodation in life. There is some- 

 thing, it may be added, to be observed here, that is 

 akin to a division of labour, and the prosecution in 

 different situations of different modes of labour respec- 

 tively the best adapted to them. Thus the inhabitants 

 of the cities are seen subsisting by the profits of their 

 trade. Those who dwell in the country maintain them- 

 selves by the returns from agriculture, extremely simple 

 and unimproved as this art indeed is among them, as 

 well as by what they derive from their cattle. Those 

 who border on the sea or on the great rivers, procure 

 then* maintenance by fishing. 



The accounts given of the temper, affections, and General 

 disposition of mind and heart prevalent among the Con- character, 

 goese, are generally such as are indeed very little to 

 their honour. They are said to be mistrustful, jealous, 

 envious, treacherous, and much inclined to revenge. 

 So devoid are they stated to be of natural affection, 

 that a father will sell his son or daughter, or both, for 

 a piece of cloth, a collar or girdle of coral or beads, 

 a bottle of wine or brandy, or other matters of not 

 greater intrinsic value, or capable of yielding a more 

 permanent satisfaction. A man in this country, if a 

 heathen, may take to himself as many wives as he 

 pleases; or if his Christian profession should pre- 

 vent this indulgence, he may have, what is the same 

 thing in effect, as many concubines as he judges pro- 

 per, and has over these such absolute and uncontroul- 

 ed authority, that in whatever circumstances they may 

 be, even in whatever stage of pregnancy, he may re- 

 pudiate or even sell them at pleasure. But great as 

 may in reality be the defects of their character, or how 

 much room soever there may be for improvement, ei- 

 ther in that or in any thing else relating to their con- 

 dition, it has been remarked that there is perhaps hard- 

 ly any nation on earth who have a higher opinion of 

 themselves or of their country than this, or that are 

 more hardened against all conviction to the contrary, 

 from reason, experience, or any comparison of them- 

 selves with those whom they may have had opportuni- 

 ties of seeing from different parts of the world. It is 

 a fundamental article of their belief, that the rest of 

 the world was the work of angels, but that the king- 

 dom of Congo, in its full and ancient extent, was the 

 immediate production of the Supreme Architect him- 

 self, and of course has vast prerogatives and advan- 

 tages over all others. When told of the magnificence 

 of the European and Asiatic courts, their immense re- 

 venues, the grandeur of their palaces and other edifices, 

 the richness and happiness of their subjects, the great 

 progress they have made in arts and sciences, to which 

 their own country is wholly a stranger, they coolly an- 

 swer, that all this comes vastly short of the dignity and 

 splendour of the kings and kingdom of Congo, and 

 that there can be but one Congo in the world, to the 



«Iv«Jf„™ * T thus entenns so much ,nto the domestic -economy of the Congoese, at the same time that the slaves them. 



*Z'r n r ma ' n br T h ° f tl,e tr f mC betW6en **■ and other nations ' the y are naturally looked upon as a most valuable de- 

 -cr.ption of property, indeed as the chief property which a man can possess, or bequeath to his children or relations. 



