THE QUIZE. 241 



rious couches, were better than the ground under the 

 rotten fragments of my gypsy-tent, for we had still showers 

 occasionally, and the dews were very heavy. I continued 

 to use them for the sake of the shelter they afforded, until 

 I found that they were lodgings also for certain inconve- 

 nient bedfellows. 



27th. — Five hours' ride through a pleasant country of 

 forest and meadow, like those of Londa, brought us to a 

 village of Basongo, a tribe living in subjection to the Por- 

 tuguese. We crossed several little streams, which were 

 flowing in the westerly direction in which we were march- 

 ing, and unite to form the Quize, a feeder of the Coanza. 

 The Basongo were very civil, as indeed all the tribes were 

 who had been conquered by the Portuguese. The Basongo 

 and Bangala are yet only partially subdued. The farther 

 west we go from this the less independent we find the 

 black population, until we reach the vicinity of Loanda. 

 where the free natives are nearly identical in their feelings 

 toward the Government with the slaves. But the go- 

 vernors of Angola wisely accept the limited allegiance and 

 tribute rendered by the more distant tribes as better than 

 none. 



We spent Sunday, the 30th of April, at Ngio, close to 

 the ford of the Quize as it crosses our path to fall into the 

 Coanza. The country becomes more open, but is still 

 abundantly fertile, with a thick crop of grass between two 

 and three feet high. It is also well wooded and watered. 

 Villages of Basongo are dotted over the landscape, and 

 frequently a square house of wattle and daub, belonging to 

 native Portuguese, is placed beside them for the purposes 

 of trade. 



Pitsane and another of the men had violent attacks of 

 fever, and it was no wonder; for the dampness and evapo- 

 ration from the ground was excessive. When at any time 

 1 attempted to get an observation of a star, if the trough 

 of mercury were placed on the ground, so much moisture 



was condensed on the inside of the glass roof over it that 

 Q 21 



