A MERCHANT-PRINCE. 275 



left bank of the Coanza above this village, who, instead 

 of bringing slaves for sale, as formerly, now occasionally 

 bring wax for the purchase of a slave from the Portuguese. 

 I saw a boy sold for twelve shillings : he said that he be- 

 longed to the country of Matiamvo. Here I bought a pair 

 of well-made boots, of good tanned leather, which reached 

 above the knee, for five shillings and eightpence, and that 

 was just the price given for one pound of ivory by Mr. 

 Pires : consequently, the boy was worth two pairs of boots, 

 or two pounds of ivory. The Libollo on the south have 

 not so good a character; but the Coanza is always deep 

 enough to form a line of defence. Colonel Pires is a good 

 example of what an honest, industrious man in this country 

 may become. He came as a servant in a ship, and, by a 

 long course of persevering labor, has raised himself to be 

 the richest merchant in Angola. He possesses some thou- 

 sands of cattle, and, on any emergency, can appear in the 

 field with several hundred armed slaves. 



While enjoying the hospitality of this merchant-prince 

 in his commodious residence, which is outside the rocks 

 and commands a beautiful view of all the adjacent country, 

 I learned that all my despatches, maps, and journal had 

 gone to the bottom of the sea in the mail-packet " Fore- 

 runner." I felt so glad that my friend Lieutenant Beding- 

 feld, to whose care I had committed them, though in the 

 most imminent danger, had not shared a similar fate, that 

 I was at once reconciled to the labor of rewriting. 1 

 availed myself of the kindness of Colonel Pires, and re- 

 mained till the end of the year reproducing my lost 

 papers. 



Colonel Pires having another establishment on the banks 

 of the Coanza, about six miles distant, I visited it with 

 him about once a week for the purpose of recreation. The 

 difference of temperature caused by the lower altitude was 

 seen in the cashew-trees ; for while, near the rocks, these 

 trees were but coming into flower, those at the lower sta- 

 tion were ripening their fruit. Cocoanut-trees and Dananaa 



