THE KINO Otf CONGO. 279 



me a visit. He was on a tour of visitation in the different 

 interior districts for the purpose of baptizing and marrying 

 He had lately been on a visit to Lisbon in company with 

 the Prince of Congo, and had been invested with an ordei 

 of honor by the King of Portugal as an acknowledgment 

 of his services. He had all the appearance of a true negro, 

 but commanded the respect of the people; and Colonel P., 

 who had known him for thirty years, pronounced him to be a 

 good man. There are only three or four priests in Loanda, 

 • — all men of color, but educated for the office. About the 

 time of my journey in Angola, an offer was made to any 

 young men of ability who might wish to devote themselves 

 to the service of the Church to afford them the requisite 

 education at the University of Coimbra in Portugal. I 

 was informed, on what seemed good authority, that the 

 Prince of Congo is professedly a Christian, and that there 

 are no fewer than twelve churches in that kingdom, the 

 fruits of the mission established in former times at San 

 Salvador, the capital. These churches are kept in partial 

 repair by the people, who also keep up the ceremonies of 

 the Church, pronouncing some gibberish over the dead in 

 imitation of the Latin prayers which they had formerly 

 heard. Many of them can read and write. When a king 

 of Congo dies, the body is wrapped up in a great many 

 folds of cloth until a priest can come from Loanda to con« 

 secrate his successor. The King of Congo still retains the 

 title of Lord of Angola, which he had when the Jinga, the 

 original possessors of the soil, owed him allegiance ; and, 

 when he writes to the Governor of Angola, he places his 

 own name first, as if addressing his vassal. The Jinga 

 paid him tribute annually in cowries, which were found on 

 the island that shelters Loanda Harbor, and, on refusing to 

 continue payment, the King of Congo gave over the island 

 to the Portuguese, and thus their dominion commenced in 

 this quarter. 



There is not much knowledge of the Christian religion 

 in either Congo or Angola ; yet it is looked upon with a 



