290 MORE FEVER. 



saucily at these articles, for he had just received a barrel 

 containing eighteen pounds of powder, twenty-four yards 

 of calico, and two bottles of brandy, from Senhor Pascoal 

 the pombeiro. Other presents were added the next day, 

 but we gave nothing more; and the pombeiros informed 

 me that it was necessary to give largely, because they are 

 accompanied by slaves and carriers who are no great 

 friends to their masters; and, if they did not secure the 

 friendship of these petty chiefs, many slaves and their loads 

 might be stolen while passing through the forests. It is 

 thus a sort of black-mail that these insignificant chiefs 

 levy; and the native traders, in paying, do so simply as a 

 bribe to keep them honest. This chief was a man of no 

 power, but in our former ignorance of this he plagued us a 

 whole day in passing. 



Finding the progress of Senhor Pascoal and the other 

 pombeiros excessively slow, I resolved to forego his com- 

 pany to Cabango after I had delivered to him some letters 

 to be sent back to Cassange. I went forward with the 

 intention of finishing my writing and leaving a packet for 

 him at some village. We ascended the eastern acclivity 

 that bounds the Cassange valley, which has rather a 

 gradual ascent up from the Quango, and we found that 

 the last ascent, though apparently not quite so high as 

 that at Tala Mungongo, is actually much higher. The top 

 is about 5000 feet above the level of the sea, and the 

 bottom 3500 feet ; water boiling on the heights at 202°, the 

 thermometer in the air showing 96°, and at the bottom at 

 205°, the air being 75°. We had now gained the summit 

 of the western subtending ridge, and began to descend 

 toward the centre of the country, hoping soon to get out 

 of the Chiboque territory, which, when we ascended from 

 the Cassange valley, we had entered ; but, on the 19th of 

 April, the intermittent, which had begun on the 16th of 

 March, was changed into an extremely severe attack of 

 rheumatic fever. This was brought on by being obliged 

 to sleep on an extensive plain covered with water. The 



