460 A MERCHANT-PRINCE. 



a mountainous country, inhabited by the Kimbonda or Ambonda, 

 who are said by Colonel Pires to be a very brave and independent 

 people, but hospitable and fair in their dealings. They are rich 

 in cattle, and their country produces much beeswax, which is 

 carefully collected, and brought to the Portuguese, with whom 

 they have always been on good terms. 



The Ako (Haco), a branch of this family, inhabit the 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 belonged 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 S. have not so good 

 a character, but the Coanza is always deep enough to form a line 

 of defense. 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 thousands 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 

 dispatches, maps, and journal had gone to the bottom of the sea 

 in the mail-packet " Forerunner." I felt so glad that my friend 

 Lieutenant Bedingfeld, 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. I 

 availed myself of the kindness of Colonel Pires, and remained 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 tempera- 

 ture 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 station were ripening their fruit. Cocoanut 



