ANCIENT BURIAL-PLACE. 46 X 



trees and bananas bear well at the lower station, but yield little 

 or no fruit at the upper. The difference indicated by the ther- 

 mometer was 7°. The general range near the rocks was 67° at 

 7 A. M., 74° at midday, and 72° in the evening. 



A slave-boy belonging to Colonel Pires, having stolen and eaten 

 some lemons in the evening, went to the river to wash his mouth, 

 so as not to be detected by the flavor. An alligator seized him 

 and carried him to an island in the middle of the stream ; there 

 the boy grasped hold of the reeds, and baffled all the efforts of 

 the reptile to dislodge him, till his companions, attracted by his 

 cries, came in a canoe to his assistance. The alligator at once 

 let go his hold ; for, when out of his own element, he is cowardly. 

 The boy had many marks of the teeth in his abdomen and thigh, 

 and those of the claws on his legs and arms. 



The slaves in Colonel Pires' establishments appeared more 

 like free servants than any I had elsewhere seen. Every thing- 

 was neat and clean, while generally, where slaves are the only 

 domestics, there is an aspect of slovenliness, as if they went 

 on the principle of always doing as little for their masters as 

 possible. 



In the country near to this station were a large number of 

 the ancient burial-places of the Jinga. These are simply large 

 mounds of stones, with drinking and cooking vessels of rude 

 pottery on them. Some are arranged in a circular form, two 

 or three yards in diameter, and shaped like a haycock. There 

 is not a single vestige of any inscription. The natives of Angola 

 generally have a strange predilection for bringing their dead to 

 the sides of the most frequented paths. They have a particular 

 anxiety to secure the point where cross-roads meet. On and 

 around the graves are planted tree euphorbias and other species 

 of that family. On the grave itself they also place water-bottles, 

 broken pipes, cooking vessels, and sometimes a little bow and 

 arrow. 



The Portuguese government, wishing to prevent this custom, 

 affixed a penalty on any one burying in the roads, and appointed 

 places of public sepulture in every district in the country. The 

 people persist, however, in spite of the most stringent enforcement 

 of the law, to follow their ancient custom. 



The country between the Coanza and Pungo Andongo is 



