SUPERSTITIOUS FEARS. 477 



tion that most of the flour which the Portuguese consumed came 

 from another country, they exclaimed, "Are they ignorant of 

 tillage?" "They know nothing but buying and selling: they are 

 not men." I hope it may reach the ears of my Angolese friends, 

 and that they may be stirred up to develop the resources of their 

 fine country. 



On coming back to Cypriano's village on the 28th, we found that 

 his step-father had died after we had passed, and, according to the 

 custom of the country, he had spent more than his patrimony in 

 funeral orgies. He acted with his wonted kindness, though, un- 

 fortunately, drinking has got him so deeply in debt that he now 

 keeps out of the way of his creditors. He informed us that the 

 source of the Quango is eight days, or one hundred miles, to the 

 south of this, and in a range called Mosamba, in the country of 

 the Basongo. We can see from this a sort of break in the high 

 land which stretches away round to Tala Mongongo, through 

 which the river comes. 



A death had occurred in a village about a mile off, and the 

 people were busy beating drums and firing guns. The funeral 

 rites are half festive, half mourning, partaking somewhat of the 

 character of an Irish wake. There is nothing more heart-rending 

 than their death wails. "When the natives turn their eyes to the 

 future world, they have a view cheerless enough of their own ut- 

 ter helplessness and hopelessness. They fancy themselves com- 

 pletely in the power of the disembodied spirits, and look upon the 

 prospect of following them as the greatest of misfortunes. Hence 

 they are constantly deprecating the wrath of departed souls, be- 

 lieving that, if they are appeased, there is no other cause of death 

 but witchcraft, which may be averted by charms. The whole of 

 the colored population of Angola are sunk in these gross su- 

 perstitions, but have the opinion, notwithstanding, that they 

 are wiser in these matters than their white neighbors. Each 

 tribe has a consciousness of following its own best interests in the 

 best way. They are by no means destitute of that self-esteem 

 which is so common in other nations ; yet they fear all manner 

 of phantoms, and have half-developed ideas and traditions of 

 something or other, they know not what. The pleasures of ani- 

 mal life are ever present to their minds as the supreme good ; 

 and, but for the innumerable invisibilities, they might enjoy their 



