Chap. XIX. THE QUIZE. 379 



own notabilities. The Bushmen and Hottentots are exceptions 

 to these remarks, for both the shape of their heads and growth 

 of wool are peculiar — the latter, for instance, springs from the 

 scalp in tufts with bare spaces between, and when the crop is 

 short, resembles a number of black peppercorns stuck on the skin, 

 and very unlike the thick frizzly masses which cover the heads 

 of the Balonda and Maravi. With every disposition to pay due 

 deference to the opinions of those who have made ethnology their 

 special study, I have felt myself unable to believe that the exag- 

 gerated features usually put forth as those of the typical negro, 

 characterize the majority of any nation of south central Africa. 

 The monuments of the ancient Egyptians seem to me to embody 

 the ideal of the inhabitants of Londa, better than the figures of 

 any work of ethnology I have met with. 



Passing through a fine fertile and well-peopled country to Sanza, 

 we found the Quize river again touching our path, and here we had 

 the pleasure of seeing a field of wheat growing luxuriantly without 

 irrigation. The ears were upwards of four inches long, an object 

 of great curiosity to my companions, because they had tasted my 

 bread at Linyanti, but had never before seen wheat growing. 

 This small field was cultivated by Mr. Miland, an agreeable Por- 

 tuguese merchant. His garden was interesting, as showing what 

 the land at this elevation is capable of yielding, for, besides wheat, 

 we saw European vegetables in a flourishing condition, and we 

 afterwards discovered that the coffee-plant has propagated itself 

 on certain spots of this same district. It may be seen on the 

 heights of Tala Mungongo, or nearly 300 miles from the west 

 coast, where it was first introduced by the Jesuit missionaries. 



We spent Sunday the 30th of April at Ngio, close to the ford 

 of the Quize as it crosses our path to fall into the Coanza. The 

 country becomes more open, but is still abundantly fertile, with 

 a thick crop of grass between two and three feet high. It is 

 also well wooded and watered. Villages of Basongo are dotted 

 over the landscape, and frequently a square house of wattle and 

 daub, belonging to native Portuguese, is placed beside them for 

 the purposes of trade. The people here possess both cattle and 

 pigs. The different sleeping-places on our path, from eight to ten 

 miles apart, are marked by a cluster of sheds made of sticks and 

 grass. There is a constant stream of people going and returning 



