386 GOLUNGO ALTO. Chap. XIX. 



must pay a tax to the Government of 1000 reis, or about three 

 shillings per load carried. The trader is obliged to pay the 

 carrier also the sum of 50 reis, or about twopence a day, for his 

 sustenance. And as a day's journey is never more than from 

 eight to ten miles, the expense which must be incurred for this 

 compulsory labour is felt to be heavy by those who were accus- 

 stomed to employ slave labour alone. Yet no effort has been 

 made to form a great line of road for wheel carriages. The first 

 great want of a country has not been attended to, and no develop- 

 ment of its vast resources has taken place. The fact, however, 

 of a change from one system of carriage to another, taken in con- 

 nection with the great depreciation in the prices of slaves near 

 this coast, proves the effectiveness of our efforts at repressing the 

 slave-trade on the ocean. 



The latitude of Golungo Alto, as observed at the residence 

 of the Commandant, was 9° 8' 30" S., longitude 15° 2' E. A 

 few days' rest with this excellent young man, enabled me to 

 regain much of my strength, and I could look with pleasure on 

 the luxuriant scenery before his door. We were quite shut in 

 among green hills, many of which were cultivated up to their tops 

 with manioc, coffee, cotton, ground-nuts, bananas, pine-apples, 

 guavas, papaws, custard-apples, pitangas, and jambos, fruits 

 brought from South America by the former missionaries. The 

 high hills all around, with towering palms on many points, made 

 this spot appear more like the Bay of Bio de Janeiro in miniature 

 than any scene I ever saw ; and all who have seen that, confess 

 it to be unequalled in the world beside. The fertility evident 

 in every spot of this district was quite marvellous to behold, but 

 I shall reserve further notices of this region till our return from 

 Loanda. 



AVe left Golungo Alto on the 24th of May, the winter in these 

 parts. Every evening, clouds come rolling in great masses over 

 the mountains in the west, and pealing thunder accompanies the 

 fall of ram during the night or early in the morning. The clouds 

 generally remain on the hills till the morning is well spent, so 

 that we become familiar with morning mists, a thing we never 

 once saw at Kolobeng. The thermometer stands at 80° by day, 

 but sinks as low as 76° by night. 



In going westward we crossed several fine little gushing streams 



