Chap. XX. SPINNING AND WEAVING. 399 



ore. The clayey soil formed by the disintegration of the mica 

 schist and trap, is the favourite soil for the coffee, and it is on 

 these mountain sides, and others possessing a similar red clay soil, 

 that this plant has propagated itself so widely. The meadow- 

 lands adjacent to the Senza and Coanza being underlaid by that 

 marly tufa which abounds towards the coast, and containing the 

 same shells, show that previous to the elevation of that side of the 

 country, this region possessed some deeply indented bays. 



28th September, Kalungwemho. — We were still on the same 

 path by which we had come, and, there being no mosquitoes, we 

 could now better enjoy the scenery. Ranges of hills occupy both 

 sides of our path, and the fine level road is adorned with a beau- 

 tiful red flower named Bolcamaria. The markets or sleeping- 

 places are well supplied with provisions by great numbers of 

 women, every one of whom is seen spinning cotton with a spindle 

 and distaff, exactly like those which were in use amongst the 

 ancient Egyptians. A woman is scarcely ever seen going to the 

 fields, though with a pot on her head, a child on her back, and 

 the hoe over her shoulder, but she is employed in this way. The 

 cotton was brought to the market for sale, and I bought a pound 

 for a penny. This was the price demanded, and probably double 

 what they ask from each other. We saw the cotton growing 

 luxuriantly all around the market-places from seeds dropped 

 accidentally. It is seen also about the native huts, and, so far as 

 I could learn, it was the American cotton so influenced by 

 climate as to be perennial. We met in the road natives passing 

 with bundles of cops, or spindles full of cotton thread, and these 

 they were carrying to other parts to be woven into cloth. The 

 women are the spinners, and the men perform the weaving. 

 Each web is about 5 feet long, and 15 or 18 inches wide. The 

 loom is of the simplest construction, being nothing but two beams 

 placed one over the other, the web standing perpendicularly. 

 The threads of the web are separated by means of a thin wooden 

 lath, and the woof passed through, by means of the spindle on 

 which it has been wound in spuming. 



The mode of spinning and weaving in Angola, and indeed 

 throughout South Central Africa, is so very like the same occu- 

 pations in the hands of the ancient Egyptians, that I introduce 

 a woodcut from the interesting work of Sir Gardner Wilkinson. 



