424 ANCIENT BUEIAL-PLACE. Chap. XXI. 



Cocoa-nut trees and bananas bear well at the lower station, but 

 yield little or no fruit at the upper. The difference indicated by 

 the thermometer was 7°. The general range near the rocks was 

 G7° 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 flavour. 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. Everything 

 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 coimtry between the Coanza and Pungo Andongo is 



