258 DISTEICT OF AMBACA, Chap. XIX. 



air ; and I also suffered so much from exposure to the night- 

 dews, that I was obliged to give up observations altogether. 

 It would have afforded me pleasure to have cultivated a more 

 intimate acquaintance with the inhabitants of this part of the 

 country, but the dizziness produced by frequent fevers made 

 it as much as I could do to stick on the ox and crawl along 

 in misery. In crossing the Lombe, my ox Sinbad, in the 

 indulgence of his propensity to strike out a new path for 

 himself, plunged out of his depth into a deep hole, and so 

 soused me, that I was obliged to move on to dry my clothing, 

 without calling on the Europeans who live on the bank. 

 This I regretted, for the Portuguese, like the Boers, feel it a 

 slight to be passed without a word of salutation. 



On entering the district of Ambaca we found the landscape 

 enlivened by the appearance of lofty mountains in the dis- 

 tance, the grass comparatively short, and the whole country 

 looking gay and verdant. On our left we saw certain rocks 

 of the same nature with those of Pungo Andongo, and closely 

 resembling the Stonehenge group on Salisbury Plain, only 

 that the stone pillars here are of gigantic size. This region 

 is wonderfully fertile, and yields all kinds of agricultural 

 produce at a cheap rate. The soil contains sufficient ferru- 

 ginous matter to impart a red tinge to most of it. It is 

 watered by numerous small tributaries of the Lucalla, which, 

 after draining Ambaca, falls into the Coanza to the south-west 

 at Masangano. We crossed the Lucalla by means of a large 

 canoe kept there by a man who farms the ferry from the govern- 

 ment, and charges about a penny per head. A few miles be- 

 yond the Lucalla we came to Ambaca, once an important place, 

 but now a mere paltry village, beautifully situated on a slight 

 elevation in a plain surrounded by lofty mountains. We were 

 most kindly received by the Commandant, Arsenio de Carpo, 

 who spoke a little English. He recommended wine for my 

 debility, and gave me the first glass of that beverage I had 

 ever taken in Africa. The weakening effects of the fever were 

 most extraordinary : for instance, in attempting to take lunar 

 observations, I could not avoid confusion of time and distance, 

 neither could I hold the instrument steady, nor perform a 

 simple calculation. I had in vain tried to learn words of the 

 Bunda, or dialect spoken in Angola : I forgot even the days 



