Chap. XXI. THE QUEEN OF THE JINGA. 283 



that these productions were confined to the estate of one man, 

 Colonel Pires — a man who originally came out to this country 

 as a cabin-boy, and who has raised himself, by a long course 

 of persevering labour, to be the richest merchant in Angola. 

 The presence of the wild grape shows that vineyards might 

 be cultivated with success ; the wheat grows well without 

 irrigation ; and any one who tasted the butter and cheese at 

 the table of Colonel Pires would prefer them to the stale 

 produce of the Irish dairy, generally used throughout this 

 province. The cattle are seldom milked here, on account of 

 the strong prejudice entertained by the Portuguse against the 

 use of milk, which they think causes fever if taken after 

 midday. It struck me as an absurdity for them to avoid a 

 few drops in their coffee, after having devoured ten times the 

 amount in the shape of cheese at dinner. 



The fort of Pungo Andongo (hat. 9° 42' 14" S., long. 15° 

 30' E.) is situated in the midst of a curious group of columnar 

 rocks, each of them upwards of three hundred feet in height. 

 They are composed of conglomerate, made up of a great 

 variety of rounded masses in a matrix of dark red sandstone, 

 on a thick stratum of which they rest. Several little streams 

 run amongst these rocks, and in the centre of the pillars 

 stands the village, completely environed by well-nigh inac- 

 cessible rocks. The pathways into the village might be 

 defended by a small body of troops against an army ; and this 

 place was long the stronghold of the Jinga tribe, the original 

 possessors of the country. 



A foot-print carved on one of these rocks is spoken of as that 

 of the famous Queen Donna Anna de Souza, who came, in 

 1621, from this vicinity, as ambassadress from her brother 

 Gola Bandy, king of the Jinga, to Loanda, to sue for peace, 

 and astonished the governor by the readiness of her answers. 

 The governor proposed, as a condition of peace, the payment 

 by the Jinga of an annual tribute. " People talk of tribute 

 after they have conquered, and not before it: we come to 

 talk of peace, not of subjection," was the ready answer. She 

 remained some time in Loanda, gained all she sought, and, 

 after being taught by the missionaries, was baptized, and 

 returned to her own country with honour. She succeeded 

 to the kino-dom on the death of her brother, whom it wag 



