Chap. XXI. ANCIENT BURIAL-PLACES. 285 



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 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 came in a canoe to his assistance, when the 

 alligator at once let go his hold. The boy had marks of the 

 teeth in his abdomen and thigh, and of the claws on his legs 

 and arms. 



In the neighbourhood of this station were a large number 

 of the ancient burial-places of the Jinga, consisting of large 

 mounds of stones, arranged in a circular form, two or three 

 yards in diameter, and shaped like a haycock, with drinking 

 and cooking vessels of rude pottery on them. The natives 

 of Angola generally have a strange predilection for burying 

 their dead by the sides of the most frequented paths, or at 

 the junction of cross roads. On and around the graves are 

 planted euphorbias of various kinds, and on the grave itself 

 are placed water-bottles, broken pipes, cooking vessels, and 

 sometimes a little bow and arrow. The Portuguese Govern- 

 ment, wishing to prevent this custom, imposed a penalty on 

 any one burying by the roadside, and appointed places of 

 public sepulture in every district. The people persist, how- 

 ever, in their ancient custom, in spite of the most stringent 

 enforcement of the law. 



The country between the Coanza and Pungo Andongo is 

 covered with low trees, bushes, and fine pasturage. In the 

 latter we were pleased to see our old acquaintances the gaudy 

 gladiolus, Amaryllis toxicaria, hymanthus, and other bulbs in 

 as flourishing a condition as at the Cape. 



It is surprising that so little has been done in the way of 

 agriculture in Angola. Eaising wheat by means of irrigation 

 has never been tried ; no plough is ever used ; and the only 

 instrument is the native hoe. The chief object of agriculture 

 is the manioc, which does not contain nutriment sufficient to 

 give proper stamina to the people. The half-caste Portuguese 

 have not so much energy as their fathers. They subsist 

 chiefly on the manioc, and, as that can be eaten in a variety 

 of ways, it does not so soon pall upon the palate as one might 



