AT CASSANGE. 145 



As the party had crossed several streams and had marched for miles 

 among wet grass which grew two feet over their heads, they had a very 

 forlorn appearance as they entered Cassange, the farthest east Portuguese 

 settlement, and presented themselves to the gaze of civilized men. The first 

 gentleman Livingstone met asked him for his passport, " and said it was neces- 

 sary to take me before the authorities. As I was in the same state of mind 

 in which individuals are who commit a petty depredation in order to obtain 

 the shelter and food of a prison, I gladly accompanied him to the house of 

 the commandant, Senor de Silva Rego. Having shown my passport (letters 

 of recommendation from the Chevalier Du Prat, of Cape Town) to the gentle- 

 man, he politely asked me to supper ; and as we had eaten nothing except the 

 farina of Cypriano, from the Quango to this, I suspect I appeared particularly 

 ravenous to the other gentlemen around the table." One can readily sym- 

 pathise with him, when he adds, " Had they not been present, I might have 

 put some in my pocket to eat by night ; for after fever the appetite is unusu- 

 ally keen, and manioc is one of the most unsatisfying kinds of food." One 

 of the guests, Captain Antonio Rodrigues Neves, took the worn and exhausted 

 traveller to his house with him, where he remained during his stay, and pre- 

 sented him with a decent suit of clothing. This kindly man also furnished 

 food for the famishing party. 



The Portuguese traders in Cassange numbered about forty, and were all 

 officers in the militia ; they were exceedingly kind to the coloured people 

 about them — their half-caste and full-coloured clerks and assistants in the 

 business sitting at table with them. None of them had European wives with 

 them, but most of them had families by native women whom they treated 

 with every kindness and consideration, seldom or never deserting them, and 

 providing for them as if they were legitimately born. 



At Cassange the tusks belonging to Sekeletu were sold, and as two 

 muskets, three small barrels of gunpowder, and English baize and calico suffi- 

 cient to clothe the whole party, with several large bunches of beads, were 

 received for one tusk, Livingstone's companions were quite delighted, as in 

 their own country they only received one gun for two tusks. Another tusk 

 was sold for calico with which to pay their way to the coast, as it is the chief 

 currency of the district, and the remaining two were sold for money to buy a 

 horse for Sekeletu at Loanda. 



Livingstone was astonished to find that the traders at Cassange had an 

 accurate knowledge of the country and the courses of the rivers far to the east, 

 although this information had never appeared on any European map. 



' The commander handsomely sent a soldier with the party as a guide to 

 Ambaca, entertained Livingstone to a farewell dinner, and presented his com- 

 panions with an ox to regale themselves with. The merchants accompanied 

 him some distance in hammocks carried by slaves, and having given him 



T7 



