THE AFRICAN INDIA-RUBBER TREE. 879 



" The trade in coffee is almost entirely restricted to Ambriz, and it comes 

 principally from the district of Encoge, a considerable quantity also being 

 brought from the Dembos country and from Cozengo, to the interior of 

 Loanda. Very little of the coffee produced in the provinces of Encoge and 

 Dembos is cultivated ; it is the product of coffee-trees growing spontaneously 

 in the virgin forests of the second elevation." 



Among the other products, are the sesamum seed (Sesamum indicum), 

 which the natives grind to a paste on a stone in the same manner as the 

 ground-nut, to add to their other food in cooking; the red gum copal, called 

 " maquata" by the natives, which is found chiefly in the Mossulo country, at 

 a depth of from a few inches to a couple of feet below the surface of a highly 

 ferruginous hard clay; the white Angola gum, the product of a tree growing 

 near rivers and streams of water, and ivory. One of the most curious pro- 

 ductions of this country is india-rubber, called by the natives "Tangandando." 

 " The plant," says Monteiro, " that produces it is the giant tree-creeper 

 (Landolphia florida), covering the highest trees, and growing principally on 

 those near livers or streams. Its stem is sometimes as thick as a man's thigh, 

 and in the dense woods at Quiballa I have seen a considerable extent of forest 

 festooned down to the ground, from tree to tree, in all directions, with its 

 thick stems, like great hawsers ; above, the trees were nearly hidden by its 

 large, bright, dark-green leaves, and studded with beautiful bunches of pure 

 white star-like flowers, most sweetly scented. Its fruit is the size of a large 

 orange, of a yellow colour when ripe, and perfectly round, with a hard brittle 

 shell ; inside, it is full of a soft reddish pulp, in which the seeds are contained. 

 This pulp is of a very agreeable acid flavour, and is much liked by the natives. 

 The ripe fruit, when cleaned out, is employed by them to contain small quan- 

 tities of oil. 



"It is not always easy to obtain ripe seed, as this creeper is the favour- 

 ite resort of a villainous, semitransparent, long-legged red ant, with a sting- 

 ing bite like a red-hot needle, which is very fond of the pulp and seeds. 

 Every part of this creeper exudes a milky juice when cut or wounded, but, 

 unlike the india-rubber tree of America, this milky sap will not run into a 

 vessel placed to receive it, as it dries so quickly as to form a ridge on the 

 wound or cut, which stops its further flow. The natives collect it, there- 

 fore, by making long cuts in the bark with a knife, and as the milky juice 

 gushes out, it is wiped off continually with their fingers, and smeared on their 

 arms, shoulders, and breast, until a thick covering is formed ; this is peeled 

 off their bodies and cut into small squares, which are then said to be boiled 

 in water. *. From Ambriz the trade in this india-rubber has spread to the River 

 Quanza, from which large quantities are exported." 



The Bay of Mussena is a noted place for large captures of a fine fish, called 

 the " pungo." It is a very firm-fleshed fish ; and cut up, salted, and dried in 



