894 LIFE OF DA VID LIVINGSTONE, LL.D. 



sun. Large quantities are thus prepared and shipped to Loanda and elsewhere. 

 Great numbers of a kind of dog-fish are caught, the livers of which are thrown 

 into large iron pots and melted into a strong smelling oil, which is shipped 

 to Europe, and employed to adulterate whale and other fish oils. The lines 

 and nets of the fishermen are prepared or tanned by steeping them in the 

 juice of an exceedingly curious plant growing in the sand. Besides its use for 

 tanning lines and nets, it is also employed by the natives as a valuable as- 

 tringent in cases of diarrhoea. Speaking of the quantity of fish on this coast, 

 Monteiro says — "At the little Bay of Baba, I saw a very extraordinary sight, 

 and one that shows the great quantity of fish in the sea of that coast. I had 

 started on foot early in the morning, from the house of a Portuguese who was 

 engaged in the fishing trade, on my way to Mossamedes, and as I walked 

 along the beach for more than a mile, I saw for the whole distance, in the calm 

 water, a small species of fish, about a foot long, in countless numbers packed 

 side by side so closely as almost to touch one another, and their snouts touch- 

 ing the sand. Farther south, fish are said to be even more plentiful. At 

 Port Pinda, a three-masted fishing vessel arrived with a crew of fishermen 

 from Algarve, and they caught such quantities that they found the work of 

 curing too hard, and they gradually gave up fishing, and employed their 

 vessel in carrying freights up and down the coast. I was told by the captain 

 of a British man-of-war that at Walwish Bay he had seen eight tons of fish 

 taken at one haul of the sieve net." 



At Mossamedes oxen are trained for riding; the cartilage of the nose is 

 perforated, and through the opening a thin, short piece of round iron is passed, 

 at the ends of which are attached the reins, and the animal is guided by them 

 in the same manner as a horse. A good bullock will trot well, and even 

 gallop for a distance, and is very comfortable to ride. The saddle is made 

 of leather, and is only a well-padded cushion with stirrups. About twenty or 

 thirty miles from Mossamedes granite abounds, and the form of the country 

 is peculiar. In some places huge single rocks rise out of the nearly level 

 plain; in others hills of rocks, in several of which deposits of rain-water are 

 found at the very top. 



The country about Mossamedes is exposed to periodical eruptions of the 

 Monanos, or natives from the Nano country, which is inland and north of 

 Mossamedes. They come down in large expeditions, laying waste the country 

 by driving off the cattle and sheep. The few native inhabitants about 

 Mossamedes are Mundombes, like those of Benguela, but between the two 

 places there is a district peopled by a curious tribe called Mucoandos. This 

 district lies to the interior. These Mucoandos are a roving, migratory tribe, 

 rearing flocks of sheep, which are their only wealth; it is said that they hardly 

 ever cultivate the ground, and only build temporary huts or shelters. They 

 go about nearly naked, only wearing a small piece of sheepskin round their 



