COUNTRY AROUND CASSANGE- 347 



some border colonists had the absolute certainty of our 

 Government declining to bear them out in their arrogance, 

 we should probably hear less of Caffre insolence. It is 

 insolence which begets insolence. 



From the village of Cassange we have a good view of 

 the surrounding country ; it is a gently undulating plain, 

 covered with grass and patches of forest. The western 

 edge of the Quango valley appears about twenty miles off 

 as if it were a range of lofty mountains, and passes by the 

 name of Tala Mungongo, " Behold the range." In the 

 old Portuguese map, to which I had been trusting in plan- 

 ning my route, it is indicated as Talla Mugongo, or " Castle 

 of rocks ! " and the Coanza is put down as rising there- 

 from ; but here I was assured that the Coanza had its 

 source near Bihe, far to the south-west of this, and we 

 should not see that river till we came near Pungo Andongo. 

 It is somewhat remarkable that more accurate information 

 about this country has not been published. Captain 

 Neves and others had a correct idea of the courses of the 

 rivers, and communicated their knowledge freely ; yet 

 about this time, maps were sent to Europe from Angola 

 representing the Quango and Coanza as the same river, 

 and Cassange placed about one hundred miles from its true 

 position. The frequent recurrence of the same name has 

 probably helped to increase the confusion. I have crossed 

 several Quangos, but all insignificant, except that which 

 drains this valley. The repetition of the favourite names 

 of chiefs, as Catende, is also perplexing, as one Catende 

 may be mistaken for another. To avoid this confusion as 

 much as possible, I have refrained from introducing many 

 names. Numerous villages are studded all over the 

 valley ; but these possess no permanence, and many more 

 existed previous to the Portuguese expedition of 1850 to 

 punish the Bangala. 



This valley, as I have before remarked, is all fertile in 

 the extreme. My men could never cease admiring its 

 capability for raising their corn (Holcus sorghum), and 

 despising the comparatively limited cultivation of the 

 inhabitants. The Portuguese informed me that no manure 

 is ever needed, but that the more the ground is tilled, 

 the better it yields. Virgin soil does not give such a heavy 

 crop as an old garden, and, judging from the size of the 

 maize and manioc in the latter, I can readily believe the 

 statement. Cattle do well, too. Viewing the valley as a 



