354 A WHEAT FIEXD. 



for both the shape of their heads and growth of wool are 

 peculiar — the latter, for instance, springs from the scalp 

 in tufts with bare spaces between, and when the crop is 

 short, resembles a number of black peppercorns stuck on 

 the skin, and very unlike the thick frizzly masses winch 

 cover the heads of the Balonda and Maravi. With every 

 disposition to pay due deference to the opinions of those 

 who have made ethnology their special study, I have felt 

 myself unable to believe that the exaggerated features 

 usually put forth as those of the typical negro, characterize 

 the majority of any nation of south central Africa. The 

 monuments of the ancient Egyptians seem to me to 

 embody the ideal of the inhabitants of I v onda, better than 

 the figures of any work of ethnology I have met with. 



Passing through a fine fertile and well-peopled country 

 to Sanza, we found the Ouize river again touching our 

 path, and here we had the pleasure of seeing a field of 

 wheat growing luxuriantly without irrigation. The ears 

 were upwards of four inches long, an object of great 

 curiosity to my companions, because they had tasted my 

 bread at Linyanti, but had never before seen wheat 

 growing. This small field was cultivated by Mr. Miland, 

 an agreeable Portuguese merchant. His garden was 

 interesting, as showing what the land at this elevation is 

 capable of yielding, for, besides wheat, we saw European 

 vegetables in a flourishing condition, and we afterwards 

 discovered that the coffee-plant has propagated itself on 

 certain spots of this same district. It may be seen on the 

 heights of Tala Mungongo, or nearly 300 miles from the 

 west coast, where it was first introduced by the Jesuit 

 missionaries. 



We spent Sunday, the 30th of April, at Ngio, close to the 

 ford of the Ouize, as it crosses our path to fall into the 

 Coanza. The country becomes more open, but is still 

 abundantly fertile, with a thick crop of grass between two 

 and three feet high. It is also well wooded and watered. 

 Villages of Basongo are dotted over the landscape, and 

 frequently a square house of wattle and daub, belonging 

 to native Portuguese, is placed beside them for the pur- 

 poses of trade. The people here possess both cattle and 

 pigs. The different sleeping-places on our path, from 

 eight to ten miles apart, are marked by a cluster of sheds 

 made of sticks and grass. There is a constant stream of 

 people going and returning to and from the coast. The 



