$? 8 MASSANGANO. 



sequently the people had no domestic animals, save 

 goats. 



We found the town of Massangano on a tongue of rather 

 high land, formed by the left bank of the L,ucalla, and right 

 bank of the Coanza, and received true Portuguese hos- 

 pitality from Senhor I/ubata. The town has more than a 

 thousand inhabitants ; the district has 28.063, with only 315 

 slaves. It stands on a mound of calcareous tufa, containing 

 great numbers of fossil shells, the most recent of which 

 resemble those found in the marly tufa close to the coast. 

 The fort stands on the south side of the town, on a high 

 perpendicular bank overhanging the Coanza. This river is 

 here a noble stream, about a hundred and fifty yards wide, 

 admitting navigation in large canoes from the bar at its 

 mouth to Cambam.be, some thirty miles above this town. 

 There, a fine waterfall hinders farther ascent. Ten or 

 twelve large canoes laden with country produce pass 

 Massangano every day. Four galleons were constructed 

 ber^ as long ago as 1650, which must have been of good 

 size, for they crossed the ocean to Rio Janeiro. 



Massangano district is well adapted for sugar and rice, 

 while Cambambe is a very superior field for cotton ; but 

 the bar at the mouth of the Coanza would prevent the 

 approach of a steamer into this desirable region, though 

 a small one could ply 011 it with ease when once in. It is 

 probable that the objects of those who attempted to make 

 a canal from Calumbo to Loanda, were not merely to 

 supply that city with fresh water, but to afford facilities 

 for transportation. The remains of the canal show it to 

 have been made on a scale suited for the Coanza canoes. 

 The Portuguese began another on a smaller scale in 1 8 j. 1 , 

 and, after three years' labour, had finished only 6000 

 yards. Nothing great or useful will ever be effected here, 

 so long as men come merely to get rich, and then return 

 to Portugal. 



The latitude of the town and fort of Massangano is 

 0° 2>7' 46" S., being nearly the same as that of Cassange. 

 The country between Loanda and this point being com- 

 paratively flat, a railroad might be constructed at small 

 expense. The level country is prolonged along the north 

 bank of the Coanza, to the edge of the Cassange basin, 

 and a railway carried thither would be convenient for the 

 transport of the products of the rich districts of Cassange, 

 Pungo Andongo, Ambaca, Cambambe, Golungo Alto, 



