LEVYING BLACKMAIL. 413 



them. My companions, amused at his idea of dignity, 

 greeted him with a hearty laugh. He visited the native 

 traders first, and then came to me with two cocks as a 

 present. I spoke to him about the impolicy of the treat- 

 ment we had received at his hands, and quoted the example 

 of the Bangalas, who had been conquered by the Portu- 

 guese, for their extortionate demands of payment for 

 firewood, grass, water, &c. ; and concluded by denying 

 his right to any payment for simply passing through un- 

 cultivated land. To all this he agreed ; and then I gave 

 him, as a token of friendship, a pannikin of coarse powder, 

 two iron spoons, and two yards of coarse printed calico. 

 He looked rather saucily at these articles, for he had 

 just received a barrel containing 18 lbs. of powder, 24 yards 

 of calico, and two bottles of brandy, from Senhor Pascoal 

 the Pombeiro. Other presents were added the next 

 day, but we gave nothing more ; and the Pombeiros 

 informed me that it was necessary to give largely, because 

 they are accompanied by slaves and carriers who are no 

 great friends to their masters ; and if they did not secure 

 the friendship of these petty chiefs, many slaves and 

 their loads might be stolen while passing through the 

 forests. It is thus a sort of blackmail that these insignifi- 

 cant chiefs levy ; and the native traders, in paying, do 

 so simply as a bribe to keep them honest. This chief was 

 a man of no power ; but in our former ignorance of this, 

 he plagued us a whole day in passing. 



Finding the progress of Senhor Pascoal and the other 

 Pombeiros excessively slow, I resolved to forego his 

 company to Cabango, after I had delivered to him some 

 letters to be sent back to Cassange. I went forward 

 with the intention of finishing my writing, and leaving 

 a packet for him at some village. We ascended the eastern 

 acclivity that bounds the Cassange valley, which has rather 

 a gradual ascent up from the Quango, and we found that 

 the last ascent, though apparently not quite so high as 

 that at Tala Mungongo, is actually much higher. The 

 top is about 5000 feet above the level of the sea, and the 

 bottom 3500 feet ; water boiling on the heights at 202 , 

 the thermometer in the air showing 96 ; and at the 

 bottom at 205 °, the air being 75 . We had now gained 

 the summit of the western subtending ridge, and began 

 to descend towards the centre of the country, hoping 

 soon to get out of the Chiboque territory, which, when 



