DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE. 
are continually employed in war and plunder, 
children would be a burdensome encumbrance j they 
are therefore regularly murdered, or exposed after 
birth : the glory of the parents consists in perpe- 
trating this savage deed with the most frigid indif- 
ference. Their slaughtered enemies, and the cap- 
tives taken in war, are eagerly devoured ; human 
flesh is considered as the most delicious food, and 
goblets of warm blood the most exquisite beverage. 
The death of their kings, or other great men, is 
signalized by a host of human sacrifices. All the 
details correspond with these general features, and 
compose a character far surpassing in atrocity that 
exhibited by the wildest savages of the new world. 
Zingha was sister to the king of Matamba, a king- 
dom which partially shared the atrocities of the 
Giagas. In 1622, she came to Angola to nego- 
ciate a treaty between her brother and the Portu- 
guese government. The council were struck with 
admiration and even astonishment at the acuteness 
of her understanding, the vivacity of her wit, and 
the dignity of her deportment. As she made some 
stay at Angola, the viceroy proposed to her to be 
instructed in the mysteries of the Catholic religion. 
She readily agreed ; either was, or pretended to 
become, a convert, and was baptized before her de- 
parture. Soon after her return to Matamba, dis- 
sensions which had arisen in her family, afforded 
her an opportunity of mounting the throne of Ma- 
