1 00 DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE. 
which is valued in such a society, is said to have 
been the sole ground of promotion. The queen 
had three hundred women, ten of whom, by turns, 
attended constantly upon her person. Unless when 
indisposed, she ate constantly in public. Before 
the door of the palace was spread a large table, co- 
vered with numerous dishes, placed on vessels of 
earthen ware. At this table, there was neither 
plate, knife, fork, nor spoon. The royal fingers 
were the sole instruments employed in taking up 
the food and conveying it to the mouth. In the 
utmost height of her religious zeal, and notwith- 
standing her advanced age, she took always pecu- 
liar delight in adorning her person. Besides the 
finest cloths which her own country produced, she 
constantly wore the richest stuffs and brocades of 
Europe. In the days of her idolatry, she was ac- 
counted not only the greatest queen, but the most 
eminent magician and conjuror in this part of Af- 
rica. This character was maintained by the most 
extensive system of espionage, and by then mak- 
ing a display of the secret information thereby ac- 
quired. So strongly rooted in the minds of her 
subjects was this belief of her supernatural know- 
ledge, that persons often came to throw themselves 
at her feet, to implore the forgiveness of crimes, 
of the existence of which she had not entertained 
the slightest suspicion. 
Zingha continued to profess the Christian reli*- 
4> 
