DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE. 137 
•f take the devil's counsel in all their exploits.'* 
Before beginning their march, an augury is per- 
formed in the most solemn manner. The great 
Giaga sits on a stool, surrounded by a multitude of 
wizards and women. The wizards then take a 
white powder, with which they paint over his fore- 
head, temples, belly, and breast, accompanying the 
operation with " long ceremonial and enchanting 
" speeches." At length the wizard brings the 
great Giaga's Casangala, a weapon resembling a 
hatchet, and bids him be strong, for his mokisso is 
with him. A male child is then brought before 
the Giaga, which he kills, and immediately sets 
out, in full confidence of overcoming his enemies. 
Their discipline is very severe, and those who have 
turned their backs on an enemy, are immediately 
put to death. When open force fails, they have 
recourse to ambuscade ; by their superior skill in 
which, they seldom fail to prevail in the end. 
The Giagas are also mentioned by Lopez, who 
describes them as inhabiting the mountains behind 
Congo, and particularly about the lake which gives 
rise to the Zaire. In the time of a king, whom 
he calls Don Alvaro, they made an incursion into 
the kingdom, and swept all before them. The 
king sought refuge in an island of the Congo, 
where he remained till the Giagas had consumed 
every thing that was to be found in the kingdom, 
and were constrained to seek elsewhere for other 
