COSTUME, AMAZING TREES, &C. 
51 
^îio do the duty of the place and maintain order: nevertheless it 
is dangerous to go out at niglit; and the players on the guitar 
are often the victims of their nocturnal perambulations. 
Nearly all the Portuguese in Africa are of mixed blood, that 
is, mulattoes; but they are so black, that it refjuires a good 
knowledge of colours to distinguish them from Negroes. 
These people take credit to themselves for being jealous, and 
carrying that passion to excess: they keep their women extreme- 
ly close, and the white ones in particular are never allowed to go 
out in the day time, not even to mass. The women of colour 
have rather more liberty ; they go out in the day time, but they 
are wrapt up in such a manner, that nothing can be seen but 
their toes and one of their eyes. At visits, the women are never 
seen nor even spoken of ; for to enquire after a lady's health, is 
the greatest injury that can be done to the Portuguese in Africa. 
The daughters of the Papels, and indeed all the girls who are 
slaves, are more lucky; they are not watched so closely, but 
are allowed to work in the houses, and go out to market, or 
wherever their business calls them : they go almost naked, hav- 
ing only before them a little apron about a foot long, and six or 
seven inches wide, with belts of different coloured beads, ear- 
rings, and fringe round their loins. When they are married, 
they w ear a piece of cotton cloth, which covers them from the 
waist to the calf of the leg. 
The Portuguese of Cachaux, and all those of Africa, eat meat 
only once a day, which is at dinner tiine ; in the evening they 
eat fish and vegetables, both of which they procure in abundance, 
and almost for nothing. They begin every meal with fruit, of 
"which they have plenty which grows naturally, as well as of the 
kinds which require a little care to cultivate. 
Their commerce is carried on by barter ; for gold and silver 
are not current. The articles of exportation are, slaves, wax, 
ivory, and gold from the mines of the interior; those of impor- 
tation consist of wine, brandy, wheat, flour, iron, glass, cop- 
per utensils, arms, powder, lead, gun-fiints, cottons, shoes, hats, 
silks, combs, hardware, mirrors, &c. In this traffic the Por- 
tuguese employ three or four vessels per year, which come to 
them from Lisbon ; but the principal part of the commerce is 
carried on by foreigners. 
At this settlements are the finest trees in Africa, whether for 
their size, height, or the value of their timber. It is not rare 
to find a single tree, which will make a canoe large enough to 
carry ten tons burthen, and twenty or thirty men. 
The Papels naturally like the sea, and are good sailors; the 
Portuguese employ them in all their expeditions. Although 
some change may have taken place in the Portuguese settlements 
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