454 
AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
my luggage brought up with me. Defeated in this 
quarter, he asserted that he had not a room ; to which 
[ responded by saying that a corner of the hall in 
which we stood would serve my turn. Finding his 
objections thus overruled, he gave in, and I stopped. 
1 was curious to learn the cause of the Governor thus 
denying me hospitality, and a little investigation unra¬ 
velled the mystery. 
Alfredo Pereira de Mello was a new man, although 
he had attained to some rank in the navy. Cono;enial 
and intelligent, he was esteemed by all who knew him 
intimately, because to a finished education he joined a 
singular rectitude of character, and that energy which 
is peculiar to every good sailor. He had served in the 
English navy, and was an experienced navigator. He 
had visited both the Americas, and before going to 
Africa in the capacity of aide-de-camp to the Governor 
Andrade, he had made voyages to India, China, and 
Japan. His Excellency, who knew me very well by 
name, on hearing my request, forgot that he had the 
explorer before him, and only thought of the man, 
habituated to a life of comfort and even luxury. The 
truth therefore was, that Pereira de Mello was ashamed 
to offer me shelter. A Governor of Benguella, however 
upright and honourable he may be, is bound to live in 
the very humblest fashion, if dependent on the pay that 
he receives. The Government house is a hired one. Its 
furniture, many degrees below the designation of simple, 
is barely sufficient to garnish a sitting-room and one 
bed-chamber. In the former, in striking contrast to the 
furniture, and in a richly-gilded frame, was a portrait of 
the King, the best I have ever seen. 
Foreign vessels of war frequently put into the 
harbour. The officers, on coming ashore, naturally 
called upon the Governor, and invited him on board, 
where they regaled him in right royal fashion, but not 
a glass of water did they get in return ; and why ? 
because the negress who constituted the chief part of 
the domestic establishment of his Excellency would have 
had to present it on a cracked old plate. The so-called 
