482 
AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
not only to get a long rest, and dry my wetted tilings, 
but also to procure some information about the country, 
whose customs differ considerably from those of the 
tribes I had hitherto met with. In the evening Carique 
and Joao Albino kept me company, and furnished me 
with lengthy data concerning the territory and its 
people, the most noteworthy of which I here transcribe 
from my diary. 
The Caquingue country is bounded on the north by 
the Bilie, on the west by the Moma territory, and on the 
east and south by confederate tribes of the Ganguella 
race. This latter race occupies in this part of Africa a 
vast tract of land, and is divided into four large groups, 
which are susceptible again of further subdivision. 
Their language and customs are the same throughout, 
but there is a difference in their political organization. 
In the Caquingue country the Ganguellas assume the 
name of Gonzellos, form a separate kingdom, and admit 
but one sole head. In their other divisions they form 
confederations, which are very common in Africa, each 
large village or township being governed lay an inde¬ 
pendent chief. Those who live to the S.E. of Caquingue 
style themselves Nhembas ; those to the south, Mas- 
sacas ; and they who dwell to the east of the Bilie', 
Bundas. Of the last mentioned I shall have occasion to 
speak at some length later on. The Gonzellos, the 
Ganguellas of Caquingue, are cultivators of the soil 
and traders, and, of all the peoples of South Central 
Africa, are those which approximate most to the Bihenos 
in the way of commercial exploration. When at home 
they work a good deal in iron, and this branch of trade 
establishes between them and other tribes very active 
commercial relations. They have not the slightest idea 
of any religion whatsoever, and though thorough be¬ 
lievers in sorcery, they never give a thought to the 
existence of a Supreme Being, by whom all things are 
ordered. 
During the coldest months, that is to say June and 
July, the Gonzellos miners leave their homes, and take 
up their abode in extensive encampments near the 
