Chap. XIX. 
THE QUIZE. 
379 
own notabilities. The Bushmen and Hottentots are exceptions 
to these remarks, for both the shape of their heads and growth 
of wool are pecuhar—^the latter, for instance, springs from the 
scalp ia tufts with bare spaces between, and when the crop is 
short, resembles a number of black peppercorns stuck on the skin, 
and very unhide the thick frizzly masses which cover the heads 
of the Balonda and Maravi. With every disposition to pay due 
deference to the opinions of those who have made etlmology their 
special study, I have felt myself unable to beheve that the exag¬ 
gerated features usually put forth as those of the typical negro, 
characterize the majority of any nation of south central Africa. 
The monuments of the ancient Egyptians seem to me to embody 
the ideal of the inhabitants of Londa, better than the figures of 
any work of ethnology I have met with. 
Passing through a fine fertile and well-peopled country to Sanza, 
we found the Quize river again touching our path, and here we had 
the pleasure of seeing a field of wheat growing luxuriantly without 
irrigation. The ears were upwards of four inches long, an object 
of great curiosity to my companions, because they had tasted my 
bread at Linyanti, but had never before seen wheat growing. 
This small field was cultivated by Mr. Miland, an agreeable Por¬ 
tuguese merchant. His garden was interesting, as showing what 
the land at tliis elevation is capable of yielding, for, besides wheat, 
we saw European vegetables in a fiourishing condition, and we 
afterwards discovered that the coffee-plant has propagated itself 
on certain spots of this same district. It may be seen on the 
heights of Tala Mungongo, or nearly 300 miles from the west 
coast, where it was first introduced by the Jesuit missionaries. 
We spent Sunday the 30th of April at ISTgio, close to the ford 
of the Quize as it crosses our path to fall into the Coanza. The 
country becomes more open, but is still abundantly fertile, with 
a thick crop of grass between two and tliree feet high. It is 
also well wooded and watered. Villages of Basongo are dotted 
over the landscape, and frequently a square house of wattle and 
daub, belonging to native Portuguese, is placed beside them for 
the purposes of trade. The people here possess both cattle and 
pigs. The different sleeping-places on our path, from eight to ten 
miles apart, are marked by a cluster of sheds made of sticks and 
gTass. There is a constant stream of people going and returning 
