Chap. XX. 
SPINNING AND WEAVING. 
399 
ore. The clayey soil formed by the dismtegration of the mica 
scliist and trap, is the favourite soil for the coffee, and it is on 
these mountain sides, and others possessing a similar red clay sod, 
that this plant has propagated itself so widely. The meadow- 
lands adjacent to the Senza and Coanza bemg underlaid by that 
marly tufa which abounds towards the coast, and containing the 
same shells, show that previous to the elevation of that side of the 
country, this region possessed some deeply indented bays. 
28^A September, Kalungwemho .—We were still on the same 
path by wliich we had* come, and, there being no mosquitoes, we 
could now better enjoy the scenery. Eanges of hills occupy both 
sides of our path, and the fine level road is adorned with a beau¬ 
tiful red flower named Bolcamaria. The markets or sleeping- 
places are well supplied with provisions by great numbers of 
women, every one of whom is seen spinning cotton with a spindle 
and distaff, exactly like those which were in use amongst the 
ancient Egyptians. A woman is scarcely ever seen going to the 
fields, though with a pot on her head, a cliild on her back, and 
the hoe over her shoulder, but she is employed in tliis way. The 
cotton was brought to the market for sale, and I bought a pound 
for a penny. Tliis was the price demanded, and probably double ^ 
what they ask from each other. We saw the cotton grooving 
luxmiantly all around the market-places from seeds dropped 
accidentally. It is seen also about the native huts, and, so far as 
I could learn, it was the American cotton so influenced by 
climate as to be perennial. We met in the road natives passing 
with bundles of cops, or spindles full of cotton tlmead, and these 
they were carrying to other parts to be woven into cloth. The 
women are the spinners, and the men perform the weaving. 
Each web is about 5 feet long, and 15 or 18 inches wide. The 
loom is of the simplest construction, bemg notliing but two beams 
placed one over the other, the web standing perpendicularly. 
The threads of the web are separated by means of a thin wooden 
lath, and the woof passed through, by means of the spindle on 
which it has been wound in spuming. 
The mode of spinning and weaving in Angola, and indeed 
throughout South Central Africa, is so very like the same occu¬ 
pations in the hands of the ancient Egyptians, that I introduce 
a woodcut from the interesting work of Sir Gardner Wilkinson. 
