404 
MASSANGANO. 
Chap. XX. 
each plant had thhty-six leaves, which were eighteen inches long 
by six or eight inches broad. But it is not a pastoral district. In 
our descent we observed the tsetse, and consequently the people 
had no domestic animals, save goats. 
We found the town of Massangano on a tongue of rather high 
land, formed by the left bank of the Lucalla, and right bank of 
the Coanza, and received true Portuguese hospitality from Senhor 
Lubata. The town has more than a thousand inhabitants; the 
district has 28,063, with only 315 slaves. Tt stands on a mound 
of calcareous tufa, containing great numbers of fossil shells, the 
most recent of which, resemble those found m the marly tufa close 
to the coast. The fort stands on the south side of the tomi, on a 1 
high perpendicular bank overhanging the Coanza. This river | 
is here a noble stream, about a hundred and fifty yards wide, 
admitting navigation in large canoes from the bar at its mouth to 
Cambambe, some thhty miles above this town. There, a fine 
waterfall hinders farther ascent. Ten or twelve large canoes laden 
with country produce pass Massangano every day. Four galleons ! 
were constructed here as long ago as 1650, which must have been 
of good size, for they crossed the ocean to Kio Janeuo. I 
Massangano district is well adapted for sugar and rice, while [ 
Cambambe is a very superior field for cotton; but the bar at the j 
mouth of the Coanza would prevent the approach of a steamer into 
this deshable region, though a small one could ply on it with ease 
when once hi. It is probable that the objects of those who 
attempted to make a canal from Calumbo to Loanda, were not 
merely to supply that city with fresh water, but to afford facihties 
for transportation. The remains of the canal show it to have been 
made on a scale suited for the Coanza canoes. The Portuguese 
began another on a smaller scale in 1811, and, after three years’ 
labour, had finished only 6000 yards. Nothing great or useful j 
AviU ever be effected here, so long as men come merely to get 
rich, and then retmm to Portugal. 
The latitude of the toivn and fort of Massangano, is 9° 37' 46" 
S., being nearly the same as that of Cassange. The country 
between Loanda and this point being comparatively flat, a rail¬ 
road might be constructed at small expense. The level country 
is prolonged along the north bank of the Coanza, to the edge of | 
the Cassange basm, and a railAvay carried thither would be con- j 
i 
