7 2 
The Padrao and Pinda . 
would not include white men. Possibly it is an 
old piscina; according to the Abbe Proyart, the 
missionaries taught the art of pisciculture near 
the village of Kilonga, where they formed their 
first establishment. The place is marked “ Salt- 
pond” in Barbot, who tells us that the condiment 
was made there and carried inland. 
A short walk to a tall tree backing the village 
showed us, amongst twenty-five European graves, 
five tombs or cenotaphs of English naval officers, 
amongst whom two fell victims to mangrove- 
oysters, and the rest to the deadly “ calenture ” of 
the lower Congo. We entered the foul mass of 
huts, 
“ Domus non ullo robore fulta 
Sed sterili junco cannaque intecta palustri.” 
It was too early for the daily debauch of palm 
wine, and the interiors reeked with the odours of 
nocturnal palm oil. The older travellers were 
certainly not blasts; they seemed to find plea¬ 
sure and beauty wherever they looked : Ca da 
Mosto (1455), visiting the Senegal, detected in 
this graveolent substance, fit only for wheel-axles, 
a threefold property, that of smelling like violets, 
of tasting like oil of olives, and tinging victuals 
like saffron, with a colour still finer. Even 
Mungo Park preferred the rancid tallow-like shea 
butter to the best product of the cow,, We chatted 
