Joachim John Monteiro

“ It is a pity that philanthropy should blindly put so sudden a stop to a custom that has existed from time immemorial, and of which the evils are, in a country like Angola, exceedingly slight. The effect of this measure will be to destroy its nascent industry, the only means for its progress and development, and will plunge a great part of its population into helpless misery for years to come. ”

“ From the mental constitution of the race, and the impossibility of ameliorating the climate, I can see no hope of the negro ever attaining to any considerable degree of civilization, owing to his incapacity for spontaneously developing to a higher or more perfect condition, and the impossibility of the white race peopling his country in sufficient numbers to enforce his civilization; consequently, should science not discover a means for the successful combating of the African climate, the negro must ever remain as he has always been, and as he is at the present day. ”

“ Amongst uneducated men, I have found that Portuguese, Spaniards, and Italians enjoy better health than Englishmen or Germans, and have vastly more endurance and pluck in sickness than the latter. A Portuguese working man, soldier, or convict, will roll himself up and shiver and groan under a strong attack of fever or ague, and as soon as it is over will quickly go about his occupation without making any fuss or complaint, whereas the English miners, strong and powerful as navvies when well, were, as I have said before, pitiable sights under even a slight attack. ”

“ I have hardly alluded to the wonderful safety and absence of all risk or danger in travelling over almost any part of Angola, especially in those parts in the occupation of the Portuguese. The natives are everywhere civil if well treated; and if only good humour exists on the part of the traveller, and due allowance be made for the laziness and procrastination of the negro, no great inconvenience need ever be felt in going anywhere through the country. ”

“ All the public buildings are in an efficient state, a large extent of flat, stinking shore has been filled up and embanked, ruins of churches and monasteries cleared away, walks and squares laid out and planted, a large new market is being built, and good shops and stores are now abundantly supplied with every description of European goods; and if a good supply of water were brought to the city from the River Bengo, there would certainly not be a finer place to live in on the whole Western Coast of Africa. ”

“ In the mornings, the rising generation may be seen assembled in groups squatted on the ground, wrapped up in a cotton cloth manufactured in the country, and with a printed alphabet in their hands lazily learning their letters. No inducement that I could offer of pay or anything else, whilst I was exploring in Cambambe, would make them work, and as their style of living is exactly the same as that of other blacks, the plantations, tended by their women and female slaves, suffice them for their daily wants. ”

“ Our blind philanthropists crowd to hear the stereotyped tale of the missionary in Africa, and the greatest interest is taken in the efforts to ameliorate the assumed unhappy state of the much-pitied negro—who is lying in perfect enjoyment and nakedness under a magnificent sky, surrounded by exquisite scenery, supplied by nature with food without any work or trouble, and insensible alike to physical suffering and hardship, or mental worry and vexation. ”

“ The natives of Angola are specially fitted for the introduction of habits of industry and usages of civilization, as they are naturally of a peaceable, quiet, and orderly disposition. The difference between them and the natives of Sierra Leone and the rest of the West Coast is very striking and pleasing. They have none of the disgusting swagger, conceit, or cant of the former, but are invariably civil and kindly, and under a firm and enlightened policy they would become more really civilized and industrious than any other natives of the West Coast. ”

“ Those of a light-hearted and happy disposition, naturally disposed to make the best of circumstances, and whom no inconveniences or annoyances can rob for long of their good humour, are almost certain to enjoy their health on the South-West Coast, whilst those difficult to please, who worry themselves about every little unpleasantness, and who are irritable and unhappy under difficulties, are soon attacked by fever and ague, although apparently just as strong and healthy as the former. ”

“ The vendors, here again, are mostly women, and, as no booths are allowed to be put up, they wear straw hats with wide brims, almost as large as an ordinary umbrella, to shade themselves. Every kind of delicacy to captivate the negro palate and fancy is to be had here:—wooden dishes full of small pieces of lean, measly-looking pork; earthen pots full of cooked beans and palm-oil, retailed out in small platters, at so much a large wooden spoonful, and eaten on the spot ”

“ The natives of south Europe also make great use of two vegetable products, which I consider to be of great benefit in preserving health—the common tomato and garlic. The former, apart from what I believe to be its valuable medicinal properties, gives a delicious zest to every kind of cooked food from its slightly acid taste, often transforming an uninviting dish of cold meat, fowl, or fish, into a savoury mess, the very smell of which is sufficient to make one’s mouth water, and raise the enfeebled appetite. ”

“ Towards the end of the rainy season the white ant attains its perfect form, and on a still, warm evening, generally after a shower of rain, a wonderful sight presents itself when the perfect winged insects issue forth in countless myriads from the ground. ”

“ Public opinion is strongly opposed to ill-treatment of slaves, and there is a certain amount of rivalry in presenting household slaves, especially well-dressed, and with a healthy appearance, and even on the plantations inland, or removed from such influence, I never knew or heard of slaves being worked or treated in the hard and cruel manner in which they are said to have been in the Southern States of America, or at the present day in Cuba. It is easy for slaves in Angola to run away, and it is hardly worth while to take any steps to recapture them ”

“ A square at the back of the custom-house is the general market of Loanda, and presents a curious scene, from the great variety of articles sold, and the great excitement of buyers and sellers crying out their wares and making their purchases at the top of their voices. ”

“ It stands in a small, triangular, level plain surrounded by hills on all sides, the base of the triangle being the River Quanza and the low line of hills on its southern bank. From the configuration of the ground, shut in on all sides from winds, it is perhaps, as might be imagined, the hottest corner of Angola. The heat in a calm summer’s day is almost stifling, and the nights, generally cool everywhere else, are not less oppressive. Formerly the town was on the high land above, at Cambambe, as the town itself was called, but the exigencies of trade have peopled the present town of Dondo. ”

“ The natives beyond the River Dande speak the Congo language, and its dialects of Ambriz and Mossulo.
This large Bunda-speaking population offers points of great interest, and most strongly and favourably impresses the observer, auguring well for its future civilization as far as it can go. It speaks volumes for the superiority of this part of the negro species to know that very fair reading and writing in Portuguese has been handed down from father to son from the time of the former missionaries to the present day.
It is impossible not to admire and honour the wonderful work of those good men. ”

“ The climate of Angola is not so hot as might be expected from its latitude. Near the coast the sea-breeze, which sets in about nine or ten o’clock in the morning, and lasts till sunset or an hour later, always blows strongly, and consequently cools the burning rays of the sun in the hot season: it is very often too strong to be agreeable, blowing everything about in the houses, which always have the doors and windows open. The thermometer in the hot season is seldom more than 80° to 86° Fahrenheit in the shade during the day ”

“ The Portuguese in Angola as a rule rarely drink anything stronger than Lisbon red wine. Many undoubtedly drink a great deal more cold water than is necessary or good for them, as constantly drenching the stomach with water must weaken it greatly.
The English and other foreigners on the coast, on the contrary, make use of too much brandy and spirits, which is a principal cause of the sickness amongst them; but I am happy to say that drunkenness has very greatly decreased of late years. It would not be easy to see now such scenes as I have witnessed at Quissembo and Cabinda only a few years ago. ”

“ Only a very large number of cruisers on the Angolan coast could have prevented the shipment of slaves, as every man and woman, white or black, [Pg 184] was interested in the trade, and a perfect system of communication existed from all points, overland and by sea. The few foreigners who, like myself, were not interested in the slave-trade, knew better than to risk their lives by meddling with what it was absolutely impossible they could prevent. ”

“ If one of these birds should perch on a hut or on a tree within the enclosure of a town and sing, it is thought such a bad omen that the inhabitants vacate it and remove to another place. When the natives bring them in cages from the interior for sale on the coast, they never take them into the towns on the road for fear they should sing whilst in them, and at night the carrier, for the same reason, sleeps with his birds at some little distance from any town. ”

“ Angola is one of the penal settlements of Portugal, where capital punishment was abolished some years ago, and whence the choicest specimens of ruffians and wholesale assassins are sent to Loanda to be treated with the greatest consideration by the authorities. On arriving on the coast, some are enlisted as soldiers, but the more important murderers generally come provided with money and letters of recommendation that ensure them their instant liberty, and they start grog-shops, &c., where they rob and cheat, and in a few years become rich and independent and even influential personages. ”

“ The future production of coffee on the whole West Coast of Africa might be simply unlimited, as far as extent of ground eminently suitable for its cultivation is concerned: it becomes only a question of time and labour. The coffee plant is not the only one formerly introduced by the missionaries or Portuguese which has spread itself over a large extent of country in Angola, as I saw beautiful watercress growing wild most luxuriantly in several of the rivulets and wet places in Cazengo, and Dr. Welwitsch found parsley and fennel growing wild abundantly at Pungo Andongo. ”

“ Lisbon red wine, which has more body but is not stronger than claret, is unquestionably the best for this purpose.
When chilled with wet, exhausted by fatigue, or when the stomach and bowels are deranged by the heat, or bad food and water, brandy is worth its weight in gold, and is better and more efficacious than any medicine. It is all very well for strong, healthy people in Europe to cry down brandy because its use is abused, and because any fatigue they may undergo, in a comfortable manner, is easily dispelled at a good fire, with a cup of nice tea, buttered toast, and warm slippers ”

“ From the mouth of the river to Calumbo there are large mangrove marshes, and there is a native [Pg 117] town called Tumbo, the inhabitants of which are mostly engaged as pilots, mangrove wood-cutters, and fishermen.
The mangrove tree grows here to a large size, and is cut and sent to Loanda for beams, piles, &c.; the longer thin trees are also in great request for roof timbers, scaffoldings, and other uses. The mangrove is a very hard and heavy wood; a pole of it sinks in water almost like a bar of iron, and it is magnificent for fuel. ”

“ The palm forests resound with the cooing of innumerable doves, and are a favourite haunt of a white-headed eagle or vulture, complained of by the natives for the havoc that it commits on the palm-nuts, on which it is said chiefly to subsist. ”

“ It would be amusing to see so much imposing bombast in the custom-house of a little place like Loanda, depending on a lot of poor, ragged, and starving blacks for its preventive service, were it not so annoying to see the effect of the high duties in hindering the development of the riches of the country, whose commercial prosperity is at present the only remedy for the evils of its misgovernment. ”

“ The snake would continue to watch it with uplifted head till it passed close enough, when it would suddenly strike it a blow with incredible rapidity, the action being so instantaneous that I could never see how the fangs were projected forwards, or, in fact, how the blow was delivered. The poor rat would only give a small squeak on receiving the blow, run a few paces, then stagger, fall on its side, stretch itself out, and die after a few feeble convulsions. ”

“ It appeared that the lion had chased a cat on to the roof from an outhouse, and the roof being of a frail nature, had given way under his weight, but luckily the cries of the man and his wife so frightened the astonished beast, that he forced himself through the slender walls of the hut and ran away. ”

“ Seated gallantly on a restive horse, ‘round-hoofed, short-jointed, fetlocks shag and long, broad breast, full eye, small head, high crest, short ears, straight legs, thin mane, thick tail, tender hide, nostrils drinking the air,’ whose foams and yells made part of the spectators stand aghast—he, with excellent dexterity, skilfully contrived to be a match for him, and made his way to the spot at a graceful pace. ”

“ They look very comical when sitting on a tree, their soft feathers puffed out like those of an owl, and they raise and depress their crest feathers, uttering loud, long-drawn, unearthly cries, like the squall of a sick baby. ”

“ The coast, more particularly from the River San Nicolau, is deeply cut by ravines with almost perpendicular sides, and leading no great distance inland, evidently worn by the action of the water through the basalt and other friable rock. It makes travelling on foot hard work, as the usual road is near the sea and some of the walls of cliff are difficult and dangerous to ascend and descend. ”

“ Even the cows or goats are not milked except by the natives south of the River Quanza. In no part of Angola (and the same holds good, I believe, of the whole negro race) is a single animal employed in agriculture as a beast of burden, or for riding.
The burial places of the blacks of Angola are almost everywhere alike. A square place is raised about a foot from the ground, and the earth enclosed by short stakes or flat pieces of rock, and on this raised space broken bottles and crockery of every description are placed. ”

“ The starving millions of China and other parts of the East would find in Africa a congenial climate, and a bountiful reward for their industry, with the greatest benefit to themselves and the rest of mankind. ”

“ The negro is capable of being acted upon to a certain extent by the desire for something more than the absolute necessaries of life, to satisfy which he is willing to work a little. The country is so extensive, and the soil and natural productions so rich, that a very little exertion on the part of the population suffices to bring forth a considerable amount of produce; but another and more industrious race will have to take the place of the negro in Africa if its riches and capabilities are to be fully developed. ”

“ Before the war in America raised the price of cotton so high as to induce the Portuguese at Benguella and Mossamedes to plant cotton on a large scale, a great many slaves were employed in picking orchilla-weed, which grew abundantly on the trees and bushes within the influence of the sea air; and I knew men who had their two or three hundred slaves thus engaged, collecting as much as from two to three tons a day. ”

“ If a lion once tastes negro flesh, he prefers it to beef, and has been known to kill the black herdsman and not touch a head of his cattle.
The Portuguese in Angola are not valiant at lion-hunting. The proprietor of the large sugar-cane plantation at Equimina used to recount how he went out one night to shoot a lion that had devoured several of his slaves, and used to visit the cattle enclosure nightly. ”

“ They are found near the sea, between Mossamedes and Carumjamba. They do not keep sheep or cattle, or any live-stock whatever, and never cultivate the ground or build huts to live in. Their food is principally fish, which they catch with hook and line, and shellfish, particularly mussels, which are very abundant and fine on the rocks, and oysters. They cook their food by roasting it at a fire, and at night they each make a small half circle of stones about a foot high, against which they curl up like dogs as a shelter from the wind, very often on the bare tops of the cliffs overhanging the sea. ”