When D. Barbara died, on March 24th, 1666, her husband, D. Antonio Carrasco Nzinga a mona, killed the legitimate heir, D. João Guterres Ngola kanini, and usurped the throne, but was himself slain in a battle against D. Francisco Guterres Ngola kanini, in 1680. The conqueror then attacked the allies of the Portuguese, robbed the pumbeiros, and beheaded the Jaga Kasanji (1682).[494] Luiz Lopez de Sequeira at once took the field against him with five hundred and thirty infantry, thirty-seven horse, and ten thousand empacaceiros, and defeated him at Katole, a place within three days of the Royal kabasa. The King himself lost his life, but so did the leader of the Portuguese[495] and Vasco de Mello da Cunha. João Antonio de Brito, who took the command after his leader’s death, remained encamped for thirty days on the site of the battle; and finding that the enemies did not return, retired to Mbaka; from which we may judge that the Portuguese, too, suffered heavy losses. D. Veronica (or Victoria) Guterres, the sister of the late King, sued for peace, which was readily granted. Fresh complications threatened in 1689, when the Queen was charged—falsely, it appears—with having stirred up the soba Kahenda to rebel against his Portuguese masters; but matters were arranged through the intervention of bishop D. João Franco de Oliveira. No further trouble seems to have occurred with the successors of Queen Nzinga until 1744, when the Queen[496] provoked a war by killing a white trader and robbing pumbeiros: the result of which was the capture of her capital by Bartholomeu Duarte de Sequeira, and the cession of the Kinalunga Islands to Portugal.[497]
The Last of the Kings of Ndongo, 1671.
We have seen that D. João de Souza Ngola ari had been installed as the first King of Ndongo, recognised by the Portuguese (see p. 164), about 1627, and had been succeeded by D. Filippe de Souza, who died in 1660, and by João II. The hope that this tributary would prove a staunch ally of the Portuguese was not to be realised, for immediately after the disastrous campaign against Sonyo (see p. 131), in 1670, D. João Ngola ari raised the standard of rebellion, and invaded the district of Mbaka. The Governor, Francisco de Tavora,[498] a future Viceroy of India, who on account of his youth (he was only 23 years of age) and supposed prudence had been nick-named o menino prudente, despatched his captain-major, Luiz Lopes de Sequeira, to reduce the rebel to obedience. Ngola ari met with a defeat on the river Luchilu, close to the Pedras of Pungu a ndongo, which were considered impregnable. Yet, on a dark night, on November 18th, 1671, Manuel Cortes, the leader of the guerra preta, surprised this rocky stronghold. The King himself was taken, and beheaded as a traitor. Thenceforth there was no further need for punitive expeditions on a large scale.[499]
Relations with Kongo.
No sooner had the Portuguese regained possession of S. Paulo than the King of Kongo was called to account for having sided with the Dutch and favoured the operations of “foreign” Capuchins. A threatened invasion of his kingdom (1649) speedily led to the conclusion of a treaty of peace (see p. 126). But as the supposed gold and silver mines were not ceded, as promised, the Portuguese once more invaded the country, and in the bloody battle of Ulanga, in 1666, the King lost his life and crown (p. 129). From that time to the close of the century anarchy reigned in Kongo. The disastrous expedition against Sonyo in 1670 (see p. 131) was partly undertaken in order to support one of the many rival kings of that period.
Minor Punitive Expeditions, 1658-95.
João Fernandes Vieira, who had gained fame as the leader of the Portuguese patriots in Brazil, where the capture of Pernambuco had won him the surname of o hero de nossa edade, arrived as Governor on April 18th, 1658, and before the close of the year, a serious rebellion broke out in Upper Ngulungu. The captain-major, Bartholomeu de Vasconcellos, took the field, and compelled Ngolome a kayitu (Golome Acaita), to surrender his rocky stronghold after a siege of four months; Tanga a ngongo submitted quietly, but Kiluanji kia kanga (Quiloange Acango), faced the Portuguese four times, and then retired inland without yielding submission.
A second expedition, in the same year, traversed the districts to the south of the Kwanza.[500] It started from Masanganu, and having crossed the Kwanza into Hako was joined by Ngunza mbambe;[501] it entered the district of Kabeza, where the Jaga of Rimba brought further reinforcements. Jaga Ngonga ka anga, the chief of Nsela (Shella), on the river Kuvu, surrendered his capital, Kangunza, by the advice of his diviners, without striking a blow, and submitted to be baptised. The expedition then returned to Mbaka by way of the river Gango and Tamba; whilst Cavazzi, who accompanied it as chaplain, took a more direct road through Kabeza.