Here they built the cathedral and monasteries of San Salvador, the ruins of which still exist, and by their influence extended the territory of the king of Congo.
On their expulsion, however, the kingdom gradually diminished, till its territory now includes little more than the neighborhood of the capital; though its king still controls several of the chief trade routes to the interior.
Portuguese West Africa is generally called the Province of Angola. It is divided from north to south into five districts. Each district has its chief town corresponding to it in name.
In former times the slave trade was the main traffic of this coast. Since the cessation of that traffic the ivory trade has also declined. The groundnut is now largely cultivated for the oil it yields. Coffee grows wild, cotton is cultivated, and palm oil is brought down the Kuanza River in considerable quantity. Iron has long been smelted in the district of Cazengo, a little north of the Kuanza, and copper and gold appear in small quantity in many parts.
Most of the smaller kinds of game abound, but the elephant has disappeared from the mountain districts.
The capital of the colony is St. Paul de Loanda. It is mainly a European town, situated on a fine bay. It has large houses roofed over with tiles. The open verandas, so characteristic of these houses, give an artistic and beautiful finish to them, and are a source of pleasure and comfort to the owners, since they give free admission to the cool sea breezes.
Benguela, a large port on the coast, was formerly one of the great slave marts, from which thousands of unfortunates were sent to Brazil and to the island of Cuba. Mossamedes lies farther south. It is a pretty town, built of stone houses and commanded by a fort. Ambriz is the northern port, but is sadly neglected, and presents a desolate picture of ruin and decay.
It is a matter of much interest to note the spread of Christianity in different sections of the dark continent, which, once shrouded in the gloom of superstition and barbarism, now receive the light of the Gospel. To quote from a daily paper:—
"Along the west coast of Africa there are now about two hundred and twenty-five churches, forty thousand converts, one hundred thousand adherents, three hundred schools, forty thousand pupils. Thirty-five languages or dialects have been mastered, and parts of the Bible and other books have been printed in these languages, while it is estimated that eight million of the natives have more or less knowledge of the gospel of Christ."