On the coast there are several “fetish men” who are believed to have power over the surf, and their aid is always invoked by the natives when it lasts long, or is so strong as to prevent them going out in their canoes to fish. There is a celebrated one at Musserra, and I have often seen him on the high cliff or point going through his incantations to allay the heavy surf; he has a special dress for the occasion, it being almost covered with shells and sea-weed; he is called the “Mother of the Water,” and his power is held in great dread by the natives. No white man can go to the Granite Pillar at Musserra without having propitiated him by a present. This one, however, being half idiotic, is a poor harmless black, but others are not so, and render themselves very troublesome to the white traders by working mischief against them amongst the natives. A young Englishman established at Ambrizzette, although well known to them for many years, having been formerly engaged amongst them in the slave trade, was obliged to escape from there for a time, in consequence of an epidemic of small-pox being ascribed by the “fetish men” as having been introduced into the country by him, in a jar!
Others take advantage of the dread the natives have of spirits, to commit robberies. One at Bembe robbed several houses during the absence of the white owners, by mewing like a cat, when, such was the fear of the blacks, that they instantly lay on the ground, face downwards, and covered their heads till he had gone away; meantime he had coolly walked in and helped himself to whatever he pleased;—in this way he went off with a trunk full of clothes from the doctor’s house, the servants not daring to lift up their heads as soon as they heard the mewing approaching, in the firm belief that they would be instantly struck dead if they even saw him. I heard this man mewing in the high grass behind my house one night, when I instantly fired a charge of small shot in the direction of the noise, and I did not hear him again till a few days after, when, having been captured by a Portuguese soldier whilst attempting to rob his hut, he was tied on a gun at the fort, and by a tremendous thrashing made to mew in earnest. All the blacks in the place went to see him punished, jeering at him, and telling him the white man’s “fetish” was stronger than his.
The negroes have great confidence in the power of “fetishes” to protect their houses, &c., from fire or other misfortune, and an instance that I witnessed at Bembe proves their blind faith in them. The Cabinda negroes who were working as washer-boys, &c., lived apart from the other natives, as they always do, in a little town or collection of huts by themselves; one afternoon one of these huts caught fire, and such was their belief in their “Manipanzos” as they call their “fetish” figures, to preserve the huts from fire, that they did nothing either to put it out, or to prevent the flames spreading; in a very short time the town was consumed, and the Cabindas lost the whole of their property; they ran about like madmen, throwing up their arms and crying out, and abusing the “Endochi” (their name for Endoqui) in Cabinda who had cheated them with useless “fetishes,” and vowed vengeance on him when they should return to their country.
The Mussurongo, Ambriz, and Mushicongo negroes, are much afraid of going about at night, unless there is moonlight; if one is sent with a message on a dark night, he always takes one or two more with him for protection, for fear of spirits.
As already noticed, when speaking of the present want of power of the King of Congo, there are no very great chiefs in the country from the River Congo to the district of Loanda, the most important or powerful being the King of N’Bamba and the “Dembo Ambuilla,” or King of Encoge. Every town has its own king and council, generally of ten or twelve of the oldest men, who are called “Macotas,” and who together administer the laws, settle disputes, &c. A king has no power by himself, the natives simply reverencing him as being invested with the “fetish” of chief, and he receives very little tribute from the natives of his own town; the fines and penalties levied he has also to divide with the “Macotas.”
In all the tribes of Angola that I am acquainted with, the office of king descends from uncle to nephew (or in want of nephew, to niece), but by the sister’s side, as, from what we call morals being but little understood by them, the paternity of any child is liable to very great doubt; but as a black once explained to me, “there is no doubt that my sister and myself came from the same mother, and there is no doubt, therefore, that my sister’s child must be my nephew.” This necessity for a positive or certain descent is very curious, as no record is kept of their pedigree or history.
The only division of time being into moons or months, and into dry and wet seasons, and no record of any kind being kept, blacks are quite unable to estimate their own age; servants keep an account of the months they are in service by tying a knot on a string for every moon.
Every king has a stick of office; this is in form like a straight, thick, smooth walking-stick, generally made of ebony, or of other wood dyed black, almost always plain, but sometimes carved with various patterns and ornamented with brass tacks, or inlaid with different designs in brass or tin plate. These sticks are always sent with a messenger from the king, and serve to authenticate the message. The principal insignia of the king’s office is the cap, which is hereditary. It resembles a short nightcap, and is made of fine fibre, generally that of the wild pineapple leaf, and some are beautifully woven with raised patterns. The king never wears it in the usual way, but on any occasion of ceremony it is carried on the head doubled in four. The “Macotas” also use the same kind of cap, but worn properly on the head, and, like the king, only on occasions of ceremony.
When a white man, travelling, stops to rest for meals, or to sleep at a town, it is usual for the king and “Macotas” to give him a ceremonious reception, for which the king dresses himself in his best, and when they are all assembled they send word to say that they are ready to make their compliments. The meeting is generally in front of the king’s hut, or else under the largest tree in the town (usually a baobab), where ceremonials have taken place from time immemorial. The king only is seated, another seat being placed at a little distance in front for the traveller. All the hammock-boys and servants belonging to the latter attend and squat behind him; on the king’s side is generally the whole available population of the town, for whom the occasion is an excitement, the front rows squatting on the ground, and the rest standing crowded together in a circle. The traveller’s retinue first begin by clapping hands to the king and “Macotas.” This is performed in a peculiar manner by hollowing both palms, as in the action of filling them with water, and then bringing them together crosswise, when a much louder and deeper sound is produced than by clapping the hands in the ordinary manner. The king returns the salute by extending the left hand before him horizontally, with the palm towards him, and placing the back of the right hand flat in the palm of the left, and the fingers projecting over it are then waved quickly in succession in that position. ([Plate V.], figs. 5, 6.) This is the universal manner of greeting in Angola between an inferior and superior of high rank; when the difference is not so great, as children to their parents, slaves to their masters, ordinary natives to their “Macotas,” &c., both clap their hands, but the inferior has to do it first, and both squat down for a moment to do it. A powerful king answers a salute by simply lifting his right hand, and waving his first and second finger only.
The king then speaks to one of the “Macotas” who can best translate his speech to the white man, welcoming him to the town, and inquiring after his health; the traveller then calls one of his attendants to act as interpreter, and returns the compliments, and makes the king a present of a few handkerchiefs and beads for his wives, but the ceremonial is not considered complete without the traveller presenting a bottle or a drink of wine or rum, which the king first partakes of, and then passes to the “Macotas;”—the white man then shakes hands with the king and takes his leave, the king always sending him some little present, generally a fowl or pig, for which, however, another present equal to its value is expected. It is not considered etiquette for the king to speak Portuguese on these occasions, however well he may know or understand it, but always to use his native language, and employ an interpreter; the white man must also employ an interpreter to translate his speech.