Angola and the River Congo, vol. 2

by Joachim John Monteiro

I have always observed that an educated man has a great advantage over one who is without education, in resisting disease on the coast; this shows very strongly the preservative action of the healthy and active mind.

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.

The reason for the greater immunity enjoyed by the natives of southern over those of northern Europe from attacks of fever and ague, may be due not only to the fact of that race inhabiting a hot climate, but also to their mode of living and greater sobriety.

Their cookery is infinitely better adapted to a climate like that of Africa than ours; their soups, stews, and made dishes more or less highly seasoned, or condimented, give less trouble to the stomach naturally debilitated by the action of the climate, and present the food in a better condition for easy digestion, than the solid ill-cooked masses of roast or boiled meat preferred by the English—always freshly killed, and rarely of good quality or in proper condition, from the impossibility of hanging it long enough to allow it to get tender without being tainted. 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.

A common and very delicious dish on the coast is called “muqueca,” and is thus prepared: the bottom of a frying-pan is covered with sliced tomatoes, on these a layer of small fish is put, or pieces of larger fish, and some salt; a little salad-oil is poured over the whole, and lastly the fish is covered with thin slices of bread. No water is added, the tomatoes and fish supplying quite enough liquid to cook the whole, which is allowed to stew slowly till done. It should be made hot to taste with green chilies, cut up and added with the salt. Cold fried-fish is equally good for making a “muqueca,” which is always served at table in the frying-pan, or, better still, flat earthen pan in which it has been cooked. A plate or close cover over the pan whilst cooking the “muqueca” is desirable, as it keeps in the moisture better, and the bread becomes nice and soft in the rich gravy. The proportion of tomato to fish is soon ascertained by practice, but it is never a fault to have too much of the former.

Garlic I consider a most valuable article of food in a hot climate, especially eaten raw. I never travelled without a supply of garlic, and I found its beneficial effects on the stomach and system most marked. When very hungry and fatigued I have found nothing to equal a few pieces of raw garlic, eaten with a crust of bread or a biscuit, for producing a few minutes after a delightful sensation of repose, and that feeling of the stomach being ready to receive food, generally absent when excessive emptiness or exhaustion is the case.

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.

I was at the former place when an Englishman died from the effects of intemperance a few hours after his arrival from Cabinda, where a three days’ orgie had been held to bid him good-bye previous to his return to England.

His body was laid on a table, candles were lit all round it, and a kind of wake held nearly all night, during which time two casks of bottled ale and several cases of spirits were consumed amongst not more than a dozen people. In the morning a hole was dug in the sand, and the body, in a wooden coffin, lowered into it, whilst the few English in the place stood around, most of them crying, and held by their black servants to prevent them from falling into the grave, the effects of the wake not allowing them to be sufficiently steady to stand without assistance. An American, since dead, poor fellow! tried to read the burial service, but he was obliged to give up the task, his utterance being most amusingly choked with sobs and hiccups.