Angola and the River Congo, vol. 2

by Joachim John Monteiro

In almost every complaint the natives first apply this plant as a remedy. For internal pains of every kind it is taken as decoction, or the crushed plant rubbed over the seat of the pain; for blows, swellings, and bruises, a poultice of the fresh plant is employed. When the back aches from carrying a heavy load, &c., fresh leaves are rubbed on the spine, and a handful of the crushed plant is placed between the skin and the waistcloth. In cases of headache, the crushed plant is rubbed over the head, and plugs of the leaves inserted in the capacious nostrils; for this pain they also paint the forehead with the milky juice of the mandioca-plant, and place one or more white dots on the temples of “pemba” or white clay. A shrub growing near streams, called “Entuchi” (the botanical name of which I know not), the leaves and young shoots of which, when freshly crushed, exhale a delicious smell of bitter almonds, is also used to plug the nostrils in cases of headache.

There is remarkably little diarrhœa or dysentery in Angola, either amongst the natives or whites. The treatment for it adopted by the natives consists exclusively in taking decoctions of various astringent and aromatic plants.

The principal are “Empebi,” the aromatic seeds of the Anona muricata; “Mucozo,” the thick, fleshy, rose-coloured bark of a large, handsome fig-tree, and very strongly astringent; the “Jindungo N’Congo” (Congo-pepper), the carpels of the Xylopia æthiopica, with a disagreeable, resinous taste; “Ensacu-sacu,” the small, knobby roots of a plant growing in marshy places, and with a strong smell of turpentine, and the roots and stems of the Hydnora already described.

A singular disease of a dysenteric character, and peculiar to the blacks, is called “maculo,” and is quickly fatal if not attended to promptly, when it is easily cured. It commences with strong diarrhœa, but its chief characteristic is the production in the anal orifice, both internally and externally, of little ulcers containing maggots. The native method of treatment is quickly efficacious, and consists in plugging the orifice with a wad of crushed “Herva Santa Maria” dipped in strong rum and ground gunpowder, and any kind of astringent medicine is given at the same time. This disease was very prevalent in the slave barracoons; and I was told that at the French depot at Banana, when they shipped some thousands of blacks some years ago under the name of “free emigrants,” the slaves were dying at the rate of fifty and sixty each day from this disease, whilst under the care of the French surgeons; but that when these left from ill health, and the slaves were entrusted to the care of black medicine-men skilled in the treatment of “maculo,” the deaths decreased immediately to a very small number.

This disease is due to overcrowding and improper food; but change of place will also produce it. Slaves from the interior mostly have it on coming into possession of the white man, when it is probably induced by the change from their usual poor food to the very much better sustenance given them by their new masters.

Sores and ulcers on the feet and legs are extremely common, and are troublesome to heal, whether in natives or Europeans. The blacks use a variety of remedies, and are sometimes very successful in the cure of stubborn cases.

I had a boy at Bembe called “Brilhante” (Brilliant), about fourteen years of age, a fine, sharp little fellow, the son of a “capata” or head-man of a number of carriers from the town of Musserra. A fetid ulcer appeared on his leg, and I put him in the military hospital under the doctor’s care, where he remained for three months without the least improvement, although every care was taken of him, and every remedy employed that could be thought of. At last, his father said he would take him to the coast, and see whether the native treatment could cure him. Two months after, he returned to Bembe, bringing me little Brilhante perfectly cured. Our doctor was astounded, but although I offered the boy’s father a large reward if he would obtain for me the plants, &c., employed by the medicine-man, he never did. Their principal remedy, however, is powdered malachite, with or without lime-juice. Lime-juice is also used by itself, or with powdered “mubafo” or gum elemi, which is very abundant in the Mushicongo country. Poultices and decoctions made of crushed “Herva Santa Maria,” and of various other plants, are also applied to the sores, which are protected from dust and flies by a piece of rag, or very often by a light shield made from a piece of dry gourd. Ointments are never made use of by the natives in the treatment of ulcers, and they are not much in favour with the Portuguese.

From the sudden fall of the high temperature of the hot season to the “cacimbo” the natives, as might be expected, suffer most from diseases of the respiratory organs. No provision whatever is made by the bulk of the natives against this great change, and the quick transition from the clear warm nights of the hot season to the cold wet ones of the “cacimbo,” when the ground is covered with a heavy mist, tells on their nearly naked and unprotected bodies with terribly fatal effect. In fact, by far the greater part of the blacks die from this cause; and so true is this, that it is rare to see a white-headed native in Angola.

There is no doubt that this is a wise provision of nature for keeping down the otherwise excessive numbers of the human animal in that country, and it is certainly more natural and merciful than the supplementary measures adopted by themselves, of poisoning by “casca” or otherwise killing one another for “fetish” or witchcraft, or in times of famine. Should the negro race ever be civilized, they must be taught to be more industrious, or else means must be adopted to enable the teeming millions to seek work and food in other countries; subjects, I am afraid but too little regarded by philanthropists in their present anxious solicitude for the welfare of these lazy, happy brutes.

It is a wonderful scene when travelling with a caravan in the “cacimbo” season, to see perhaps two or three hundred blacks wake up in the cold misty mornings, and crouch in circles of ten or a dozen together round a fire, shivering and chattering their teeth. It is then that they enjoy smoking the “diamba” (Cannabis sativa), which is the name they give to the wild-hemp, the flowering tops of which are collected and dried for this purpose. It is burnt in a straight clay-pipe bowl inserted in the closed end of a long gourd, in which is contained a small quantity of water, and through which the smoke is forced and washed when the open end of the gourd is put to the mouth and suction applied. ([Plate XIV.]) Four or six long deep inspirations from the gourd are as much as a man can bear of the disagreeable acrid smoke, which makes them cough and expectorate as if their lungs were coming out of their mouths. The gourd is rapidly passed from one to another in each circle, and the mighty chorus of violent coughing and hawking lasts for about ten minutes or a quarter of an hour. The effects of the wild hemp (from which the “hasheesh” of other countries is prepared) are curious, and appear to be different from those described as attending its use in other parts of the world. There is no intoxicating effect produced, but, on the contrary, the blacks affirm that it wakes them up and warms their bodies, so that they are ready to start up with alacrity, take up their loads, and trot off quickly.