Both the River Bengo and the River Dande are greatly infested by alligators, and a curious idea prevails amongst all the natives of Angola, that the liver of the alligator is a deadly poison, and that it is employed as such by the “feiticeiros” or “fetish”-men.
The Manatee is also not uncommon in these rivers;—this curious mammal is called by the Portuguese “Peixe mulher” or woman fish, from its breasts being said to resemble those of a woman. Near the mouth of the Dande this animal is sometimes captured by enclosing a space, during the high tides, with a strong rope-net made of baobab fibre, so that when the tide falls it is stranded and easily killed. I was never so fortunate as to see one of these animals, and am therefore unable to describe it from personal observation, but it is said to be most like a gigantic seal. I once saw a quantity of the flesh in a canoe on the River Quanza, and was told that the greater part had been already sold, and I had given me a couple of strips of the hide of one that had been shot in the River Loge at Ambriz. These strips are about seven feet long and half an inch thick, of a yellowish colour, and semi-transparent. They are used as whips, being smooth and exceedingly tough. The flesh is good eating, though of no particular flavour, and is greatly liked by the natives. The marshes and lagoons about the River Bengo are full of wild duck and other water-fowl, and are favourite sporting places of the officers of the English men-of-war when at Loanda. The Portuguese, not having the love of sport greatly developed, seldom make excursions to them.
The country from the Bengo to Loanda rises suddenly, and the coast line is high and bold, but the soil is very arid and sandy, the rocks being arenaceous, evidently of recent formation, and full of casts of shells.
There is much admixture of oxide of iron, and some of the sandy cliffs and dunes close to Loanda are of a beautiful red from it. The vegetation is, as might be expected, of a sterile character, being principally coarse grass, the Sanseviera Angolensis, a few shrubs, euphorbias, and a great number of giant baobabs. Though the vegetation is comparatively scarce, birds of several species are common; different kinds of doves are especially abundant, as are several of the splendidly coloured starlings; kingfishers are very common, and remarkable for their habit of choosing a high and bare branch of a tree to settle on, from whence, in the hottest part of the day, they incessantly utter their loud and plaintive whistle, and, after darting down on the grasshoppers and other insect prey, return again to the same branch.
The exquisitely coloured roller (Coracias caudata) is also very common in the arid country surrounding Loanda.
The pretty runners (Cursorius Senegalensis, and C. bisignatus, n. sp.) are also seen in little flocks on the sandy plains, and are most elegant in their carriage as they swiftly run along the ground. Two or three species of bustards are also common.
The great road from the interior skirts the River Bengo for some miles to the bar, where it turns south to Loanda; and the last resting or sleeping place for the natives carrying produce is at a place called Quifandongo, consisting of a row of grog-shops and huts on either side of the road.
It is a curious sight to see hundreds of carriers from the interior lying down on the ground in the open air, each asleep with his load by his side. A march of two hours brings them to a slope leading down to the bay, at the end of which Loanda is built.
CHAPTER II.
CITY OF LOANDA—NATIVES—SLAVERY—CONVICTS—THEATRE AND MORALS.
The city of St. Paul de Loanda is situated in a beautiful bay, backed by a line of low, sandy cliff that at its southern end sweeps outward with a sharp curve, and terminates at the water’s edge in a bold point, on which is perched the Fort of San Miguel ([Plate X.]).