Chapter 8

142In a marginal note, Purchas says that the King’s wives are calledMacomes. Such a title is known neither to Mr. Dennett nor to Mr. Phillips. Macome is probably a misprint for Maconda, the title borne, according to Dapper, p. 522, by the king’s “mother.”Nkondi, according to Bentley, is a title of nobility.

143Mr. Dennett informs me that, still at the present day, when the King (Maloango) or ratherNganga nvumbu, drinks in state, he covers his head with a cloth, so that the public may not see him drink. On ordinary occasions, however, this custom is no longer observed.

144The heads of all families eat alone; that is, they eat first, and their wives and children afterwards. Maloango still observes the same custom, with hisma sa vi, or house-steward, as the sole attendant (Dennett).

145Bensa may be a corruption of the Portuguesebanca, a table. Mr. Dennett does not know the word.

146Not Sambe and Pongo, but Nzambi-ampungu!Nzambiis the name by which God is known;Nzambi-ampungumeans the Most High (Supreme) God (Bentley,Life on the Congo, 1887, p. 62).

147The rains begin in October and last till April, being heaviest from November to March. They are very irregular. Thus, in February 1874, 2.2 ins. fell at Chinchosho; in the same month, 1875,12.0 ins.; but in 1876 only 0.2 ins.

148Ensaka, according to D. Lopez (Pigafetta), a stuff resembling velvet.

149TheNdambais no drum, as understood by Purchas, but a musical instrument made out of a piece of palm stem, about 4 or 5 ft. long. This is split down one side, the soft centre is then scooped out, and the edges of the split cut into notches. By rubbing these notches energetically with a stick, a loud rasping noise is produced (Monteiro,Angola, vol. ii, p. 139: Cordeiro da Matta,Diccionario, p. 118).

150An ivory trumpet (see note, p. 15).

151Battell seems to be mistaken. Mr. Dennett informs me that Maloango asNgangu nvumbu(see note 44) collects the offerings of his people, and sends them with a petition for rain to the great rain-doctor,Nganga m Bunzi, in Ngoyo. He has never heard that Maloango had usurped the functions of the great rain-doctor by shooting an arrow to the sky. Abbé Proyart (Hist. de Loango, c. 13), says that the Maloango being desirous of not committing himself, orders one of his ministers to make rain.

152Mr. Dennett tells me thatNdunduwhen born are thrown into the bush. During his long residence in Africa he has only seen one, and that was at Kinsembo, eighteen years ago. Proyart (Histoire de Loango, Paris, 1819, p. 150) says that these albinos are held higher than the Gangas, are looked upon almost as “divine,” and that their hair is valued as giving protection against accidents. See also p.81.

153Mukishi à Loango, the fetish or “charm” of Loango.Checockeis identical with Dapper’sKikoko(Africa, Amsterdam, 1671, p. 535). Dapper’s account is not derived from Battell.

154According to Mr. Bentley, hysteria is very common in this country. For the account of the ravings of a witch-doctor, seePioneering, vol. i, p. 271.

155Mr. Dennett informs me that the underground speaking fetish in Loango is at the present time calledBoio, and is found at Chilunga. He suggests thatNgumbirimay be a river spirit, orNkishifrom the country north of Mayumba. Dr. Bastian paid a visit to the holy place of the underground oracle ofNgoionear Moanda, known asMbunzi, which only speaks on the accession of a king, whom he instructs as to his royal duties (Die Deutsche Expedition, vol. i, p. 85, 223).

156The mami (mwana, or princes) mentioned by Battell are those of Chibanga, Selanganga (of the family of the Petra Praia of Kenga), Mbuku, and Kaya, in Chikamba. (R. E. Dennett, on the law of succession, see note on p. 44.)

157Mani Lombe is a man’s name: at least, at the present time, and is never given to a woman. It means “One who is peaceful and quiet.” No special name or title is borne by the mother of the successors of Maloango (R. E. Dennett); but as Lumbu means stockade, palace, or chiefs house, Battell may have mistaken a word applied to this woman’s residence for that of her title. Lombo means a person supposed to be an incarnation of a shimbi, or water-fairy.

158Palm-cloth (see note, p. 9).

159Dr. Bastian visited the Royal graves at Loangiri, or Loangele, and found each grave marked by a tusk. The visitors pulled out grass around the tomb and poured libations of rum upon the bare ground (Die Deutsche Expedition an der Loango-Küste, Berlin, 1874, vol. i, p. 69).

160This may be quite true of earlier times, when Europeans were looked upon as great wizards, who rose out of the sea and were returned to that element when they died. At present, however, a burial-place is set apart for them, and is looked after by the Petra Praia (Salanganga), an office created since the arrival of the Portuguese for the purpose of looking after the affairs of the white men (R. E. Dennett).

161There is some confusion here. Angeca is evidently the Anziki or Anzique of D. Lopez and others, now represented by the Banteke, on Stanley Pool. The word may be derived fromanseke, far or distant. The proper name of the tribe is Atio (A. Sims,Kiteke Vocabulary, 1886).Mococke(Makoko) is a title. Bongo is evidently the country of the Obongo of Du Chaillu, the Babongo of Lenz, Bastian, and Falkenstein: a race of dwarfs between the coast and the Banteke, varying in stature between 51 and 56 ins. Compare note, p. 59.

162Identical with Chinkanga, on the river Juma, where the French have a post, Wemba.

163The river Kuilu, 4° 28´ S.

164As duas moutas(the two corpses) of Juan de la Cosa’s map (1500), near the mouth of the Kuilu.

165Fifteen miles carry us to the Longebonda of the Admiralty Chart, 4° 20´ S.. which has very little water in it at the most favourable time of the year (Africa Pilot, vol. ii, 1893, p. 136), but the river meant is evidently the Numbi, which enters Chilunga (Kilonga) Bay in 4° 13´ S., a mere stream (Deutsche Loango Expedition).

166Yumba is the name of the country.Mayumba(Mani Yumba) means chief of Yumba. The Bay of Mayumba, 3° 19´ S., lies about 10 miles to the south of Cape Mayumba, which is undoubtedly the Cabo Negro of Battell.

167Dyewoods are still an article of export, but not logwood (see note, p. 43.)

168The Banya, a lagoon extending to the south-east, parallel with the coast.

169TheMpunguis the gorilla. ForEngeco(printedEncegoin the earlier editions) we ought to readNsiku, the native name for the chimpanzi, a larger variety of which is known asChimpenso(Pechuel-Loesche,Loango Expedition, vol. iii, p. 248). P. Du Chaillu, the first European to kill a gorilla in his native haunts (Adventures in Equatorial Africa), declares Battell’s stories to be mere traveller’s tales, “untrue of any of the great apes of Africa.” Sir R. F. Burton (Two Trips to Gorilla Land, vol. i, p. 240) suggests that as Battell had not seen a gorilla, he may have confounded gorillas with bushmen.

170Misprint for Mayumbas?

171Dr. Pechuel-Loesche (D. Loango Exp., vol. iii, p. 302) says that native dogs donotbark, but that they often acquire the habit when living among European dogs. Most of them are mongrels, but there are some superior breeds trained for hunting. These dogs carry a wooden bell (ndibu) round the neck, the clatter of which scares the game. When the scent grows warm, the dogs begin to whine, and when the game is in sight they give tongue. After each beat the dogs sit down apart from the hunters, raise their heads, and howl for several minutes. Mr. Dennett, in a letter to me, confirms the barking (kukula, to bark) of the native dogs.

172See p.82for further information on this fetish.

173Neither Mr. Dennett, nor one of the officials in the French Colonial Office, thoroughly acquainted with the language, has been able to make sense out of this sentence. The latter suggestsKu Kwiza bukie lika, “I come for the truth!” For another version of this appeal, see p. 83. The sentence is evidently very corrupt.

174Circumcision is common in some districts, but no magical or mystic influence is ascribed to it (Bentley).

175For an account of the initiation into the guild calledNdembo, see Bentley’sDictionary, p. 506.

176The custom of prohibiting certain food to be eaten, etc., is very common.Mpanguis the name for this taboo in the case of new-born infants;Konko, a taboo imposed in connection with an illness. The thing tabooed is callednlongo(Bentley).

177This refers no doubt to Sette, the river of which enters the sea in 2° 23´ S. The capital of the same name being fifty miles up it. Barwood is still exported, but no logwood.

178His modern representative seems to be the Mani Kasoche on the Upper Ngonga, who was visited by Güssfeldt.

179Not to be taken literally, for Cão certainly touched at this bay.

180The usual designation for “Dwarf” ismbakaorkimbakabaka(the diminutive ofmbaka), butBatumba(with which Battell’smatimbaseems to be identical) is likewise applied to a dwarf person or thing (Bentley). In Angola,Matumbumeans a far-off, unknown country (Cordeiro da Matta). Compare note, p. 52.

181“Marombos” seems to be a misprint for Mayumbas (see note, p. 55).

182The Mamboma is a sort of home secretary. He buries the Maloango, and summons the princes for the election of a successor.Mbomais the black python;bomameans fear. Hence the title has been translated “Lord of Terror.”

183Mbundu, the powdered root of a species of strychnos, is administered to confessed witches accused of having caused the death of a person. If the accused be guilty, this poison causes him to lose all control over thesphincter urethræ; he discharges red urine profusely, runs a few paces, falls down and dies. An innocent person only discharges a few drops on a banana leaf (Pechuel-Loesche,Loango Exp., vol. iii, p. 188).Nkasa, prepared from the bark ofErythrophlaeum guineense, paralyses the action of the heart, but if thrown up at once, it will not kill (Dr. M. Boehr,Correspon. der Deutschen Afrik. Ges., vol. i, p. 332). It is administered to persons who deny being witches. (For a full account of such a trial, see Dennett,Seven Years Among the Fjort, p. 165.) In the case of minor offences, the ordeal of the hot matchet—bikalo,bisengo, orbau—is resorted to. The knife is passed thrice over the skin of the leg, and if it burns the accused is declared guilty (see also Dennett,Notes on the Folk-Lore of the Fjort, p. 162). The Nganga is, of course, open to a bribe, and in the case of a chief the poison may be administered to a substitute—a dog or a slave—and the penalty commuted to a fine. See also Bentley’sPioneering on the Congo, London, 1900.

184The poison administered in this case wasnkasa, and notmbundu(see p. 80).

185Ndoki, a witch;undoki, that which pertains to witchcraft (Bentley).

186That is,Purchas his Pilgrimage, or Relations of the World, bk. vii, ch. 10, dealing with Loango.

187Worthy Purchas grows quite incoherent in his indignation, but the reader will nevertheless be able to gather his meaning, and will appreciate his distinction between a Jewish priest and a heathenNganga, both administering the same rite. He thus shares the opinion of the Roman Catholic missionaries who recognised the efficacy of native charms, but ascribed it to the Devil, whilst claiming greater potency for their crosses, relics, etc., deriving their potency from Heaven.

188The poison ordeal, which required a woman suspected of infidelity to her husband to drink “bitter water” administered by the Jewish priest, is here referred to. This ordinance, of course, was not applicable in case of a similar offence charged against a husband (Numbers v, 12-31).

189Valdez (Six Years in Angola, vol. ii, p. 130) calls this ordealquirigué tubia(Kiriké tubia), and says that the hot hatchet may be applied to any part of the person. The meaning ofkiriis truth; oftubia, fire. Purchas is evidently mistaken when he calls this procedureMotamba, fortambiormutambiis a kind of funeral feast or wake. The body having been buried, and potsherds, pipes, and other articles placed on the grave, the mourners devour a roast pig, the skull of which is afterwards thrown into a neighbouring river.

190Illness and death are frequently ascribed to witchcraft. If a disease does not yield to medical treatment by aNganga a moko, thenganga a ngombo, or witch-doctor, is called in with his fetish. He may ascribe the death to natural causes, or to a charm worked by a person recently deceased and beyond his reach; or he may denounce one or more persons as witches. The persons thus denounced are compelled to submit to the poison ordeal (see, among others, Dennett’sSeven Years among the Fjort, and hisFolk-Lore).

191Garcia Mendes de Castellobranco, p. 33, says, in 1621, that hens abounded and also goats and sheep, but that cows were rare.

192Zebras are still found in Benguella, but not any longer in Angola or Congo. Duarte Lopez, p. 49, speaks of a “pet zebra” (in Bamba?) which was killed by a “tiger.” Further on he says that zebras were common, but had not been broken in for riding. M. Garcia Mendez likewise mentions the “zebra.” The native name isngolo(Kangolo). “Zebra” is a corruption of its Abyssinian appellation.

193Tandale, in Kimbundu, means councillor or minister of asobaor kinglet;tumba’ndalawas an old title of the Kings of Angola, and may be translated Emperor (Cordeiro da Matta,Diccionario).

194All this is borne out by Portuguese documents. From the very beginning, Dias de Novaes handed over the Sovas to the mercy of his fellow-adventurers and the Jesuits. The system was still in force in 1620 when Garcia Mendez de Castellobranco proposed to King Philip a “regimen de aforamento” of the native chiefs, which would have yielded a revenue of fifteen million Reis, and would, at the same time, afforded some slight protection to the natives. Those who would have profited most largely by these “reforms” would have been the Jesuits.

195According to Dr. Pechuel-Loesche (Die Loango Expedition, vol. iii, p. 279), this seems to be the cowfish of the whalers, orTursions gillii, Dale. The natives call itngulu-mputu(ngulu, hog-fish;-mputu, Portugal). He says that the natives will not suffer this fish to be injured, as it drives other fish ashore and into their nets; and that if one of these fish were to be wounded or killed they would stop away for ever so long. The Rev. W. M. Holman Bentley, in hisDictionary of the Kongo Language, says that thengolaof the natives is a bagre, or catfish. A gigantic bagre, 8 ft. in length, is found in the Upper Coanza (Monteiro,Angola, vol. ii, p. 134). Mr. Dennett suggests theChialambu, a kind of bream, which is said to chase other fish;Mboa,Mbwa, orImboacertainly means dog, and is not the name of a fish.

196Massa-ngo, thePenisetum typhoideum, introduced from abroad. It is themilho, or millet, of the Portuguese (see Capello and Ivens,Benguella, vol. i, p. 103; vol. ii, p. 257).

197Massa-mballaissorghum(Ficalho). A white variety is known asCongo-mazzo.

198This isluku, orEleusine coracana, introduced from Asia. It is extensively grown in Abyssinia and among the Niamniam (Schweinfurth,The Heart of Africa, vol. i, p. 248; Ficalho,Plantas uteis, p. 41).

199Massa-mamputo, or Grão de Portugal, isZea mayz, introduced from America (Ficalho). See note, p.7.

200This is the ground-nut (Arachis hypogaea), or underground kidney bean. Its native name isngubaormpinda. According to Ficalho, p. 142, it was introduced from America, whileVoandzeia subterranea, calledvieloin Angola, is certainly indigenous. The seeds of the latter are smaller and less oleaginous than those ofArachis, and hence its commercial value is less.

201Wandu(of Congo) is thembaraziof the Swahili, theCajanus indicusof botanists. It is grown all over Africa, and Welwitsch considers it indigenous. In Angola a variety is known asnsonje(Ficalho, p. 143; Burton,Two Trips to Gorilla Island, vol. ii, p. 119).

202In a marginal note to his reprint of Pigafetta’s book (p. 1005), Purchas quotes Battell as confirming Lopez when he states, with regard to theCola(c. acuminata, R. Br.), that “the liver of a hen, or of any other like bird, which putrified and stinketh, being sprinkled over with the juice of this fruit (theCola), returneth into its former estate, and becometh fresh and sound again.”

203See note, p.24.Monteiro (vol. ii, 165) confirms that hives are securely placed in the branches of a tree, theBaobabbeing chosen in preference.

204A misprint fromInganda, i.e.,Nsanda, banyan.

205The three kinds of palm are, the wine-palm (Raphia); the oil-palm (Elaeis); and the date-palm (Phœnix).

206Lubámbu(in Kimbundu);luvambu(in Congoese) means a chain. Dr. Lacerda says that aLibambowas made of sufficient length to hold twelve slaves (The Lands of Cazembe, ed. by Burton, London; 1873, p. 18).

207For hisRelations, see Purchas, lib.VI.ch. viii.

208Domingos d’Abreu de Brito, in a memoir addressed in 1592 to King Philip, states that 52,000 slaves were exported from Angola to Brazil and the Spanish Indies between 1575 and 1591, and 20,131 during the last four years of this period (Paiva Manso,Hist. do Congo, p. 140). Cadornega, quoted by the same author, estimates the number of slaves annually exported between 1580 and 1680 at eight or ten thousand (ib., p. 287).

209Recte,Engenho, a mill, and in Brazil more especially a sugar mill.

210Turner says, in hisRelations, p. 1243, that John de Paiis (sic) owned ten thousand slaves and eighteen sugar mills.

211Manuel Cerveira Pereira was Governor 1603-7 (see p. 37).

212Carvalho (Ethnographia, pp. 248, 258) describes trophies of these as also trophies of war, built up of the skulls of enemies killed in battle. Bastian (Loango Expedition, vol. i, p. 54) saw a fossil tusk, which was looked upon as a fetish, around which were piled up the horns of oxen, and the teeth and skulls of hippopotami.

213Libations are a common practice. Dr. Bastian (Loango Expedition, vol. i. p. 70) observed libations of rum being poured on the royal graves at Loangiri; Capello and Ivens (Benguella, vol. i, p. 26) say that the Bandombe, before they drink spirits, pour a portion on the ground, as a libation toNzambi; whilst in Congo (according to Bentley), the blood of a beast killed in the chase is poured on the grave of a good hunter, to ensure success in the future. Instances of this practice could easily be multiplied. Compare note, p. 51.

214Wá, an interjection, O!Kizanguis a fetish image (see note, p. 24).Kuleketa, to prove, to try (Cordeiro da Matta’sDiccionario).

215On this ordeal, as practised in Angola, see note, p. 61.

216Nganga a mukishi.

217See note, p.34.

218See note, p.55.

219Battell is named in the margin as authority for this paragraph, but it is not likely that he would have mentioned a lake Aquelunda, which we now know does not exist. It rather seems that Purchas got this bit of information out of Pigafetta. The Quizama here referred must not be confounded with the country of the same name, to the south of the Coanza. It was the district of the Quiluangi quia Sama (or quia Samba, according to Lopez de Lima, p. 60), the ancestor of a chief of the same name now living near the Portuguese fort of Duque de Bragança. The “commonwealth” is an evident reference to the country of the Dembos (ndembu, pluraljindembu, ruler, chief), who recognise no superior chief or king.

220It need scarcely be stated that the horse was first introduced into Angola by the Portuguese. The tails seen by the early Portuguese, and sometimes described as horse-tails, were in truth the tails of the Zebra.

221See another version of the same story, p.69.

222Thensandais the banyan, or wild fig-tree (ficus umbelata, Vahl).

223Battell has been misunderstood by Purchas, for themangatree is the Mangrove (Rhyzophora mangle) calledManguein Kimbundu, which rejoices in adventitious roots, as also does thensanda.

224See p.24, for note on theNkondoorBaobab.

225For an account of this mode of climbing a tree, see Pechuel-Lösche,Loango Expedition, vol. iii, p. 179.

226On honey, see note, p. 68.

227Nsanda, the banyan-tree.

228Schuit, a boat, in Dutch.

229This sentence is introduced on the authority of Duarte Lopez (Pigafetta, p. 22). The other tree referred to by Battell is themfuma, or cotton-tree (see Tuckey,Narrative, p. 225). Dr. Falkenstein, however, affirms that the soft wood of thebaobabis that usually employed for making canoes (“dug-outs”).

230Battell, I have no doubt, never employed the word “Bramas” (Bramanes in Portuguese, Brahmans). D. Lopez (Pigafetta) must be held responsible for the statement that the inhabitants of Loango were originally known as Bramas. Surely this cannot be (as supposed by Degrandpré) because of the red and yellow stripes with which the women in Loango paint their foreheads in honour of a certain fetish, and the similarity of these with the marks of the votaries of Siva in India.

231Dr. Bastian (Loango Expedition, vol. i, pp. 158, 202, 232) mentions offerings of this kind. Thus the skull of an animal killed in the chase is placed before the fetish.

232Mbongo, cloth (Bentley’sDictionary).

233See note, p.35.

234Restrictions upon the use of certain articles of food are imposed by the doctor (nganga), even before the child is born (mpangu), and upon the sick (konko). The things forbidden to be eaten are callednlongo, and it is believed that a disregard of this taboo entails most disastrous consequences (Bentley,Dictionary, pp. 353, 389). In Loango things forbidden are calledShin, orthina(Dennett,Folk-Lore, p. 138).

235Any place guarded by a “charm,” such as a shell, a bit of cloth, or the like, is respected by the natives as being protected by thenkishi(Dennett,Folk-Lore, pp. 6, 18).

236See note, p.48.

237This bell is calledShi-Ngongo, and the Maloango alone is allowed to order it to be struck. Thus, when a messenger is sent round the town, striking thisShi-Ngongo, the people know that it is the voice of Maloango which speaketh. It is thus quite likely that a thief, under these circumstances, should be frightened into restoring stolen property. (From a letter by Mr. Dennett.) See alsonote, p. 20.

238See p.59.

239Ndoke, orndoki, witchcraft, sorcerer.

240A misprint forLibata, village.

241See p.48.

242Munsa, should beinzoornzo, a house (see also note, p. 49).

243Nkishi ngolo, a strongnkishi.

244Marginal note by Purchas: “This seemeth to be Red Sanders. A. Battell saith it is logwood.” Purchas is right!Taculais Red Sanders (Pterocarpus tinctorius).

245Nkwa, the possessor of a thing or quality;akwa, possessed of.

246Compare p. 56, where we are told that a fetish calledMaramba(Morumba), stood in the town of the Mani Yumba.

247Evidently a misprint for Mayumba.

248Another version of this address will be found on p. 56.

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