The Strange Adventures of Andrew Battell Part 10

It lyeth right under the Line, and standeth in a bottom in the middle of four hills, and about are many fogges [bogs] but not one river.[289]

It is the unfirmest country under the sun. Here the Portugals die like chickens. You shall see men in the morning very l.u.s.ty, and within two hours dead. Others, that if they but wet their legs, presently they swell bigger than their middles;[290] others break in the sides with a draught of water. O, if you did know the intolerable heat of the country, you would think yourself better a thousand times dead, than to live there a week. There you shall see poor soldiers lie in troops, gaping like camelians [camels?] for a puff of wind.

Here lived I three months, not as the Portugals did, taking of physick, and every week letting of blood and keeping close in their houses when they had any rain, observing hours, and times to go abroad morning and evening, and never to eat but at such and such times. I was glad when I had got anything at morning, noon, or night; I thank G.o.d I did work all day from morning till night; had it been rain or never so great heat, I had always my health as well as I have in England.

This country is very rich. The king had great store of gold[291] sent him from this place: the time that I was there, the King of Angica had a great city at Masangana; which city Paulas Dias, Governor of Angola, took and situated there; and finding hard by it great store of gold, fortified it with four forts, and walled a great circuit of ground round about it, and within that wall; now the Portugals do build a city, and from this city every day they do war against the King of Angica, and have burnt a great part of his kingdom.

The Angicas[292] are men of goodly stature; they file their teeth before on their upper jaw, and on their under jaw, making a distance between them like the teeth of a dog; they do eat man's flesh; they are the stubbornest nation that lives under the sun, and the resolutest in the field that ever man saw; for they will rather kill themselves than yield to the Portugals. They inhabit right under the line, and of all kinds of Moors these are the blackest. They do live in the law of the Turks, and honour Mahomet. They keep many concubines, as the Turks do; they wash themselves every morning upwards, falling flat on their faces towards the east. They wear their hair all made in plaits on their heads, as well men as women; they have good store of wheat, and a kind of grain like vetches, of which they make bread: they have great store of hens like partridges, and turkeys, and all their feathers curl on their backs. Their houses are like the other houses of the kingdoms aforenamed.

And thus I end, showing you as brief as I can, all the nations and kingdoms, that, with great danger of my life, I travelled through in twelve years of my best age, getting no more than my travel for my pain.

From this kingdom, Angica, was I brought in irons again to my master, Salvador Corea de Sasa, to the City of San Sebastian in Brazil, as you have heard.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

APPENDIX II.

A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF KONGO TO THE END OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

THE EARLY HISTORY OF KONGO.

If traditions may be accepted where written history fails us, the foundation of the Empire of Kongo lies back no further than the middle of the fifteenth century.

The founder of the dynasty and first King of Kongo-Ntotela ntinu nekongo-was Nimi a Lukeni, the son of Nimi a nzima and of Lukeni lua nsanzi, the daughter of Nsa ku ki-lau. His father appears to have been a mere village chief in Kurimba (Corimba),[293] a district of the kingdom of Kw.a.n.gu. He had established himself at a ferry on a great river (_nzari_), now known to us as the Kw.a.n.gu, and levied a toll upon all travellers who crossed the stream. One day the young man's aunt came that way, and claimed exemption on the ground of being the old chief's sister. Her brother was absent, and not only was the claim denied, but young Nimi a Lukeni, notwithstanding that she was with child, caused her to be disembowelled. The younger members of his clan looked upon this act of brutality as one of bravery, and s.h.i.+elded him against his father's just wrath. He then placed himself at their head, a.s.sumed the t.i.tle of _ntinu_ (king), and started westward upon a career of conquest.

The country he was about to invade was inhabited by a people kindred to those of Angola and of the country to the north of the Zaire, split up into numerous small clans[294] ruled by independent kinglets. This, no doubt, would account for the rapidity and the extent of his conquests, which have been matched however, in our own days, by the Makololo.

Having defeated Mb.u.mbulu mwana Mpangala of Mpemba-kasi, he founded his capital-Mbazi a nkanu-[295] upon a rock within that chief's territory.

By degrees he extended his conquests southward to the Kwanza and even beyond, installed his uncle Nsa ku ki-lau as ruler of the important province of Mbata, bestowed large territories upon others of his adherents, and even restored some of their father's territories to the children of the Mwana Mpangala. His "sons," attended by the great Nganga Ngoyo, he sent across the Zaire, and they became the founders of the "kingdoms" of Kakongo and Luangu; whilst a third son, by a slave woman, is supposed to be the ancestor of the "counts" of Sonyo or Soyo.[296]

Anciently the King of Kakongo, before he a.s.sumed his kings.h.i.+p, was bound to marry a princess of the blood royal of Kongo, whilst he of Luangu married a princess of Kakongo; yet the ruler of Luangu was highest in rank, for he enjoyed the t.i.tle of _nunu_ ("aged person"), whilst his brother of Kakongo had to be contented with the inferior t.i.tle of _nkaji_ ("spouse"). The Kings were elected by the feudal princes, but their choice was limited to the sons of princesses, as in a great part of negro Africa.[297]

Of the early inst.i.tutions of Kongo we know next to nothing, though we may presume that the law of succession was originally the same there as in the sister-states to the north, for the first Ntotela was succeeded by two nephews (Nanga kia ntinu and another, whose name has not reached us). But even thus early, and anterior to the introduction of Christianity, the old law of succession was broken through, for Nkuwu a ntinu, the fourth Ntotela, was a son of Ntinu Nimi a Lukeni, and was succeeded by a son of his own, Nzinga a Nkuwa, the first Christian Ntotela, better known in history as John I.

If Dapper may be believed, it was the custom to bury twelve virgins with the earlier kings-a distinction much sought after, as in other parts of Africa; but the people of Kongo have never been charged with cannibalism, nor its rulers with the b.l.o.o.d.y rites practised by the Jaga.

CO'S DISCOVERY OF THE KONGO, 1482.[298]

It was towards the end of 1482, that the natives at the mouth of the River Kongo for the first time saw rising above the horizon the white wings of a European vessel, ascending, as it were, from the Land of Spirits; and we can imagine their surprise when they for the first time beheld the bleached faces of its inmates. Yet they came on board, offering ivory in exchange for cloth. The interpreters from the Guinea coast who were with Co naturally failed to make themselves understood, but they learnt from signs that far inland there dwelt a powerful king.

Co at once despatched some Christian negroes in search of this potentate. They were the bearers of suitable presents, and were instructed to a.s.sure the King of the friendly intentions of his visitors, whose only desire it was to trade with him.

Before continuing his voyage, Co set up the first of the stone pillars, or _padroes_, which he had on board. He then sailed south along the coast, noting its prominent features, but curiously missed the Kwanza or River of Angola, although its clayey waters discolour the sea for ten or fifteen miles. On a low foreland, Cabo do Lobo,[299] ten miles beyond the cliffs named by him Castello d'Alter Pedroso, he set up a second pillar, to mark the furthest point reached by him.

On again returning to the Kongo, he was annoyed to find that his messengers had not returned; and as he was naturally anxious to make known in Portugal his discovery of a magnificent river and a powerful kingdom, he left them behind him, and seized instead four unsuspecting visitors to his s.h.i.+p as "hostages;" giving their friends to understand that they should be restored to them after the lapse of fifteen months, when they would be exchanged for his own men. These latter appear to have been treated with distinction at first, but when the King heard of Co's high-handed proceedings he refused to admit them any longer to his presence, and even threatened them with death, should his own people not be restored.

Among the hostages carried off by Co there was a man of some distinction in his own country, Nsaku (Cacuto) by name, who picked up Portuguese quickly, and much pleased King John by the information he was able to give. He, as well as his companions, were much petted in Portugal, and, in defiance of all sumptuary laws, were dressed in fine cloths and silks.

Co himself, soon after his arrival, in April, 1484, was appointed a cavalier in the Royal household, granted an annuity of 18,000 reals, and on the 14th of that month he was "separated from the common herd," and granted a coat-of-arms charged with the two pillars erected by him during this memorable voyage.

CO'S SECOND VOYAGE, 1485-6.

Co's departure on a second voyage was much delayed, either because the King's Council were opposed to these adventures, which strained the resources of a small kingdom like Portugal, or-and this is more likely-because it was desired that a change in the Royal Arms, which was only made in June, 1485, should be recorded on the stone pillars which Co was to take with him.

Great was the rejoicing when Co's "fleet" appeared in the Kongo, and the hostages, loud in praise of the good treatment they had received, were once more among their friends. Co at once forwarded rich presents to the King, with an invitation to throw aside all fetishes, and to embrace the only true and saving faith; promising that, on his return from a voyage to the south, he would personally visit the capital of his kingdom. This promise Co was not permitted to fulfil, for having set up a pillar on Monte Negro (15 40' S.) and another on Cape Cross (21 50'),[300] he died a short distance beyond. Of the details of his death we know nothing.[301] It seems, however, that the loss of their commander induced a speedy return home: for Co's vessels must have arrived in Portugal before August, 1487, as in that month Dias sailed on his famous voyage, taking with him the negroes whom Co had kidnapped to the south of the Kongo, with a view to their learning Portuguese, and being employed as interpreters in future voyages.

Co, therefore, never saw the King of Kongo; and there are good grounds for believing that Nsaku who was sent by the King to Portugal to ask for priests, masons, carpenters, agricultural labourers, and women to make bread, only reached Europe in one of Dias's vessels, in December, 1488. Nsaku, most certainly, was first introduced to King John at Beja, in January, 1489, when he and his companions were baptised, the King himself, the Queen, and gentlemen of t.i.tle acting as sponsors.(312) He was sent back to the Kongo with Don Goncalo de Sousa, in December, 1490, about two years after he had been baptised.[302]

THE EMBa.s.sY OF 1490-1.[303]

Don Joo de Sousa, the amba.s.sador, left Portugal on December 19th, 1490, with a fleet commanded by Goncalo de Sousa, as captain-major. Among the pilots were Pero d'Alemquer and Pero Escovar, men famous in the maritime history of Portugal. Ten Franciscan Friars[304] went out with this fleet, and so did Nsaku, the amba.s.sador of the King of Kongo. The plague was raging at Lisbon at the time, and before the vessels reached the Cape Verde Islands, this dreaded disease had carried off Joo de Sousa (the amba.s.sador), the captain-major, and many others. Ruy de Sousa, a nephew of the captain-major, was then chosen to take the place of D.

Joo de Sousa.

After a voyage of a hundred days the vessels reached the Kongo, and the Mwana of Sonyo and his son, who had already been instructed in the Christian doctrine by a priest from S. Thome, were baptised on Easter Sunday, April 3rd, 1491, and were thenceforth known as Don Manuel and Don Antonio da Silva; for it was the practice of the Portuguese, from the very beginning, to bestow Portuguese names and t.i.tles upon the negroes who submitted to the sacrament of baptism.

This ceremony performed, Ruy de Sousa started for the King's capital,[305] which he reached on April 29th. The King received him seated on a platform, in a chair inlaid with ivory. He wore a loin-cloth, presented to him by Co, copper bracelets, and a cap of palm-cloth. A zebra tail depended from his left shoulder-a badge of royalty.[306]

The King was about to join his son Mbemba a Nzinga, Duke of Nsundi, who had taken the field against the Bateke;[307] but before doing so he was anxious to be baptised. The foundations of a church having been laid on Rood Day, May 3rd,[308] the King and his Queen were baptised at once by Frei Joo de Santa Maria, and were named Don Joo and Donna Leonor, after the King and Queen of Portugal.

The King, marching for the first time under the banner of the Cross, and supported by the firearms of his Portuguese allies, came back a victor to his capital. His eldest son and many n.o.bles were then baptised.

When Ruy de Sousa departed, he left behind him Frei Antonio[309] with other priests, and gave instructions for an exploration of the Kongo river above the cataracts, which do not appear to have been acted upon.

He also founded a factory near the mouth of the Kongo, where the enterprising people of S. Thome had already established commercial relations, although formal permission to do so was only granted them by King Manuel on March 26th, 1500. Dom Pedro, a cousin of the King of Kongo, accompanied him, with nine attendants, who, having been taught to read and write, returned to their native country with D. Joo Soares, early in 1494.[310]

The missionaries lost no time in preaching the doctrines of their Church; but whilst Don Affonso proved an ardent Christian, who recklessly destroyed all fetishes discovered in his province of Nsundi, the King himself soon grew lukewarm, owing to the priests' interference with polygamy and other valued social inst.i.tutions. In the country at large, the heathen still held their ground.

D. AFFONSO I, 1509-1540.[311]

And thus it happened that when Joo I died in 1509, the chiefs favoured his second son, _Mpanzu a nzinga_,[312] a heathen, whilst the dowager queen and the Count of Sonyo took the part of the elder brother. Don Affonso, immediately on hearing of his father's illness, hurried up to the capital, accompanied by only thirty-six Christians. He found that his father had died. His brother approached with a mighty army, but five flaming swords seen in the heavens on the eve of battle gave courage to his small following, whilst a white cross and the appearance of St.

James at the head of the celestial host struck terror into the hearts of the a.s.sailants. They fled in a panic.[313] Mpanzu himself was taken, wounded, and decapitated.

Order having been restored throughout the country, King Affonso availed himself of the presence of Goncalo Rodriguez Ribeiro, who had come from Portugal with a number of priests, and was about to return to that country, to send an emba.s.sy to Pope Julius II and King Manuel.[314] The head of this mission was Don Pedro (de Castro?), a cousin of the King (who was accompanied by his wife), and with him went D. Manuel, a brother of the King, and D. Henrique, a son. The presents conveyed to Portugal included seven hundred copper bracelets, elephant tusks, slaves, parrots, civet cats and other animals, and native cloth. D.

Henrique remained behind at Rome, where he was ordained and created Bishop of Utica in 1518.[315]

The mission sent by King Manuel in return was far-reaching in its effects upon the political development of Kongo.[316] Of its magnitude we may judge when we learn that it embarked in five vessels. Its leader, Simo da Silva, dying on the road to S. Salvador, his place was taken by Alvaro Lopes, the Royal factor. In his company were priests, experienced soldiers, masons and carpenters to build churches and a royal palace, and a lawyer (_leterado_) to explain the law books which figured among the royal gifts, besides horses, mules, cloth, banners, church furniture and images. The amba.s.sador was instructed to explain the management of the royal household in Portugal, and King Affonso quickly learnt the lessons he received, and at once introduced the Portuguese t.i.tles of Duke, Marquis, and Count. The amba.s.sador likewise had with him an elaborate coat-of-arms for the King,[317] and twenty less ambitious heraldic designs for his princ.i.p.al n.o.blemen; and the monarch himself adopted a t.i.tle closely imitated from that of his "brother" of Portugal.[318] The amba.s.sador was likewise instructed to make inquiries about the origin of the Kongo in a lake, and to bring home cargoes of slaves, copper and ivory.

The King was delighted with all these gifts, not being aware that by accepting them he virtually acknowledged himself to be a va.s.sal of the King of Portugal; and he published a long manifesto to his people, in which he dwelt upon his past career, the blessings of the Christian faith, and the honours now done him. He actually read the six bulky folios, but he told Ruy d'Aguiar (in 1516) that if complicated laws like these were to be introduced in his dominions, not a day would pa.s.s without a legal offence of some kind being committed.[319]

The intercourse between Kongo and Lisbon must have been very active in those days. We learn, for instance, that in 1526 the King asked for physicians and apothecaries, and in 1530 he forwarded to his "brother"

Manuel two silver bracelets, which he had received from Matamba. Many young Kongoese were sent to Portugal to be educated; but, to judge from a letter written by the King in 1517, the results were not always very gratifying.[320] Nay, he accuses Antonio Viera, to whom he entrusted twenty young relations to be taken to Portugal, of having parted with several among them to Mpanzu-alumbu, his enemy, and of having left others behind him at S. Thome.[321] A second emba.s.sy left Kongo in 1540, to do homage to Pope Paul III. It was headed by D. Manuel, a brother of the King, who had been a member of D. Pedro's mission. King Affonso expected the King of Portugal to pay 3,000 cruzados towards the expenses of this mission, in consideration of the large profits which he derived from the trade with Kongo.[322]

As a member of the Church militant, King Affonso deserved well of the priesthood. He ruthlessly ordered all fetishes to be destroyed throughout his dominions, but supplied their place with images of saints, crosses, agni dei, and other ecclesiastical paraphernalia, which he held to be more effectual. The clergy were numerous in his day, and in addition to secular priests included Franciscans, Dominicans and Austin Friars. They were wealthy, too, for lands and slaves had been given them, and Christian churches arose even in remote parts of the country. A Franciscan friar, Antonio de Denis (known in the world as D.

Diogo de Vilhegas) had been appointed Bishop of S. Thome and Kongo,[323]