Continued Sickness--Kindness of the Bishop of Angola and her Majesty's Officers--Mr. Gabriel's unwearied Hospitality--Serious Deportment of the Makololo--They visit Ships of War--Politeness of the Officers and Men--The Makololo attend Mass in the Cathedral--Their Remarks--Find Employment in collecting Firewood and unloading Coal--Their superior Judgment respecting Goods--Beneficial Influence of the Bishop of Angola--The City of St. Paul de Loanda--The Harbor--Custom-house--No English Merchants--Sincerity of the Portuguese Government in suppressing the Slave-trade--Convict Soldiers--Presents from Bishop and Merchants for Sekeletu--Outfit--Leave Loanda 20th September, 1854--Accompanied by Mr. Gabriel as far as Icollo i Bengo--Sugar Manufactory--Geology of this part of the Country--Women spinning Cotton--Its Price--Native Weavers--Market-places--Cazengo; its Coffee Plantations--South American Trees--Ruins of Iron Foundry--Native Miners--The Banks of the Lucalla-- Cottages with Stages--Tobacco-plants--Town of Massangano--Sugar and Rice--Superior District for Cotton--Portuguese Merchants and foreign Enterprise--Ruins--The Fort and its ancient Guns--Former Importance of Massangano--Fires--The Tribe Kisama--Peculiar Variety of Domestic Fowl--Coffee Plantations--Return to Golungo Alto--Self-complacency of the Makololo--Fever--Jaundice--Insanity.
In the hope that a short enjoyment of Mr. Gabriel's generous hospitality would restore me to my wonted vigor, I continued under his roof; but my complaint having been caused by long exposure to malarious influences, I became much more reduced than ever, even while enjoying rest. Several Portuguese gentlemen called on me shortly after my arrival; and the Bishop of Angola, the Right Reverend Joaquim Moreira Reis, then the acting governor of the province, sent his secretary to do the same, and likewise to offer the services of the government physician.
Some of her majesty's cruisers soon came into the port, and, seeing the emaciated condition to which I was reduced, offered to convey me to St. Helena or homeward; but, though I had reached the coast, I had found that, in consequence of the great amount of forest, rivers, and marsh, there was no possibility of a highway for wagons, and I had brought a party of Sekeletu's people with me, and found the tribes near the Portuguese settlement so very unfriendly, that it would be altogether impossible for my men to return alone. I therefore resolved to decline the tempting offers of my naval friends, and take back my Makololo companions to their chief, with a view of trying to make a path from his country to the east coast by means of the great river Zambesi or Leeambye.
I, however, gladly availed myself of the medical assistance of Mr. Cockin, the surgeon of the "Polyphemus", at the suggestion of his commander, Captain Phillips. Mr. Cockin's treatment, aided by the exhilarating presence of the warm-hearted naval officers, and Mr. Gabriel's unwearied hospitality and care, soon brought me round again. On the 14th I was so far well as to call on the bishop, in company with my party, who were arrayed in new robes of striped cotton cloth and red caps, all presented to them by Mr. Gabriel. He received us, as head of the provisional government, in the grand hall of the palace. He put many intelligent questions respecting the Makololo, and then gave them free permission to come to Loanda as often as they pleased. This interview pleased the Makololo extremely.
Every one remarked the serious deportment of the Makololo. They viewed the large stone houses and churches in the vicinity of the great ocean with awe. A house with two stories was, until now, beyond their comprehension. In explanation of this strange thing, I had always been obliged to use the word for hut; and as huts are constructed by the poles being let into the earth, they never could comprehend how the poles of one hut could be founded upon the roof of another, or how men could live in the upper story, with the conical roof of the lower one in the middle. Some Makololo, who had visited my little house at Kolobeng, in trying to describe it to their countrymen at Linyanti, said, "It is not a hut; it is a mountain with several caves in it."