Man, Past and PresentKeane, A. H. (Augustus Henry)
History
Man, Past and Present
Keane, A. H. (Augustus Henry)
Anthropology; Ethnology
In Angola the Portuguese distinguish between the _Pretos_, that is, the
"civilised," and the _Negros_, or unreclaimed natives. Yet both terms
mean the same thing, as also does _Ba-Fiot_[274], "Black People," which
is applied in an arbitrary way both to the Eshi-Kongos and their near
relations, the _Kabindas_ of the Portuguese enclave north of the Lower
Congo. These Kabindas, so named from the seaport of that name on the
Loango coast, are an extremely intelligent, energetic, and enterprising
people, daring seafarers, and active traders. But they complain of the
keen rivalry of another dark people, the _Judeos Pretos_, or "Black
Jews," who call themselves _Ma-Vambu_, and whose hooked nose combined
with other peculiarities has earned for them their Portuguese name. The
Kabindas say that these "Semitic Negroes" were specially created for the
punishment of other unscrupulous dealers by their ruinous competition in
trade.
A great part of the vast region within the bend of the Congo is occupied
by the _Ba-Luba_ people, whose numerous branches--_Ba-Sange_ and
_Ba-Songe_ about the sources of the Sankuru, _Ba-Shilange_
(_Tushilange_) about the Lulua-Kassai confluence, and many
others--extend all the way from the Kwango basin to Manyemaland. Most of
these are Bantus of the average type, fairly intelligent, industrious
and specially noted for their skill in iron and copper work. Iron ores
are widely diffused and the copper comes from the famous mines of the
Katanga district, of which King Mzidi and his Wa-Nyamwezi followers were
dispossessed by the Congo Free State in 1892[275].
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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