The Strange Adventures of Andrew Battell, of Leigh, in Angola and the Adjoining RegionsBattell, Andrew
History
The Strange Adventures of Andrew Battell, of Leigh, in Angola and the Adjoining Regions
Battell, Andrew
Angola -- Discovery and exploration; Congo (Democratic Republic) -- Discovery and exploration
[53] Engeriay seems to be a misprint, perhaps for the _Ogheghe_ of
Duarte Lopez, which Ficalho identifies with Mung’eng’e (_Spondias
lutea_) of Angola, called _Gego_ by Lopez de Lima (_Ensaios_, vol. iii,
p. 15). Dr. Welwitsch found the tree growing wild in the mountains of
Benguella, whence it was transplanted to Loanda. It is valued for its
wood, the shade it affords, and its fruit, which resembles a yellow
plum, is of delicious flavour and esteemed as a remedy against bile
(Ficalho, _Plantas uteis_, p. 126; Monteiro, _Angola_, vol. ii, p. 298).
Purchas, in a marginal note, Bk. VII, c. 4, says that the _Ogheghe_
“bears a fruit which is like a yellow plumme and is very good to eat,
and hath a very sweet smell withall.” This information was given by
Battell.
[54] Pome-water, a kind of apple, called _malus carbonaria_ by Coles
(Nares’s _Glossary_).
[55] _Margarita_ is the Portuguese (and Latin) for pearl. Purchas may
have suggested the word, whilst Battell simply referred to the _cowrie_
currency of the country, or to a more valuable shell such as Cavazzi (p.
12) says was found near Cambambe, a collar of which had the value of a
slave; or to a crystal found in Shela, and called “thunder-stone” by
the natives. Mr. R. C. Phillips writes: “I have found that some kind of
stone used to pass as money in the old slave times, say in 1850 or 1860,
but I never saw one. These stones were of great value, and I have a
vague idea they were called ‘agang.’”
[56] The author’s “wheat” is maize (see p. 7).
[57] This is undoubtedly the bay upon which Manuel Cerveira Pereira, in
1617, founded the city of S. Filippe de Benguella. The bay at that time
was known as Bahia da Torre, or de S. Antonio. By its discoverers it
seems to have been named Golfo de S. Maria. The “torre” is, of course,
the Ponta do Sombreiro or S. Philip’s bonnet. Pimentel (_Arte de
Navegar_, 1762, p. 276) locates a Bahia da Torre fifty miles to the
south of Benguella Bay, which therefore corresponds to the Elephant Bay
of modern maps, with its “mesa,” or table-mountain rising to a height of
a thousand feet.
[58] Cacongo (_recte_ Kikongo), according to Welwitsch, is the wood of
_Tarchonanthes camphoratus_. It is hard, of a greyish olive colour, and
has the perfume of camphor. Its powder is esteemed as a tonic (Ficalho,
_Plantas uteis_, p. 206).
[59] Carraca, a vessel, generally of considerable burthen, and such as
could be profitably employed in the Brazilian and Indian trade.
[60] Ndalabondo seems to be the name of a person. The people in the
interior of Benguella are known as Bi’nbundo.
[61] Neither Mr. Dennett nor Mr. Phillips knows a bead of that name.
_Mpinda_ (plur. _Zimpinda_) means ground nut.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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