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
[86] Cambambe (_Ka_, diminutive; _mbambi_, gazelle), a village on the
north bank of the Coanza, below the falls formed by the river in forcing
its way through the Serra de Prata. Silver, however, has never been
found there (at least not in appreciable quantities), nor anywhere else
in Angola or Congo. Still we are told (Paiva Manso, p. 50) that the King
of Congo, in 1530, sent the wife of King Manuel two silver bracelets
which he had received from one of his chiefs in Matamba, and that among
the presents forwarded by Ngola Nbande, the King of Ndongo, to Paulo
Dias in 1576, there were several silver bracelets, which the Regent of
Portugal, Cardinal Henrique, had converted into a chalice, which he
presented to the church at Belem (_Catalogo dos Governadores de
Angola_). According to Capello and Ivens (_Benguella_, vol. ii, pp. 58,
233), silver ore is plentiful in Matamba, although they never saw any
_in loco_.
[87] Battell’s Casama is the wide province of Kisama (Quiçama), to the
south of the Coanza.
[88] This Casoch (a misprint for Cafoch) is the Cafuxe (Cafuche) of the
Portuguese, who defeated Balthasar de Almeida on April 22, 1594. On
August 10, 1603, the Portuguese, led by Manuel Cerveira Pereira,
retrieved this disaster.
[89] The name Calandola is by no means rare. A Calandula Muanji resided
in 1884, eight miles to the north-east of Malanje (Carvalho, _Viagens_,
vol. i, p. 443); another resided, formerly, near Ambaca (_ib._, p. 230);
and a third on the Lucala, south of Duque de Bragança, was visited by
Capello and Ivens (_Benguella_, vol. ii, p. 45). A Jaga Calandula
accompanied João Soares de Almeida on his disastrous expedition to Sonyo
(_Cat. dos Gov._, p. 390). Either of these may have been a descendant of
Battell’s Calandula.
[90] Human victims are still sacrificed by the diviner when consulting
departed spirits (see A. R. Neves, _Memoria_, p. 119).
[91] Cavazzi (_Historica Descrizione de tre Regni Congo, etc._, Bologna,
1687, p. 207) gives a plan of a Jaga camp, or Kilombo. It is formed of a
square stockade, having in its centre the quarters of the
Commander-in-chief, within a triple hedge of thorns. Between the
stockade, which has only a single gate, and the inner enclosure are the
quarters of the six principal officers, including the Golambolo
(_ngolo_, strength, _mbula_, a blow), or Lieutenant-General, the
Tendala, or Commander of the Rear-guard, and the Mani Lumbo (_lumbu_, a
stockade), or Engineer-in-chief.
[92] _Tavales_ (see note, p. 21).
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