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
Luiz Mendes de Vasconcellos, the new Governor, arrived in November,
1617, and almost immediately found himself involved in a war with the
King of Ndongo. Nzinga mbandi ngola kiluanji,[467] a great tyrant, had
been “removed” by his indignant subjects shortly before the arrival of
the new Governor. He left behind him three daughters, one of whom, born
in 1582, became famous as Queen D. Anna de Souza Nzinga, and two sons,
one by a legitimate wife, the other by a slave woman. It was the latter,
Ngola nzinga mbandi,[468] whom his partisans raised to the throne, which
he reached through rivers of blood, among his victims being his own
brother, a son of his sister, and many of the trusted councillors of his
father. In 1618 the usurper took the field, intending to expel the
Portuguese, who seem to have given provocation by shifting the old
presidio of Mbaka (Ambaca) to a site much higher up the Lukala.[469] The
Governor, ably supported by his captain-major, Pedro de Souza Coelho,
not only defeated the King, but also captured his queen and many other
persons of consideration. The King sued for peace, but as he failed to
surrender the Portuguese whom he had taken prisoner, the war was renewed
in 1619. His allies fared no better than the King himself. His vice-king
of lower Ndongo, Ngola ari,[470] was compelled to pay a tribute of one
hundred slaves annually (in 1620); and while the Governor raided the
territories of Kahibalongo, Ndonga, and Kasa, his lieutenant, Lopo
Soares Laço, destroyed the kilombos of the sobas Ngunza a ngombe and
Bangu.
It had been recognised by this time that many of these punitive
expeditions were provoked by the lawless conduct of white traders,
mulattoes and negros calçados (that is, shoe-wearing negroes), who went
inland on slaving expeditions; and only Pumbeiros descalços, that is,
native agents or traders not yet sufficiently civilised to wear shoes,
should be permitted to do so in future.[471]
When King Ngola nzinga mbandi heard of the arrival of João Corrêa de
Souza, the new Governor, in September, 1621,[472] he at once sent his
sister to Luandu to arrange terms of peace. This woman, then about forty
years of age, proved an excellent diplomatist. When the Governor alluded
to the payment of tribute, she declared that tribute could only be
demanded from a conquered people, and the treaty ultimately signed was
one of reciprocity: fugitive slaves were to be surrendered, and
assistance to be given against common enemies.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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