Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/70

48 SOUTH AND EAST AFEICA. rainy season fevers are here unfortunately scarcely less dangerous tlian on tLe lowlands, and many of the natives also suffer from goitr»{. American missionaries have recently established themselves in the district ; but their principal station lies farther west, in the territory of the Bailundos, which Ladislas Magyar calls the " heart of the Bundu country." The chief article of exchange introduced by the Biheuos into the interior is the fazcnda, or bale of cotton, either plain or striped, of English manufacture and generally of rather inferior quality. The baneful Hamburg brandy, more or less mixed with drugs and diluted with water, is also a great article of exchange with nearly all the surrounding tribes. The caravans supply them, moreuver, with rifles, powder and shot, and other munitions of war, besides tablets of salt, brass wire, white and red china beads, and glass trinkets, mostly importel through England from Bohemia. Umbrellas and nightcaps are also much sought after in the kingdom of the Muata Yamvo and conterminous states. Traders have, lastly, to provide themselves with carpets, rugs, uniforms, embroidered fabrics, and other more costly wares, as presents for the chiefs, whose permission they have thus to purchase in order to transact business with their subjects. In exchange for these European commodities, tlie dealeis bring back ivory, caoutchouc, wax, honey, palm-oil, and skins of wild animals. The porters, hired either for the whole journey or for a certain distance, are loaded with burdens never weighing less than a hundred and seldom more than a hundred and thirty- five pounds, the weight varying according to the season and the difficulties of the route. The porter also frequently procures the assistance of another native, and at times, turning trader himself, he is accompanied by one or more women, who carry his provisions and the purchases he makes on setting out. His services are paid either partly or altogether in advance ; but the tribal chief, in whose presence the contract price is stipulated, becojnes responsible for the conduct of the porter in case of his making off with the goods or deserting the caravan. On the other hand, the merchant is held to be answerable for all the crimes or offences committed by his retainers in the districts visited by the convoy. The least infringement of the local usages gives rise to interminable " palavers," which are invariably concluded by the imposition of a fine on the stranger. The traders, journeying from land to land, are for the most part provided with the itnpemha, or passport, which, however, is not inscribed en paper or parchment, but made non-transferable by being painted on the body. At the starting-place they present themselves to the chief to explain the projected journey and make the customary offering of a sacrificial animal and a rag dipped in blood. The traveller must carefully preserve this precious talisman, as well as a piece of chalk, with which the chief traces certain cabalistic signs on his forehead, breast, and arms ; and when these signs get effaced he renews them with the chalk, taking great care not in any way to alter their form. South of the Cuanza the coastlands, occupied by the Quissamas and other still independent natives, have no groups of habitations beyond a few little bartering stations scattered over a space of about 120 miles. The fortalice of Benguella