Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/71

BENOUELLA. 49 Ve//>a, or " Old Benguella," which was erected in the fifteenth century on a head- land overlooking the north side of the Cuvo estuary, has been abandoned. The town of NocO'Redoiiih, which replaces it some distance farther nouth, is a mere cluster of hovels perched on a cliff nearly inaccessible from the sea. At the foot of the escarpment, and of a fortress founded in 1769, flows the little river Gun/a, fringed with shady palms, but obstructed at its mouth by a sandy bir. Accorrling to Ladislas Magyar deposits of sulphur occur at some distance inland, but they lie idle, as do also the copper mines of Sumhi-Anibela, near the mouth of the Cuvo. Quicomho, south of Novo-Redondo, is a group of factories and a re- victualling station for passing ships. Egito or Lucito, midway between Novo-Redondo and Benguella, is merely a military post commanding the entrance of the river of like name. Till recently it was, so to say, permanently blockaded by the surrounding tribes, so that about every two months the little garrison had to close the gates and fire on the assailants. Benguella, capital of the central province of the same name, although a much smaller place than its northern rival, Loanda, presents none the less a charming prospect, being pleasantly grouped in amphitheatrical form on the slopes of a steep escarpment. Its low but spacious houses, enclosing large courts and sur- rounded by gardens, occupy a considerable space, which is still further extende 1 by the public promenades and shady avenues The citadel of San-Filippe, from which the town itself takes its official designati »u, was erected in 1617 on the headland which projects seawards on the south west side The rivulet of Cavaco, which in the dry season is merely a sandy bed, flows to the north of the town some miles beyond the point where the Catunihclla reaches the coast. This river, which during the floods gives access to the quays of a small trading station, is commanded by a fort of the same name. The hills encircling Benguella are clothed with brushwood, which till recently was the haunts of wild animals. The inhabitants being too few to protect them- selves from their inroads, artillery had to be employed to scare away the elephants, who were laying waste the neighbouring plantations. The white jwpulation con- sists partly of convicts or criminals banished to this remote station, while the mixed native element represents all the races in the Portuguese possessions in Africa. Bihenos here jostle natives of Cabinda, Ambaquistas mingle with Kiokos, and when the caravans reach the Catumbella river from the interior, the observer might fancy himself suddenly transported to s( mc market town in the kingdom of the Muata Yamvo. Several European traders have built their villas along the neighbouring beach, which being exposed to the marine breezes is more healthy than Benguella. This seaport, whose annual exchanges average from £'200,000 to £240,000, is connected with the Bihe plateau by a trade route or track, which runs eastwards along the valley of the Catumbella. But two other and longer routes make a detour to the south, one by the valley of the Cavaco and the village of Sapa, the other by the basin of the Capororo river. This watercourse, which separates the 101— A7