The two native Portuguese traders of whom we had heard had erected a little encampment opposite the place where ours was about to be made.  One of them, whose spine had been injured in youth—­a rare sight in this country—­came and visited us.  I returned the visit next morning.  His tall companion had that sickly yellow hue which made him look fairer than myself, but his head was covered with a crop of unmistakable wool.  They had a gang of young female slaves in a chain, hoeing the ground in front of their encampment to clear it of weeds and grass; these were purchased recently in Lobale, whence the traders had now come.  There were many Mambari with them, and the establishment was conducted with that military order which pervades all the arrangements of the Portuguese colonists.  A drum was beaten and trumpet sounded at certain hours, quite in military fashion.  It was the first time most of my men had seen slaves in chains.  “They are not men,” they exclaimed (meaning they are beasts), “who treat their children so.”

The Balonda are real negroes, having much more wool on their heads and bodies than any of the Bechuana or Caffre tribes.  They are generally very dark in color, but several are to be seen of a lighter hue; many of the slaves who have been exported to Brazil have gone from this region; but while they have a general similarity to the typical negro, I never could, from my own observation, think that our ideal negro, as seen in tobacconists’ shops, is the true type.  A large proportion of the Balonda, indeed, have heads somewhat elongated backward and upward, thick lips, flat noses, elongated ‘ossa calces’, etc., etc.; but there are also many good-looking, well-shaped heads and persons among them.

17Th, Tuesday.  We were honored with a grand reception by Shinte about eleven o’clock.  Sambanza claimed the honor of presenting us, Manenko being slightly indisposed.  The native Portuguese and Mambari went fully armed with guns, in order to give Shinte a salute; their drummer and trumpeter making all the noise that very old instruments would produce.  The kotla, or place of audience, was about a hundred yards square, and two graceful specimens of a species of banian stood near one end; under one of these sat Shinte, on a sort of throne covered with a leopard’s skin.  He had on a checked jacket, and a kilt of scarlet baize edged with green; many strings of large beads hung from his neck, and his limbs were covered with iron and copper armlets and bracelets; on his head he wore a helmet made of beads woven neatly together, and crowned with a great bunch of goose-feathers.  Close to him sat three lads with large sheaves of arrows over their shoulders.