Before leaving Ambaca we received a present of ten head of cattle from Mr. Schut of Loanda, and, as it shows the cheapness of provisions here, I may mention that the cost was only about a guinea per head.

On crossing the Lucalla we made a detour to the south, in order to visit the famous rocks of Pungo Andongo.  As soon as we crossed the rivulet Lotete, a change in the vegetation of the country was apparent.  We found trees identical with those to be seen south of the Chobe.  The grass, too, stands in tufts, and is of that kind which the natives consider to be best adapted for cattle.  Two species of grape-bearing vines abound every where in this district, and the influence of the good pasturage is seen in the plump condition of the cattle.  In all my previous inquiries respecting the vegetable products of Angola, I was invariably directed to Pungo Andongo.  Do you grow wheat?  “Oh, yes, in Pungo Andongo.”—­Grapes, figs, or peaches?  “Oh, yes, in Pungo Andongo.”—­Do you make butter, cheese, etc.?  The uniform answer was, “Oh, yes, there is abundance of all these in Pungo Andongo.”  But when we arrived here, we found that the answers all referred to the activity of one man, Colonel Manuel Antonio Pires.  The presence of the wild grape shows that vineyards might be cultivated with success; the wheat grows well without irrigation; and any one who tasted the butter and cheese at the table of Colonel Pires would prefer them to the stale produce of the Irish dairy, in general use throughout that province.  The cattle in this country are seldom milked, on account of the strong prejudice which the Portuguese entertain against the use of milk.  They believe that it may be used with safety in the morning, but, if taken after midday, that it will cause fever.  It seemed to me that there was not much reason for carefully avoiding a few drops in their coffee, after having devoured ten times the amount in the shape of cheese at dinner.

The fort of Pungo Andongo (lat. 9d 42’ 14” S., long. 15d 30’ E.) is situated in the midst of a group of curious columnar-shaped rocks, each of which is upward of three hundred feet in height.  They are composed of conglomerate, made up of a great variety of rounded pieces in a matrix of dark red sandstone.  They rest on a thick stratum of this last rock, with very few of the pebbles in its substance.  On this a fossil palm has been found, and if of the same age as those on the eastern side of the continent, on which similar palms now lie, there may be coal underneath this, as well as under that at Tete.  The asserted existence of petroleum springs at Dande, and near Cambambe, would seem to indicate the presence of this useful mineral, though I am not aware of any one having actually seen a seam of coal tilted up to the surface in Angola, as we have at Tete.  The gigantic pillars of Pungo Andongo have been formed by a current of the sea coming from the S.S.E.; for, seen from the top, they appear arranged in that direction, and must