have withstood the surges of the ocean at a period of our world’s history, when the relations of land and sea were totally different from what they are now, and long before “the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy to see the abodes prepared which man was soon to fill.”  The imbedded pieces in the conglomerate are of gneiss, clay shale, mica and sandstone schists, trap, and porphyry, most of which are large enough to give the whole the appearance of being the only remaining vestiges of vast primaeval banks of shingle.  Several little streams run among these rocks, and in the central part of the pillars stands the village, completely environed by well-nigh inaccessible rocks.  The pathways into the village might be defended by a small body of troops against an army; and this place was long the stronghold of the tribe called Jinga, the original possessors of the country.

We were shown a footprint carved on one of these rocks.  It is spoken of as that of a famous queen, who reigned over all this region.  In looking at these rude attempts at commemoration, one feels the value of letters.  In the history of Angola we find that the famous queen Donna Anna de Souza came from the vicinity, as embassadress from her brother, Gola Bandy, King of the Jinga, to Loanda, in 1621, to sue for peace, and astonished the governor by the readiness of her answers.  The governor proposed, as a condition of peace, the payment by the Jinga of an annual tribute.  “People talk of tribute after they have conquered, and not before it; we come to talk of peace, not of subjection,” was the ready answer.  The governor was as much nonplussed as our Cape governors often are when they tell the Caffres “to put it all down in writing, and they will then be able to answer them.”  She remained some time in Loanda, gained all she sought, and, after being taught by the missionaries, was baptized, and returned to her own country with honor.  She succeeded to the kingdom on the death of her brother, whom it was supposed she poisoned, but in a subsequent war with the Portuguese she lost nearly all her army in a great battle fought in 1627.  She returned to the Church after a long period of apostasy, and died in extreme old age; and the Jinga still live as an independent people to the north of this their ancient country.  No African tribe has ever been destroyed.

In former times the Portuguese imagined that this place was particularly unhealthy, and banishment to the black rocks of Pungo Andongo was thought by their judges to be a much severer sentence than transportation to any part of the coast; but this district is now well known to be the most healthy part of Angola.  The water is remarkably pure, the soil is light, and the country open and undulating, with a general slope down toward the River Coanza, a few miles distant.  That river is the southern boundary of the Portuguese, and beyond, to the S. and S.W., we see the high mountains of the Libollo.  On the S.E. we have also a mountainous country, inhabited by the Kimbonda or Ambonda, who are said by Colonel Pires to be a very brave and independent people, but hospitable and fair in their dealings.  They are rich in cattle, and their country produces much beeswax, which is carefully collected, and brought to the Portuguese, with whom they have always been on good terms.