The Ako (Haco), a branch of this family, inhabit the left bank of the Coanza above this village, who, instead of bringing slaves for sale, as formerly, now occasionally bring wax for the purchase of a slave from the Portuguese.  I saw a boy sold for twelve shillings:  he said that he belonged to the country of Matiamvo.  Here I bought a pair of well-made boots, of good tanned leather, which reached above the knee, for five shillings and eightpence, and that was just the price given for one pound of ivory by Mr. Pires; consequently, the boy was worth two pairs of boots, or two pounds of ivory.  The Libollo on the S. have not so good a character, but the Coanza is always deep enough to form a line of defense.  Colonel Pires is a good example of what an honest industrious man in this country may become.  He came as a servant in a ship, and, by a long course of persevering labor, has raised himself to be the richest merchant in Angola.  He possesses some thousands of cattle; and, on any emergency, can appear in the field with several hundred armed slaves.

While enjoying the hospitality of this merchant-prince in his commodious residence, which is outside the rocks, and commands a beautiful view of all the adjacent country, I learned that all my dispatches, maps, and journal had gone to the bottom of the sea in the mail-packet “Forerunner”.  I felt so glad that my friend Lieutenant Bedingfeld, to whose care I had committed them, though in the most imminent danger, had not shared a similar fate, that I was at once reconciled to the labor of rewriting.  I availed myself of the kindness of Colonel Pires, and remained till the end of the year reproducing my lost papers.

Colonel Pires having another establishment on the banks of the Coanza, about six miles distant, I visited it with him about once a week for the purpose of recreation.  The difference of temperature caused by the lower altitude was seen in the cashew-trees; for while, near the rocks, these trees were but coming into flower, those at the lower station were ripening their fruit.  Cocoanut trees and bananas bear well at the lower station, but yield little or no fruit at the upper.  The difference indicated by the thermometer was 7 Deg.  The general range near the rocks was 67 Deg. at 7 A.M., 74 Deg. at midday, and 72 Deg. in the evening.

A slave-boy belonging to Colonel Pires, having stolen and eaten some lemons in the evening, went to the river to wash his mouth, so as not to be detected by the flavor.  An alligator seized him and carried him to an island in the middle of the stream; there the boy grasped hold of the reeds, and baffled all the efforts of the reptile to dislodge him, till his companions, attracted by his cries, came in a canoe to his assistance.  The alligator at once let go his hold; for, when out of his own element, he is cowardly.  The boy had many marks of the teeth in his abdomen and thigh, and those of the claws on his legs and arms.