The Strange Adventures of Andrew Battell Part 14

His followers, being thus a mixture of many tribes, the Jagas were thenceforth chosen alternately among the three leading families of Kulachinga (Kinguri's wife), Ngongo and Kalunga.[428]

It is perfectly clear from this information, collected in Lunda and Kasanje, that it throws no light upon the original Jaga, although it may explain the origin of the Jaga still ruling at Kasanje.

The account given by Ladislaus Magyar[429] evidently refers to the same leader. According to him, a Jaga Kanguri settled in the country now occupied by the Sonyo three hundred years ago. His people were cannibals, but the more intelligent among them saw that this practice would ultimately lead to the destruction of the subject tribes upon whom they depended for support, and they founded the secret society of the Empacaceiros[430] for the suppression of cannibalism. Being worsted in a civil war, they crossed the upper Kwanza into Bie, whilst Kanguri turned to the north-west and settled in Kasanje.

Cavazzi seems to go further back, for he tells us that Zimbo, who was the first chief of the Jaga (Aiacca), invaded Kongo, whilst one of his chiefs, "Dongij" (Ndongo?), invaded Matamba, and that the b.l.o.o.d.y "kichile,"[431] or customs, were introduced by Musasa the wife, and Tembandumba the daughter, of this "Dongij." The daughter married Kulambo, whom she poisoned; he was succeeded by Kinguri, who was killed during an invasion of Angola, Kulachimbo a great warrior, Ka.s.sanje, and many others; the last of whom, Ka.s.sanje ka nkinguri, was baptised in 1657.[432]

I confess my inability to evolve the truth out of these conflicting statements, and can only suppose that the t.i.tle of "Jaga" was a.s.sumed by the leaders of predatory hordes of very diverse origin, in order to inspire terror in the hearts of peaceful tribes; just, as in more recent times, certain tribes in East Africa pretend to be Zulu for a like reason.

D. FRANCISCO AND D. JERONYMO D'ALMEIDA, 1592-1594.

The new Governor, D. Francisco d'Almeida, arrived at S. Paulo, on June 24th, 1592, accompanied by four hundred foot-soldiers and fifty African horse, all picked men. Among the volunteers attending him were his brother, D. Jeronymo, Luis Lopez de Sequeira and Balthasar Rebello de Araga;[433] and perhaps also Domingos d'Abreu de Brito, who, in a "Summario e descripco do Reino de Angola," presented to King Philip I, proposed an expedition across Africa, and the protection of the road to be opened by a chain of forts.[434]

The new Governor, immediately on his arrival, found himself face to face with a religious difficulty. The Jesuits, ever since the days of Dias, expected to be consulted in all government business. They desired to be appointed "preceptors" (amos) of the native chiefs, their aim being evidently to create a theocratic government, such as they established subsequently in Paraguay. They "used their spiritual influence to induce the conquered sobas to refuse obedience to the civil powers;" and when d'Almeida made use of the authority conferred upon him at Madrid in order to crush this "nascent theocracy," he was excommunicated.[435] He certainly was unequal to cope with these domineering priests.

Disheartened, he threw up a charge to which he felt unequal, and took s.h.i.+p for Brazil (April 8th, 1593).[436]

D. Jeronymo, at the urgent request of the Camara, took up the reins of government, and being of a more conciliatory nature than his brother, made peace with the Jesuits, and was thus able to take the field. He started with four hundred men and twenty horses, and received the submission of the sobas of Kisama, excepting the most powerful among them. On reaching the salt mines of Ndemba[437] he founded a "presidio,"

and garrisoned it with one hundred men. On his way to the silver-mines of Kambambe he was struck down with fever, and returned to Luandu, leaving Balthasar d'Almeida de Sousa and Pedro Alvares Rebello in command of the troops. They were imprudent, and on April 22nd, 1594, fell into an ambush prepared for them by the powerful chief Kafuche kabara (Caf.u.xe cambara). Only the captain-major, thanks to the swiftness of his horse, and a few men, escaped this disaster.[438]

JOO FURTADO DE MENDONcA, 1594-1602.

D. Jeronymo was on the point of hurrying up with reinforcements when Joo Furtado de Mendonca arrived at Luandu (August 1st, 1594). He brought with him, not only four hundred men with thirty horses, but also twelve European women,[439] the first ever seen in Luandu, in whose honour the town was decorated.

One of the most memorable events of his governors.h.i.+p was a campaign which he conducted up the river Mbengu. Starting at the worst time of the year (in March, 1496), he quickly lost two hundred men by fever.

Having brought up fresh recruits from Luandu, he avenged himself for a disaster brought about by his own ignorance, by an exceptional severity in his treatment of the "rebels," many of whom were blown from guns.

This expedition kept the field for several years, and proceeded as far as Ngazi (Ingasia), the chief of which district was called Ngombe-the bullock.[440]

Meanwhile, Joo de Velloria,[441] the captain-major, had severely punished the rebellious sobas of Lamba. Masanganu was once more blockaded by the King Ngola (1597), until relieved by Balthasar Rebello de Arago. On again descending the Kwanza, he built a presidio in the territory of the chief Muchima, in Kisama (1559).[442]

THE CAMPAIGN OF 1602-3.[443]

A new Governor, Joo Rodrigues Coutinho, arrived early in 1602. He was acceptable to the Jesuits, and soon won the hearts of the people by his liberality. He had been authorised by the King to bestow five habits of the Order of Christ, dub five knights, and appoint thirty King's chamberlains (mocos da camara). Seven years' receipts of the export duty on slaves were to be devoted to the building of forts at the salt mines (Ndemba), Kambambe, and in Benguela.

Six months after his arrival, the Governor took the field against the powerful chief Kafuche. His force was the most formidable that had ever been at the disposal of a Governor, numbering no less than eight hundred Portuguese. It was joined at Songo by a portion of the garrison of Masanganu. Unhappily, the Governor died before coming in contact with the enemy, and appointed Manuel Cerveira Pereira as his successor.

Battell calls this man an "upstart," and he certainly had many enemies; but he is well spoken of by the Jesuits, and was an able soldier. On August 10th, 1603, he inflicted a crus.h.i.+ng defeat upon Kafuche, at Agoakaiongo,[444] on the very spot where, seven years before, the Portuguese had met with a great disaster. Overcoming the stout resistance of the chiefs of the Museke,[445] he arrived at the head of the navigation of the Kwanza, and there, at Kambambe, he founded the Presidio da N.S. do Rozario (1604). Having punished several of the neighbouring chiefs, including s.h.i.+la mbanza (Axilambanza), the father-in-law of King Ngola, and left Joo de Araujo e Azevedo[446] in command of the new presidio, Pereira returned to the coast.

S. Paulo de Luandu had by that time grown into a fine town, where commerce flourished. Unfortunately for the lasting prosperity of the colony, human beings const.i.tuted the most valuable article of export, and the profits yielded by this slave trade attracted Dutch and French interlopers, notwithstanding a royal decree of 1605, which excluded all foreign vessels from the vast territories claimed by Portugal. In 1607 there were four "Presidios" or forts in the interior, namely Muchima, Agoakaiongo, Masanganu, and Kambambe.[447]

D. MANUEL PEREIRA FORJAZ AND BENTO BANHA CARDOSO, 1607-15.

We have already stated that Manuel Cerveira Pereira had many enemies, and when D. Manuel Pereira Forjaz, the new Governor, arrived towards the end of 1607, very serious accusations must have been brought against the former, for he was at once sent back to Lisbon. There, however, we are bound to a.s.sume that he refuted these accusations, for otherwise it is not likely that he would have been re-appointed Governor eight years afterwards: unless, indeed, he had friends at court who profited by his delinquencies. Forjaz himself showed to little advantage. He superseded the commandant of Kambambe by one of his own creatures, and the fort would certainly have been taken by the sobas who blockaded it, had not Roque de S. Miguel and Rebello de Arago hastened to its relief. Forjaz, moreover, is accused of having imposed an annual tax upon the sobas, yielding from twelve to thirteen thousand cruzados, which seem to have found their way into his own pockets, and those of his favourites.[448]

When he suddenly died in his bed, on April 11th, 1611, the bishop and the leading men called upon the captain-major, Bento Banha Cardoso, to take charge of the government. Cardoso was a man of enterprise, and successful in his undertakings, but cruel. In 1611 he defeated King Ngola. The sobas Kilonga and Mbamba Tungu, who fell into his hands, were beheaded, as were also several of their makotas. To avenge these executions, fourteen sobas of Ngola and Matamba made an attack upon Kambambe in the following year; and although that place was valiantly defended until relieved, it took a year before order was restored in the surrounding district. To keep these sobas in check, a fort (Mbaka) was built on the river Lukala (1614), eight leagues from Masanganu.[449] In Kisama, the territory of Nambua ngongo (Nabo angungo) was raided in the same year.

AN ATTEMPT TO CROSS AFRICA.

Before proceeding with our account, there remains to be noticed a serious attempt to cross the whole of Africa from the west coast to "Manomotapa," on the Zambezi, which was made by Balthasar Rebello de Arago, by order of D. Manuel Pereira Forjaz. Rebello de Arago himself furnishes a very short account of this expedition,[450] from which we learn that he discovered copper and iron, and was told that there was also silver. The natives bred cattle and cultivated the land, and they told him of a lake, in lat. 16 S., giving rise to many rivers, including the Nile. Unfortunately, when he had advanced one hundred and forty leagues from the sea, and eighty beyond the place he started from (Kambambe?), he was summoned back, as the fort just named was threatened by King Ngola.[451]

THE CONQUEST OF BENGUELLA.

In 1615, Manuel Cerveira Pereira[452] returned to the scene of his former labours, with special instructions to take possession of Benguella, which for a considerable time past had been visited by trading vessels. But before he started upon this enterprise, he ordered his old comrade, Joo (or Paio?) de Araujo e Azevedo, to deal with Kakulu Kabasa,[453] Mb.u.mba (b.u.mba) a ndala, Kilomba kia tubia, and other revolted chiefs in Angola, whilst he himself penetrated into the country of the Kakulu Kahenda,[454] who had given offence by a.s.sisting fugitive slaves and interfering with traders.

Having entrusted Antonio Goncalves Pitta with the government of S.

Paulo, he left that place for the South, on April 11th, 1617, with four vessels, a patacho, and one hundred soldiers.[455] Finding the site of the old fort near the Terra das duas Puntas unsuitable, he continued his voyage along the coast, until he came in sight of a "sombreiro,"

overlooking the Bahia das Vaccas;[456] and there he built the fort of S.

Filippe de Benguella, which in course of time developed into a city of some importance. The sobas of Ndombe, of whose territory he had possessed himself, naturally objected to the presence of these uninvited strangers, but they were compelled to submit after five defeats. The Jaga on the river Murombo likewise gave in, after three months'

fighting, but soon afterwards broke the peace, and was executed. The chief Kalunga, at the mouth of the Koporolo (Kuporol), and the cattle-keeping Mukimba in the neighbouring hills, also submitted. It scarcely admits of doubt that Pereira, in the course of his many military excursions, discovered copper, sulphur and salt,[457] but he was to benefit little by these discoveries. His harsh conduct and greed had estranged his people. Headed by a priest and by their officers, they mutinied, put their leader on board a patacho, and s.h.i.+pped him off to S.

Paulo, where no notice was taken of his presence, the Governor being absent at that time, because of a native war (1618).[458]

Pereira once more returned to Madrid, and having explained matters to the satisfaction of the authorities, he was sent back, and again reached S. Felippe de Benguella on August 8th, 1620. He sailed north to Sumba mbela's country, at the mouth of the river Kuvu. A couple of days inland he discovered more copper, three quintals of which he took to S. Paulo.

He died in the midst of his labours. The _Catalogo_ credits him with having gone inland as far as Kakonda.[459]

THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT.

We have already learned that the native sobas were handed over to the mercy of individual "conquistadores," and Rebello de Arago declares that these sobas were being "robbed and maltreated." They were required by their masters to pay a tax in slaves, to furnish carriers, and render all kinds of services,[460] without payment. In addition to this the Governor, D. M. P. Forjaz, imposed upon them a poll-tax, which produced from twelve to thirteen thousand cruzados (say 1,650[461]) a year.

Rebello de Arago maintains that the native wars were largely due to this pernicious system, which enriched the Governor and his officials, whilst traders were made to suffer, and ceased to visit the "feiras"

because of the extortionate demands made upon them. At Mpinda nearly all the "honest" trade had pa.s.sed into the hands of the Dutch, because of the monopoly conferred upon Portuguese slave-dealers. He declares that a tax of 20 per cent. on the salt mined at Ndemba would pay all the legitimate expenses of government; but that, although the export duty on slaves yielded from five to six thousand cruzados, there had not yet been built a decent house for the government offices.

Garcia Mendes Castellobranco, in a memoir[462] addressed to the King in 1620, is equally outspoken with regard to the treatment of the native chiefs, who, he maintains, ought not to be taxed more heavily than at the time when they were still subjects of a native king. He, too, refers to the salt mines as a source of revenue, recommends the levying of a toll at river crossings, and the expropriation of the uncultivated territory around S. Paulo.[463]

Many of these abuses may, no doubt, be traced to the demoralising influence of the slave-trade and the insufficient pay of the officials.

A slave costing 3 7_s._ in the interior (or nothing, if taken in the course of one of the frequent slave raids) was sold for more than double that sum on the coast; and whilst money could be made thus easily the great natural resources of the country were neglected and the population-which, on the arrival of the Portuguese, is said to have been very considerable-shrank from year to year.[464]

The export duties on slaves and ivory were farmed out in 1607 to one Duarte Dias Enriques for twenty million reis annually (about 6,600).[465]

S. Paulo and Masanganu enjoyed munic.i.p.al inst.i.tutions at that time, but all outside these cities was ruled by military adventurers. The Governor (in 1607) was paid a salary of 267, but the other officials were decidedly underpaid; and thus, almost of necessity, were driven to increase their incomes by illegitimate means.[466]

THE WAR WITH NGOLA NZINGA MBANDI.

Luiz Mendes de Vasconcellos, the new Governor, arrived in November, 1617, and almost immediately found himself involved in a war with the King of Ndongo. Nzinga mbandi ngola kiluanji,[467] a great tyrant, had been "removed" by his indignant subjects shortly before the arrival of the new Governor. He left behind him three daughters, one of whom, born in 1582, became famous as Queen D. Anna de Souza Nzinga, and two sons, one by a legitimate wife, the other by a slave woman. It was the latter, Ngola nzinga mbandi,[468] whom his partisans raised to the throne, which he reached through rivers of blood, among his victims being his own brother, a son of his sister, and many of the trusted councillors of his father. In 1618 the usurper took the field, intending to expel the Portuguese, who seem to have given provocation by s.h.i.+fting the old presidio of Mbaka (Ambaca) to a site much higher up the Lukala.[469] The Governor, ably supported by his captain-major, Pedro de Souza Coelho, not only defeated the King, but also captured his queen and many other persons of consideration. The King sued for peace, but as he failed to surrender the Portuguese whom he had taken prisoner, the war was renewed in 1619. His allies fared no better than the King himself. His vice-king of lower Ndongo, Ngola ari,[470] was compelled to pay a tribute of one hundred slaves annually (in 1620); and while the Governor raided the territories of Kahibalongo, Ndonga, and Kasa, his lieutenant, Lopo Soares Laco, destroyed the kilombos of the sobas Ngunza a ngombe and Bangu.

It had been recognised by this time that many of these punitive expeditions were provoked by the lawless conduct of white traders, mulattoes and negros calcados (that is, shoe-wearing negroes), who went inland on slaving expeditions; and only Pumbeiros descalcos, that is, native agents or traders not yet sufficiently civilised to wear shoes, should be permitted to do so in future.[471]

When King Ngola nzinga mbandi heard of the arrival of Joo Correa de Souza, the new Governor, in September, 1621,[472] he at once sent his sister to Luandu to arrange terms of peace. This woman, then about forty years of age, proved an excellent diplomatist. When the Governor alluded to the payment of tribute, she declared that tribute could only be demanded from a conquered people, and the treaty ultimately signed was one of reciprocity: fugitive slaves were to be surrendered, and a.s.sistance to be given against common enemies.

Before this able amba.s.sadress left Luandu, she was received into the bosom of Holy Mother Church, being baptised as D. Anna de Souza (1622); and on her return home she persuaded her brother to apply for the services of a priest, or _Mamaganga_.[473] A priest was sent, but he was a native, who had been ordained at Luandu, and one of the King's own subjects. The King looked upon this as an insult; he treated the priest with great indignity, and once more invaded the Portuguese territory.

Thrice beaten, and deserted by his va.s.sals, he fled to the island of Ndangi,[474] in the Kwanza river, where he died of poison administered by his own sister Nzinga, who thus avenged the murder of her son (1623).

QUEEN NZINGA, 1623-1636.

Nzinga at once renounced Christianity, and the b.l.o.o.d.y rites of the Jaga were celebrated when she ascended her throne. She inaugurated her reign by the murder of her brother's son, of his adherents, and her supposed enemies. Having reduced her own people to subjection, with the aid of the Jaga, she declared war upon Portugal. D. Felippe de Souza Ngola ari, the King of Ndongo recognised by the Portuguese, was at once ordered to defend the frontier, and, if possible, to invade the territories of his kinswoman. On consideration, however, it was thought best, in the interest of trade, to avoid a serious conflict. An officer was sent to the court of the Queen, offering to restore the lost provinces (and thus sacrificing their va.s.sal D. Felippe), on condition of her acknowledging herself a va.s.sal, and paying tribute. These conditions were haughtily rejected, and the war began in earnest.