Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/497

 the prevailing winds. Goods can accordingly be landed here more easily than at any other place, and on this protected beach have been founded a number of English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, and German factories. In the neighbouring village of Loangiri is seen the necropolis of the old kings of Loango, which was formerly enclosed by a barrier of elephants' tusks. The royal burial-place at Labu is indicated by fetishes carved in wood, and those who are destined one day to be deposited in this shrine must not penetrate within its precincts during their lifetime, as such a visit would be the herald of approaching death.

Ponta Negra ("Black Point,") about 18 miles farther south, occupies a position

analogous to that of Loango, for here also the strand develops a semicircle round a tranquil bay, on which several factories have likewise been established. Beyond this point follow the factories of Massabi, the first within Portuguese territory, and a little farther on the station of Shinshosho, former headquarters of the German explorers connected with the Loango expedition. In order to protect their warehouses from plunderers, the traders have proclaimed them "fetish," giving the natives to understand that the terrible god of the whites lies concealed behind the brandy casks and bales of cotton.

The port of Landana, more than a mile to the south of the Shi-Loango, or