Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/63

 the bar at its mouth, the coast steamers are able to ascend this great artery as far as the town of Dondo. One of the first riverain ports on the right bank is Calumbo, which may be regarded as the fluvial port of Loanda, which lies little more than 2° miles to the north-west, and which is connected by a good carriage 1oud with the Cuanza. It has also been proposed to construct a junction canal, us originally projected by the Dutch, who held possession of Loanda for a few years.

Nearly all the plantations in the rich valley of the Cuanza lie on the right bank, which is the lower and more fertile of the two. Here the vegetation

characteristic of moist tropical lands displays itself in all its splendour and exuberance; but here also the fluvial inundations are the most disastrous, often sweeping away the bougues, or embankments, together with the crops they were constructed to protect. The rich domain of Bom Jesus, where hundreds of hands are employed in distilling rum from the sugar-cane, has in this way frequently been wasted.

The only station on the left bank of the Lower Cuanza is Muzxima (Mushima), crowning the summit of a limestone hill, whence an extensive view is commanded of the territory of the savage Quissama tribes. Above a group of hovels at the