Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/67

 PUNOO-NDONOO. 46 almost complete {le|K)pulution of the land. Although naturally very fertile and capable of growiug tobacco, cotton, and ground nuts, as well as European fruita eud vegetables, thanks to its altitude of nearly 3,500 feet above the sea, the district yields scurcely any agricultural produce. A short time before the ex- plorers Capello and Ivens passed thin way, a Jinga tril)e encampo<l in the vicinity of the fort move 1 off in the direction of the west, scared away through fear of being deprived of uU their cattle. Although lacking the agricultural importance for which the Lu-Calla valley is indebtefl to its extensive coffee plantations, the basin of the Cuanza mainstream is nevertheless much more frequented as a commercial highway. iJondo, the first riverain port, is followed eastwards by the town of Pungo-Ndongo^ the "Fetish of Ndongo,' chief depot of the dealers trading with the interior of the continent, and one of the historical cities of Angola. Here formerly resided the sovereigns from whom the Angolan territory took its name, and here the Portu- guese founded a permanent settlement so early as the year 1G71. This town, which lies at an altitude of about 4,000 feet above the sea, occupies a remarkable position in a highly picturesque district. In the middle of a vast plain stretch- ing southwards in the direction of the Cuanza, abruptly rises to a height of />00 or 600 feet, and even more, a group of conglomerate, schistose, gneiss, and porj)hyry crags, presenting the most varied and eccentric outlines. Some ha e the appear- ance of obelisks, others of domes, while most of them are dispo-sed in vertical turret-shaped peaks separated > narrow intei'ening crevasses, which are ren- dered conspicuous from a distance by the shrubs of dark green foliage with which they are overgrown. In some of these gorges — a very paradise of botanists, thanks to the endless variety of their plants — the trees are completely matted with parasitic creepers, which stretch from crag to crag in form of a vast canopy above the lower vegetation. In the flowering season this canopy of entangled lianas, itself now veiled by a dense mass of fiery red blossom, spreads out like a purple lake embedded between sheer rocky walls. . These beautiful rocks of Pungo- Ndongo are commonly known by the name of Pedras Negras, or *' lilack Stones," a designation, however, which is little deserx cd for at least a great part of the year. At the end of the dry season they assume rather a greyish hue. But in December, when the crevices of the rocks are flooded by lakelets foimed by the rains, the vertical sides exhibit blackif-h streaks which gradually broaden out downwards, at last completely covering the base of the cliffs as with a coating of black varnish. This coating is composed of myriads of tiny weeds of the scytonema family, which spring up during the rains but which disappear with the return of the dry season, sealing off and again revealing the natural greyish tint of the rock}' surface. On one of these picturesque eminences stands the fortress, while in an irregular cirque at its foot are grouped the huts of Pungo-Xdongo, environed by orange- groves and gardens, which are watered by rills of limpid water. Here are intermingled the fruit-trees of EurojK) and the Antilles, above which rise the spreading branches of a mighty baobab, associated with the first traditions of the