Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/68

 place. Beneath the shadow of this tree was held the court of Queen Ginga, one of the great potentates of African traditional history. The rocks have also their local legends, some of them showing the fanciful imprint of human feet, others containing caverns whose galleries are supposed to give access to underground cities.

At Pungo-Ngondo daylight is of shorter duration than in the other towns oi Angola, This is due to the rocky heights, which delay the rising sun and hasten its setting rays; while the cliffs are often wrapped in fog and mist during the morning hours.

East of the "Black Stones," the commercial outpost of Loanda with the

interior is Malangé, a small town situated on a vast grassy plain which, during the rainy season, resembles a boundless field of wheat. Northwards stretch some morasses, Which might be easily drained and which are the source of some rivulets flowing to the Cuanza below a series of romantic cascades. Malangé is still a Portuguese station, being occupied by a small garrison; and here also reside some white traders, who have introduced the national currency. But beyond this point all European coins have to be exchanged for bales of cloth and other objects of barter. Here are organised, for their long inland journeys, the quibucas, or caravans of traders, agents, brokers, and porters, which penetrate beyond the Kwango, trading with the surrounding nations and wild tribes as far