Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/78

 Gambos and Humbé (Kumi), have hitherto remained mere groups of cabins inhabited by the natives. Along this marshy tract of the Middle Cunene the white population has so far been represented only by # few solitary individuals, chiefly fishermen attracted by the multitude of fish in this part of the stream. The section of the seaboard lying between Mossamedes and the estuary, political boundary of Angola, has also remained almost uninhabited. Yet this part of the coast presents the rare advantage of the two excellent havens of Bahia Pinda (Port Alexander) and Bahia dos Tigres (Great Fish Bay), both formed by sand-banks deposited in a line with the coast, and connected by a narrow strip with the mainland. On the lofty headland of Cabo Negro, which commands the northern entrance of Port Alexander, are still visible the remains of a pedrão, or a stone block erected in 1485 by Diego Cam to commemorate his discoveries. A similar memorial pile crowns the summit of Cape Santa-Maria, between Dombe-Grande and Mossamedes.

Despite the fertility of its plateaux and river valleys, Angola still remains one of those African lands in which hunting and fishing continue to have almost as much importance as husbandry. But this could scarcely be other wise in a region which was formerly depopulated by the slave trade, and where the desolate seaboard consequently presents but few plantations and cultivated tracts. At the same time the withdrawal of wild animals towards the interior, and