One effectual bar to the real conversion of this people to Christianity, arises from the horrid traffic in slaves, which is carried on here to a greater extent than on any of the other African coasts. It was this inhuman traffic which at first invited the Spaniards and the Portuguese to this coast, to find able hands to cultivate their exten sive American plantations ; to which the kings of Congo and Angola, but particularly the latter, contributed so effectually, that the Portuguese, who were already esta blished in this country, soon became the chief purcha sers from these sovereigns, and San Paulo de Loanda the chief mart for this odious commerce. It was the profit arising from the same trade, that tempted the en terprising Dutch to embark in it, and to wrest this set tlement from the Portuguese. It deserves, however, to be mentioned, to the honour of the Portuguese, that, whether from self interest or huinanity, they treated their slaves with much greater care and attention than the Dutch, as the Dutch writers themselves are forced to acknowledge ; for, as the greater number of these slaves are brought some hundreds of miles from the interior of the country, they are ever put on board of ship, till they have had sufficient time to rest and recruit from the fatigues of their long journey ; very large houses are built for their reception, where the necessary medicines are administered to them ; and even wine afforded them to recruit their exhausted strength, and to cheer their disconsolate spirits. The sick are sepa rated from their companions, and put into chambers by themselves, until they recover. Particular care is taken to guard them against the effects of a disease, called by the natives bittios de cu, that resembles a violent dysen tery; which is in some measure peculiar to this coun try, and is very fatal to the natives, as well as to Euro peans. Nor does the attention to the slaves end here ; for, when they are embarked, they are supplied with a stock of medicines and fruits, for the preservation of their health, during the voyage, and with abundance of good wholesome food ; they are allowed sufficient room in the ship ; and every one of them provided with a mat to rest upon, which is changed every ten days. These kind attentions are not more conducive to the health of the negroes, than to the profit of their owners ; and, it is for want of similar precautions, that the Eng lish and Dutch have always lost such numbers of their slaves during the voyage. But how much reason has the former of these nations now to glory in the legal abolition of this most inhuman, and iniquitous traffic ! and how devoutly is it to be wished, that those Euro pean nations, who still continue it, may be induced to follow so noble an example ! Until that happy event, what hope is there that any attempt, for the improvement of the moral state of this long oppressed people, will be productive of the desired effect! For it is universally acknowledged, that this commerce, which has hitherto been carried on by the Portuguese, to so great an extent in this ill-fated coun try, has been the unhappy means of eradicating from the hearts of the natives, every principle of humanity, and all the social and benevolent affections. Husbands readily sell their wives, and parents their children; friends and neighbours are tempted to betray each other, for the trifling reward of a little wine or brandy, or for a mere bauble ; nay, a soya or lord will sell his whole family and subjects, as a punishment for some slight offence, or to repay himself for a small arrear of debt ; and as this mercenary disposition makes the Angolans ex tremely quarrelsome and vindictive, it is not uncommon to see them accusing one another falsely of some crime before the soya, merely to gratify their spite or revenge ; while their unjust judge knows but too well how to turn this quarrelsome spirit to his own advantage, by finding some pretext for condemning both the accuser and the accused to the same punishment. It is much to be lamented, that these evils are not a little increased in those provinces where the jurisdiction of the Portuguese :s established. Not only do their avaricous governors exact, with the utmost rapacity, the heaviest tribute from the poor natives, but even make their inability to pay it a pretence for condemning the richest families to slavery ; though the profit arising from the sale of their lands and property, in many instances, far sur passes the amount of the original debt. A people, thus oppressed and degraded, can have no security for life or operty ; and it would be vain to expect from them a display of the parental and filial affections, or the exer cise of the social virtues ; for in all ages, and in all cli mates, slavery has been as fatal to virtue, as liberty is friendly- to it. The day, says Homer, that makes a man
a slave, takes away half his virtue.
Before the entry of the Portuguese into this country, the kings of Angola obliged all the lords in their do minions to maintain a certain number of troops for the service of the kingdom. These were a kind of national militia, in which every man capable of bearing arms was obliged to enrol himself. They seldom appeared before their commanders, but when summoned to undertake some expedition ; and then they possessed nothing that could be denominated formidable, but their great num ber. Neither are the native troops, which are maintain ed by the Portuguese, in any respect preferable : For although these kings could formerly, and the Portuguese could since, raise an army of some hundred thousands, • yet that immense multitude, resembling more a confus ed rabble than a disciplined army, might at any time be broken, and dispersed, by a few regular troops ; of which we have two remarkable proofs, one in the year 1584, when 120,000 were put to flight by 500 Portuguese, as sisted by about twice that number from the king of Congo ; and another in the subsequent year, when 10,000 of them were defeated by 200 Portuguese troops. Be fore an engagement, it becomes necessary for these im mense bodies to divide into several detachments, ac cording as their leader, who takes his station in the cen tre of the army, thinks proper to direct. Their wea pons are the bow and arrow, the sword, target, and dagger ; and their warlike instruments are drums, trum pets, hautboys, and other European instruments intro duced among them by the Portuguese. Like other savages, they engage with horrid shout and great fury ; but an unexpected check is sufficient to strike a panic into a whole army, and throw them into confusion ; and then it is neither possible to rally them, nor silence the hideous yells of their flying hosts. In some of the pro vinces they use the following stratagem in war. They drive great herds of cattle towards that quarter from which the enemy is expected, while they lie concealed under the long grass, or among the heath and copses. This seldom fails to entice the enemy to plunder ; and while he is thus thrown off his guard, they break forth from their concealment armed with clubs, and force their enemies to surrender ; and, having made them prisoners, they sell them for slaves to the Europeans.
There is a disease peculiar to this climate which be gins with a violent headach, and vertigo, and is frequent ly followed by convulsions, which quickly reduce the patient to a mere skeleton. Their remedy is a plant not unlike to our hyssop, of which they drink an infusion and also extract an oil from it, with which they anoint the parts convulsed. The Europeans who live there, pulverize the plant, and mix it in their broths and soups, as a preventative of that fatal disease. In some of the provinces, the natives are also subject to a dreadful swelling, which, beginning at the mouth, and spreading itself over the neck, occasions excruciating pains, and frequently ends in suffocation. Here there is also an in sect, not unlike to our horse-flies, whose sting is so very poisonous, that if a quantity of blood be not speedily drawn, the unhappy sufferer is almost instantly thrown into a burning fever, attended with excruciating pains which produce complete delirium, and often convulsive death. All these diseases become very dangerous, and for the most part fatal, from the total want of skilful physicians ; for these poor people depend entirely upon the aid of their conjurers, who often make applications which stimulate the disease, and increase the pain, in order to extort a greater reward for the promised cure. It is remarkable, that even they who profess Christianity, are so completely under the influence of these impostors, that it is with the greatest difficulty that the missionaries, who are generally skilled in physic and surgery, and are always provided with a stock of medicines, can prevail upon them to put themselves under their care ; although they never demand any fee, either for their medicines or attendance. Nay, when any of them, after an unsuc cessful trial of the pretended skill of these conjurers, at last consent to put themselves under the care of a mis sionary, they arc so unwilling to submit to any prescrib ed regimen, that, by their perverse opposition, they counteract the efficacy of his skill and medicines.