Congo is said by sonic of those who have visited it, to be very rich in mineral productions. Accord" ig to Josscr, its mountains yield in several places very hue stone for building, which may, moreover, be obtained of an extraordinary magnitude. There are here also even entire mountains of porphyry, of jasper, and of marbles of different colours, which in Italy are known by the name of the marble of Numidia, of Africa, and of Ethio pia. In the same mountains there is found a kind of stone containing beautiful hyacinths, diffused over the mass, previously to the separation of which it might be formed into columns of the greatest beauty. Among other articles of rare produce in this department, there arc mentioned various stones that appear impregnated with copper and other metals, which receive the finest polish, and are of admirable use in sculpture and engrav ing. Mines of copper of an excellent quality are very frequent in Congo. It is particularly prevalent in the province of Bemba, near to the city of the same name. In Sogni, it is hardly less abundant ; and the copper of that district, being even better than that of Bemba, it is used at Loanda in the fabrication of bracelets and rings, which are in the way of trade transported to Kallabar, Kiodelkey, and other places. Linschoten asserts, that in Bamba there are mines of silver, and some other metals, and that at Lunch there are found mines of crystal and of iron. The last, he says, are the most highly esteemed of the negroes, because of that metal they make their knives, swords, and other arms. It has been imagined by some, that there are immense treasures of precious stones concealed in this country. Dapper seems satisfied, from different assurances which he had received on the sub ject, that it contains mines of gold, particularly in the vicinity of the capital. Carli and Lopez agree with him in opinion as to the existence in the country of such mines; but if the fact actually be so, it would appear, at least, that they have hitherto escaped the keen-sight ed avarice, in respect to such objects, of the Europeans who have settled in that quarter ; a circumstance for which, indeed, it has been endeavoured, though it may be judged by some rather unsuccessfully, to ac count.
The soil of Congo is naturally very fertile. The principal article of its vegetable produce is rice, which grows here in great abundance, as does also Indian corn, barley, and beans. The Indian wheat grows very strong, and is very well filled. This being ground, is made into hread, or boiled with water into a kind of pap. The other sorts of grain raised here, contribute, in like manner, to the nourishment of the inhabitants ; but what, it is said, they chiefly live upon, is a kind of nut like our filberts, which fall to the ground of themselves, and are to be found every where ; every nut that so falls pro ducing a new shrub in the succeeding year.
All the fruit trees common in Asia and in Africa prosper in Congo, and they even succeed there remark ably, attaining to such magnitude, that a single tree may be sufficient fur the construction of a great number of houses or of canoes. Vegetation is here so rapid, that, if Lopez may be credited, he has seen a citron tree rising to a considerable height within four days from the time that he had planted it in the state of a seed. Among the fruit trees that are found here, there are mentioned besides, citrons, lemons, bananas, palm trees ; it is even alleged, that in the marshy grounds there grow sugar canes, of which the inhabitants make no use. There is also a kind of pepper, known by the name of malaguette, or manegette, which is an object of commerce with this people. Cassia, tamarinds, and other drugs that are held in esteem, grow here in abun dance. It is said that the fruit trees found in these parts have in general been introduced by the Portu guese. Of palm-trees, which are exotic and brought from America, there occur no less than eight sorts, all excellent in their kinds, and which, in almost every part of them, are turned to useful account. The oil obtained from these trces is used instead of butter ; with the moss that grows about the trunks, the rich common ly stuff their pillows, and the Giagas apply it to their wounds with good effect. With the leaves, the Moors
cover their houses ; and they draw from the trees by incision, a pleasant liquor like wine, which, however, turns sour within a few days. From the congo palm tree, so called because it thrives better in that country than any of the other sorts, there is obtained a liquor which is reckoned as valuable as the wine that is brought from Europe, though it is rather a kind of milk, sweet and agreeably tart, which will become sour in three or four days, and is so strong that a pint of it will produce intoxication. The fruit of this tree, not un like a peeled chesnut in colour, taste, and substance, is, as has been remarked, the common food of the poor er class of the people. With the oil that is drawn from it, the natives dress their victuals, but the Europeans only burn it in their lamps. Of the shrubs of this country, may be mentioned the capano, or the fig of hell, from the nut of which is extracted an oil for the lamp, of which use is also made in the composition of ointments and plasters, while the leaves, burnt to ashes, afford a good ley, with which the natives wash their bodies. Vines have been brought here from Candia, and they yield excellent grapes twice a-year. The ma nioc, which is used for making bread, is the same that is employed for the like purpose in Asia and America. The potatoes, and other roots of a like kind, yield a grateful nourishment. Wheat, it is said, is the only kind of ve getable produce that will not prosper here. It pushes forth, indeed, the straw and the ear ; the former, we are told, even rising to such a height as to hide a man on horseback, while the latter continues empty, or with out a grain in it fit for use. Father Labat, however, having, as he says, observed the same thing in some of the American islands, and having had the curiosity to examine those ears more carefully, found in them a few grains, which, having sowed afresh, they produced very long cars, full of large heavy grain ; whence he con cludes, that if the like experiment had been tried by the Portuguese in their African settlements, it might have been attended by a similar result. In the low lands of Congo, the grass grows so high, rank, and thick, as to become one of the most dangerous recepta cles for wild beasts, serpents, and venomous insects. Travelling through the country is thus rendered very dangerous, there being in the whole of it but few beaten roads, and the only passage being consequently over vast plains, where hazard is at once encountered from the destructive creatures by which these are frequented, and from the manifold diseases that are produced by the unwholesome dews with which the grass is covered during some part of the day. The flowers of these parts are exceedingly beautiful and numerous, almost every field and grove yielding-, in this respect, a much nobler prospect than is presented by the European gar dens, even after all the pains bestowed on their culti vation. These flow ers are remarkable, not only for the prodigious variety of their colours, but for the vast quantity of heads which grow upon one stalk. The lilies which grow naturally in the fields, vallies, and woods, surpass those cultivated in Europe, not only by their extreme whiteness, but also by a most delight ful fragrancy. The tulips that in like manner grow wild, have something surprisingly charming in the va riety and combination of their colours, and their flowers grow 10 or 12 upon a stalk, which continue long in full bloom, and diffuse a very reviving and agreeable sweet ness. The tuberoses, hyacinths, and other native flowers are distinguished by similar properties, springing up in vast groupes of 100 or 200 from one root, some of them finely variegated, and all yielding an agreeable smell. The roses, jessamines, and other exotics, brought from Europe or America, come up likewise in great perfec tion, and by due care may be long kept in that state. The fruit trees that have been introduced here, those that have been already mentioned, together with oranges, granates, cedars, and others, thrive, it is said, as well in this as in their native soil.