wind, she preferred to follow her own custom, and even got it cupped
on the cheeks. The consequence was that the child was soon in a dying
state, and the father wishing it to be baptized, I commended its soul
to the care and compassion of Him who said, "Of such is the kingdom of
heaven." The mother at once rushed away, and commenced that doleful
wail which is so affecting, as it indicates sorrow without hope. She
continued it without intermission until the child was buried. In the
evening her female companions used a small musical instrument, which
produced a kind of screeching sound, as an accompaniment of the death
wail.

In the construction of this instrument they make use of caoutchouc,
which, with a variety of other gums, is found in different parts of this
country.

The intercourse which the natives have had with white men does not seem
to have much ameliorated their condition. A great number of persons are
reported to lose their lives annually in different districts of
Angola by the cruel superstitions to which they are addicted, and the
Portuguese authorities either know nothing of them, or are unable to
prevent their occurrence. The natives are bound to secrecy by those who
administer the ordeal, which generally causes the death of the victim.
A person, when accused of witchcraft, will often travel from distant
districts in order to assert her innocency and brave the test. They come
to a river on the Cassange called Dua, drink the infusion of a poisonous
tree, and perish unknown.

A woman was accused by a brother-in-law of being the cause of his
sickness while we were at Cassange. She offered to take the ordeal,
as she had the idea that it would but prove her conscious innocence.
Captain Neves refused his consent to her going, and thus saved her life,
which would have been sacrificed, for the poison is very virulent. When
a strong stomach rejects it, the accuser reiterates his charge; the dose
is repeated, and the person dies. Hundreds perish thus every year in the
valley of Cassange.

The same superstitious ideas being prevalent through the whole of the
country north of the Zambesi, seems to indicate that the people must
originally have been one. All believe that the souls of the departed
still mingle among the living, and partake in some way of the food they
consume. In sickness, sacrifices of fowls and goats are made to appease
the spirits. It is imagined that they wish to take the living away
from ea