men to farmers planting beans in their vicinity, from the
belief that they render the mines unhealthy. The gravitation of the
malaria from the more elevated land of Tala Mungongo toward Cassange
is the only way the unhealthiness of this spot on the prevalence of the
westerly winds can be accounted for. The banks of the Quango, though
much more marshy, and covered with ranker vegetation, are comparatively
healthy; but thither the westerly wind does not seem to convey the
noxious agent.

FEB. 20TH. On the day of starting from Cassange, the westerly wind blew
strongly, and on the day following we were brought to a stand by several
of our party being laid up with fever. This complaint is the only
serious drawback Angola possesses. It is in every other respect an
agreeable land, and admirably adapted for yielding a rich abundance of
tropical produce for the rest of the world. Indeed, I have no hesitation
in asserting that, had it been in the possession of England, it would
now have been yielding as much or more of the raw material for her
manufactures as an equal extent of territory in the cotton-growing
states of America. A railway from Loanda to this valley would secure the
trade of most of the interior of South Central Africa.*

* The following statistics may be of interest to mercantile
men. They show that since the repression of the slave-trade in
Angola the value of the exports in lawful commerce has
steadily augmented. We have no returns since 1850, but the
prosperity of legitimate trade has suffered no check. The
duties are noted in Portuguese money, "milreis", each of which
is about three shillings in value.

Return of the Quantities and Value of the Staple Articles, the
Produce of the Province of ANGOLA, exported from ST. PAUL DE
LOANDA between July 1, 1848, and June 30, 1849, specifying the
Quantities and Value of those exported in Portuguese Ships and
in Ships of other Nations.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | In Portuguese Ships. || In Ships of other Nations. |
| Articles. |------------------------||----------------------------|
| | Amount. | Value. || Amount. | Value. |
|-----------------|---------|--------------||-------------|--------------|
| | | L. s. d. || | L. s. d. |
| Ivory. . . Cwt. | 1454 | 35,350