tall forest-trees as will afford good shade to the
coffee-plants below. The fortunate discoverer has then a flourishing
coffee plantation.

This district, small though it be, having only a population of 13,822,
of whom ten only are white, nevertheless yields an annual tribute to the
government of thirteen hundred cotton cloths, each 5 feet by 18 or 20
inches, of their own growth and manufacture.

Accompanied by the commandant of Cazengo, who was well acquainted with
this part of the country, I proceeded in a canoe down the River Lucalla
to Massangano. This river is about 85 yards wide, and navigable for
canoes from its confluence with the Coanza to about six miles above the
point where it receives the Luinha. Near this latter point stand the
strong, massive ruins of an iron foundry, erected in the times (1768)
and by the order of the famous Marquis of Pombal. The whole of the
buildings were constructed of stone, cemented with oil and lime. The dam
for water-power was made of the same materials, and 27 feet high. This
had been broken through by a flood, and solid blocks, many yards in
length, were carried down the stream, affording an instructive example
of the transporting power of water. There was nothing in the appearance
of the place to indicate unhealthiness; but eight Spanish and Swedish
workmen, being brought hither for the purpose of instructing the
natives in the art of smelting iron, soon fell victims to disease and
"irregularities". The effort of the marquis to improve the mode of
manufacturing iron was thus rendered abortive. Labor and subsistence
are, however, so very cheap that almost any amount of work can be
executed, at a cost that renders expensive establishments unnecessary.

A party of native miners and smiths is still kept in the employment of
the government, who, working the rich black magnetic iron ore, produce
for the government from 480 to 500 bars of good malleable iron every
month. They are supported by the appropriation of a few thousands of
a small fresh-water fish, called "Cacusu", a portion of the tax levied
upon the fishermen of the Coanza. This fish is so much relished in the
country that those who do not wish to eat them can easily convert them
into money. The commandant of the district of Massangano, for instance,
has a right to a dish of three hundred every morning, as part of his
salary. Shell-fish are also found in the Coanza, and the "Peixemulher",
or woman-fish of the Portuguese