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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A06339	A report of the kingdome of Congo, a region of Africa And of the countries that border rounde about the same. 1. Wherein is also shewed, that the two zones torrida & frigida, are not onely habitable, but inhabited, and very temperate, contrary to the opinion of the old philosophers. 2. That the blacke colour which is in the skinnes of the Ethiopians and Negroes &c. proceedeth not from the sunne. 3. And that the Riuer Nilus springeth not out of the mountains of the Moone, as hath been heretofore beleeued: together with the true cause of the rising and increasing thereof. 4. Besides the description of diuers plants, fishes and beastes, that are found in those countries. Drawen out of the writinges and discourses of Odoardo Lopez a Portingall, by Philippo Pigafetta. Translated out of Italian by Abraham Hartwell.; Relatione del reame di Congo. English	Lopes, Duarte.; Pigafetta, Filippo, 1533-1604.; Hartwell, Abraham, b. 1553.; Rogers, William, b. ca. 1545, engraver. aut	1597 (1597)	STC 16805; ESTC S108820	127,173	219

is the distance of an hundred miles contayning the largenesse and breadth of this famous Cape which being deuided into two points as it were into two hornes it maketh a Gulfe where sometimes the Portingall shippes doe take fresh water in the Riuer that they call the Sweet Riuer The inhabitantes of this coast which dwell betweene these two points are of colour blacke although the Pole Antarctike in that place be in the eleuation of thirtie and fiue degrees which is a very strange thing yea the rude people that liue among the most colde mountains of the Moone are blacke also This I write of purpose to aduise and moue the Philosophers and such as search the effectes of nature that they would fall into their deepe contemplation and speculation therevpon teach vs whether this blacke colour be occasioned by the Sunne or by any other secrete and vnknowne cause Which question I for this time doe meane to leaue vndecided Now forasmuch as this Promontory of Good-Hope is the greatest Cape of all and stretcheth out into the Sea farther then any other in the whole vniuersall worlde and is very daungerous to passe as all Promontories are and for that also the sea is there most terrible and from the lande there blow most horrible winds which cause that Ocean to be exceedingly tempestuous and stormie so that many Portingall shippes of admirable burthens haue beene cast away therein and lastly because the auncient Historiographers did neuer knowe it no not so much as by hearesay and it is not long ago since the King of Portingalles Fleetes did first discouer the same It shal not be impertinent but rather a matter of great conuenience in this place to decipher the measure thereof to make so manifest a declaration of it as may serue also to vnderstande how great the nauigation is from Portingall into India by compassing the Coast of the Cape of Good-Hope onely almost the space of sixe thousande miles as a little hereafter it shall be shewed vnto you For from the Riuer of Ferdinando Poo where the said Cape beginneth to iut-out into the sea as farre as to the Poynt which we call the Point of Needles there is contayned vpon the shoare more then two thousande and 200. myles from the North to the South and on the contrary side from the said Point to the Cape of Guarda-Fuy right ouer against the Islande of Socotora they reckon more then three thousande and three hundred miles by the coast from the South to the North. So that from Lisbone compassing about the shoares of Africa and all the Cape of Good-Hope vnto the kingdome of Goa there are moe then fifteene thousand miles And from thence afterwardes to Malaca and to China and so forwardes there remayneth so long a iourney that neuer yet in any time hetherto hath there beene so great and so daungerous a nauigation vndertaken and performed as this of the Portingalles neyther with great vesselles nor with small It is called the Cape of Good-Hope because all such as saile that way aswell in going forth as in returning home doo especially principally ayme at this marke that they may passe and get beyonde this Promontorie which when they haue doone they account themselues to bee out of all daunger and as it were to haue performed their iourney And vpon this their generall desire they gaue it the name of the Cape of Good-Hope Nowe to returne to our purpose and to talke further of the Coast of Africa beyonde the Cape or Poynt of the Needelles there are many competent harboroughes and hauens the principall whereof is Seno Formoso The faire Bay and Seno del Lago The Bay of the Lake For there the sea maketh a certaine Gulfe wherein are sundry Islandes and Portes and somewhat beyonde there runneth into the sea the Riuer of S. Christopher and at the mouth thereof there lye three prettie Islettes A little further forwardes the Coast runneth all along by a Countrey which the Portingalles call Terra do Natal the Land of the Natiuitie because it was first discouered at Christmasse and so reacheth to the Cape called Della Pescheria Betweene which Cape and the Riuer Magnice within the Land is the Kingdome of Buttua whose Territories are from the rootes or bottome of the mountaines of the Moone vntill you come to the riuer Magnice towards the North where the countrey of Monomotapa standeth and westwardes from the Riuer Brauagul towardes the sea all along the bankes of the Riuer Magnice In this kingdome there are many mynes of Golde and a people that is of the same qualities and conditions that the people of Monomotapa is as hereafter shall bee shewed vnto you And so going along the shores of the Ocean you come to the Riuer Magnice which lyeth in the very entraunce of the Kingdome of Sofala and the Empire of Monomotapa Chap. 9. Of the Kingdome of Sofala THis Kingdome beginneth at the Riuer Magnice which springeth out of the first Lake of Nilus and conueyeth it selfe into the sea in the middest of the Bay betweene the point Pescheria and the Cape called Capo delle Correnti situate in twentie and three degrees a halfe of the Pole Antarctik vnder the Tropike of Capricorne With this Riuer neere vnto the sea there ioyne three other notable riuers the principall whereof is by the Portingalles called Saynt Christophers because vpon the day of that Saintes feast it was first discouered but by the inhabitantes it is named Nagoa The second tooke the name of one Lorenzo Margues that first found it These two Riuers do spring originally from the mountains of the Moone so greatly renowned among the auncient writers but by the people of the country they are called Toroa out of which Mountains they did thinke that famous Nilus tooke also his beginning but they were vtterly deceyued For as we haue already tolde you the first Lake ariseth not out of those Mountaines but lyeth a great way distant from it and betweene it and them is there a very great and a huge low plaine Besides that the streames that flow from the said mountaines do runne towardes the East and bestow their waters vpon other great Riuers so that it is not possible for them to passe into the foresaide Lake much lesse into Nilus considering especially that the Riuer Magnice springeth out of that first Lake and by a farre different course from the course of Nilus runneth towards the East and so ioyneth it selfe with the two Riuers aforesaide The thirde is called Arroe and ariseth on another side out of the Mountaines of the Gold-Mines of Monomotapa and in some places of this Riuer there are founde some small peeces of Golde among the sand These three Riuers enter into the great Magnice neere vnto the sea and all fower together doo make there a great water in a very large channell and so dischargeth it selfe into

and of Silke and of Golde and such other commodities This kingdome lyeth betweene the borders of Quiloa and Melinde and is inhabited with Pagans and Mahometans and yeeldeth obedience to the Empire of Mohenemugi A little beyond is the Kingdome of Melinde which being likewise but a little one extendeth it selfe vpon the sea coast as farre as the Riuer Chimanchi and lyeth in the height of two degrees and a halfe and vp the streame of that riuer it reacheth to the Lake Calice the space of an hundred miles within lande Neere vnto the sea along the bankes of this riuer there is a great deale of Countrey inhabited by Pagans and Mahometans of colour almost white Their houses are built after our fashion But there is one particularitie to be admired that their Muttons or Sheep are twice as great as the Sheepe of our countrey for they deuide them into fiue quarters if a man may so call them reckon the tayle for one which commonly wayeth some twentie and fiue or thirtie pounde The women are white and sumptuously dressed after the Arabian fashion with cloth of Silke About their neckes and handes and armes and feete they vse to weare iewelles of Gold and Siluer When they go abroade out of their houses they couer themselues with Taffata so that they are not knowen but when they list themselues In this Countrey there is a very good hauen which is a landing place for the vesselles that saile through those seas Generally the people are very kinde true and trustie and conuerse with strangers They haue alwayes entertained and welcomed the Portingals and haue reposed great confidence in them neyther haue they euer offered them any wrong in any respect In the sea betweene these two Capes of Mombaza and Melinde there are three Isles The first is called Monsie the second Zanzibar and the thirde Pemba all inhabited onely with Mahometans that are of colour white These Isles abound in all things as the others doo whereof we made mention before These people are somewhat enclyned to armes but they are in deed more addicted to dresse manure their ground For there groweth much Sugar which in small barkes they carry away to sell into the firme lande with other fruites of that Countrey Besides these three realmes last described Quiloa Melinde and Mombaza within the Lande is the great Empire of Moenemugi towards the West It bordereth vpon the South with the kingdome of Mozambique and with the Empire of Monomotapa to the riuer Coauo vpon the West with the riuer Nilus betweene the two Lakes and vpon the North it ioyneth with the Empire of Prete Gianni Towardes the sea this Emperour standeth in good termes of peace with the foresaide kings of Quiloa Melinde and Mombaza by reason of their trafficke together and the better to secure the entercourse and trade by sea by meanes whereof they haue brought vnto them much cloth of Cotton and cloth of Silke from diuers Countries and other marchandises that are well esteemed in these partes and particularly certaine little balles that are made in the kingdome of Cambaia of a kind of Bitumen or clammie Clay like vnto glasse but that it is as it were of a red colour which they vse to weare about their neckes like a payre of beades in steed of necklaces It serueth them also in steede of Money for of Gold they make none account Likewise with the silks that are brought vnto them they doo apparell themselus from the girdle downewardes In exchaunge and barter of all these commodities they giue Gold Siluer Copper and Iuorie But on the other side towardes Monomotapa there are continuall warres yea and sometimes so blooddy that it is hardely discerned who hath gotten the victorie For in that border there meet together two of the greatest and most warlike powers and forces that are in all those regions that is to say on the party of Monomotapa there came forth into the field the Amazones of whom wee tolde you before and on the partie of Mohenemugi are the Giacchi as the Moci-Conghi do call them but in their owne tongue they are called Agagi who did sometime so greatly afflict the kingdome of Congo as you may remember Neyther are these people lesse couragious or strong then the Amazones but are of a blacke complexion and presumptuous countenances They doo vse to marke themselues aboue the lippe vpon their cheekes with certain lines which they make with Iron instruments and with fire Moreouer they haue a custome to turne their eye liddes backewardes so that their skinne being all blacke and in that blacknes shewing the white of their eyes and those marks in their faces it is a strange thing to behold them For it is in deede a very dreadfull diuelish sight They are of bodie great but deformed and liue like beastes in the fielde and feede vpon mans flesh In fight they shew themselues exceedingly couragious and doo vtter most horrible shouting and crying of purpose to daunte and affray their enemies Their weapons are Dartes and Pauises of Leather that couer all their whole bodie and so defend themselues therewith Sometimes they will encampe together and sticke their Pauises in the grounde which are vnto them in steed of a trench Sometimes they wil go forwardes in the battell and shrowde themselues vnder them and yet annoy their aduersaries with the shot of their dartes And thus by warlike pollicie they doo ordinarily plague their enemies by endeauouring with all subtiltie to make them spende their shotte in vaine vpon their Targettes and when they see that they haue made an ende of shooting then doo they renew the battell a fresh and driuing them to flight make a cruell slaughter of them without all mercie And this is the manner which they vse against their enemies and the Amazones But the Amazones on the other side which are very well acquainted herewithall doo fight against them with other militarie stratagems as we haue aboue declared and doo ouercome the forces of their aduersaries with their swiftnes and great skill in matters of warre For they doo assure themselues that if they be taken they shalbe deuoured and therefore with doubled courage they fight for life that they might ouercome and in any case saue their liues from that fierce and cruell nation And in this sorte doo they maintaine continuall warre alwayes with great mortalitie on both sides These Agags dwell at the beginning of the Riuer Nilus where it runneth Northwardes out of the Lake vpon both the bankes of the Riuer till it come to a certaine limite wherein they are bounded and then Westwardes all ouer the banks of the said Nilus euen to the second Lake to the borders of the empire of Prete-Gianni Touching these Agags I thought it conuenient in this place to adde all this which before I had omitted Between the confines of this Moenemugi and Prete-Gianni there are sundry other pettie Lordes and people

hath no hauen And here it is to be noted that all this Country which we haue here described was wont to be subiect to the king of Congo but a while ago the Gouernour of that countrey is become the absolute Lorde thereof and professeth himselfe to bee a friende to the king of Congo but not his vassall and yet sometimes he sendeth the King some present in manner of a tribute Beyond the Riuer Coanza is the hauē of Loanda being in ten degrees made as it is said by a certaine Island called Loanda which signifieth in that lauguage Bald or Shauen because it is a Countrey without any hilles and very low for indeed it scarce rayseth it selfe aboue the sea This Island was framed of the sand and durt of the sea and of the riuer Coanza whose waues meeting together and the filthy matter sinking downe there to the bottome in a continuance of time it grew to be an Island It may be about 20. miles long and one mile broade at the most and in some places but onely a bowshoote But it is a maruellous thing that in such a sandy ground if you shall digge to the depth of two or three hande-breadthes you shall finde sweete water the best in all those Countreyes Wherein also there is a very strange effect that when the Ocean ebbeth this water becommeth somewhat salte but when it floweth to the top it is most sweete A thing that falleth out also in the Islande of Cadis in Spayne by the report and testimony of Strabo This Islande is the Mine of all the money which the King of Congo spendeth and all the people thereaboutes For vppon the shores you shall haue certayne women that vse to diue and ducke into the sea two yardes deepe and more and fill their baskets with sand and afterwardes diuide the grauell from certayne smal Shel-fishes that are among it which are called Lumache when these Lumache are seuered by themselues then doe they picke out the Males from the Females which they may easily do because the Female is more fine then the Male and greatly esteemed for her colour which is very neat bright and pleasant to the sight These Lumache doo breede in all the shores of the kingdome of Congo but the best of all are those of Loanda because they looke very fine and of a very bright colour some gray or ashecoloured and some of other colours not so precious And here you must note that gold and siluer and mettell is not of any estimation nor in vse of money in these countreyes but onely these Lumache so that neither with golde nor siluer in masse or in coine you shal buy any thing there but with these Lumache you shall buy both golde and siluer or any thing els In this Islande there are 7. or 8. Townes called in that Country language Libata the principal whereof is Spirito sancto and therein dwelleth the Gouernour which is sent from Congo to minister iustice and to gather the treasure of the moneyes of these Lumache Here are also Goates and Sheepe and Boares in great numbers which being tame at the first do afterwardes become wilde and liue in the woods Here groweth also a tree called Enzanda which is a great one and alwaies greene and endued with a singular qualitie For from the bowes of it that sproute vpwardes there hang downe certaine threedes as it were which creeping into the earth do take roots out from these roots do rise other trees so they multiply And within the outmost barke thereof there groweth a certaine kind of pil like fine linnen which being beaten and cleansed they spreade out in length and in breadth and therewith they cloath their men and women that are of the basest sort In this Islande they haue certaine vessels made of the bodies of Palme-trees ioyned together and framed after the manner of our boates with a prowe and a sterne wherin they passe from place to place both with oares and sayles In these boates they vse to fish about the riuers which are indeede exceeding full of fish and sometime also they will go ouer to the firme lande In that part of this Islande which is towardes the maine land in certaine lowe places there grow certaine trees which when the water of the Ocean ebbeth discouer themselues and at the feet thereof you shal find certaine other Shel-fishes cleauing as fast to the trees as may bee hauing within them a great fish as bigge as a mans hande and very good meate The people of the countrey know them very well and call them Ambiziamatare that is to say the Fishe of the Rocke The shels of these fishes they vse to burne and thereof make very good lime to builde withall And being like the corke or barke of the tree which is called Manghi they dresse their Oxe hydes withall to make their shooe soles the stronger To be briefe this Island bringeth forth neither corne nor wine but there is great store of victuaile brought thether from all parts thereaboutes to fetch away these Lumache For as in all other places all things may be had for money of mettell so all things here are had for Lumache Whereby may bee noted that not onely here in this kingdome of Congo but also in her neighbour Ethiopia and in Africa and in the kingdomes of China certaine others of the Indies they vse moneyes of other matter then of mettall that is to say neyther golde nor siluer nor copper nor any other mixture tempered of these For in Aethiopia their money is Pepper and in the kingdome of Tombutto which is about the Riuer Nigir otherwise called Senega their money is Cockles or Shelfishe and among the Azanaghi their moneyes are Porcellette and in the kingdome of Bengala likewise they vse Porcellette and mettall together In China they haue certaine Shelfishes called also Porcellette which they vse for their money in other places Paper stamped with the kings seale and the barks of the tree called Gelsomora Whereby it appeareth that the money which is payed for euerie thing is not mettall all the worlde ouer as it is in Europe and in many and sundry other countries of the earth This Islande in the straitest part of it is very neere to the firme lande and the people do oftentimes swimme ouer the channell there In this straite there arise out of the Ocean certaine Islettes which shewe themselues forth from the water when it ebbeth and are couered againe when it floweth And in those Islettes you shall see great trees and most excellent Shelfishes cleauing fast to the bodies of them such as I tolde you of before Neere to this Islande towardes the outwarde coast to the sea there swim an innumerable sorte of Whales that looke blacke and fighting one with another doe kill themselues which afterwardes being by the waues cast vp vpon the shore as bigge as a midling

planted the christian religion in the Kingdome of Congo and thereupon the king of Congo became a Christian. After which time the Lorde of Angola was alwaies in amitie and as it were a vassall of the forenamed King of Congo and the people of both countries did trafficke together one with another and the Lord of Angola did euery yeare sende some presents to the king of Congo And by licence from the King of Congo there was a great trade betweene the Portingalles and the people of Angola at the hauen of Loanda where they bought slaues and chaunged them for other marchaundises and so transported all into the Isle of Sainte Thomas Whereby it came to passe that the trafficke was heere vnited with the trafficke of S. Thomas so that the shippes did vse first to arriue at that Islande and then afterwarde passed ouer to Loanda And when this trade began in processe of time to increase they dispatched their shippes from Lisbone to Angola of themselues and sent with them a Gouernour called Paulo Diaz of Nouais to whome this busines did as it were of right appertaine in regarde of the good desertes of his auncesters who first discouered this trafficke To this Paulo Diaz did Don Sebastiano King of Portingale graunt leaue and authority to conquere for the space of xxxiij leagues vpwardes along the coast beginning at the Riuer Coanza towards the South and within the lande also whatsoeuer hee coulde get towardes all his charges for him and his heyres With him there went many other shippes that opened and found out a great trade with Angola which notwithstanding was directed to the foresaide hauen of Loanda where the saide shippes did still discharge themselues And so by little little he entred into the firme land made himselfe a house in a certain village called Anzelle within a mile neer to the riuer Coanza because it was the more commodious nigher to the trafficke of Angola When the trade here beganne thus to increase and marchaundises were freely caried by the Portingales the people of Congo to Cabazo a place belonging to the Lorde of Angola and distant from the sea 150. miles there to sell and barter them it pleased his Lordship to giue out order that all the Marchants should be slaine and their goods confiscated alleadging for his defence that they were come thether as spies and to take possession of his estate but in truth it is thought that hee did it onely to gaine all that wealth to himselfe considering that it was a people that did not deale in the habite of warriours but after the manner of Marchants And this fell out in the same yeare that the King Don Sebastiano was discomfited in Barbarie When Paulo Diaz vnderstoode of this course he put himselfe in armes against the King of Angola and with such a troupe of Portingals as he could gather together that were to bee founde in that countrey and with two Gallies and other vessels which he kept in the riuer Coanza he went forwarde on both sides of the riuer conquering and by force subdued many Lords and made them his frendes and subiectes But the king of Angola perceyuing that his vassalles had yeelded to the obedience of Paulo Diaz and that with all prosperous successe he had gayned much land vpon him he assembled a great army to go against him and so vtterly to destroy him Whereupon Paulo Diaz requested the King of Congo that he woulde succour him with some helpe to defende himselfe withall who presently sent vnto him for aid an army of 60 thousand men vnder the conduct of his cosin Don Sebastiano Manibamba and another captayne with 120. Portingale souldiers that were in those countryes and all of his owne pay for the atchieuing of this enterprise This army was to ioyne with Paulo Diaz and so altogether to warre against the King of Angola but arriuing at the shoare where they were to passe ouer the riuer Bengo within 12. miles of Loāda where they shoulde haue met with many barkes to carry the Campe to the other shore partly because the said barks had slacked their cōming partly because much time wold haue been spent in transporting so many men the whole armie tooke their way quite ouer the riuer and so going on forwardes they met with the people of the King of Angola that were ready to stoppe the souldiers of Congo from entering vpon their Countrey The military order of the Mociconghi for by that terme we do call the naturall borne people of the kingdome of Congo as wee call the Spaniardes those that are naturally borne in Spaine and the military order of the people of Angola is almost all one For both of them doo vsually fight on foote and diuide their armie into seuerall troupes fitting themselues according to the situation of the field where they doo incampe aduancing their ensignes and banners in such sort as before is remembrd The remoues of their armie are guided and directed by certaine seuerall soundes and noyses that proceede from the Captayne Generall who goeth into the middest of the Armie and there signifieth what is to bee put in execution that is to say eyther that they shall ioyne battell or els retyre or put on forward or turne to the right hand and to the leaft hand or to performe any other warlick action For by these seueral sounds distinctly deliuered frō one to another they doe all vnderstande the commandementes of their Captayne as we heere among vs doo vnderstande the pleasure of our Generall by the sundrie stroakes of the Drumme and the Captaines soundes of the Trompet Three principall soundes they haue which they vse in warre One which is vttered aloude by great Rattles fastned in certaine woodden cases hollowed out of a tree and couered with leather which they strike with certaine little handles of Iuory Another is made by a certaine kinde of instrument fashioned like a Pyramis turned vpwarde for the lower ende of it is sharpe and endeth as it were in a point and the vpper end waxeth broader broader like the bottom of a Triangle in such sort that beneath they are narrow like an Angle aboue they are large and wide This instrument is made of certayne thinne plates of iron which are hollowe and empty within and very like to a bell turned vp side downe They make them ring by striking them with woodden wandes and oftentimes they do also cracke them to the ende that the sound should be more harsh horrible and warlicke The thirde instrument is framed of Elephants teeth some great and some small hollowe within and blowen at a certaine hole which they make on the side of it in manner of the Fife and not aloft like the Pipe These are tempered by them in such sort that they yeelde as warlicke and harmonious musicke as the Cornet doth and so pleasant and iocund a noyse that it moueth and

vpon him by the hand of God for the punishment of the sinnes which he had committed against Religion had acknowledged his errour and became a good Christian cherishing the Portingals whom he called his Sonnes and doing them all the pleasure hee could Especially and aboue all thinges hee ceased not still to sende new Embassadours into Portingall with earnest request that he might haue moe Priestes and such as were skilful in the holy Scriptures to maintaine the Catholike Faith which was now almost vtterly forgotten in that Realme onely for want of religious persons that shoulde teach the people and administer the Sacramentes and not for any fault of their good willes for they were meruellously well inclined and affected to the Holy Faith After that the aforesaid Captaine was arriued in Portingall and had presented the requestes of the King of Congo to his King who was also but a young man he had none other aunswere from him but wordes and promises that he would haue a care of the matter that was demanded but in the meane while hee prouided neyther Priests nor Diuines to be sent for Congo Wherevpon the King of Congo dispatched againe another principall Embassadour being his kinseman called Don Sebastiano Aluarez together with a Portingall to beare him company and entreate for moe Priestes and withall to redeeme certaine slaues borne in Congo that were in the Isle of S. Thomas and in Portingall and were sold vpon meere necessitie as wee haue tolde you before Some of them woulde needes remaine still in voluntarie seruitude and many were raunsomed and brought home into their Countrey By whose good labour and meanes and especially by the paineful industrie of such as were Lords borne of noble bloud for some there were of that dignitie among them the King of Congo restored the Christian Religion which was almost lost and some of them he vsed for Counsellours and Officers of the Realme as men that were well practised and experienced in the worlde by reason of this their long captiuitie To this Embassadour the King gaue a gracious aunswere and tolde him that hee should bee satisfyed according to his request But yet for all that hee was faine to returne home agayne into Congo without any Priestes or Religious persons to go with him Three yeares after the King Don Sebastiano dispatched a certaine Bishoppe called Don Antonio de gli Oua being a Castilian borne principally to the Islande of S. Thomas but withall he gaue him also a commission to visite the kingdome of Congo who being arriued at S. Thomas fell at iarre with the Captayne there and so sayled into Congo where hee was also persecuted by the saide Captaine and his frendes that hee had there For they informed the King that hee was an ambitious man of a haughtie spirite and very obstinate thereby did vtterly discredite him with the King and all his Court Wherevpon being induced therevnto by these accusations the King forbad him at the first to enter within his Realme but afterwardes he receyued him with great honour and sent his sonne to entertain him and to accompany him to the Cittie There he stayed about eyght monethes and then departed againe somewhat before the King of Portingall passed into Africa and leaft behinde him in Congo two Friars and fower Priestes The Bishoppe being thus gone the King ouerthrowen in Africa there was exalted to the Crowne of Portingall Don Henrico the Cardinall to whome the King of Congo did write with great instaunce and earnest request that he would send him some religious personnes and Preachers but he could obtaine nothing at his handes because the Cardinall liued but a short time in that Gouernement After Don Henrico succeeded Phillip King of Castile who sent aduertisementes to the Captain of Saint Thomas that he was inuested in the Crowne of Portingall and letters also to the King of Congo to the same effect Wherevpon the Captaine did presently dispatch one Sebastiano di Costa that with the title of Embassadour shoulde carry these newes and letters vnto the saide King When these letters were presented and all complementes performed the king of Congo returned him againe to the Court to king Phillip with answere of his letters and therein proffered to discouer vnto him the mettall mines which heretofore had beene concealed from all the other kinges his predecessors and withal sent him diuers trialles of them Beseeching him especially with all affectionate entreatie that as soone as possiblie he could hee woulde furnish him with some store of Priestes declaring also vnto him the miserable state and condition whereinto his people were fallen by reason of the troubles that had happened about the Christian Religion But Costa died by the way the vessell wherein he sayled being cast away vpon the shore of Portingall and euery man drowned that was in it and the naughtie newes were knowen by the contentes of the Letters that were found in a little chest which was driuen on land by the waues of the sea by a briefe note of such Commissions as he had in charge to deliuer to the king When the king of Congo hearde of this accident hee did not cease but still continued and perseuered in his godly purpose woulde not suffer Christianitie to bee vtterly extinguiwed in his Kingdome as it was very likely to be And therefore he determined yet once again to send a new Embassadour of his owne to the King of Spaine But forasmuch as there arose some difficulties and differences among some Lordes of the Court that desired this honour the king because he woulde not displease any of them by preferring one of them before another made choice of one Odoardo Lopez a Portingall borne from whose mouth Pigafetta tooke this present report and put it in writing This man had dwelt now a good time in those Regions and was well experienced in the affaires of the worlde and being by good chaunce at that time in the Court he was thus emploied with the good fauour and countenance of the king who deliuered vnto him in writing very ample instructions for all matters whereof hee was to treate as well with his Catholike Maiestie in Spaine as also with his Holinesse at Rome together with very earnest letters of credence and authoritie and commoditie to them both and safe conductes and exemptions in all liberties both within and without besides his effectuall recommendations of him to all other Christian Princes with all such other priuileges and declarations that might shew how dearly the king esteemed his person as to an Embassadour in such causes appertaineth The summe of his Embassage was this That he should present his Letters to the King Don Phillip and at large discourse vnto him the state wherein the kingdome of Congo stoode touching matter of Religion by the reason of the former warres and scarcitie of Priestes and therevpon request his Maiestie to prouide

him a competent number of Confessors and Preachers that might bee sufficient to maintaine the Gospell in those remote Countries being but lately conuerted to Christianitie Moreouer that he should shew vnto him the sundrie trialles of Mettalles which hee had made and many other matters which were worthie to bee knowen and withall that he should proffer vnto him in his name free liberal trafficke of them which heretofore was euer denyed to his Predecessors Touching the Pope That he should likewise on his behalfe kisse his feete deliuer vnto him his letters and recount the miserable trouble and detriment that his people had suffered for the Christian Faith That he shold recōmend those poor soules to his Holines beseech him as the Vniuersal Father of all Christians to haue compassion vpon so many faithful persons who because they had no Priestes to deliuer the holy Faith vnto them and to administer the wholesome Sacramentes were by little and little falling into euerlasting perdition And being thus dispatched he departed from the Court and went about certaine seruices for the King wherein he spent about eyght Monethes So that in Ianuary being then Sommer time in Congo he embarked himselfe in a vessell of a hundred Tunne burthen which was bound with her lading for Lisbone Now as he sayled he came to the sea of the Islands of Cape Verde where the vessell being somewhat olde began to take in much water at a leake that was open in the foreship So that the wind blowing very lustely and strongely before and the Saylers being not able eyther to reach the Islandes aforesaid or to gayne the firme lande of Africa much lesse though they woulde neuer so fayne to follow on their voyage by sayling on with the halfe ship and to straine the vessel that leaked so much the Pilot thought it better to turne his course and taking the wind in the poope to goe saue themselues in the Islandes of Noua Hispania And so after terrible stormes and extreame dangers of drowning and of perishing with hunger for want of all kinde of meate they arriued with much adoo at a little Islande called Cubagoa and situate ouer against the Isle of Saynt Margarete where they fish for Pearles From thence when they had in some haste amended their shippe and somewhat refreshed themselues they sayled with a short cut to the firme lande and tooke hauen in a Porte called Cumana or as it is called by another name The new kingdome of Granado in the West Indies This battered and wetherbeaten vessell was no sooner arriued in this safe harbour but it sunke presently to the bottome but the persons that were in her were all saued although afterwardes they fell sicke to the death by reason of the great griefe which they had endured in hunger in thirst and in want of all other sustenance and chiefly by the horrible stormes of that tempestuous Ocean While the foresaide Embassadour endeauoured in this place to recouer his former health the company of shippes which is called La Flotta that is to say the Fleete and vseth euery yeare to sayle from the coast for Castile departed from thence so that he was constrayned to stay for a new Nauie and so consumed a whole yeare and a halfe without doing any good In this meane time the King of Congo hauing neuer receyued any tydinges of this his Embassadour Odoardo but accounting him for dead and not knowing that he was driuen by tempest into the West Indies continued still constant in his former purpose to procure some remedy for Christianitie in his kingdome And therefore hee sent another Embassadour with the selfe same commandements called Don Piedro Antonio the seconde person in all his Realme and with him one Gasparo Diaz a Portingall borne a principall man and very rich and an auncient inhabitant in that Countrey to the ende that hee shoulde accompany the saide Don Piedro and suffer him to want nothing and in any case ioyne his good helpe to procure that the request which he hoped to obtain of the king of Spaine might be fully effected with a further expresse commandement that if they did meete with the saide Signor Odoardo they should deale in their businesse with his aduise counsell But an infortunate end had this Embassadour for he was taken at sea by Englishmen and his shippe also which being drawen towardes Englande when it was neere vnto the Coast by great misfortune it ranne athwart the shoare ane there Don Piedro Antonio his sonne were both drowned but the Portingal and some fewe others with him escaped and arriued in Spaine at such time as the said Odoardo was come to the Court had entred vppon the charge of his Embassage And therefore this Gasparo wrote to Odoardo that hee was minded to returne home into Congo and not to goe to the Court at all whether it were for the death of the Cardinall or for any other respect I cannot tell but home he returned in deed as he said he would In the time that our Signor Odoardo remained in the West India which is situate vnder the same skie and vnder the same climate and of the same temperature of ayre that Congo is subiect vnto hee noted that the colour of the skinnes of the inhabitants in both countries was farre different For in Congo they are generally and for the most parte blacke and in India almost white that is to say of a middle colour betweene white and blacke which the Spaniardes call Mulato Browne or Darke-Tawney Whereby he would signifie that it is not caused by the Sunne as it hath beene recorded of long time but that it commeth of nature it selfe who worketh it by some secreat reason which neuer yet to this day eyther by auncient Philosopher or new writer hath beene fully set downe or vnderstoode When he had recouered his health he sayled to the Porte of the Cittie of San Domingo in the Island of Hispaniola that there at the first passage he might take some shippe that went towardes Castilia and by good chaunce he found a Portingall vessell among the rest of the Nauie which was minded to ioyne with the Fleete of shippes that passed from the firme lande to Castilia and so to goe in good companie and better safetie All these shippes being thus vnited together they arriued by the helpe of a very good winde at Terzera which is one of the Islandes called Azores that is to say the Sparre-Haukes and from thence to San Lucar di Barameda which is a hauen in the mouth of the Riuer Guadalchibir and so to Siuile from whence he tooke his iourney into Portingall to see his frendes and to furnish himselfe with all thinges necessarie for his businesse and at the last hee rode to the Court which was at that time in Madrill There hee was courteously entertained by his Catholike Maiestie to whom he propounded the contents of

as pleaseth and delighteth their sences well enough Besides all this which is a thing very admirable by this instrument they doo vtter they conceites of their mindes and doo vnderstande one another so plainely that euery thing almost which may be explaned with the tongue they can declare with their hande in touching and striking this instrument To the sounde thereof they do dance in good measure with their feet and follow the iust time of that musicke with clapping the palmes of their handes one against the other They haue also in the Court Flutes and Pipes which they sound very artificially and according to the sounde they daunce and moue their feet as it were in a Moresco with great grauity and sobrietie The common people doe vse little Rattles and Pipes other instrumentes that make a more harsh and rude sound then the Court-instruments do In this kingdome when any are sicke they take nothing but naturall phisicke as Hearbes and Trees and the barkes of Trees and Oyles and Waters and Stones such as Mother Nature hath taught them The Ague is the most common disease that raigneth among them and plagueth them in Winter by reason of the continuall raine that bringeth heat and moysture with it more then in Sommer and besides that the sicknes which here we cal the French disease Chitangas in the Congo tongue is not there so daungerous and so harde to be cured as it is in our Countries They heale the Ague with the poulder of a wood called Sandale or Saunders whereof there is both redde and gray which is the woode of Aguila This poulder being mingled with the oyle of the Palme-Tree and hauing annointed the bodie of the sicke person two or three times withall from the head to the foote the partie recouereth When their head aketh they let bloude in the temples with certaine little boxing hornes first by cutting the skinne a little and then applying the Cornets therevnto which with a sucke of the mouth will be filled with bloud and this manner of letting bloude is vsed also in Aegipt And so in any other parte of a mans body where there is any griefe they drawe bloude in this fashion and heale it Likewise they cure the infirmitie called Chitangas with the same vnction of Saunders whereof there are two sorts one redde as we tolde you and that is called Tauila the other gray and is called Chicongo and this is best esteemed for they will not sticke to giue or sell a slaue for a peece of it They purge themselues with certaine barkes of trees made into powder and taken in some drinke and they will worke mightely and strongly When they take these purgations they make no great account for going abroade into the ayre Their woundes also they commonly cure with the iuyce of certaine hearbs and with the hearbs themselues And the sayde Signor Odoardo hath affirmed vnto me that he sawe a slaue which was stabbed through with seauen mortall woundes of an Arrow and was recouered whole and sound onely with the iuyce of certaine hearbes well knowen vnto them by experience So that this people is not encumbred with a number of Phisicians for Surgery for Drugges for Sirruppes for Electuaries for Playsters and such like Medicines but simply doe heale and cure themselues with such naturall Plantes as grow in their owne Countrey Whereof they haue no great neede neither for liuing as they doo vnder a temperate clymate and not ingorging themselues with much varietie of meates to please their appetites nor surcharging their stomackes with wine they are not greatly troubled with those diseases that commonly are engendred of meates and drinkes that remaine vndigested Chap. 8. Of the Countries that are beyonde the Kingdome of Congo towardes the Cape of Good-Hope and of the Riuer Nilus NOw that we haue seene the Kingdome of Congo and the conditions both of the Countrey and people that dwell therein and also of the nations therevnto adioyning it remayneth that wee discourse a little further and that with all breuitie of the rest of Africa towardes the Cape of Good-Hope all along the Ocean whereby they vse to sayle into India euen as farre as the redde sea and then we will returne backe againe into the Inlande and treate of the Riuer Nilus and of Preti-Gianni and of all his kingdomes to the ende that so farre as our matter will beare we may make a perfecte relation of those Regions which hitherto haue not so well and so rightly been conceaued of euery man Beyond the Kingdome of Congo we haue signified vnto you that there are other countries belonging to the King of Angola and beyond that towardes the Cape of Good-Hope a King called Matama who ruleth ouer diuers Prouinces which are called Quimbebe This Realme as we tolde you from the first Lake and the confines of Angola contayneth all the rest of the countrey Southwardes till you come to the Riuer of Brauagul which springeth out of the mountaines of the Moone aud ioyneth with the Riuer Magnice and that springeth out of the foresaide first Lake These mountaines are diuided by the Tropicke of Capricorne towardes the Pole Antarctike and beyonde this Tropike lyeth all the Countrey and borders of the Cape of Good-Hope which are not ruled and gouerned by any one Kinge but by diuers and sundry seuerall Princes In the middest betweene that Cape and the Tropike are the saide Mountaines of the Moone so famous and so greatly renowned among the auncient writers who do assigne them to be the originall head and spring of the Riuer Nilus which is very false and vntrue as the situation of the countrey doth plainely shewe and as wee a little hereafter will discouer vnto you This Countrey is full of high and rough mountaines it is very coulde and not habitable It is frequented and haunted with a few persons that liue after the manner of the Arabians vnder little cabbins in the open fieldes and apparelled with the skinnes of certaine beastes It is a sauage and a rusticall nation without all faith and credite neyther will they suffer any straungers among them Their furniture is Bowes and Arrowes They feede vpon such fruites as the lande breedeth and also vpon the flesh of beastes Among these Mountains of the Moone there is a Lake called Gale a very little one it is and lyeth somewhat towardes the West Out of this Lake there issueth a Riuer called Camissa and by the Portingalles named The sweete Riuer which at the point of the Cape of Good-Hope voydeth it selfe into the sea in that very place that is termed The False Cape For the shippes of the Indies sayling that way doo first discouer another greater Cape which is called The Cape of the Needles and then afterwardes this lesser Cape Wherevpon they call it The False Cape because it is hidde and couered with the true and great Cape Betweene these two Capes or Promontories there