The Western coast of Africa Author:Peter Leonard Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II. Harbour and town of Angola. Disgraceful extent of the slave-traffic there. Town ofAmbriz; another mart fur slaves. Villages along the coast. Cape ... more »Padron. Strange custom of piracy against the slave-ships. Superstitious habits of the wild inhabitants of the coast. A pathetic monkey. Operations of the survey Cape Palmeiro,— Hostile demonstrations of the natives towards Lieut. Bot- eler and his boat's crew. Measures of severity in self- defence. The harbour of Angola is very extensive, with a great depth of water. I should, however, recommend all European vessels not to anchor within one mile and a half of the town ; for, as the nights are in general calm and oppressively hot, the sea-breeze becomes of the utmost importance, and by lying close under the island, it may be enjoyed with some degree of regularity. Numerous fortifications command the bay at every point. The strongest and principal garrison is situated on the brow of a hill on one side of the town, mounting nearly eighty guns. In addition to this are three others; one built on a rock communicating with the main land by a draw-bridge, having also a very strong battery of sixty-four guns, commanding the harbour in every direction. The town of Angola is the most extensive settlement which the Portuguese possess on this coast. When approached from the southward, it -presents rather a grand and pleasing appear- ance, being situated on an eminence, surmounted by the garrison before mentioned. The houses are of stone, spacious and substantial, as Portuguese dwellings on this coast generally ave; regularly and even tastefully built, with several churches and a cathedral. The market is tolerably supplied during the season, but filthy in the extreme. It is singular they do not take a greater pride in this one pa...« less