We passed sundry
settlements--Loango Pequeno, Loango Grande, and others--and many
canoes were seen plying up and down. On the left or to the south
was nothing but dense reedy vegetation upon the low islands,
which here are of larger dimensions than the northern line. As
evening drew near, the grasshoppers and the tree frogs chirped a
louder song, and the parrots whistled as they winged their rapid
flight high overhead. Presently we passed out of the lower
archipelago, and sighted the first high land closing upon the
stream, rolling hills, which vanished in blue perspective, and
which bore streaks of fire during the dark hours. Our Cabinda
Patron grounded us twice, and even the high night breeze hardly
enabled us to overcome the six-knot current off the narrow, whose
right side is called Ponta da Diabo. Devil's Point is not so
named in the chart: the place is marked "Strong Tide" (No. 1),
opposite Chombae Island, which the natives term Zunga chya
Bundika, hence probably the name of the village Bemandika (Boma
ndika). At this satanic headland, where the banks form a gate
three miles broad, a man hailed us from the bank; none understood
him, but all made up their minds that he threatened to visit us
during the night.
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