a kingdom of Africa, bounded on the north by the river Zair, or Zarab, which divides it from Loango; on the south by the river Danda, which separates it from Angola; on the east by the kingdoms of Fungono and Metamba, and the burnt mountains of the sun, those of chrysal or salt-petre and silver, or (according to Anthony Cavazzi, a late traveller into those parts) by the mountains of Coanza, Berbela, and the great mountain of Chilandia or Aquilonda; and on the west by that part of the Atlantic ocean called the Ethiopic sea, or the sea of Congo. According to these limits, Congo Proper extends about three degrees from north to south; lying between 6° and 9° S. Lat.; but widens in its breadth inland, by the course of the river Zair, which runs winding above two degrees more to the north. Its length from east to west is very uncertain, as no observations have been taken of the exact situation of those mountains which bound it.

The history of this kingdom affords but few interesting particulars. Before its discovery by the Portugese, the history is altogether uncertain and fabulous, as the inhabitants were totally unacquainted with letters. letters and learning. So little were they acquainted with chronology, that it is said they did not even distinguish between day and night; much less could they compute their time by moons or years; and therefore could remember past transactions only by saying they happened in such a king's reign.

The country was discovered by the Portuguese in 1484. The discoverer was named Diego Cam, an expert and bold sailor. He was very well received by the natives, and sent some of his men with presents to the king; but being detained by unexpected accidents beyond the promised time of their return, Cam was obliged to fail away without them, and took with him four young Congolese, as hostages for the safety of his countrymen. These he taught the Portuguese language, in which they made such progress that king John was highly pleased, and sent them back next year to Congo with rich presents; charging them to exhort their monarch, in his name, to become a convert to the Christian religion, and to permit it to be propagated through his dominions. A firm alliance was concluded between the two monarchs, which continues to this day, though not without some interruptions, to which the Portuguese themselves have given occasion more than the natives.

Any particular account we have of this kingdom, rests almost entirely on the credit of Anthony Cavazzi, the traveller above mentioned. He was a capuchin-friar, a native of the duchy of Modena, and was sent missionary into those parts de propaganda fide, in the year 1654, and arrived at Congo the same year. During his stay there, his zeal to make converts made him travel through all these different kingdoms; and the credit he gained, as well as the great employments he was intrusted with, gave him an opportunity of informing himself of every thing relating to them with great exactness. The extent and situation, however, he could not possibly ascertain, for want of instruments; nor hath this defect been since supplied. According to him, the dominions of Congo extended a great deal further eastward and southward before the introduction of Christianity than afterwards; a great number of the states that were under the Congolese monarchs, either as subjects, or tributary, having withdrawn their allegiance out of dislike to them on that account. Not content with opposing the officers and troops that came annually to raise the tribute imposed by the king, they made such frequent and powerful incursions into his dominions, that they obliged him to draw his forces nearer the centre of Congo to prevent an invasion; by which means the kingdom, from an extent of 600 leagues, was reduced to less than one half.

Congo Proper being situated within the torrid zone, is liable to excessive heats: as it lies on the southern side of the equinoctial, the seasons are of course opposite to ours. They reckon only two principal seasons, the summer and winter; the former begins in October, and continues till February or March; during which time the sun's rays dart with such force, that the atmosphere appears to an European to be in a flame. The excessive heat, however, is mitigated by the equal length of the days and nights, as well as by the winds, breezes, rains, and dews. The winter takes up the other part of the year; and is said by the natives to be proportionally cold, though to an European it would appear hot. These two seasons they divide into six lesser ones, viz. Massanza, Neafu, Ecundi, Quitombo, Quibiso, and Quibangala.

Massanza begins with the month of October, which is the beginning of their spring. The rains begin to fall at that time, and continue during the next two, and sometimes three, months. When they do so, the low lands are commonly overflowed by the extraordinary floods, and all their corn carried off. A difference of this kind is commonly followed by a famine; for the lazy inhabitants take no care to lay up any provisions, although such misfortunes happen very frequently. This first season they reckon commences at the time the plants begin to spring.

The second season, Neafu, begins about the end of January, when the produce of their lands has arrived at its full height, and wants but a few days of being ripened for harvest. This first crop is no sooner gathered in, than they sow their fields afresh, their land commonly yielding them two harvests.

The third and fourth seasons, called Ecundi and Quitombo, are frequently blended together towards the middle of March, when the more gentle rains begin to fall, and continue to do so till the month of May. These two seasons are distinguished by the greater or lesser quantity of rain that falls during that interval. During the rest of the time, the air is either very clear, hot, and dry; or the clouds being overcharged with electric matter, burst out into the most terrible thunders and lightnings, without yielding the least drop of rain, though they seem loaded with it.

The two last, viz. the Quibiso and Quibangala, make up their short winter, which consists not in frost or snow, but in dry, blasting winds, which strip the earth of all its verdure, till the next Massanza begins to restore them to their former bloom.

They now divide their year into twelve lunar months, and begin it in September. They have also weeks consisting of four days only, the last of which is their sabbath; and on it they religiously abstain from every kind of work. This practice, the compilers of the Universal History conjecture to have arisen from Natives extreme laziness for which this people, and indeed all the African nations, are so remarkable. To dolent, this shameful indolence also is to be ascribed the little produce they reap from their lands, while the Portuguese settled among them, who are at more pains in the cultivation of theirs, enjoy all manner of plenty. The natives, however, had rather run the risk of the most terrible famines, than be at the tenth part of the labour they see the Portuguese take. They seem to think it below them to use any other exercises than those of dancing, leaping, hunting, shooting, &c.; the rest of their time they spend in smoking, and downright idleness, committing the laborious part of their household affairs to their slaves, or, in want of them, to their wives. Nothing is more common than to see these poor creatures toiling in the fields and woods with a child tied to their backs, and fainting under their excessive labour and heavy burdens, or (which is still worse) hunger and thirst. What is yet more surprisingly shameful is, that though they have plenty of domestic animals which they might easily make use of for cultivating their grounds, and for other labours. Congo.

ous services, and though they see the Portuguese do it every day to great advantage; yet they will rather see their tender females sunk under their toil and labour, than be at the trouble of breeding up any of these useful creatures to their assistance.

The ground produces variety of grain, but no corn or rice except what is cultivated by the Portuguese. Their maize, or Indian wheat, grows very strong, and is well laden. This, being well ground, they make into bread, or boil with water into a kind of pap. Of this they have four kinds; one of which resembling what we call French wheat, is produced in plenty, and makes some amends for the want of industry in the people. They cultivate also a variety of the pea and bean kind; but what they chiefly live upon, as most suitable to their lazy disposition, is a kind of nut, like our filberts, which fall to the ground of themselves, and are to be found everywhere; every nut that falls to the ground producing a new shrub next year. They have scarcely any fruit-trees but what have been brought thither by the Portuguese. They have various sorts of palm-trees, useful both by their fruit, leaves, and their juice, which is easily converted into wine; also by affording a kind of oil with which they dress their victuals, though the Europeans use it only to burn in their lamps. They have also a vast number of plants and shrubs, which it would be impossible to describe or enumerate. Wheat is the only thing that the ground will not produce. It pushes forth, indeed, the straw and the ear; the former of which grows high enough, we are told, to hide a man on horseback, but the latter is empty, without one grain fit for use. Father Labat, however, who had lived a considerable time in some of the American islands, where he had observed the same thing, tells us, that he had the curiosity to examine those ears more carefully, and had found some few grains; and that, having sowed them afresh, they produced very long ears, full of large heavy grain. Whence he conjectures, that if the Portuguese had tried the same experiment in their African settlements, it might perhaps have been attended with the same success.

In the low lands the grass grows so high, rank, and thick, that it becomes one of the most dangerous receptacles for wild beasts, serpents, and other venomous insects; on this account travelling is exceedingly hazardous, as they have few beaten roads in the whole country, and travellers are obliged to march over it through vast plains, in continual danger of being devoured or flung to death; to say nothing of the manifold diseases produced by the unwholesome dews with which the grass is covered during some part of the day. The only method of guarding against all these evils effectually, is by setting fire to the grass in the hot weather, when it is quite parched by the heat of the sun; but even this cannot be done without the greatest danger; because both the wild beasts and venomous reptiles, being roused out of their places of retirement, will fly furiously at those who happen to be in the way. In this case there is no possibility of escaping, but by climbing up the highest trees, or defending oneself by firearms or other weapons. In such emergencies, the natives have a much better chance than the Europeans; the former being able to climb trees with surprising swiftness; while the latter must be assisted with rope-ladders, which they commonly cause their blacks to carry about with them, and to go up and fall to one of the branches.

The flowers are here exceedingly beautiful and numerous. Almost every field and grove yields a variety of nobler prospect than the European gardens can boast of, notwithstanding the pains bestowed on their cultivation. The flowers are remarkable, not only for the prodigious variety of their colours, but the vast quantity of heads which grow upon one stalk. In the daytime, indeed, they seem to have lost their natural fragrance; that being in some measure exhaled by the heat of the sun; but this is amply compensated after its setting, and more especially a little before its rising, when their sweetness is again condensed, and revived by the coldness and dew of the night, after which they exhale their various refreshing scents in a much higher degree than ours. The lilies, which there grow naturally in the fields, valleys, and woods, excel those of our gardens, not only in their extreme whiteness, but much more in a delightful fragrance, without offending the head, as the European lilies do by their faintish sweetness. The tulips which there grow wild, though generally called Persia, have something so surprizingly charming in the variety and combination of their colours, that they dazzle the eyes of an intense beholder; neither do their flowers grow singly as with us, but ten or twelve upon one stalk; and with this double advantage, that they diffuse a very reviving and agreeable sweetness, and continue much longer in their full bloom. Of the same nature are their tuberose, hyacinths, and other native flowers; which spring up in vast groups of 100 and 200 from one root, though somewhat smaller than ours; some of them finely variegated, and all of them yielding an agreeable smell. The roses, jessamines, and other exotics brought thither from Europe or America, come up likewise in great perfection; but require a constant supply of water, and diligent attendance, to prevent them from degenerating. The American jessamine, in particular, instead of single flowers, will grow up by dozens in a bunch; some of them of an exquisite white, and others of the colour of the most vivid fire.

A vast variety of animals of different kinds are found in the kingdom of Congo; the chief of which different are the elephant. This creature is mostly found in the province of Bamba, which abounds with woods, pasture, and plenty of water; the elephants delighting much to bathe themselves during the heat of the day. They commonly go in troops of an hundred or more; and some of them are of such a monstrous size, that we are told the print of their hoof hath measured four, nay seven, spans in diameter. From the hair of their tails, and that of some other animals, the natives, especially the women, weave themselves collars, bracelets, girdles, &c. with variety of devices and figures, which denote their quality; and are in such esteem, that the hair of two elephants tails is sufficient to buy a slave. The reason of this is, that the natives have not the art of taming them, but are obliged to send some of their bravest and stoutest men to hunt them in the woods; which is not done without great labour and danger, they being here exceedingly fierce. The most common way of hunting them, them is by digging deep holes in the ground, the top of which they cover with branches and leaves, as is practised in most parts of Asia.

Lions, leopards, tigers, wolves, and other beasts of prey, abound here in great plenty, and do much damage. Here are also a vast variety of monkeys of all sizes and shapes. The zebra, well known for its extreme beauty and swiftness, is also met with in this country. They have also a variety of buffaloes and wild asses; but the dante seems to be an animal peculiar to this kingdom. It is shaped and coloured much like an ox, though not so large. Its skin is commonly bought by the Portuguese, and sent into Germany to be tanned and made into targets, which are then called dantes. The natives make use of their raw hide dried to make their shields; which are so tough that no arrow or dart can pierce them; and they are also large enough to cover the whole body. The creature is vastly swift; and when wounded, will follow the scent or smoke of the gunpowder with such fury, that the hunter is obliged to climb up a tree with all possible speed; and this retreat he always takes care to secure before he ventures to fire. The wounded beast finding its enemy out of its reach, flays at him at the foot of the tree, and will not stir from it; of which the hunter taking the advantage, dispatches it with repeated shots. The forests of Congo also swarm with wild dogs, who, like the wolves, prey upon the tame cattle, and are so fierce that they will attack armed men. Their teeth are exceeding keen and sharp; they never bark, but make a dreadful howling when famished or in pursuit of their prey.

This country also abounds with all the different kinds of birds that are to be found in other warm climates. One sort, which they call birds of music, is greatly esteemed, inasmuch that persons of the highest rank have from time immemorial taken the greatest delight in keeping them in cages and aviaries for the sake of their surprising melody. On the other hand, as the Congolese are superstitious to the last degree, there are several kinds of birds which they look upon as ominous, and are so terrified at the sight or hearing of them, that if they were going to enter upon ever so momentous an expedition, if they were met in council, or going to engage an enemy with ever so great an advantage, the flight or cry of such birds would throw them into a general panic, and disperse them in the utmost haste and confusion. The most dreadful of the ominous kind are the crows, ravens, bats, and owls. The great owl is the most terrible of all, and to him they give the name of karian pemba, by which words they likewise denote the devil.

Fish of different kinds abound on the coasts of Congo in great numbers; but the inland parts are infested with such numbers of serpents, scorpions, and other venomous insects, as are perhaps sufficient to overbalance every natural advantage we have yet mentioned. The most pernicious and dangerous kind are the ants; of which they reckon no less than five several species of different colours and sizes; all of them formidable on account of their prodigious numbers, and the mischief they do not only to the fruits of the earth, but to men and beasts; whom they will surround in the night time, and devour even to the very bone. It is a common practice, we are told, to condemn persons guilty of some atrocious crimes to be stripped naked, tied hand and foot, and thrown into a hole where these insects swarm; where they are sure to be devoured by them in less than 24 hours to the very bones. But criminals are not the only persons who are in danger from the jaws of these little devouring insects. People may be attacked by them, as we have already hinted, in the night time, and while they are sleeping in their beds. This obliges the natives to be careful where they lie down, and to kindle a small fire, or at least to have a circle of burning hot embers round their beds. This caution is still more necessary in the country villages and hamlets, where persons are otherwise in danger of being attacked by millions of them in the dead of the night. In such a case, the only expedient to save oneself is to jump up as soon as one feels the bite, to brush them off with all possible speed, and then at once to set the house on fire. The danger is still greater in travelling through the country, where a person is often obliged to take up his lodging on the bare ground; and may be overtaken during the heat of the day with such profound sleep, as not to be awakened by these diminutive animals till they have made their way through the skin; and in such a case nothing will prevent their devouring a man alive, though there were ever so many hands to assist him: in such incredible quantities do these creatures abound, notwithstanding the great numbers of monkeys who are continually ferreting the ants out of their retreats, and feed upon them with the utmost avidity. This can only be ascribed to the natural laziness and indolence of the inhabitants; which is such, that they not only neglect to rid their lands of them by proper cultivation, but will suffer their houses, nay even their very churches, to be undermined by them. Another kind of these destructive vermin lie so thick upon the paths and highways, that a person cannot walk without trampling upon, and having his legs and thighs almost devoured by them. A third sort of a white and red colour, but very small, will gnaw their way through the hardest wood, penetrate into a strong chest, and in a little while devour all the clothes, linen, and everything that is in it. A fourth sort, small and black, leave a most intolerable stench upon everything they touch or crawl over, whether clothes or household-stuff, which are not easily sweetened again; or if they pass over victuals, they are entirely spoiled. A fifth sort harbour chiefly on the leaves and branches of trees; and if a man chance to climb up thither to save himself from a wild beast, he is so tormented by them, that nothing but the fear of the jaws of the one could make him endure the flings of the other. A sixth sort is of the flying kind; and is probably one of the former kinds, that live wholly underground, till nature furnishes them with wings. After this, they rise in such swarms as darken the air, and would make terrible havoc among all kinds of vegetables, did not the natives come out against them in whole companies, and by dint of flaps, and other flat weapons, knock them down by myriads, and then laying them in heaps, set fire to their wings, which half broil them for food. Amidst all this variety of pernicious insects, however, they have one species of a more friendly and profitable kind, viz., the industrious bee, which furnishes the inhabitants with honey and wax in such plenty, that there is scarcely any want of it. scarce a hollow tree, cliff of a rock, or chop of the earth, in which their combs are not found in great quantities.

With respect to the populousness of the kingdom of Congo, some authors, writing either from mere conjecture, or at best precarious inferences, have represented it as thinly peopled. The accounts of the missionaries and Portuguese, however, are directly opposite to these. They found the country for the most part covered with towns and villages, and these swarming with inhabitants; the cities well filled with people, particularly the metropolis, which is said to contain above 50,000 souls. The provinces, though not equally populous, yet in the whole make up such an amount, as plainly proves, that what is wanting in the one is amply made up by the other. We are told, that the duchy of Bamba is still able to raise 200,000 fighting men, and was formerly in a condition to raise double that number; and that the army of the king of Congo, in the year 1665, consisted of 900,000 fighting men, who were attended by an infinite number of women, children, and slaves. The numbers of the Congolese will appear the more credible, when we consider the extreme fecundity of their women, the hardiness with which they bring up their children, and the stoutness and healthiness of their men. In some villages, if the missionaries are to be credited, the number of children is so great, that a father will part with one or two, for any commodity he wants, or even for some trifling bawble he fancies; so that the number of slaves they sell abroad seldom amounts, communibus annis, to less than 15,000 or 16,000.

There is scarce a nation on earth that have a higher opinion of themselves or their country, than the Congolese, or that is more hardened against all conviction to the contrary, from reason, experience, or the most impartial comparison with other countries in Europe or Asia. Indeed, it is impossible they should think otherwise, when it is one of the fundamentals of their belief, that the rest of the world was the work of angels, but that the kingdom of Congo, in its full and ancient extent, was the handywork of the Supreme Architect; and must of course have vast prerogatives and advantages over all others. When told of the magnificence of the European and Asiatic courts, their immense revenues, the grandeur of their palaces and edifices, the riches and happiness of their subjects, the great progress they have made in the arts and sciences to which their country is wholly a stranger, they coolly answer, that all this comes vastly short of the dignity and splendor of the kings and kingdom of Congo; and that there can be but one Congo in the world, to the happiness of whose monarch and people all the rest were created to contribute, and to whose treasury the sea and rivers pay their constant tribute of zimbis (or shells, which are their current coin); whilst other princes must descend to enrich themselves by digging through rocks and mountains, to come at the excrements of the earth, so they style gold and silver which are in such request among other nations. Accordingly, they imagine, that the nations which come to traffic with them, are forced to that servile employment by their poverty and the badness of their country, rather than induced to it by luxury or avarice; whilst they themselves can indulge their natural indolence or sloth, though attended with the most pinching poverty, rather than disgrace the dignity of their blood by the least effort of industry, which, how laudable and beneficial forever, is looked upon by them as only pride, &c., a lesser degree of slavery. But though they generally esteem it so much below their dignity to apply to any useful work, they think it no disgrace to beg or steal. With respect to the first, they are said to be the most shameless and unfortunate beggars in the world. They will take no denial, spare no crouching, lying, prayers, to obtain what they want, nor curses and ill language when sent away without it. With regard to the last, they deem no theft unlawful or scandalous, except it be committed in a private manner, without the knowledge of the person wronged. It is esteemed a piece of bravery and gallantry to wrench anything from another by violence; and this kind of theft is so common, not only among the vulgar, but also among the great ones, that they make no scruple, in their travels from place to place, to seize not only upon all the provisions they meet with in towns and villages, but upon every thing else that falls in their way. These violences oblige the poor people to conceal the few valuables they have, in some secret place out of the knowledge and reach of those harpies; and they think themselves well off if they can escape a severe bastonading, or other cruel usage frequently inflicted upon them, in order to make them discover the place of their concealment.

The complexion of the natives, both men and women, is black, though not in the same degree; some, on character being of a much deeper black than others. Their hair is black and finely curled; some have it also a dark sandy colour: their eyes are mostly of a fine lively black; but some are of a dark tea-colour. They have neither flat noses nor thick lips like the Nubians and other negroes. Their stature is mostly of the middle size; and, excepting their black complexion, they much resemble the Portuguese. In their temper they are mistrustful, envious, jealous, and treacherous; and where they once take a dislike or affront, will spare no pains, nor stick at any means, however base, to be avenged of, and crush their enemy under their feet. There is no such thing among them as natural affection. A husband, if an Heathen, may take as many wives as he pleases; and if a Christian, may have any number of concubines, whom he may divorce at pleasure, or even sell them though with child. So little regard have they for their children, that there is scarce one among them who will not sell a son or a daughter, or perhaps both, for a piece of cloth, a collar or girdle of coral or beads, and often for a bottle of wine or brandy.

The religion of the Congolese in many parts is downright idolatry, accompanied with the most ridiculous superstitions, and the most absurd and detestable rites invented by their kings or priests; and even in those parts where Christianity is professed, it is so darkened by superstitions of one kind or other, that we may justly question whether the people are any gainers by the exchange.

The government of this kingdom is monarchical, and as despotic as any in Asia or Africa. The kingsmen are the sole proprietors of all the lands within their dominions; and these they can dispose of to whom they they please, upon condition they pay a certain tribute out of them; upon failure of the payment of which, or any other neglect, they turn them out. Even the princes of the blood are subjected to the same law; so that there is no person of any rank or quality whatever that can bequeath a foot of land to his heirs or successors; and when these owners under the crown die, the lands immediately return to it again, whether they were in their possession, or had been left to ever so many tenants under them; so that it entirely depends on the prince whether these lands shall be continued in the same, or be disposed into other hands.

The Portuguese, however, since their settling in these parts, have prevailed upon the monarchs to permit the heirs and successors to continue in the quiet possession of such lands, in order to avoid the confusions, or even rebellions, which the alienation and deprivation of them frequently occasioned, and to oblige the tenants of them to pay their tribute more exactly and readily than they did before.

St Salvador is the chief place of traffic the Portuguese and other Europeans have in this country. There are thought to be about 4000 of them settled here, who trade with most parts of the kingdom. The chief commodities they bring thither are either the product of Brazil or European manufactures. The former consist chiefly of grains, fruits, plants, &c.; the latter of Turkey carpets, English cloth, and other stuffs; copper, brass vessels, some kinds of blue earthenware, rings, and ornaments of gold, silver, and other baser metals; coral, glass-beads, bugles, and other trinkets; light stuffs made of cotton, woollen, and linen, for clothing; and a great variety of tools and other utensils. In return for these, they carry off a great number of slaves, amounting to 15,000 or 16,000 annually, as we have already observed. Formerly they used also to carry away elephants' teeth, furs, and other commodities of the country; but these branches of commerce are now greatly decayed, and the slave-trade is what the Portuguese merchants principally depend on.

Congregationalists, a term applied to tea of the second quality.