or ANSIVARIIS, an ancient people of Germany, situated somewhere in the neighbourhood of the Chauci. All we know of their history is, that, in the reign of the emperor Nero, they were driven from their own possessions by the Chauci. Being then in a forlorn condition, they took possession of some uninhabited lands, which had been used as pasture for the horses of the Roman soldiers. They were led by one Boiocalus, a man of great valour, and of known fidelity to the Romans. He remonstrated to the Romans, who objected to their taking possession of these lands, That the territory in dispute was large; and requested, that it might be allowed to an unhappy people driven from their own habitations: that, at the same time, wide tracts might be retained for the horses and cattle of the soldiers to graze in; that it was inconsistent with humanity to famish men in order to feed beasts, &c., and at last, lifting up his eyes to heaven, he asked the celestial luminaries how they could behold a desolate soil, and if they would not more justly let loose the sea to swallow up usurpers, who had enrolled the whole earth? To this the Roman commander, Avitus, replied, That the weakest must submit to the strongest; and that since the gods, to whom they had appealed, had left the sovereign judgment to the Romans, they were resolved to suffer no other judges than themselves. To Boiocalus himself, however, he privately offered lands as a reward for his long attachment to the Romans; but this offer the brave German rejected, as a price for betraying... betraying his people; adding, "A place to live in we may want, but a place to die in we cannot." The Anfibari now invited the neighbouring nations to join them against the Romans; but they, dreading the power of that nation, refused to give them any assistance; upon which they applied to the neighbouring nations, begging leave to settle in their territories; but being everywhere driven out as enemies and intruders, these unhappy people were reduced to wander up and down till every one of them perished.

Ansko, a kingdom of Africa, bounded on the west by the river Umbre which runs into the Zaire, the kingdom of Wangua, and the Amboes who border on Loango on the north, by some deserts of Nubia; and on the south, by Songo and Sonda, provinces of Congo. Here are great numbers of wild beasts, as lions, rhinoceroses, &c., and many copper mines. The king of Ansko, or the great Macoco, commands 13 kingdoms, and is esteemed the most powerful monarch in Africa. The inhabitants of Angola have a tradition, that this is the proper country of the Giagas, who came originally from Sierra Leona, and overrun, like a torrent, the whole coast as far as Benguela; that, being weakened by numerous battles, and unable to force the defiles in order to return to Sierra Leona, they arrived on the borders of Monomotapa, where being defeated, they were forced to remain in the provinces of Ansko. Be this as it will, the Anskans yield not in the least to the Giagas in ferocities and barbarity. They are so accustomed to the eating of human flesh, that it is asserted they have markets where it is publicly sold, and that there are no other graves for the dead than the bellies of the living. They try the courage of their prisoners of war by shooting at them as at marks, directing their arrows above or around their heads; and whoever discovers the least sign of fear, is immediately devoured without remedy. Those who appear intrepid and resolute, have their noses and ears bored, and two fore teeth of the upper jaw drawn. They are then improved in barbarity, by accustoming them to the most horrid cruelties.

The Anskans are neat, well proportioned, and strong; wandering about from place to place, without either sowing or reaping. They are dreaded for their extreme brutality, and never traded with by the Europeans. Their language is barbarous, and difficult to be learned, even by the inhabitants of Congo. The most distinguished among them wear red and black caps of Portuguese velvet: the lower ranks go naked from the waist upwards: and, to preserve their health, anoint their bodies with a composition of pounded white sandal wood and palm oil. Their arms are battle axes, and small but very strong bows, adorned with serpents' skins. Their flings are made of supple and tender shoots of trees, that will not break, and their arrows of hard and light wood. These people, who kill birds flying, shoot with such surprising swiftness, that they can discharge 28 arrows from the bow before the first falls to the ground. With equal dexterity they manage their battle axes; one end of which is sharpened and cuts like a wedge, and the other flattened like a mallet, with a handle set between, about half the length of the iron, rounded at the end like an apple, and covered with the skin of a serpent.—The current money in this country is the zimbis or shell, which is