Smithsonian Libraries African Art Index Project DSI Search this
Subject:
Serpa Pinto, Alexandre Alberto da Rocha de 1846-1900 Travel Search this
Type:
Articles
Place:
Angola
Date:
1881
19th century
Notes:
Illustrations, maps.
Illustrations include views of Luanda, several African villages, and Portuguese outposts; portraits of Serpa Pinto and Moene Kahenga, chief of the Kangamba, and of Mundombe [Dombe], Huambo, Ganguela [Ngangela], Kimbande, Luchazi, Ambuela [Mbwela], and Luena [Lwena] men and women, showing hairstyles, clothing, and adornment; plates of tools, utensils, and weapons; plans of Belmonté and a Bie fortified village and a vertical section of Luena house; and a depiction of chief Mavanda dancing, wearing a mask and costume.
This is the first of two installments, translated from the English by J. Belin-De Launay. The second appears in volume 2, 1881.
Serpa Pinto's expedition, sponsored by the Portuguese government, goes inland from Benguela, Angola, to the upper Zambezi and then south to Durban and the Indian Ocean. This installment takes him from the Angola coast to the headwaters of the Zambezi. He encounters many ethnic groups (see illustrations) and notes their appearance, behavior, beliefs, agriculture, trade, mining techniques, crafts, and dwellings. He lists the goods he trades for food and labor, the most prominent of which is brandy. Unlike other travelers in this region, Serpa Pinto pays little attention to the Portuguese role in the slave trade.
