Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Book II Chapter 8

[89] Of the Zeal & fidelity with which Queen Ginga kept the Ginga laws which she had adopted, like a true Giaga, & imitator of such an iniquitous mother Chap. VIII

It cannot be denied (dear reader) but must be confessed that every Kingdom in the world, even every Province & Region, creates men with singular qualities & inclinations; for this reason many people have had occasion to give the populations with these inclinations & qualities particular names, so that for example Epimenida called the Cretans, a people of lying & evil beasts, who in addition were all poltroons.

The mauritanians were called by Salvitio a vain people. The Dalmatians were known as a fierce people & others had differ­ent names. So if it is true that every Kingdom, Province & Region influences certain natural inclinations in its inhabit­ants, just think, o readers, what may be those of the part of southern Africa called western or inner Ethiopia, outside the world which embraces everything? These characteristics are at the centre of their being, & so they are able to be masters of all the other Provinces,Kingdoms & Regions because they are by nature bigger liars than Cretans, for truth is never or at least seldom found in their mouths, & when it does happen it is by accident, & against their natural inclination; but they may well be called beasts because they walk with the irrational rather than the Rational and also resemble the Cretans in their poltroonary, though to say that would be greatly honouring them because they are worse, & if it is true that the after-effects of sin are that sadness establishes itself & increases, what will happen to them? In their way they also surpass the vanity of the Mauritanians. They are fiercer than the Dalmatians, the Garamantes of Asia, the Massagenti if India or the mamelukes of America, the Zebici, the Chilli, the Virginians of eastern Ethiopia. It is enough to say that the Giaga people have the advantage of all the other nations in the world, & if they are as loyal as animals, they resemble animals altogether, & are not much like human beings, with deformed bodies, a terrible aspect, a barbarous & cruel Soul, given to robbery & rapine, [90] discuss their deeds but little, in short they are the quintessence of all the evil in the world. So what will Queen Ginga be like, born in this black Ethiopia under a Climate below Stars which influence so many evil inclinations in those native to it?

Who can guess or prophecy whether there is a lamb hidden under the wolf's clothing when all we see is wolves? This is the nature of our Ginga, from these she derives her life, her rites, her laws, her customs & observances, & is a skilled mistress of them all; she feels their quintessence to be natural, influenced by the climate & acquired from the Giaga life which she has led for many years, 28 of them, during which even acquired customs have been converted into natural ones as she has shown in the observance of the iniquitous Giaga laws; which have been registered in the first book & so will not be noted here, but I shall simply describe the method[1] & way in which Queen Ginga has diligently observed them without transgressing in any way, as if they had been Holy & good, which a rich reward is prepared for them consisting of eternal glory, & to the followers & observers of iniquitous laws eternal fire stands ready; now, dear reader, I wish you to be attentive to the progress of this narrative.

Quixilla Variangue. First Law.

As to the first quixilla i.e. law she was most diligent, and had by one of her Concubines a son who a few days after birth was killed by the King, her uterine brother, to ensure the government for himself, a barbarous custom of these ethiopian nations, & she avenged his death after the death of the King by throwing her nephew, true heir to the Kingdom, into the Coanzo river, & when already stained with her nephew's blood, to show herself a true Giaga, she not only imitated her mother but surpassed her in Zeal because she forbade human propagation in her vassals & followers and made herself like a furious harpy & cruel tigress towards the human body, image of the Creator, towards newly born children as if they had been the opprobrium & execration of their parents, & if by accident she allowed any of those captured in war in order to obey the law [91] to remain alive, this was only until they transgressed her first commandment which made life and death equal, as sacrifice of life was her ordinary means of punishment; Queen Ginga was more barbarous & cruel to children than herod, for if he killed the innocent he did not forbid human propagation, & only vented his anger once, while she vented it at every available opportunity, now against one & now against the multitude according to opportunity & time, & was always barbarically & cruelly surpassing even King pharaoh, who only ordered that boys be thrown into the river, & spared the girls, but inhuman Ginga ordered both to be deprived of life, an unheard-of cruelty, & one had to wonder & marvel at the extent of the tyranny of this barbarous and immoral woman.

Quixilla aijari. Second Law.

She showed her great zeal in the second law, and seeing that she could not prevent a woman being pregnant and bringing her baby to birth, she ordered that no woman should give birth within the armed camp, & if she did give birth she ordered her head to be cut off in the house where she had given birth, & the baby to be buried alive, & if the husband was implicated he suffered the same punishment: whereas if it was without his consent he could kill his wife without incurring any punishment, but rather was praised for a heroic act. She felt such horror of children that when some appeared in time of war she was seen to be greatly perturbed, & showed in her face what was concealed in her heart, nor did she delay in showing it if they were not immediately removed from her presence;* [marginal note*: she did not want any woman to bring up a child and did not heed the advice of the Apostle S. Paul who said "Fathers and mothers, you must create and bring up your children", nor did she appreciate that of Ignatius Bishop of Antioch who, speaking to Fathers and Mothers says to them that they should nourish their children; and besides Eccleriasticus says [marg. c. 7] "O woman keep your children bring them up and nourish them", but she sent them all to be killed / so that people were too afraid to give birth within the camp, & outside it mothers killed the children, or left them as food for Animals, or threw them into rivers according to what opportunities they had, & this they did not so much out of barbarity, as to please their Lady & Queen, when the dogs were not present at the time of giving birth (as you will hear) ; some women have told me after being baptised & joined in matrimony according to the custom of the Holy Mother Church, that in the time of their Giaga life one of them left five children to be eaten by dogs, another three, & another threw seven to the river & to dogs, another nine. The inventor of evil deeds [92] kept a large number of dogs outside the City in a place assigned for women to give birth in, & these were used to such game animals and knew the women's pains & groans which normally precede giving birth, and stayed there waiting for the baby to appear, ate it, and some of the court have told me that if by any Chance there had been a woman there who from human compassion had wanted to defend her baby it cost the unfortunate her life without hope of appeal, as if she had been the offspring of dogs, a portion awarded to them by the Queen which they did not want to lose; she said "what is the use of children except for deafen people with their crying? It is better that they should die, I have none and I do not wish others to have them."

As to twins who in other Kingdoms & nations are brought up with great diligence & dedicated to the service of their false Gods, & by many adored as children of the thunder, there they are killed and as a prophecy of their destruction the first was called Cacullo and the second Cabazzo;[2] two women not far from where I was living both had twins, & both killed them. Those who were marked by mother nature with some monstrosity such as having more limbs than is natural, if they were noble, had them cut off & stayed alive, ever grateful that they were spared, & if they were Plebeian they were sent to be killed according to custom, & this also is observed by those who are not Giaghi, & I have seen several of them. Those were lame, blind & deaf were subjected to the law of Aristotle that they should be deprived of life as objects of execration to their parents, if any were saved out of human respect they could not come into the camp unless received with the chest called Missette where they keep the relics of their Ancestors they worship ( such as that of King ngolambande) & other diabolical things.[3]

Quixilla quitatu. Third Law.

In the fulfillment of the third law she used in war the mortar they call quino where she had pounded to death with a pestle the son she had quickened, & anointed herself with the oil made from her son, as ordained by Tembo Andumba, & when it ran short she renewed it [93] according to the Giaga custom, painted herself with various colours & the juice of various herbs & powdered charcoal according to the ancient custom generally observed in this black Ethiopia; for hoping to add beauty to their blackness, they added deformity to ugliness, & managed to represent, when thus painted, a Scene of inhabitants of Hell which it is frightening to behold; such were the cosmetics of the Queen with which she adorned her black person, & in their fashion beautified herself & made herself worth looking at, also making use of various unguents which gave off a fragrance like the previous day's food, but greatly esteemed by the blacks.

Quixilla Giuana. Fourth Law.

She observed the fourth law most faithfully because just as she made sacrifices both before and after war and surpassed the other Giaghi in barbarity and ambition, so she felt that, being by birth nobler than the others, it would be a great discredit & dishonour to her if she did not also surpass them in the observance and execution of the Giaga cruelty & barbarity, & for this reason and that of her great ambition & pride she was much more feared than the others, & so were those who fought [did battle] under her barbarous command, & even today her soldiers are much feared and held to be valorous & as well as the Epithet of inhuman & cruel which many have applied to them they are held to be faster in walking, more skillful in jumping, and also quick to plunder. She was also very diligent in burying in her own belly those whom they killed in war, but more to set an example to her followers than through her natural inclination, & they are more avid for it than she and more so than the (illegible) are for Game, & for it would leave pheasants & partridges, & truly do not wait to eat it until it is well cooked, Those that she did not contain in her belly she had taken to the people's houses, if time allowed, and if there was a shortage even the pulverised bones were used; I have several times seen these barbarous acts committed, and let everyone think what must arise in a human breast to see human individuals of the same species torn to pieces [torn] and quartered, & eaten. That is what happens & what is observed in this [94] black Ethiopia, these were the observances of Queen Ginga & her Giaga people, & I have seen as well as heard this not once but many times.

Quixilla quitanu. Fifth Law.

For many Years I have seen people killed to serve those who died, following in this the custom not only of the black people of Ethiopia, but also those of the Indian Regions; at first she was accustomed to killing her familiars & servants, but after a time it did not seem fitting to her to kill them, and she ordered those captured in war to be killed, and did not fail, according to the black people's custom, to kill Goats, hens, Eunuchs, and as part of the sacrifice they add various beverages and cloths, as if the dead were alive, stupid in one case and mad enough to be put in Chains in the other, they are so faithful in this observance that in order to keep it they deprived themselves of clothing, at most covering their private parts, & go about as they came [rose] from their mothers' bellies without the slightest shame, but are considered heroes among themselves; it would be good, dear reader, if this were in recompense of benefits received, or for any obligation whatsoever they had incurred, but it is accompanied by a thousand superstitious observances.

Quixilla Samano. Sixth Law.

She was more observant of this quixilla than any, because she not only had the two middle top teeth taken out, but in many cases the bottom teeth also in order to show greater barbarity, & not content with this, she branded them horribly with the shape of grating, not so much so that they should show themselves as her slaves in one or two places, but rather so that her inhumanity should be visible; I say, she had them marked on the arms, chest & in many cases also on the shoulders, which, when one sees someone with four or six brands moves the Blood in one's veins. I have seen very many of these Ethiopians branded with less care & circumspection than would be done with Horses in Europe, because many wish to have with the brand what they were unable to get in battle, through lack of time of some other human considerations; a barbarity one cannot believe without having seen it, because to tell it is to risk being held not to tell the truth, & of being censured by everyone. One also sees many wounded in the arms & back, and if the reader is curious to know what is the meaning among them of these signs, & if these also are imprinted [95] to satisfy their madness & curiosity, I say that Queen Ginga had nine or ten cuts on her arms, & so had Donna Barbara & many others; these are not marks of anger & indignation nor signs of slavery of the body or the heart, because these cuts & wounds were made by their Lovers as a sign of the Excessive feelings they had. This was not a new custom of the Queen, but an ancient one of the Kingdom of Dongo[4] as I have seen in many old mondonghi, both men and women; let everyone marvel at the action & consider the fact, how it troubles Christians, & even more so the Religious; I leave each one to consider and form judgement, & give sentence at will, & this is enough on this quixilla.

Quixilla Sambuari. Seventh Law.

If Queen Ginga was not naturally inclined to eat human flesh, she did not fail, as a true observer of their iniquitous laws, to try it out both during bloody wars and on occasions of sacrifice; this essay on the Queen's part was such an effective example to her Vassals & followers that, wishing to please their Lady, they filled their bellies with it, & if she was coming took from their Houses and wives children & relations; & many also took particular parts to their Concubines such as brains, Heart or liver to prove their fidelity to them in their absence, for she who ate freely & without repugnance gave a sign of her fidelity, & if she demurred she was guilty & was punished according to the degree of her crime, & sometimes paid with her life, without prayers & appeals being any use, and the penalty was put into practice. If Queen Ginga was reluctant to eat human flesh, she did not abstain from drinking human blood among her usual beverages, which she drank when swearing friendship & alliance, which they are accustomed to drink; they call the swearing Cuia, and to say "someone has taken Cuia" is to say he has sworn loyalty[5] or to do something, & the blood of the people who swear is part of the drink. Queen Ginga took such an oath when she allied herself with Cassange Calunga to do harm to the Portuguese,[6] & avenge previous deaths, as on various occasions she was ready and willing to do, but lacked strength. Such an oath [96] was also observed among the people of Scythia who drew blood and drank it mixed with wine, & this was their oath of friendship & loyalty; many times I have found myself on various occasions when people were pledging their loyalty in such an oath & rather than break it were ready to lose their lives in order to maintain it in its full Strength and give example to others, something which not many Christians do with the promise made to blessed God in trebly denying the devil, his pomps, & his works at the Sacred baptismal fount.

Quixilla naque. Eighth law.

Like Tamba, & Tembo Andumba the reformer of the Giaghi, & also like the Amazons, the Queen commanded her soldiers, & was seen in the Vanguard during wars, armed with Bow & arrows, accompanied by her ladies, more than 400 in number, all armed like their Lady.[7] She encouraged her soldiers, rewarding some even for their future actions, to incite them further to barbarous & cruel acts, and other she reproved; others, though cowardly, she praised so that, hearing themselves praised, they might take Heart against the enemy, but it is certain, dear reader, that the greatest tyranny of a tyrant is to reward vice & cruelty. At the time of the fight she always managed to be in a place where she could watch her forces, & also those of the enemy, and to frighten the enemy she formed squads of her ladies with her captains armed with Bows & arrows, their heads covered with various feathers. She made them practice warlike actions, showing a wish to advance on the enemy, & with these stratagems she won many victories; when her army returned broken by the enemy she armed herself promptly, invoking the Belzebus of hell, crying to all "either victory or death". Queen Ginga had so much courage that she gave it to her soldiers, who advancing on the enemy achieved glorious victories. She did not lack for stratagems, & many people thought she was far away when she knocked unexpectedly at their doors; she said her Bow could not be vanquished because it was a Royal weapon, but she was wrong because she often ran short of time & fled on Horseback, as happened in the year 1640 when she was defeated by the Portuguese & they captured [97] her two sisters Cambo & Fungi that is Donna Barbara & Donna Gracia.[8]

To get her way there was nothing she would not do, whether it was human or devilish, even if it meant damage to property & bodily harm, without thought of the offence she was causing the Creator, the sum of all good, & the loss of her Soul, but like a blind woman let herself be guided by her unrestrained wishes, & followed them headlong; this is the way of a Soul obstinate in wrongdoing, and this is all I need say about this quixilla, & I pass to the ninth in number.

Quixilla Vua. Ninth Law.

Queen Ginga was not less observant of the ninth quixilla, which almost all the nations observe, not only of Ethiopia but the Indian, Cuzinquese, Aimari & other heathen nations; & as I have related when treating the quixillas, & their ways, & how they observe them, I pass over it and it is enough to know that Queen Ginga observed it & made others observe it like a true Giaga. I only add that she & others have women killed to whom they give birth before their first periods, & also kill their sons; so that it should be known which women deserve to live, & after the first period has decided which they are they make feast for them even if they are poor, each according to his means.

Quixilla Cuim. Tenth Law.

From what follows, dear reader, you can guess whether Queen Ginga observed the tenth quixilla, because she kept a Silver Chest made by an Excellent master, & this was dedicated to King ngolambande, her brother, as was noted in Chap. (blank)[9] according to the said law; inside it was a sheepskin spotted with white & black colours, a piece of plaster called Pemba by the Ethiopians, a belt from London,[10] a tooth & bones of the brother the dead King, & a few bristles or ropes, the tail of an Elephant, & when this was exposed she adored & worshipped it on her knees, & made sacrifices to it, & everyone else had to do likewise on pain of rigorous punishment; & even supposing that a babylonian furnace was not prepared for them as it was for those who did not worship the statue of their King, there was such punishment that if their lives were spared from material fire, they were not spared the fire of [98] wrath & indignation, an unquenchable fire, when she ordered their Heads to be immediately cut off to the sound not of pan-pipes & Bagpipes, but of trumpets made of Elephants' tusks, & other instruments in use among the Ethiopians, which apart from the marimba which makes a pleasant sound & delights the listener, make an infernal music, especially when accompanied by their singing & shouts which resemble those of four-footed animals used to singing in the month of may. Everyone had to kneel & soil oneself with earth, adore & revere it, beating one's palms together & shouting according to the black people's custom to honour it. She kept so many players with instruments of all sorts to play at the assigned times, with various silk cloths, and ministers who guarded it,[11] a Sacristan who looked after it and a Priest who watched over it, & if need arose carried it like an ark on his shoulders. When she went into battle it was brought along in a special way carried by the priest and another of his order, in the vanguard, to guide their enterprise, it was preceded & followed by a good guard of soldiers, & other people with all that was necessary for the Sacrifice & ceremonies which they called quitelli [or Quibelli][12], which are a cauldron, a basket of flour, a gourd of oil, and salt to give food to their Lord if he wished for it suddenly; by Lord is meant the Singhilla who represents the devil & their deceased Lord, into which, they madly affirm, his spirit has entered. When they came in sight of the enemy they stopped a long way off if time permitted, & the Singhilla opened the Chest, & as they thought the devil had entered his head, & taken the deceased's power of speech, & was predicting the enemy's defeat or victory to those around; if it was victory, they took the plaster from the Chest and rubbed themselves with its powder, & sprinkled it towards the enemy as if it would increase their strength & diminish the enemy's, & were ready to pay the tribute of gratitude they owed after obtaining a Victory. If it was defeat, they first needed to make a Sacrifice to placate it, & obtain victory, but first of all pardon for the fault that the wise minister had caused them to commit towards their late Lord; then everyone called their late King & [99] also on the infernal demons, and they advanced armed on the enemy with great shouts & howls which deafened the air around as well as the hearing of the spectators, & when the first people fell dead they did not wait to cook their flesh, but divided it up while raw, & chewed it with their teeth in sight of the enemy in order to intimidate him, & their adversaries did the same; in such occasions each one tried to show the enemy various acts of cruelty in order to be more highly esteemed, & bear the name of Giaga. The Chest then stayed behind, in front of the baggage wagon which the call quicumba; it was very well guarded, & according to the necessities arising from the fortunes of war it was carried from the right to the left wing as if it had been a precious relic, or the true ark, or the Sacrament of love, and as if they would have been victorious over the enemy through its intercession, & sometimes when the minister saw weakness in his men he hung one of the deceased's teeth round his neck, & walked towards the combatants [the warriors] inspiring them to fight. After the battle [fighting] the retreat was sounded, & it was the appointed task of the Singhilla representing the dead King to determine the path of the retreat, & the place where they should stop to pay the tribute of gratitude to their dead King for the victory they had obtained; when the place was determined & they had reached it, & ordinary arrangements made for pitching camp, it was publicly announced that the spoils of war would appear in the square of the camp before the Queen & the singhilla, the noblest were chosen, & washed & dressed curiously, & placed on some mats with their hands tied behind them. The Singhilla then cut off the head of the noblest with a bold stroke, & having done this barbarous deed, he did another inhuman one because he had the Head carried on a white cloth, & to the sound of instruments cut off its Flesh, & ate it pretending it was the dead King who ate & was pleased by that offering, & food; Then he drank while all stood up, even the Queen, & then there was great rejoicing on the part of all, & clapping of hands according to the black people's custom, & throwing themselves on the ground soiling their faces, to give thanks for their dead King haven eaten & accepted their offering; all remained happy & joyful.

Afterwards they killed the victim, & with his flesh refreshed themselves after the travails of war; nor did the Singhilla fail to use all possible inventions & stratagems to remain [100] in credit with everyone, pretending to be the dead King, & promising them every kind of help & favour so long as they observed their laws, & if they were not observant he would deprive them not only of help, but he also promised them severe punishment, losses, ruin & even their destruction; the barbarous Queen did not fail to listed devouty, showing not only that she accepted this as a fact & a saying of their King whom she madly imagined to be speaking through the Singhilla, but that she approved of it as being good and necessary to their solidarity, & honoured him as a minister of Avernus; when he rested she took up the thread of his sermon, not to confound & destroy it, but to exhort her Vassals to the true observance of what their minister had preached, adding rigorous announcements of punishment & castigation to those who transgressed, & always set an example more in deeds than in words. When they later returned to their pastoral habitations they did not fail to please their guide, after he had rested, with some Sacrifices, wine from Europe, much to eat and drink, & the sound of various instruments, with which they paid him his due tribute. Kind readers, who would want to describe all the Ceremonies Queen Ginga conducted before the Chest of her brother the dead King: it would need a great deal of paper & much time, & after great labour one would not even have begun; I must advise the reader that the Chest was adored & revered not only by the Queen's Vassals, but also by foreigners, & when her Vassals, Lords & Friends sent the their customary acknowledgements they always sent also some curious piece of Silk to cover the Chest of the dead man, & in answer she sent them the dead man's blessing, which was the cloth covering the Chest, & this the revered as a precious Relic, & this I have seen done many times by her Vassals & friends, & in her Court food was prepared daily for the dead King to eat as you will hear elsewhere.

Like a true Giaga she did not fail to wear on her feet & arms a quantity of iron rings dedicated to her brother[13] & to the devil, & she also adorned herself with various satanic relics, showing herself a true disciple of Avernus. In short it is enough to know that she was punctilious in [101] observing all the laws, rites, & customs of the Giaghi, & embodied the quintessence of all the evil in the world, as she showed on various occasions which presented themselves; sometimes she herself represented the dead King's Singhilla, speaking with the devil in her head, & made various predictions to herself & to others, which by her ignorant Vassals were regarded as if they had come from the mouth of truth, & if one was verified by human experience or knowledge, a thousand were wrong, but they were regarded as if nothing that came from the Queen could be an error or a lie, & many called her by the name of God, and attributed victories to her, but they were mad enough to be put in chains, for what about the defeats? With my own ears I have heard such madness several times; many have affirmed that they saw Queen Ginga represent the Singhilla of her dead brother with such imperiousness & barbarous demonstrations that not only did those destined to appease her fury lose not only all their colour but their speech, but so did those not so destined, & feared death except when she was exercising the office of Singhilla in person, for she was naturally courteous with everyone, & because she often knew things which were secret, she showed that this was so by means of the devil in her when she was acting as Singhilla & because of this it was said that she spoke with the devil, & changed herself into a Lion & other Animals, but it was all a pretence in order to make herself feared, as she has several times related out of her own mouth. Another mad rumour also circulated that she could make herself young or old at will, but during the last four years of her life until her death I never saw any change except decaying through old age until she gave up her Soul to the creator, our supreme god.

Quexilla Cuim ne aijoxi. Eleventh Law.

The custom of the Indian nations, both oriental and southern, & of other barbarous nations was punctiliously observed by Queen Ginga like a true Giaga & faithful observer of the laws of the Giaghi, for when the new moon appeared all the musicians with their instruments gathered together in the Court square, & there played them with such a confused noise that it sounded like infernal music, accompanied with shouts, howls, and beating of palms which deafened the air; many times I found myself [102] listening to such music against my will, and it gave me a great headache; all the principal people's concubines & the Queen's ladies joined in accompanying the music with songs & dances, & this went on for three days & nights, & on the fourth was the festival of the Chest called quizua ya Cussulla Mucullu. i.e., on the day for washing their dead King; all the principal people of the Court congregated there if they were not there already, because it was observed as a law that if one was at Court when the new moon appeared one could not go away until after the said festival, & if the rising of the moon found them in their own homes they could not leave unless they were called. Having congregated at Court, then, two of the principal people retired to a secret place with the Chest, and there washed their black persons, and then came before the public & washed the dead King's Chest with water, & then with European wine, in such a manner that no drop could be lost & lying face down on the ground they touched the moisture left by that liquor which they regarded as leavings from the table of their King, & this was not allowed except to Court pages as a particular privilege. When this ceremony of theirs was over, they had another very ancient & traditional one; it consisted of much eating & drinking, Singing, dancing & leaping, to which many people are addicted & dedicated, & this went on day & night without any rest or weariness. They performed this when there was a shortage of water, or when they found themselves in some urgent necessity, or threatened by danger, as if the power to help or punish them resided in their hand, & even if they had known themselves to be deceived, it was only necessary for good consequences to happen once, because of an accident or coincidence, for the Queen's false minister to be given the credit with her, for she respected him so much that she believed everything he did to be good, even if it was bad, & the same was believed by all.

Quixilla Cuim ne aijari. Twelfth Law.

You can guess from what follows whether Queen Ginga kept this law. She kept a chain of concubines who always accompanied her even during war, not in order to keep the quixilla & as if she had to account for any carnal abstinence, but to quench her raging appetite for lechery; she faithfully followed the law and did not transgress it at any point in her [103] domestic arrangements, & then this slave of lechery wished her concubines to remain faithful to her in the midst of opportunities not to be, making them sleep with her waiting-women (as you have heard elsewhere),[14] and as it is impossible for fire & straw to come near each other without the straw burning, they complained of being removed from their opportunities by her watching them so closely; but she blocked up her ears to everything, & if they transgressed they paid for it with their lives, or she made them permanently impotent,& the same happened to the waiting-women, who ever heard of such barbarity? Such practices did Queen Ginga observe, & so did she make her victims pay for it.

Quixilla Cuim ne quitatu. Thirteenth Law.

You have already heard what the Singhilla of the Giaga people are like, & even those not Giaga, how they observe their commands & do not transgress any orders from the Singhilla, & the reverence which they pay them as to supreme Priests, & masters of the heathen Ceremonies. Do not think, dear reader, that Queen Ginga did less, because she honoured & revered them like Gods, & faithfully kept to & observed whatever they ordered, & their sayings were like the last word for these blind heathens; they believed all; they gave them everything they asked, nor was there ever a shortage of any Thing needed to obey them, but all was abundance on the day chosen for their Ceremonies & sacrifices. They sat on chairs like Lords & the Queen paid them their due obeisance on her knees before them, protesting obedience & promising always to be ready at their command, even as to deeds, & as I have dealt with this subject elsewhere I pass to another quixilla.

Quixilla Cuim ne Vana. Fourteenth Law.

The disgraceful & dishonest law or Ceremony of the Sambare was one she faithfully observed; there was no one in this Ethiopia who equalled her in inhumanity & barbarity. If she did not kill her own son, she killed her adopted one, & her nephew, & as many of the Royal blood as she could, & vented the anger she felt for a single person on the multitude. [104] Finally, dear reader, there is no evil which did not exist in this perverted woman, in ferocity she surpassed lions, in anger & indignation the harpies, in cruelty she surpassed tigresses, & she showed more poison in her own lair than the poisonous serpents. She was a sea of lust as we can conclude from the daughters of the Emperor Augustus when they appeared in the Roman Amphitheatre, and when Livia appeared in honest company she was esteemed honest by all; but her sister Julia who appeared in dishonest company was thought dishonest, & what wonder is it that Queen Ginga should be taken for dishonest too, & a sea of lust? While she kept more concubines than the three hungriest prostitutes in the world keeps lovers, & they were her company, her love & those she conversed with. Now, dear reader, you have heard this woman's vices, & you can guess if she deserved the Epithets that St. John Chrysostom & St. Ephrim gave to dishonest & scandalous women; listen courteously to what they are, & judge at your own will what our Ginga deserves. So, these Saints call the dishonest woman: the Cause of the devil, the consolation of Satan, the Weapon of Lucifer, the Triumph of darkness, the Captain of crimes. The Cause [house] of the devil: this dishonest woman was this, because she took the side of the devil in everything, & favoured it, & faithfully invoked him with great spirit & to great effect. She was the consolation of Satan through the bad [wicked] Giaga life she led, & through the continual tribute of Souls she paid him, & through the human blood she shed with such barbarity & cruelty. As is known to the world, she was for many Years a weapon through which he triumphed & rejoiced, she was a Captain of crimes, of vices & enormities. She was also as St. Anastasius says one who gave no rest to the infernal serpent of the devil, consolation of Satan, a Workshop of darkness, in which the machines & temptations were brought to a finish, & she was as wicked as a viper in human clothes, & from that there came about what S. Pietro Crisologo said that of lust was born cruelty [105] & impiety; for this reason there was a swift torrent of barbarous deeds, a cruel harpy opposed to the human face which is an image of the Creator, a hart thirsty not for water but human blood, an example of all the evils of the world, all the crimes & ceremonies, customs & observances of the Giaghi, a mirror where all were reflected, a sure guide to the way to Hell along which she made so many Souls walk right to the end of that deep abyss, perpetual abode of the damned, where she too was to go to suffer eternally & pay the proper punishment for her evil deeds, but the Most Clement Lord in his infinite mercy called her from the path of error, & led her back to the right path to Heaven, so may it please his divine goodness that she has reached it, and not been diverted to another way. This is all I have to say about Queen Ginga's observance of the laws, rites, ceremonies & customs of the Giaghi which she had taken up.

Now it remains for me to advise the reader who from error or forgetfulness has not been advised, that in the second quixilla I have not included their way of taking newly born children according to the Giaga custom to enter the quilombo, it was not through forgetfulness but because she did not observe such a ceremony, as she did not permit women to bring up their children, & she did so to show more greatly her barbarity & cruelty. She also performed a ceremony not included in others' customs, & this was that women who gave birth to an abnormal baby, such as a lame or blind one, had to appear before the Queen after being purified by the Priest, & washed in the river, with the sacrifice of a pullet; the Queen rose to her feet Armed with a Bow & arrows, the Priest took the foot of the chicken & having bathed it in oil from human fat anointed the Queen on the forehead, shoulders, and inside of the Thighs, & anointed the women with plaster above the neck as a sign of reconciliation & peace for having given birth to a monster. She was so faithful to heathen observances that she behaved like a true Giaga in the speed with which she carried them out; she did not fail to give the necessary liquor for her sacrifices although it was very costly, and on the days assigned to [106] Celebration of their feasts she made everything splendid with ornaments of pieces of Silk in various colours, & dressed not only her Priests but those assisting for the greater honour, pomp & reverence of the feast, to the confusion of many christians, who not only do not dress themselves nor those they have created, but honour & reverence the festive days dedicated to the glory of the Saints in the Supreme King in his glory; in signs of joy she accompanied her Priests both in shouts and beating her palms according to the Ethiopian custom & she was the first to set an example to others. She bore great reverence & respect towards her brother's Chest, & brought it about that the same should be done by others, & when the contrary occurred did not stint punishment. She wore so little clothing that she hardly covered her private parts following the custom of her ancestors. They were also accustomed and still are to purifying women after giving birth, normally on the Sixth day, I mean month, in which the child would have his teeth if he were alive; this is a trick of the Priests' so as not to lose their offerings, & to this end they have Houses, Churches of their kind & washing places & they are more observant of their Priests' precepts, paying them well, than they are of the Priests & commandments of the Divine was which does not require payment, but when could and Ethiopian change the blackness of his body, or a Leopard the variegated colours of his? For the rest, I leave it to the readers to judge & give Sentence as it pleases them, while I press on with the thread of the narrative.



[1]. The original laws are recorded in Book 1, pp. 25-30.

[2]. See Book 1, note 134.

[3]. See Book 1, page 26.

[4]. As a missionary in Ndongo (Mpungu a Ndongo), Cavazzi would indeed be able to make this statement.

[5]. Cuia = kwia

[6]. This confederation probably took place in 1628-31, although it did not last long, largly because Kasanje wanted to dominate the partnership, see p. 42 and note 95 above.

[7]. Cadornega, Historia 1: 405 also mentions a bodyguard, which he calls mbululu (youngest), but did not mention it being women.

[8]. This defeat took place in 1646, not 1640, Birmingham, Trade and Conflict, pp.108-109, Cadornega, Historia 1: 404-28.

[9]. Chapter number left blank in MS, it refers to chapter XI, pp. 134-5 below.

[10]. Such English cloth was a normal part of Dutch trade goods, see Dapper, Beschrivjing, p.

[11]. One such band is illustrated in nos. 8, 9, 26.

[12]. Quitelli of quibelli = either kiteli or kitelo (singular, plural itelo) or kibeli or kibelo (plural ibelo).

[13].

[14].

Book II Chapter 7

[75] There follows the above-mention chapter on the barba­rous & cruel acts of Queen Ginga, & how she was obeyed in them, & feared not only by her Vassals but by others Chap. VII[in margin: vir diehora Chap.4]

The greatest tyranny (dear reader) of the Tyrant is rewarding bad & vicious people, because by doing this one gives them Heart & strength to be Tyrannical towards people & things; Queen Ginga did not lack knowledge of this truth as she was a most cruel tyrant, and experienced mistress of tyranny, and this dropsical tigress & furious harpy taught the true science of tyranny from her Royal throne. In the place called Coanga,[1] near Massangano, in order to harm the Portuguese she ordered all the Vassals and followers of the Portuguese to recognise her as their Queen & natural Lady, and was diligently obeyed by them, for they were not actually loyal to the Portuguese except for one who did not like vice and refused to recognise her, or her tyranny; seeing his reluctance, she ordered secretly that he should be taken prisoner, & made into oil, which was done at once, & when the oil was taken to the Queen, she not only thanked her ministers for their quickness, but rewarded them for being ready & prompt to obey her tyrannical requests which are the greatest compulsion a tyrant can impose on his followers & executors of his justice. With this oil she entertained herself and her officials as is it had been a precious & odoriferous ointment, salgalia of this Ethiopia.

This thirsty Hind was not yet content with the barbarities she had committed, & being above all desirous of quenching her hind-like thirst, she determined with the fury of a harpy to continue the destruction of human beings of her own kind, gathered together all her forces of war and made the customary sacrifices & preventive rites in her own interest, & to her aid asked all the infernal Belzebus to help her, as [76] they have promised they will do for all those who desert the Creator & his works, & observe & keep those they renounced at their Sacred baptismal Ablution, the pomps & works of the devil. To accomplish this purpose she set out with her army to make war on a Lord Vassal of the Crown of Congo called Manioando, meaning Lord of the libata in the City of Oando, in order to defeat him & make him her obedient subject & tribute-payer, for he proudly mocked her as a woman cleverer with a distaff than a sword; when this thirsty Hind came in sight of the river where she wished to quench the thirst born of rage daughter of Cruelty, she ran forward with such anger & indignation that although they defended themselves & fought the Pastor was captured by the madria & led to the Queen who when she saw him gave him the punishment or prize he deserved for his past mockery. When he saw that death was near the unhappy man could do nothing but what Cicero did when captured by his enemies; he bent his Head & neck over the litter with his hand to his cheek, in the sight of his enemies; they did not even assent to this but his Head was cut off not with his hands to his cheek, but both tied, and on his knees, and not being content with his head they cut off his hands too; & not only his hands but his feet & trunk were divided into more parts than the conspirators of King Osiris did his body; their anger & hate ceased with his Head, but these made use of the limbs with such barbarity that in the square alone they made a pile of 237 heads besides those they added elsewhere, & ate, making it a Treat to eat them. One would roast & another boil in water what was being cooked, one raised an arm & another a leg, one a liver & one a Heart, to excite his friend's jaded appetite, & others dried the meat in the Sun or at the fire to take it to those who were taking Care of the baggage. They were so zealous in denuding them that they did not leave a vestige of flesh on their bones, & like dogs carried them in their mouths, which is an old & not a new Ethiopian custom.[2] It was only three days since there had arrived in that libata two of our Capuchin Religious of the Spanish nation sent by the Fr. Prefect of the apostolic mission for the Kingdom of Congo, donated [77] by the King to found a new mission there, & they had already sent back the people who had accompanied them, so that they could not absent themselves, but had to watch the cruel & barbarous acts of Queen Ginga & her followers; their leader, called Don Calisto Zelote,[3] was wounded & captured, & according to the Giaga custom was to be put to death, but the blessed God preserved him intact in the midst of wrath and cruelty & indignation to his greater glory & the salvation of souls, for afterwards he served as an interpreter & leader of the mission & played a great part in the Christianity of Matamba, and will not lack his guerdon and reward from the Giver of all good, & it being his character not to leave good without reward or evil without punishment.

So while these Religious, named Father Buonaventura da Correglia & Father Antonio da Trevelli,[4] the first from the Province of Aragon & the second from that of Valentia, where there they saw such horrendous barbarities as they have not seen since, & which would be incredible to anyone who does not know the black people of this Ethiopia, inner, Oriental and Outer. The Queen caused them to appear in her presence & had several discussions with them, and encouraged them to be of good will and not to take fright at the things they had seen, which were the wars of Ethiopia & its Giaghi, and that she would shortly send them off through the Congo; & meanwhile she gave them things to eat & drink, & in the meat she sent them there were signs of what Animal it was, such as ears, feet or hair, which showed the kind of Animal so that they should know it was not human flesh. Finally she offered them male & female slaves, and a good send-off through the Congo. They gave her due thanks for her offer, but said their Rule & institutes forbade them to receive slaves. The Queen was astonished to hear such an answer & still more to see them put it into practice, & being moved, she said to the Religious: "My Fathers, recommend me to blessed God so that he should concede me time to save myself". The Religious did not fail to exhort her devoutly to abandon that inhuman Giaga life she led, & return [78] to blessed God. She gave them a good answer, and they returned comforted to the Congo, and especially as she had said "One day I hope to have one of you in my army". They were most diligent in trying to reach the interpreter but it was not possible because those who had captured him held him not only bound but with a knife at his throat so that he should not speak. He could see that the Religious were anxious to ask after him, and he also heard the Giaghi saying "he is already dead & eaten" and said to himself: "What he says he has done, he will do, and I shall not be able to escape, I must end like this"; everyone can imagine what he said. But the sovereign Lord permitted otherwise, because when the Religious had left for the Congo & the prisoners of war were gathered together in the square before the Queen to be a mocicongo,[5] & Interpreter for the Capuchins; she gave him life, & cared for his wounds herself, & loved him so much that she gave him the post of master of the House & major domo of her goods, & has for him (blur) until death (crossed out over "has for ..." preserved until today) but not before he had experienced the barbarity & cruelty of the Giaghi, because besides branding him on the chest & arms with the hateful brand in the form of a grating, they also branded him with the terrifying mark used among the Giaghi as their uniform, by knocking out the two ones of his upper row of teeth, & this was done so dexterously by the tooth-extractor that he gave him eight powerful blows that made him fall senseless to the ground in pain, & for several days he remained without eating anything, & the doer of the deed suddenly died the next night. Nor did the cruel acts of the barbarians stop there for several times they tried to make him eat human flesh, which he never wished to do, and owing to this just refusal he was continually threatened with death, & also taken to the sacrifice several times, not with the Queen's consent but secretly, by her officials; when the Queen heard of this she ordered that he should not be killed, although it was against the will of her great men. Dear reader, he passed through trials & tribulations before he attained the offices he held later and exercised [crossed out under later ... holds and exercises at present]. When their Ceremonies were finished, & their Sacrifices, the Queen retired towards the Coango river[6] fighting now with one and now with another, & him whom she did not burn like a fire, she at least scorched like a coal, for wherever she passed she left signs of her barbarity as you will [79] see from the following story.

When this cruel harpy had arrived with her army at the place called Mucucu,[7] one of her principal concubines, called Gandu[8] which means Crocodile in their language, fell ill and died; she loved him very much, & it may be supposed that there was no sacrifice or Ceremony among their barbarous customs which she did not carry out, or demons she did not invoke, or doctor who might have cured him, but in spite of this he was taken from her by Lord death, who wishes everyone to pay the traveller's tribute, & which is owed to him by the law proclaimed by the same author of life to our first Father Adam and our mother Eve, to whom he gave the order not to taste the forbidden apple, & they disobeyed, & underwent punishment so that all their descendants must pay tribute to death, without having power to appeal against it, nor any judge who could sentence otherwise; so when he had paid the traveller's tribute to death his body was given an honourable burial according to the heathen custom, nor did they fail to celebrate his obsequies in their barbarous manner with much show of grief, during which they consumed much gunpowder in firing volleys, drank much European wine, ate much meat, & also sacrificed many people in the Giaga manner.

When the obsequies of her concubine were over, the closest one to him in order took his place & office; he finally situated himself on the bank of the Coango river, & captured many people with whom they renewed mourning for the dead concubine, sacrificing some of those people to serve him in the future life (a form of madness followed by the heathens not only in this black Ethiopia, but elsewhere too). Among the prisoners there was an officer called Cabututu,[9] who was put to death in a most cruel way by the Queen; This inventor of barbarities ordered him to be sawn in half through the middle of his head without anyone objecting or mourning, or appealing to the sentence given by the great judge against whom there is no other appeal because he is the ultimate tribunal, to whom others appeal, & the prisoner's life ended miserably in this way. These were [dear reader: crossed out] the cruel & barbarous acts of this woman, which she ordered to be done [80] without any compassion or mercy. Who ever saw such barbarity in a woman? & who ever heard of a harpy crueller to the human countenance than our Ginga? She did not remain unpunished for the sins she had committed, or the acts of cruelty, because there was a most virulent plague among her army which took the lives of many people even among the Royal family, & also many officers, & among these died Cabilla Canzinze Lord of the Province of Malemba[10], whose death left the Queen somewhat downcast; she had recourse not to blessed God as she should, nor to his ministers & house of prayer, but sent for all the magicians she had in her army, & invoked all the devils in hell; the first used all the remedies that their art taught them, & to the second they made various sacrifices, without anything they did or said being of any use. Finally, not wishing to inculpate their Queen they made the soothsayers appear to be the cause of the deaths and to have invented the plague to diminish the Queen's strength; it was not difficult for the Queen to believe it, and she gave such complete credence to the idea that she ordered them to be burned alive as inventors of the plague. When they had heard the Royal sentence they competed to bring wood to avenge the deaths of their relations, friends & c; the soothsayers were burned alive, & when their bodies had been consumed by earthly flames, their Souls remained for ever in the eternal flames to be consumed, but those will never die for they are not transitory but eternal. O Blind Queen, mad priests, & ignorant vassals, did these deaths perhaps calm the divine wrath? Perhaps death obeyed the Priests, or bent its back to the proud Queen? It did not halt its steps, nor cease its wrath, but advance with so much carnage as to show clearly that the innocent people's deaths had not calmed the divine wrath, but excited it to a greater vengeance, because it proceeded until the author of life ordered it to cease by the use of his Clemency & mercy, & this he showed after many days after the execution of his just punishment of the Queen & her Vassals; but o inveterate habit of evil, was it perhaps corrected? No, she persevered in her barbarity & cruelty, & ordered other acts to be done similar to those mentioned above; she ordered, I say, one man to have his legs cut off at the knees [81] because he had not been willing to bend them in obeisance to her as she demanded, nor were cries or complaints any use to him, nor did anyone come forward to intercede for him, but he ended his life miserably, just as we not once but a thousand times would have ended through not bending our knees to our living Lord not as he demands, but as we owe it to our Creator & redeemer to whom we owe the price of his most precious blood, & withal he does not punish us, but shows us love & benevolence because if we repent of the errors we have committed, & make amends for it he puts us with paternal love into the possession of his Kingdom as if we had never sinned against him or transgressed his Holy law & precepts, something which the haughty & proud creature does not do.

This barbarous woman was not only obeyed in her express orders, but also in signs she gave, & some people came forward in the direction of her known wished and derived great comfort & happiness in being rewarded for their barbarous affection; & they were not lazy but she showed herself prompt & diligent. In causing adversities & punishments she did not lose heart of the Soul, and having finished one barbarous act she invented a bigger one.

They observe, dear reader, that when one of her maids of honour ran away, or one of her pages, which often happened, she made use of the following form of barbarity: having caught her or him in flight, he or she was by her orders tied to a post in the square of her court, in front of which she ordered a great fire to be lit, and behind it gathered together all her servants, both men and women, all armed with sharp knives, and if the fugitive was a woman she ordered that all the women should each cut off one of her ribs wherever she liked best & roast it and eat it while dancing & jumping about; the poor woman saw herself being torn in pieces alive, cooked and eaten, & sometimes by her own father & mother, & the same was done if it was a man; let the reader think whether this rousing of people to terror only happened once, for the Queen's servants affirm that she often behaved in this barbarous way, & that they very often had to watch and listen to it even against their will, and further that it was necessary for them to clap [82] their hands according to the black people's custom, & show approval of their Queen & Lady's barbarity, as if it had been the heroic actions of the Roman Emperors; but I speak also of what I have seen, having seen her exact the death penalty against three young people, simply because of one slip into lechery, at a time and in a place where everything shrieks of immodesty in people's bodies, words & deeds, & a great volume could be written about it. I leave the subject to avoid contaminating the hearers' ears, & also because it would not be believed by anyone who had not been outside Europe.

She behaved with barbarous cruelty to those who passed in front of her and stumbled or tripped, whether from fear or because a stone or piece of wood was at their feet, or whether it happened by accident; she ordered their heads to be cut off from their trunks immediately saying that she cut it off because it was doing its owner harm, & that she was like a Goddess in that nothing was hidden from her & all revealed, & they madly affirmed that their Lady & Queen not only knew what had happened in the past but what was going to in the future, which if it was true was not because of any excess of virtue in her, but must have been through the work of the devil, and allowed by blessed God in order to inflict more punishment on her Vassals & others.

Here was another cruel act she committed: one of her servants kept a young woman he loved very much, with whom he had enjoyed much pleasure and enjoyment, & to punish him for his sin & past pleasures & pastimes she ordered that he must kill her with his own hands, and he obeyed at once with great diligence, & then she ordered his ears to be cut off in memory of the sin he had committed; this punishment is often carried out in this Ethiopia when women are involved and also in other cases, and if it were used among Europeans many would, through shame rather than terror, abstain not only to avoid the occasion of sin.

She haughtily ordered a father to kill his own daughter because of an act of lechery she had committed, and at once, to obey the barbarous order of his Queen, he took a sharp knife in his hand & with an ardent will raised his arm to execute the deed, and was not held back by an Angelic hand like the old Adam; but that monster was quicker [83] in compassion for the unfortunate father who had to kill his daughter with his own hand, withal he felt it greatly that he had not carried out the Queen's command, so that she should know his readiness for her orders; the act of lechery she had committed had brought the unfortunate daughter not only the death of her body, but also the eternal death of her Soul, which we must dread above all things.

Sometimes as a whim, & at other times because she had not obtained what she wished from some young people, she ordered them to be killed when after committing these barbarities the executioners went to ask for the reward she owed them out of propriety for having always been ready at a sign, not only a command when they were required to inflict punishment, with or without justice, she said that a King or a Prince does not need to account for what he does, and need only account to blessed God; nor was she wrong, but did not consider how strict an account she would have to give to him while she behaved so barbarously to the Creatures who are the work of the Creator.

Once she ordered three people to be beaten for no reason, except that they had passed in front of her, even at a distance, without bending their knees to her their Lady & Queen, & I have been a spectator of this more than once, & ran to intercede with her for their pardon, which she did not deny, in order not to fail in respect to priests, but she said this did not offend her, because what she did not do at once she would do another time if anyone stumbled into error; her whip was always prepared for anyone who transgressed her commands, which was why she was so much feared & obeyed, as is known to all, both Friends and enemies.

She imitated Wenceslas the Bohemian by not covering her sword when she was on her Horse or have it ready to vent her barbarous desires; for when she was on Horseback they only go in costume and had her minister of justice as an escort ready to execute her commands, and I have several times seen him with my own eyes exercising his powers with great faithfulness, & he seemed gifted by mother nature with all the necessary qualities for a barbarian minister, strength, spirit, cruelty & promptitude.

The following, dear reader, is observed which I cannot pause in my writing long enough to [84] describe: this barbarous & immodest woman kept a great number of Concubines, ( as you have heard elsewhere) whom she forced to wear women's clothing, & sleep with her waiting-maids, not only in the same House, but on a level, foot to foot or head to head, & they had to observe chastity to such an extent that she even punished them for disturbances caused by the sound of feet or hands, & sometimes she visited them to see if any had fallen into the trap, & if she found them they were rigorously punished the next day. The heads of some were cut off, others had their limbs broken, & others she made impotent & forever chaste in their actions; she admitted no excuses, nor did she accept complaints & lamentations which they uttered at having been tempted by the occasion of sin being at hand; she stopped her ears to everything & made herself deaf, & however execrable it might seem to the world to say "this is what I want & this is what I order, my will amounts to reason" that is what she said with honeyed lips & without fear or shame at vile flesh she said "this is what I want, this is what I order, you must bend to my pleasure, my will, I want no arguments" and everyone avoided punishment because it was always to be feared.

Two of her maids in waiting whose blood boiled in the flower of their fresh Youth consented to consummate an act of lechery and in that place where all is immorality, the following punishment was meted out to the poor girls, told by someone who was a witness of it; she did not want them to die by a single blow, nor to make them incapable, but ordered that in punishment for the sin they had committed & their passing enjoyment the ends of their hands must be cut off, & then treated with vinegar & salt, & that every day a part should be cut off in the same way until on the ninth day they reached the elbow; but on the eighth day the unfortunate girls suffered such pain & convulsions that they ended their lives, paying with such torment for the brief pleasure of their senses; let everyone wonder at the cruelty of this barbarous woman, who herself was as immoral as possible & and example of every kind of wickedness.

When she wanted to settle in a new place, or go on a journey where she had not been before, this cruel harpy ordered two children's sides to be cut open [85] and their hearts to be pulled out and roasted, & ate them with the great people at court; then she caused the open wounds to be tightly tied & a white bandage to be tied round the children's temples, & placed them in the middle of the way by which she was going to pass so that they should serve as guides on the new journey or dwelling-place, & this action was a kind of preservative in order not to be injured by anyone, for as these guides had no hearts, neither had the Spirit of strength to harm her; wonder at her madness & the stratagems of the devil in order to have souls at his command.

This cruel harpy & inventor of barbarous acts had a large number of dogs, & fattened them with human flesh, causing children of twelve Years & over to be killed for this purpose; her Kitchen existed in order to cook it, as if it had been game, & she even made women giving birth come to an assigned place to watch the dogs eating their babies, as you will hear at greater length elsewhere.

When she wanted to wage war she invoked the help & favour of the dead & of demons & before the war obtained some of the enemy, whether male or female, to make them into oil and powder with which she anointed herself, & threw some at the enemy claiming that it would diminish their strength,& increase that of her army; but her adversaries' diligence & cunning was no less, so that many times when she thought she would win she was defeated, & needed time to save her own & others' persons.

Dear reader, I ask for permission to end this treatise, because to continue is to go into a labyrinth whence I cannot come out, a sea where I can neither navigate nor find a harbour, & finally to relate things which in my judgement will make you wonder if they could possibly be as I described them, had they not been related by a Portuguese priest in around the year MDCXXXXII who was at Queen Ginga's Court and one day was admitted to an audience,[11] & on entering the square found a tree called in their language Bondo or Alicunde of enormous size [86] surrounded by remains of men & women.[12] The good priest was amazed at this strange sight, & was even more so when he came to where the Queen was and saw how her head was adorned with them, & so were those of her great people & concubines. These were the private parts of people taken in war or used in sacrifices, & others were the result of punishing those guilty of lechery; she also adorned her temples with children's hands, & wore others before & behind, as if they were sable skins, & I have seen the Giaghi wear them in various places.

When she wanted to begin a warlike action she always observed the Seutonic precept of not delaying between saying and doing, & was always invoking all the demons in Hell, making them her usual Sacrifices before and after the war. She was most faithful not to God whom she had rejected, but to the devil to whom she had tied herself tightly, & if she promised him one thing she gave him ten to show how liberal she was.

After dreaming of some death (which is easy to believe) she would have thirty or forty people killed when she awoke, according to what kind of dream it was. There was no means she did not use to reach her diabolical purpose, no remedy she did not obtain, no barbarous act she did not commit, no Cruelty she did not practise, no ferocity she did not show, as if she had the qualities of all the Gaighi inside herself, & had inherited those of the Laestrygoireans & Cyclopes who were believed so inhuman and barbarous; she was feared by all and loved by few, and if I wish to know why, I say that our Ginga became the terror & horror of Ethiopia. Dear reader, the wise believe there are three things in the world that generate love, that is beauty of body, giving of great benefits, & love which wants to be paid with love in return; now ask if Queen Ginga had any of these three, and you will find she lacked beauty as she was small by nature & badly made, with hands marked with white, & could even an Ethiopian author call beautiful?[13] As to benefits, [87] if she did ill to everyone whom could she make love her? And if love wants love in payment how can that be where there is no love" I can find no law in the world, if not the divine one that obliges me to love my enemies; and if you want to know what is fear & whence it proceeds, I say it proceeds from deformities either in attitudes or actions, of oppressing people by injuries given words, deeds & by hate, avenging oneself on one's neighbour, & these appeared to the supreme degree in this dropsical tigress & Heart thirsty not for Water but for human blood, as you have heard hitherto in the telling of this story, & it is so too in what remains to be told, & I leave to the pious readers the task of considering the cause & passing sentence at leisure.

She filled her belly with food and left time for digestion, but never gave any rest to her will inclined towards evil, but was always constant & persevering, anyone to whom she gave a sinister look was sure of death or at least severe punishment; so wrathful & vindictive was she that when she failed to act on her evil [wicked] will it was only through lack of time & opportunity for vengeance, & this was why, on many occasions when she could not vent it on strangers, she turned it on prisoners of war as if they had been the Cause of her wrath and vengefulness. When she was thirsty with wrath she lost the light of discretion & at the same time all counsel, honesty & justice, all being the effect caused by wrath on the wrathful person & his vindictive Spirit, & so she was often troubled in spirit and mind & only to be calmed by seeing the fulfillment of her desires, even when they obliged her to keep watch day & night. Finally, after her vigils & mental machinations she tried to take advantage of the maxim so often kept in the world, of giving away what one cannot sell, realising that she could not conceal the four places where the passion of wealth is ordinarily shown, in the Heart, face, words & deeds, for when she could not vent her wrath her heart was on fire, her colour changed, her tongue trembled in speaking, and all this showed she wanted to come to deeds, & if she did not it was not through lack of will but lack of occasion. They say there are three kinds of [88] men where anger is concerned: the first are those who suffer injuries willingly & forgive those who have done them wrong, and who act according to the will of blessed God; the second are those who do not do injuries or wish anyone to injure them, who act according to the nature of Adam; the third are those who do not suffer injuries but injure others, & these are acting like the devil; of such was Queen Ginga when she lived the Ginga life, as she showed clearly in her heart, her face, her words & her deeds, and for this reason we must ensure that anger does not enter our hearts, & if it enters it does not show in our faces or words, & if it reaches these it must not reach our actions, but we must leave it in order to behave as benefits those created to be heirs of heavenly jerusalem. The Person guilty of publicly offending her could delay but not flee punishment, & the question asked of the cruel & inhuman tyrant Tamerlane suited her well; he was asked why he behaved so barbarously to his enemies and answered haughtily "Do not imagine I am a man, I am not, but the wrath of God" and so Queen Ginga could have answered both white and black people: "No, I am not a woman but the wrath of God sent to punish the multitudes even if I am evil & perverse."

Wherever this barbarous woman went she always had her weapons in hand, destroying & burning the country in order to extinguish the human race, as she was a declared enemy of the Creator, of his Creature, of the Portuguese & of the Giaghi, her servants, to such an extent that she was abhorred & hated by everybody; she always behaved like a true Giaga & observer of the iniquitous Giaga laws which she had adopted, & so that everybody should know the virtues & vices of this barbarous woman* [in margin: in the Sixth Chapter of this narrative] I shall first record her vices, that is her faithful observance of them to the confusion of the few who kept the Evangelical law and who were promised a great reward by blessed God, while for these observers of the Giaga laws an eternal fire is prepared.



[1]. Coaanga = Kuhanga. A site near Massangano where Njinga quartered her army in 1648, Istorica Descrizione, Book 4, no. 21 from de Teruel, "Descripcion Narrativa", p. 89 which makes no mention of a slaughter, unless it was the one in Wandu.

[2]. See note 151 above.

[3]. Calisto Zelotes dos Reis Magros, possibly a relative of Andorinho dos Reis Magros, who was killed in the battle of Mbumbi in 1622 (Cadornega, Historia 1: 106). A Kongo priest or interpreter, captured in Wandu in 1648 and eventually rose to be her personal confessor, head of the Church in Matamba and secretary. He was killed and his goods siezed when Njinga a Mona took over after Barbara's death in 1666, ibid, 2: 223.

[4]. Buenaventura de Corella, Aragonese Capuchin, arrived in Kongo in 1648 and like his Valencian companion Antonio de Teruel, forced to leave when Spaniards were pushed out of the central African missions. Leguazzano, Descricao 2: 385, 390.

[5]. Mocicongo = Mwisikongo, see Book 1, note 20 above.

[6]. Coango = Kwango River, normally the eastern boundry of Matamba, and in these years residence of the outer boundries of the Yaka state.

[7]. Mucucu = Mukuku, and unidentified place on the Kwango.

[8]. Gandu = Ngandu, crocodile.

[9]. Cabututu = Kabututu

[10]. Cabilla Canzinze = Kabila ka Nzinze, lord of Malemba. Malemba was a province between Lubolo and the Songo country near the bend of the Kwanza which fell at times under Njinga's control and at times under that of Kasanje, Heintze, "Ende" p. 240, note 255 and map, p. 241; Istorica Descrizione, Book 1, no. 18, Book 2, no. 66 and Book 7, no. 31.

[11]. I am unable to identify this Portuguese priest, unless it is Antonio Coelho, who came as a part of the embassy in 1639 and stayed on until 1641 or 1642.

[12]. Baobab tree, see Book 1, note 197.

[13]. Apart from Cavazzi's questions concerning the beauty of African women, this is the closest he comes to a physical description of Njinga, save his illustrations, which seem to show the mottled hands, but make her appear much younger that the 70 plus years of age she had.