French Colonial Treaties in Africa: France in the Comoros, Treaty with Anjouan 21 April 1886

On January 10, 2018January 9, 2018 By Dr. Y.In Great Civilizations, Great Moments1 Comment

Comoros_Anjouan-Sultan_Saïd_Mohamed 1920s — Sultan Said Mohamed of Anjouan in 1928

The Comoros was a French colony until 1975. Below is a treaty signed between a representative of the French Republic and the Sultan of Anjouan on 21 April 1886. As you can see from this treaty, France did not just get the rights to almost everything, but it also got the right to judge Anjouan citizens, but most importantly, it also got the right to choose the successor to the throne of the sultanate, in cases when the Sultan’s first choice could not take over. So this way of France meddling into local politics and choosing local kings that could be their puppets instead of the ones chosen by the people or traditions, is not new!

The English translation of the treaty, below, is by Dr. Y., Afrolegends.com. For the French original click here: Comores_Traite de protectorat avec sultan d’Anjouan 21 Avril 1886.

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Comoros_Carte-Anjouan-18e_siècle — 18th century map of Anjouan

The government of the French Republic, rightfully represented by Mr Gerville-REACHE, Commandant of Mayotte and His Highness ABDALLAH BEN SULTAN SALIME, Sultan of Anjouan, intervening directly, concerned by the development of the prosperity of the Anjouan Sultanate, have decided to consecrate by the following conventions the friendship relations existing between us for a long time and to ensure the preponderance of France in Anjouan.

Article I

His Highness assisted by the council of ministers places the Island of Anjouan under the protection of France. She commits herself, and thereby commits her successors to never deal with any other nation and to never grant any privilege to foreigners without the consent of France.

Article II

The subjects of His Highness will be able, in all freedom, to enter, reside, circulate, and trade in France or in French colonies in the same conditions as the French settlers, on one part, the French will enjoy the same freedom in the states of His Highness.

Article III

The Sultan hereby makes the commitment to provide French industrials who would want to settle in Anjouan the lands that they will need for their exploitations, within the bounds of his domain.

Comoros_map — Map of the Comoros with the Anjouan island

Article IV

Disputes that could arise between the French citizens and people of Anjouan will be judged in French courts.

Article V

The rights of the foreigners actually established on the island remain reserved such that in no case the French government will be responsible for the execution of former facts and conventions. If there were any dispute about those facts and conventions, the Government of the Republic will be referee.

Article VI

Anjouan buildings will be treated in French ports as French ships. The same advantages will be given to the Republic’s ships which will enter in a port tributary to the states of His Highness.

Article VII

In order to ensure peace in Anjouan and to allow the regular succession on the throne, according to the customs of the country, the sultan makes his choice of his successor as SALIM BEN ABDALLAH, his eldest son, and in case of the later’s decease, before the advent on the throne of ABDALLAH ben SALIM, oldest son of SALIME. The French government will have to settle the throne’s succession in cases where the dispositions taken by His Highness would have no effect and in cases when there will be no direct and immediate heir in his family.

Article VIII

The Sultan promises to provide each of his brothers with means of livelihood.

Comoros_Anjouan — Image of Anjouan (Source: BBC)

Article IX

To end the civil wars that have plagued ANJOUAN for many years, the French Government and His Highness declare that any person who would have taken arms against a constituted government will be considered a rebel and judged according to the laws of the country.

Article X

The Government of the Republic is committed to not grant asylum to any Anjouan person who, found to be a rebel, would seek refuge in France, in Mayotte, and in any other French possessions.

Article XI

His Highness commits not to take arms in any of the islands of the Comoros and not to lend his support to any party and assistance without the consent of the Commandant in Mayotte.

Article XII

The Sultan declares that there does not exist between his kingdom and any other power an act that could invalidate the current convention.

Article XIII

The Sultan commits to take all necessary disposition for the abolition of slavery in all his states.

Mutsamudu-Anjouan-Islands-Comoros — Mutsamudu, capital of Anjouan, today (Nationsonline.org)

Article XIV

The present contract which will be final after the approval of the Government of the Republic has been signed in the presence of, on one part, MM. BRICH, lieutenant of the vessel, commandant of the “CHACAL” DE LESTRAC, deputy commissioner of the Marine, GAUTHIER and LESQUIVIT, sailors, DESLANDES, Medical doctor of the 2^nd class in the Marine; on the other part, of SALIME BEN SULTAN ABDALLAH, MOHAMED ben sultan SALIME, SAID ATTOUMASI ben sultan SALIME, SAID ALI ben sultan SALIM, ABDALLAH MOHAMED or DIAMOND prime minister, SAID JAFFAR minister of Foreign Affairs, SAID ALI ben SAID MOCOU, MAUOME ALLASSE BEN SAID ABDERHAMA, MASAILA, …*

Made in 3 expeditions in MOUSSA MOUDOU (ANJOUAN) the 21^st April 1886 (Is Radjabou 1303 era of the hegire)

Signed: GERVILLE-REACHE, DESLANDES, BRICH, LESQUIVIT, de LESTRAC, GAUTHIER, Sultan ABDALLAS, King of Anjoua, H.H. Prince SALIME, interpreter of the Government

(* the list continues)

Bride Price Practices in Africa

On January 5, 2018 By Dr. Y.In Great Economy, Great Moments29 Comments

Traditional-Weddings21-440x660 — Traditional Ghanaian wedding (Source: *Nairaland.com*)

A few years back, I was privy to a traditional wedding ceremony where the groom and bride families came together and the groom paid the bride price. This is considered symbolic, and marks the union of the two families.

Before the arrival of Europeans and their church (white wedding), the bride price was the way to go, to get married. This is a practice as old as the world. It is a custom widely practiced across Africa. It plays a very important role in our traditions and cultures. It marks the coming together of two families. I loved the comment one of my friends made: “I found giving bride price to my wife’s family an enriching experience. Going to work and saving money gave me a sense of how precious she was to me. The contention I often hear against bride price often cite the greedy few who have spoken the loudest. There are millions who still respect the practice.” Yes… many still respect and value the practice.

It is a cultural practice which makes for stronger family relationships, and do help with arranging conflicts when they arise in marriage.

African wedding_VozAfrica — **Traditional Nigerian wedding (Source: VozAfrica)**

The bride price also known as bride token, is an amount of money or property which is paid by a groom and his family to the family of the bride. In many parts of Africa, the bride price confirms the validity of a traditional marriage and conditions the permission to marry in church or in a civil ceremony. Its power supersedes all other sorts of marriages. The marriage is considered invalid if the bride price has not been paid, and this actually affects the marriage, and the offspring from that couple as it is then considered that the groom and his family have despised and dishonored the bride’s family. The children from that union do not belong to the husband’s family, but rather to the woman’s, as he never paid the bride price, and thus has no right over them.

Last year, a friend of mine returned the bride price which had been paid for his sister’s hand to the groom’s family, as he (the groom) had dishonored the wife, almost beaten her to death, and cheated. In this instance, this was to mark a divorce. Now what will happen if the woman wanted the divorce and could not afford to reimburse the bride price? What if rupture was the only way out of this marriage, what should she do? Divorce is still highly frowned upon in African societies, and the stigma of it affects the woman deeply.

Although the bride price is a symbolic token, it has been described in many African countries as a license to own a family or to purchase a wife from a family often leading the man to receiving the “permission” to exercise economic control over his wife. It has also been criticized for being an “enrichment scheme” for the bride’s family. There are two serious questions that have arisen with the evolution of the bride price: has it truly become a source of income for families and does it have a negative impact on women?Does the practice of the bride price hinder the work of women’s rights and empowerment activists? Does the bride price create more bad than good by leaving newlywed couples with unfortunate financial problems which strip them of the joys of being newly married? Has the bride price truly become a source of enrichment for families and demeaning to women?

marriage_senegal — Senegalese Wedding (Source: Bade, 1996)

This is a tradition truly African which should be upheld… and it varies from country to country, and maybe should be checked to avoid excesses from the bride’s families… and to stop the groom’s families from depriving the bride of her rights once in the marriage.

Below are comments by African BBC correspondents about Bride Price practices across Africa. For the full article, check Bride price practices in Africa:

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Pumza Fihlani, South Africa:

A bride price here is known as “lobola“, where the groom’s family presents either money or cows or both to the bride’s family as a gesture of his willingness to marry her.

The payment of lobola is a sign of the man’s commitment to take care of his wife and is seen as a symbolic act and a necessary part of upholding culture, rather than a purchase.

South_Africa_traditional_wedding — **Traditional South African wedding (Source: Wikimedia)**

Kim Chakanetsa, Zimbabwe:

The term “lobola” is also used in southern Zimbabwe, but in Shona communities it is known as “roora” and while the tradition is to give cattle, this is now often replaced by cash – the amount is subject to negotiation.

There are several stages to the tradition and it is seen as a way of thanking the bride’s family for bringing her up, but there is no sense that the bride is being bought.

Abdourahmane Dia, Senegal:

The payment of bride price is customary in Senegal but largely symbolic.

A small amount of money and a kola nut is given to the bride’s family at the mosque, after that the sum handed over can be anywhere from less than $100 to tens of thousands.

Angela Ngendo, Kenya:

The Kenyan constitution outlaws the obligation to pay a bride price but it is widely understood that it will be paid.

Pastoral communities insist that it is paid in cattle and it has been cited as a cause of cattle rustling, whereas families in other communities will accept cash.

There is a sense that a transaction has taken place over the bride.

African wedding_Nigerian — **African Wedding – Nigerian (Source: Naija.nj)**

Leone Ouedraogo, Burkina Faso:

The bride price is commonly paid in Burkinabe culture and is largely a symbolic act.

There is no set amount and a little money is given, but it is mainly in goods such as Kola nuts, drinks, cigarettes – and some ethnic groups may give a goat.

However, a bride’s family is not normally too demanding.

Aichatou Moussa, Niger:

In Niger, there is an official maximum rate for a bride price of 50,000 CFA francs ($83, £54) but many pay much more than this.

The price is agreed between the families, but it is seen as a symbolic act rather than about buying the wife as Nigeriens say not matter how much is paid you cannot buy a human being.

Happy 2018!

On January 2, 2018January 1, 2018 By Dr. Y.In Great Moments4 Comments

20170920_1Million views Dear readers, we wish you all an AMAZING new year. May the year 2018 mark the fulfillment of old and new dreams that will last a lifetime. We would like to express our profound gratitude for your constant support, as your readership has carried us forward. Thank you to all those who visited the blog, reblogged articles, commented, and to all future visitors. 2017 was a beautiful year: Afrolegends.com had lots of views, subscribers, and many articles reblogged on multiple sites. On September 19, 2017, we passed the cap of the 1 Million Views on the African Heritage Blog!!!

The top 6 posts of 2017 are listed below. For this new year, 2018, we will bring you even more amazing, fun, and rich articles. Keep trusting, reading, sharing, reblogging, and liking. We wish you a beautiful, full, and amazing new year, rich in blessings, and rich in greatness. May 2018 be the year of greatness! Keep your heads up, and may your year be as beautiful as the petals of this flower! As you can see, everything about this flower marks the beginning of something beautiful: a new start, a new life, and a new joy! As always, like Agostinho Neto said, “A luta continua … a vitória é certa!”

1. History of African Fabrics and Textiles

2. Samori Toure: African leader and Resistant to French Imperialism

3. ‘Love Poem for My Country’ by Sandile Dikeni

4. Timbuktu, one of the world’s first and oldest university

5. Adinkra Symbols and the Rich Akan Culture

6. Amanishakheto, Warrior Queen of Nubia

George Weah: From One of the Greatest Football Players Alive to President of Liberia

On December 31, 2017December 31, 2017 By Dr. Y.In Great Moments, Great PeopleLeave a comment

George Weah3 — George Weah, president-elect of Liberia

This is a happy day, for George Weah is now president-elect of Liberia! Thinking about how long it took to get there, I am so proud of him. His consistency, his determination to serve Liberia at the highest office, and his love for his country are commendable. As a flashback, remember the Liberian presidential elections of 2005, when he had gone through the second turn of the presidential elections, and amidst election frauds many believed that he had won the election in lieu of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. People told him that he was too young, he should let Mama run the country; that he was just a football (soccer) player, albeit a great one, but a baby in politics, an uneducated man, and should let those who knew it, run the country. After a month of deliberation, and a lot of strength and patriotism, Weah agreed to let Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf claim the victory. He could have said ‘NO’ and gone into protests which could have led Liberia into civil unrest, but he loved his country deeply, and chose peace! In subsequent years, he learned politics, learned how to serve the people better, even unsuccessfully ran as a VP candidate in the 2011 presidential elections, became a Senator of Montserrado County in 2014, and got a graduate degree. Today, he has won the presidential elections. Talk about perseverance, love, and determination!

George Weah4 — George Weah won Ballon d’Or while playing for AC Milan

George Weah developed great football abilities early on, and after playing in the Liberian football domestic league at the beginning of his successful career, and winning several national honors (including the Liberian Premier League and the Liberian Cup), Weah went on to play in the Tonnerre of Yaoundé (one of the greatest football clubs of Cameroon) in Cameroon where he was discovered, and then took off for a very successful career in Europe. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest African players of all time, and in 1995 he was named FIFA World Player of the Year and won the Ballon d’Or, becoming the first and only African player to date to win these awards. In 1989, 1994 and 1995, he was named the African Footballer of the Year, and in 1996, he was named African Player of the Century. Known for his acceleration, speed, and dribbling ability, in addition to his goalscoring and finishing, Weah was described by FIFA as “the precursor of the multi-functional strikers of today”. In 2004, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world’s greatest living players.

As you can see, it took him over 12 years from those failed elections of 2005, but he made it. He successfully went from an outstanding football player to the president of a nation. His story is that of perseverance, and particularly of excellence: Do what you are called for, whatever it is, with excellence, … you never know you could be called for greatness through that excellence! We salute his uncompromising, unflinching courage and determination, and we are happy for Liberia!

‘Thiaroye Massacre’ by Ousmane Sembene

On December 11, 2017October 23, 2023 By Dr. Y.In Great Moments, Great People1 Comment

The great Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembene made a movie about the Thiaroye massacre committed by French forces in Senegal during the night of 30 November – 1 December 1944! The movie, Camp de Thiaroye, was made in 1988. It took almost 20 years for a French president, Francois Hollande in 2012, to acknowledge it. A massacre which occurred because the Tirailleurs Senegalais asked to be given the pay they had been promised for services rendered, defending France in France against Hitler’s Nazi forces. Those Senegalese men were killed by French men for asking to be paid after defending France with their lives!

Thiaroye: A French Massacre in Senegal

On December 8, 2017December 6, 2017 By Dr. Y.In Great Moments5 Comments

I just learned of the story of the Thiaroye massacre by French forces on African troops which occurred during the night of 30 November to 1 December 1944. African soldiers who had fought alongside French people to liberate France of the Nazi menace, were shot by Frenchmen, for asking for their pay! Can you believe it! They were promised a pay, they fought for France in France to liberate France, and when they got back to Senegal they were not paid; so they asked for their pay, and they were shot! Even the French president François Hollande in October 2012 had to acknowledge this atrocity… of course, he just acknowledged it, and never apologized! As you can see, France has committed some of the greatest atrocities in this world, but no one says a word, well because it is against Africans, so ‘it does not count’? Even today, they continue, with the FCFA, impoverishing and living off of Africans’ sweat! The great Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembene made a movie about it!

Libya and Slavery: Sheep without a Shepherd

On December 6, 2017December 6, 2017 By Dr. Y.In Great Moments1 Comment

For several weeks now, we have seen many people scream loud about the enslavement of Black people in Libya. I have seen Claudy Siar, whom I love, stand up outraged about the treatment of Black people in Libya, yet, I did not see him outraged when Libya was being bombed by NATO; I did not see him this outraged when migrants drowned in the Mediterranean Sea; I have not seen him outraged because Martinique, Guadeloupe (where his family is from), and French Guiana, have been deprived of independence and are still Overseas territories of France today. I saw Samuel Eto’o and other footballers come out outraged, yet… I never saw Eto’o outraged that there are no roads to go to his village in Cameroon, I never saw him outraged that international companies exploit huge plantations in Cameroon without paying taxes (was he outraged when Lapiro de Mbanga was imprisoned for asking those companies to pay some little taxes?). I never saw these big footballers outraged that African youths are unemployed largely due to their presidents working hand-in-hand with European interests. Faure Gnassingbé, president of Togo even raised his voice against the enslavement of Africans in Libya, and was outraged! Are you serious, when he inherited the throne, presidency of Togo, after 38 years of Gnassingbé Eyadéma, his father’s reign? Alpha Blondy never said a word when Côte d’Ivoire was being bombed by France in 2011, yet today he opens his mouth for Libya, and wants the migrants to take up arms! Seriously?

I do not understand why we always act like sheep without a shepherd! Back in the middle of the 2000s, we were served with the genocide in Darfur, when Hollywood stars such as George Clooney came out in numbers claiming to care about the plight of the Black man, and saying that the Black people of Darfur Sudan were enslaved by their lighter skinned Sudanese brothers. This led to the creation of South Sudan, and Darfur, well… nothing happened in Darfur… so it had all been a scheme to split Sudan into 2, and take away its rich southern oil fields from the nation itself!

Do you think that African youths, if they had jobs in their countries, will not stay home? Do you think that if the FCFA was not this tax imposed on African countries (The 11 Components of the French Colonial Tax in Africa), they will not be developed? This outrage I hear should not be taken out on Libyans who had no say when their country was bombed by the Coalition that is NATO, but rather against our presidents who continue to stay in the FCFA zone (FCFA: France’s Colonial Tax on Africa), who continue to give at least 50% of our economies to France! France gets $500 Billions every year from 14 countries in Africa just from the currency, plus of course the free uranium of Niger, the free gold of Mali, the free plantations of Cameroon, the free cocoa of Côte d’Ivoire, etc. This has to stop! Our outrage cannot be taken out on Libyans, but rather on NATO, and now more than ever on those puppets that we call our presidents, who serve the interests of the Hexagon. Get out of the FCFA zone, and create jobs! Stop importing pencils, pens, and food, when you can grow and make your own and become sustainable economies to serve your youths! Africa is the continent with the youngest population, and with so many resources, and thus so much to develop! Africa is the future!

Yesterday, I heard a talk by Robert Bourgi who was the adviser to so many African presidents, good servants of Imperialist forces: Mobutu, Omar Bongo, etc; and he said that, what Africans were asking for was governmental alternance, i.e. election of new presidents. NO, we do not need new presidents who are just puppets of the West like Macky Sall or Alassane Ouattara who will sign off our future to the IMF and World Bank. We need a definite change, we want to be in charge of our economic destiny; we want to have our own currency, we do not want to pay a colonial tax when our forefathers died in WWI and WWII to liberate the French and the whole of Europe, when our ancestors were taken into slavery by Europeans to the Americas where their sweat was used to build Western economies. We want economic freedom to decide on our own terms whether we live or die. We will rather be poor with our own currency, than be a happy slave with a fake currency pegged to the Bank of Paris, which used to take 85% of our revenues and now takes 50%. All the same, We have had enough! So our outrage should not be at our Libyan brothers, because we do know that our true Libyan brothers will never do that, Khadafi fought for us Africans to be free from imperialist forces, but to our presidents, to our elites, who refuse to free us, who refuse to stand up and seize the moment! We, the people, want freedom, economic freedom! No More FCFA!

Amilcar Cabral on Racism

On December 4, 2017December 3, 2017 By Dr. Y.In Great Moments, Great People, Great Wisdom3 Comments

“We are not racists. We are fundamentally and deeply against any kind of racism. Even when people are subjected to racism we are against racism from those who have been oppressed by it. In our opinion – not from dreaming but from a deep analysis of the real condition of the existence of mankind and the division of societies – racism is a result of certain circumstances. It is not eternal in any latitude in the world. It is the result of historical and economic conditions. And we cannot answer racism with racism. It is not possible. In our country, despite some racist manifestations by the Portuguese, we are not fighting against the Portuguese people or whites. We are fighting for the freedom of our people – to free our people and to allow them to be able to love any kind of human being. You cannot love when you are a slave… In combating racism we don’t make progress if we combat the people themselves. We have to combat the causes of racism. If a bandit comes into my house and I have a gun I cannot shoot the shadow of this bandit. I have to shoot the bandit. Many people lose energy and effort, and make sacrifices combating shadows.”

Amilcar Cabral, 20 October 1972, New York, Pambazuka

Robert Mugabe and Zimbabwe, a Short Biography

On November 29, 2017November 28, 2017 By Dr. Y.In Great Civilizations, Great Moments, Great People, Uncategorized1 Comment

Here is a documentary about Robert Mugabe and his history, his life, and his leadership. This video talks about him, the fight for independence, the loss of his first son while imprisoned by the British in Rhodesia, and the renaming of the country from Rhodesia to Zimbabwe, after the Great Zimbabwe Empire. I only recently found out that Mugabe had been influenced by Kwame Nkrumah: African Visionary and Ghana’s First President. He had lived and trained at the Takoradi Teacher Training College in Ghana, where he met his first wife Sally Hayfron Mugabe. It is sort of a short biography.

Portugal Treaties in Africa: Treaty of Chinfuma in Cabinda, Angola, 29 Sept. 1883

On November 20, 2017November 16, 2017 By Dr. Y.In Great MomentsLeave a comment

Here is another treaty which led to the Treaty of Simulambuco between Portugal and the people of Cabinda, namely the Treaty of Chinfuma. This one was signed on the hill of Chinfuma, at Lândana, on 29 September 1883, between Guilherme Augusto de Brito Capelo and the local Princes. The original in Portuguese can be found here: Angola, Cabinda, Tratado de Chinfuma. The river Chiloango referred to in the treaty can be seen on the attached map, as well as the city of Cacongo. Again, the website, Cabinda.net has a lot of these treaties.

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On the 29th day of the month of September, in the year of Our Lord 1883, on the hill of Chinfuma, at Lândana, on the western coast of Africa, were present on one side, for the Portuguese Government, the Lieutenant-Captain of the Navy, Guilherme Augusto de Brito Capelo, commanding the corvette Rainha de Portugal, and on the other side, for the people inhabiting both banks of the River Kacongo, the Princes and other Notables, now Chiefs and Governors of said people and tribes, who by all present were recognized as the true and identical parties, together with the Portuguese and foreign merchants owning commercial houses at Landana, Chiloango, and on the banks of said river, who volunteered to be present at this meeting as witnesses to all that may be enacted in the premises; being also present Robert F. Hammick, Commander of the English gun-boat Flirt, and the agent of the house Hatton and Cookson, R. E. Dennet; the above mentioned Commander (of the Portuguese corvette) declared that as several Chiefs had expressed the wish of demanding the protection of Portugal, under whose sovereignty they wanted to remain, as being the nation with whom they maintained the most intercourse commercially, as well as in customs and language, ever since Europeans have trod African soil south of the Equator, he, the Commander, now came fully empowered by the Government of His Majesty the King of Portugal to frame a Treaty, which, after being ratiﬁed and signed by both Contracting Parties, should establish the future intercourse between Portugal and the countries governed by the subscribing Chiefs. And the Princes and other Notables having formally declared that they wanted to make good, with their signatures, a document by which the Protectorate and sovereignty of Portugal should be clearly authenticated over all the territory lying between the River Massabe (Luiza Loango on the English maps) and the Molembo, 11 Articles were discussed and adopted in a Treaty which, after having been read and duly explained both in Portuguese as well as in the language of the country, was signed by all parties with the sign of a cross, not knowing how to write. And in order that the measures adopted in this solemn meeting might in future be duly authenticated, this statement was made and signed by all parties and attached to the Treaty, which was copied and duly certiﬁed and sealed with the seal used on all official documents of the corvette Rainha de Portugal, and copies given to the chief Princes, Tali-e-Tali, Prince Regent of the Kingdom of Kacongo; Mancoche, King of Encoche Luango; Antonio Thiaba da Costa, Regent of the Kingdom of Cinchôcho, representing the Queen of Samano; Mangoal, Prince Regent of Mambuco Manipolo; Antonio Thiaba da Costa, Governor of Massabe, representative of the Chiefs of that place; who also received the Portuguese ﬂag to be hoisted at their Settlements and on the lands that may be ceded to the Portuguese Government, to be kept and defended as the symbol representing the sovereignty and Protectorate of Portugal over the lands governed by them.

Heights of Chinfuma, September 29, 1883.

GUILHERME AUGUSTO DE BRITO CAPELLO,

Commander of the corvette Rainha de Portugal.

Their marks

x TALI-E-TALI

x MANCOCHE.

THIABA DA COSTA.

x MAMBUCO.

x MATANGA DO TENDA.

CHRSITIANO FREDERICO KRUSSE GOMES,

1^st Lieutenant in the Navy.

JOÃO MANOEL GUERREIRO DE AMORIM,

2^nd Lieutenant in the Navy.

ACHILLE DE ALMEIDA NAVARRO, Naval Doctor of the 1^stClass.

JOÃO JOSÉ RODRIGUEZ LEITÃO SOBRINHO,

Merchant in Landana.

WILLIAM RATTRAY, Chiloango.

PEDRO BERGNO, Marine Guard.

FIDEL DEL VALLE.

ANTONIO NUÑES SERRA E MOURA, Officer of Fazenda in the Navy.

————————————

Angola_Royal court of N'Gangue M'voumbe Niambi in Loango ca 1668 — Royal court of N’Gangue M’voumbe Niambi in Loango ca 1668

Guilherme Augusto do Brito Capello, Lieutenant-Captain of the Navy, Knight Commander of the Order of Aviz, and Knight of various Orders, Commander of the corvette Rainha do Portugal, commissioned by the Government of His Majesty the King of Portugal, has concluded with the Princes Tali-e-Tali, Regent of the Kingdom of Kacongo; Mancoche, King of Encoche Luango; Antonio Thiaba da Costa, Regent of the Kingdom of Chinchôcho, Representative of the Queen Samano; and Mangoal, Regent of Mambuco, and their successors; as well as the other Chiefs of the hind lying between the Rivers Massabe and Molembe, on the Westem Coast of Africa, the following Treaty:—

Art. I. The Princes and other Chiefs of the country, and their successors, do voluntarily acknowledge the sovereignty of Portugal, and place under the Protectorate of that Government all the lands governed by them.

II. Portugal recognizes the present Chiefs, and will conﬁrm all those that in future may be elected by the people according to their laws and customs, assuring them assistance and protection.

lII. Portugal obliges herself to maintain the integrity of the territories placed under its Protectorate.

IV. To the Chiefs of the land and their inhabitants will be maintained the direct ownership of the lands belonging to them, with the right of selling or alienating them in any manner whatever, to establish trading factories, or any private undertaking, on paying the customary fees, and marking clearly and exactly the lands transferred or ceded, to avoid future difficulties; these contracts to be ratiﬁed by the Commanders of the Portuguese ships of war.

V. The greatest liberty will be conceded to all merchants of every nationality to settle on these lands, the Portuguese Government holding itself obliged to protect these establishments, retaining, however, the right of proceeding as it may think proper whenever it may be proved that any attempt is made to overthrow the dominion of Portugal.

Angola_Burial of a king view of the Cabinda mountain 1786-87 — Burial of King Andris Poncouta, Macaye, and view of the Cabinda mountain 1786-87

VI. The Princes and other native Chiefs bind themselves not to make any Treaties, nor to give up any lands to the Representatives of foreign nations in an official capacity, and not with the object mentioned in Article IV.

VII. They likewise bind themselves to protect the commerce of the Portuguese as well as that of the foreigners and of the natives, prohibiting all interruptions in the intercourse with the interior, using their authority to keep open the roads, assisting and protecting the relations between buyers and sellers, religious and scientiﬁc Missions that may be temporarily or permanently established on their lands, as well as the development of agriculture.

§. They bind themselves further to prohibit the Trafﬁc in Slaves within the boundary of their dominions.

VIII. Any difficulty arising between Europeans and natives will be settled in the presence of the Commander of the Portuguese ship of war, who on such occasions may be in possible communication with the shore.

IX. Portugal will respect and will cause to be respected the usages and customs of the country.

X. The Princes and Chiefs cede and transfer to Portugal the entire right and title to portions of land in Landana, Chinchôcho, and Massabe, which will be marked conjointly with the Chiefs of those districts duly authorized by the Princes to give possession. The Deed of Possession will be drawn up in duplicate, one of which will remain in the hands of the Portuguese Delegate, and the other with the native Chief.

XI. The present Treaty, signed by the Princes and Chiefs of the country, as also by the Lieutenant-Captain Commander of the corvette Rainha de Portugal, will take effect from the day of its signature. It cannot, however, be considered definite until it be approved by the Government of His Majesty the King of Portugal.

Chinfuma, at Landana, September 29, 1883.

GUILHERME AUGUSTO DE BRITO CAPELLO,

Commander of the corvette Rainha de Portugal.

Their marks

Congo_Stanley map — Map of Congo by Henry Stanley, with parts of Cabinda and Congo in red: Landana, Chiloango, Massabe, the kingdoms of Kacongo and Malemba, can all clearly be seen on this map

x TALI-E-TALI, Regent of the Kingdom of Kacongo.

x MAMBUCO, Vice-King of Kacongo.

x A. THIABA DA COSTA, Representative of Queen Samano.

x MANCOCHE, Regent of Encoche Luango.

x MACHELLA, Chief of Chella.

x MALUANGO, Chief of Ponta do Chiloango.

x MAMBUCO, Chief of Chinchôcho.

x MAMGOVE-MAMBO, ditto.

x MATENDA, Chief of Ponta de Landana.

x MARUMBA, Chief of Landana and Molembo.

x MANCOCHE DE MUBA, ditto.

x MANCUNGO, ditto.

x MICHELLA, Chief of Molembo.

x MAMBANGA, Chief of Landana and Molembo.

x BINDUCO, ditto.

x CAPITA, ditto.

x MANGOVE FERNANDES, Chief of Molembo.

x MASSAÇA-MANIFUTA, Chief of Kacongo.

x MATANGA, of Luvula.

Angola_Loango 1668 — The city of Loango in 1668

x MAFUCA, of Landana.

x MALAMBO, ditto.

x MAFUCA-BABA, of Molembo.

x MANIMBANZA, of Chilunga.

x GANGA CHINFUMA, of Landana.

x GANGA BEMBO, ditto.

x MALENDA, of Boica.

x CAPITA MANITATE, of Kacongo.

x CAPITA MAMBUCO, of Molembo.

x MANGOVE, of Ombuco.

x MANGOVE, of Tenda.

x MANGOVE, of Muba.

x CAPITA, ditto.

x MASSANDE, ditto.

x LINGUESTER, of Tenda.

x MANIMBACHE, Prince of Kacongo.

x GANGA MECHEMECHAMA, of Kacongo.

x GANGA DE CHINFUMA, of Molembo.

x GANGA MAFULA, of Kacongo.

x CAPITA MANIMACUNGO, of Molembo.

x GANGA E LUNGA, of Kacongo.

x MENTATA DO LUVULLA, of Ponta de Landana.

x BUNDO, of Tenda.

x MAMPAGALA, ditto.

x MATENDA-PEÇA, ditto.

x BOMANGOVE, ditto.

x MANCACA, ditto.

x MANSANGE, Prince of Massabe.

x MAUNVULE, ditto.

x MABICHETE, ditto.

x PINDO, ditto.

x MATICIBALA, ditto.

x GANGA BONO, ditto.

x MANUELA, ditto.

x MASSUCO, ditto.

A.THIABA DA COSTA.

x GANGA MUCULO, of Encoche Loango.

x UMBINDUCO, ditto.

x MASSI MONGO, ditto.

x BANCHE LUANDA, ditto.

x MANCACA, ditto.

x MANGOVE BEMBO DA COSTA, of Tenda.

x MEIMECASSO, ditto.

x MANGOVE MAZUNGA, of Molembo.

x ANTONIO PITRA, ditto.

Witnesses :

João José RODRIGUEZ LEITÃO SOBRINHO,

Merchant in Landana.

THIABA DA COSTA.

FIDEL DEL VALLE.

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