Description:
This account of south-central Africa, written in 1648, provides rare detail about the life of the African people of the region and their relations with the Portuguese creole community. As well as the work of the Jesuit mission, Gomes describes African gold mining, politics and social relations (including costume, marriage, medicine, witchcraft, litigation and slavery). His narrative also provides details about the coastal Macua and Portuguese knowledge of Lake Malawi, and he reports conversations with Africans in order to explain aspects of African society that might surprise or shock his fellow Jesuits. The narrative also describes the Maldive Islands and gives information about Madagascar.
Review Quotes: As I read it, I could not stop imagining myself using Gomes's text to discuss with my students the strengths and weaknesses of the written document as a historical source, and what, even in the same document, might count as primary and secondary source. In this way, both the independent researcher and the guided student of pre-colonial African history will benefit from this book.-- "Festo Mkenda SJ, Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu"