Hammock Travel, Angola, 1786-87
Caption, Tati, surnommè Desponts, courtier de Malembe, venant de sa petite-terre, en hamac. Shows a Congolese nobleman/wealthy man, carried on a hammock, suspended from a large pole and carried by four men (slaves?). The author notes that Congolese blacks travel on foot if they are not wealthy or cannot afford to travel by hammock, as illustrated here. The hammock is made of cotton, and is suspended from a bamboo pole which is carried by four porters. He gives a lengthy description of the hammock's construction and how the traveller is positioned in it (pp. 98-99; our translation). Author was a French Naval officer who was mainly in the Angola region; engravings in his book were made from drawings done from his own observations in 1786-87.
Image Title
Hammock Travel, Angola, 1786-87
RegID
SI-OB-605
Date
1786-1787
Title
Hammock Travel, Angola, 1786-87
Source
Louis de Grandpre, Voyage a la cote occidentale d'Afrique, fait dans les annèes 1786 et 1787 (Paris, 1801), vol. 1, facing p. 99. (Copy in Library Company of Philadelphia)
Language
French
Item sets
Pre-Colonial Africa: Society, Polity, Culture
Spatial Coverage
Africa--West Central North
Reproduced In
Louis de Grandpre, Voyage a la cote occidentale d'Afrique, fait dans les annèes 1786 et 1787 (Paris, 1801), vol. 1, facing p. 99.
Researchers
Handler, Jerome; Tuite, Michael; Randall Ericson; Henry B. Lovejoy Graduate Research Assistants: Tiffany Beebe; Travis May
Identifier
LCP-09