ten miles S.E. of Tete. Like all
their settlements I have seen, both judgment and taste had been employed
in the selection of the site. A little stream of mineral water had been
collected in a tank and conducted to their house, before which was a
little garden for raising vegetables at times of the year when no rain
falls. It is now buried in a deep shady grove of mango-trees. I was
accompanied by Captain Nunes, whose great-grandfather, also a captain in
the time of the Marquis of Pombal, received sealed orders, to be opened
only on a certain day. When that day arrived, he found the command to go
with his company, seize all the Jesuits of this establishment, and march
them as prisoners to the coast. The riches of the fraternity, which were
immense, were taken possession of by the state. Large quantities of gold
had often been sent to their superiors at Goa, inclosed in images. The
Jesuits here do not seem to have possessed the sympathies of the people
as their brethren in Angola did. They were keen traders in ivory and
gold-dust. All praise their industry. Whatever they did, they did it
with all their might, and probably their successful labors in securing
the chief part of the trade to themselves had excited the envy of the
laity. None of the natives here can read; and though the Jesuits are
said to have translated some of the prayers into the language of the
country, I was unable to obtain a copy. The only religious teachers now
in this part of the country are two gentlemen of color, natives of
Goa. The one who officiates at Tete, named Pedro Antonio d'Araujo, is
a graduate in Dogmatic Theology and Moral Philosophy. There is but a
single school in Tete, and it is attended only by the native Portuguese
children, who are taught to read and write. The black population is
totally uncared for. The soldiers are marched every Sunday to hear mass,
and but few others attend church. During the period of my stay, a kind
of theatrical representation of our Savior's passion and resurrection
was performed. The images and other paraphernalia used were of great
value, but the present riches of the Church are nothing to what it once
possessed. The commandant is obliged to lock up all the gold and silver
in the fort for safety, though not from any apprehension of its being
stolen by the people, for they have a dread of sacrilege.

The state of religion and education is, I am sorry to say, as low as
that of commerce; but the European Po