ssion had been made by him, and
they wished to avoid the necessity of punishing those who had been
provoked to shed Portuguese blood. This indicates a much greater
impartiality than has obtained in our own dealings with the Caffres, for
we have engaged in most expensive wars with them without once inquiring
whether any of the fault lay with our frontier colonists. The Cassange
traders seem inclined to spread along the Quango, in spite of the desire
of their government to keep them on one spot, for mutual protection in
case of war. If I might judge from the week of feasting I passed among
them, they are generally prosperous.

As I always preferred to appear in my own proper character, I was an
object of curiosity to these hospitable Portuguese. They evidently
looked upon me as an agent of the English government, engaged in some
new movement for the suppression of slavery. They could not divine what
a "missionario" had to do with the latitudes and longitudes, which I was
intent on observing. When we became a little familiar, the questions put
were rather amusing: "Is it common for missionaries to be doctors?" "Are
you a doctor of medicine and a 'doutor mathematico' too? You must be
more than a missionary to know how to calculate the longitude! Come,
tell us at once what rank you hold in the English army." They may have
given credit to my reason for wearing the mustache, as that explains why
men have beards and women have none; but that which puzzled many besides
my Cassange friends was the anomaly of my being a "sacerdote", with
a wife and four children! I usually got rid of the last question by
putting another: "Is it not better to have children with a wife, than
to have children without a wife?" But all were most kind and hospitable;
and as one of their festivals was near, they invited me to partake of
the feast.

The anniversary of the Resurrection of our Savior was observed on the
16th of April as a day of rejoicing, though the Portuguese have no
priests at Cassange. The colored population dressed up a figure intended
to represent Judas Iscariot, and paraded him on a riding-ox about the
village; sneers and maledictions were freely bestowed on the poor wretch
thus represented. The slaves and free colored population, dressed in
their gayest clothing, made visits to all the principal merchants, and
wishing them "a good feast", expected a present in return. This, though
frequently granted in the shape of pieces of calico