THE PRAZOES 115 



circumstanced. In course of time, their descendants 

 by native wives, still nominally Portuguese, in spite 

 of their growing darkness of complexion, fell away 

 from one cause or another from the position of 

 rulers, but retained some control over the land 

 itself, and, naturally, over their large inheritances 

 of slaves. A superior of one of the Jesuit convents 

 on the Zambezi, in a report to the Viceroy of India 

 in the middle of the seventeenth century, stated that 

 practically the whole of the south bank of the river 

 from Coroabassa Rapids downwards was held by 

 individuals of Portuguese nationality, one of these, 

 Manoel Paes e Pinho, being reported to have 

 assumed supreme authority over a prazo the size of 

 a considerable kingdom, largely inhabited, and of 

 great value and importance. Some of these areas 

 were, it is true, held direct from the Portuguese 

 Crown at quitrent, the old feudal condition of mili- 

 tary service in time of war being also imposed. It 

 naturally followed, therefore, that some of these 

 men acquired immense influence and great wealth, 

 and lived in considerable rude state. Their hospi- 

 talities, for example, were regal in their barbarous 

 munificence, and their visits among each other 

 invariably gave occasion for astounding display, 

 each endeavouring to outdo the other in the 

 grandeur of his appointments, the number of his 

 slaves, and the beauty of his concubines and other 

 dependants. In this way, accustomed to the 

 exercise of unrestrained authority, and far removed 

 from the salutary influence of governmental control, 

 an amount of lawlessness broke out in this part 

 of the country which became a serious source of 



