406 tete: its population 



river, the fort being close to the water. The rock beneath 

 is gray sandstone, and has the appearance of being crushed 

 away from the river : the strata have thus a crumpled 

 form. The hollow between each crease is a street, the 

 houses being built upon the projecting fold. The rocks at 

 the top of the slope are much higher than the fort, and, of 

 course, completely command it. There is then a large 

 valley, and beyond that an oblong hill called Karueira. 

 There are about thirty European houses : the rest are 

 native, and of wattle and daub. A wall about ten feet 

 high is intended to enclose the village ; but most of the 

 native inhabitants prefer to live on different spots outside. 

 There are about twelve hundred huts in all, which with 

 European households would give a population of about 

 four thousand five hundred souls. Only a small proportion 

 of these, however, live on the spot; the majority are en- 

 gaged in agricultural operations in the adjacent country. 

 Generally there are not more than two thousand people 

 resident, for, compared with what it was, Tete is now a 

 ruin. The number of Portuguese is very small ; if we ex- 

 clude the military, it is under twenty. Lately, however, 

 one hundred and five soldiers were sent from Portugal to 

 Senna, where in one year twenty -five were cut off by fever. 

 They were then removed to Tete; and here they enjoy 

 much better health, though, from the abundance of spirits 

 distilled from various plants, wild fruits, and grain, in 

 which pernicious beverage they largely indulge, besides 

 partaking chiefly of unwholesome native food, better health 

 could scarcely have been expected. The natives here un- 

 derstand the method of distillation by means of gun-barrels 

 and a succession of earthen pots filled with water to keep 

 them cool. The general report Of the fever here is t-hat, 

 while at Kilimane the fever is continuous, at Tete a man 

 recovers in about three days. The mildest remedies only 

 are used at first, and, if that period be passed, then the 

 more severe. 



The fort of Tete has been the salvation of the Portuguese 



