A FORMER JESUIT SETTLEMENT. 603 



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, enclosed 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 labours 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 colour, 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 Saviour'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 appre- 

 hension 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 

 Portuguese value education highly, and send their children 

 to Goa and elsewhere for instruction in the higher branches. 

 There is not a single bookseller's shop, however, in either 

 eastern or western Africa. Bven Luanda, with its 12,000 

 or 14,000 souls, cannot boast of one store for the sale of 

 food for the mind. 



