644 
INUNDATION OF THE ZAMBESI. 
Chap. NXXI. 
graduate in Dogmatic Theology and Moral Pliilosopliy. 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 notliing 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 Portuguese value educa¬ 
tion highly, and send their clhldren to Goa and elsewhere for 
instruction in the higher branches. There is not a single book¬ 
seller’s shop, however, in either eastern or western Africa. Even 
Loanda, with its 12,000 or 14,000 souls, cannot boast of one store 
for the sale of food for the mind. 
On the 2nd the Zambesi suddenly rose several feet in height. 
Tliree such floods are expected annually, but this year there 
were foim This last was accompanied by discoloration, and 
must have been caused by another great fall of rain east of the 
ridge. We had observed a flood of discoloured water when we 
reached the river at the Kafue; it then fell two feet, and from 
subsequent rains again rose so high, that we were obliged to 
leave it when opposite the lull Pinkwe. About the 10th of March 
the river rose several feet with comparatively clear water, and it 
continued to rise until the 21st, with but a very slight discolora¬ 
tion. This gradual rise was the greatest, and was probably caused 
by the water of inundation in the interior. The sudden rise 
wliich happened on the 2nd, being deeply discoloured, showed 
again the effect of rains at a comparatively short distance. The 
fact of the river rising three or four times annually, and the one 
flood of inundation being mixed with the others, may account for 
the Portuguese not recognising the phenomenon of the periodical 
inundation, so well known in the central country. 
The independent natives cultivate a little cotton, but it is not 
at all equal, either in quantity or qiiality, to what we found in 
