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, inclosed 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 labors 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 color, 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 Savior'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 apprehension of its being stolen
by the people, for they have a dread of sacrilege.
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