A Wall Of Stone
And Mud Surrounds The Village, And The Native Population Live In Huts
Outside.
The fort and the church, near the river, are the
strongholds; the natives having a salutary dread of the guns of the
one, and a superstitious fear of the unknown power of the other.
The
number of white inhabitants is small, and rather select, many of them
having been considerately sent out of Portugal "for their country's
good." The military element preponderates in society; the convict
and "incorrigible" class of soldiers, receiving very little pay,
depend in great measure on the produce of the gardens of their black
wives; the moral condition of the resulting population may be
imagined.
Droughts are of frequent occurrence at Tette, and the crops suffer
severely. This may arise partly from the position of the town
between the ranges of hills north and south, which appear to have a
strong attraction for the rain-clouds. It is often seen to rain on
these hills when not a drop falls at Tette. Our first season was one
of drought. Thrice had the women planted their gardens in vain, the
seed, after just vegetating, was killed by the intense dry heat. A
fourth planting shared the same hard fate, and then some of the
knowing ones discovered the cause of the clouds being frightened
away: our unlucky rain-gauge in the garden. We got a bad name
through that same rain-gauge, and were regarded by many as a species
of evil omen.
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