While Waiting For The Recovery Of My Men, I Visited, In Company With
My Friend Mr. Canto, The Deserted Convent Of St. Hilarion,
At Bango, A Few Miles Northwest Of Golungo Alto.
It is situated
in a magnificent valley, containing a population numbering 4000 hearths.
This is the abode of the Sova, or Chief Bango, who still holds
a place of authority under the Portuguese.
The garden of the convent,
the church, and dormitories of the brethren are still kept
in a good state of repair. I looked at the furniture, couches,
and large chests for holding the provisions of the brotherhood with interest,
and would fain have learned something of the former occupants;
but all the books and sacred vessels had lately been removed to Loanda,
and even the graves of the good men stand without any record:
their resting-places are, however, carefully tended.
All speak well of the Jesuits and other missionaries, as the Capuchins, etc.,
for having attended diligently to the instruction of the children.
They were supposed to have a tendency to take the part of the people
against the government, and were supplanted by priests,
concerning whom no regret is expressed that they were allowed to die out.
In viewing the present fruits of former missions, it is impossible
not to feel assured that, if the Jesuit teaching has been so permanent,
that of Protestants, who leave the Bible in the hands of their converts,
will not be less abiding. The chief Bango has built a large two-story house
close by the convent, but superstitious fears prevent him from sleeping in it.
The Portuguese take advantage of all the gradations into which native society
has divided itself.
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