, 1879-02-16

awaiting internent we're eaten By dogs, Prom
erty is no longer safe; the people steal wha
they can. In the jail the prisoners are starving
LIVING SKELETONS RUSH TO TIE COAST.
So ! might 70 endlcssly. Alas know how
real 1t was. The tears come to mr. eyes ever
now when read these piteous cries for help
Hunger, pestilencc, Want-tllese we're wha
Ceara had to fight when tho second great famine
lear, IN February terror. In March despair: nc
rains at all i'll some places, little useless show
ers at best. And tnow comes the most ter
rbe sccne Of all. There vas no more hope ir
the Scrtao. No food, aud no possibility Of ob-
tanning it except along the sca-shore. Then thl
whole bewIlQered, 1atninc-strickcn, panic-wild
crowd came rushing down to Fortacza and tic
coast cities. Without food for the road, naked,
sick, dying, even as they fled from dcath-cyery
man for himself. Children striving yaf1lY tn
over the stones, with bleeding feet md skeleton
bodies, Walking, crawling along. begging where
no one could giyc--for how could man support
thousands: They were fanlishcd when they
started. Three, four, fire days they held their
way. Then they fell by the roadside and groaned
handful Of earth over them, but for the most
part. each vas too busy with his own safety to
care for others. 80 our human brothers died.
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND PEOPLE
fhh1nnAD
The greatest mortality from hunger was
probably in March; from Feb. to May |, when
the exodus was taking place. can hardly cal
culate the number OF faminc deaths at less than
100000; aud during the whole drought probably
100000 died of hunger. should add that nv
calculations are much lower than those of other
persons; some place the entire number IS hct,
as 5ol,00O ~ Araeaty the ncath rate t1,ictuatcd
between ninety a1ld 1lo Gay; III fortneza It
wa, vas less at THIS time, nnt e'ghty per Gay was
oao enonen. l ha'e hotlcGs 81 ten, twenty or
more dally deaths in smail villages; and every
wnere along the foadslacs na'neless crosses still
Ie!l Tue storv o. ancatA'o4ucu V'ctlnfs: DaFk
ta!es OF cann.nalsIn peeaM 70 appear. tro!n
!e;ier Nf1'tca III su1Ae1ainool" translate as
EATING HIS OWN CHILD.
I write in haste. 1 haze no time to transcrbe
the scenes Of horror about me. It is enonrb 10
give YOU as specimen one uan,elcss crime.
father, whose nature was SO overcome by hum
rcr that he killed and cooked in not lis little
fornia "a settlement near Quixada) The father
died soon after his horrible feast, I hare three
or four similar stories, very we'll authenticated
belle ~ that these and other cases of cannibal
Ism we're caused BY insanfty-a common rcsult
OF hunger.
1nro3a .,eo q ,e+tor fron .1,,,,or,ho- -,f,z;,,
~ 'nan t,,at 1oii tha san,' st.ns
' e 1h,s ~ ,.;1f,rn :. mi nf "han,1nnad o,uau
+hn desno;rI fothers wnui,l nn 1on@er saa ti'al,
torn hr this monster h,nonr TIia v.r, Ai1o4 do..
ana ~ Ma' su. rn,d ~ ti,aso .rota5 mas -
',ar, e,-a,atons rr,,o cor1d hori1u eaoa,
WY she.eeolo, WIZ South ~ unui, opeah eo1ne
on, ennn nSs3In"tar ref,,sing Nor" e''i;, fnu
11e road from here 70 AracatT IS fi,ll IF hnIl;cs
You can count the crosses BY hundreds. The
other day, in m abandoned house, there were
found five bodies Of refugees, tour children and
three strips OF leather in the kettle over
the ashes OF an cxtincuishcl fire. 4 dog, tic
faithful friend of tile family, was still Watching
them. Near Lettralo three Young girls aud IN
old ma,, were found eating the flesh Of dead
horse which lay BY the roadside. This was
uoor wretchcs no longer ask for mAnlicomea1;
they ask for cats and dogs to eat. (This is no
One shopkeeper told me of u
refugee who asked permission to kill the rats
about his place.) Three days ago made Il
Journey OF leagues b. the road from, leo, aud
lead bodies By the roadside and at least forty
were DYING. Happily there is 10 pestLcnce
mere; the deaths arc from hunger"
''VARzEA ALE0nE, Feb. q, 1675.-We pray
God that he will give pasturage to our few
lorscs, so that VIC may not be forced to fly on
'oot with our families. MANY have died Of hum
,er; many are still dying. The wild roots are
i'll rome. You can imagine What the drought is
,cre when I tell you that the sister of the Baron
u sAquiVaz is eating mucunan seeds; so her
lerdstnan, Mafiano, tells n1e: Now, II this lady,
9tGl = ~. " an "ho h ueaosn LIZ ~ "as one
.oods eds af,r M en 'y her ~ ,rhas n
,,,ee b.. - 1%;,n ~ ~ ..,,; "n"'
1uo' ~ e1. ~oA'A'to" " 'ne ~ poo'
CEARA IN JUNE, LAST TEAR.
And now we come to the last sad scene, the
scene that is yet unrolling itself, and no one
an tell. the end. Unhappy provInce!' = Pitiless:
indeed would he be WHO could view thy tort,lres
lnmoyed. Consider the province a. it was IN
une, 1871. The interior region, ouce well pop
lated, was now almost deserted Only few
tarying families remained to mark thriving
owns and villages. I state literal truth when |
say that in the fail of this. year it was almost
impossible to travel far from the. coast, |
ccause food and water were as utterly un- |
ttainable us they would he in the Sahara. |
have copyersed with man who made The |
ournev to Crato in November: he dcsrrjhel
owing wilderness. where one secs oDlv desert
d houses and lcafless trees and crosses by the |
oadsidc. With our rcnial climate We cannot |
Understand real drought. In Ccara birds and |
1sects died during the first blazing slm1ner. |
maginc " hat the plaius must have been with a |
ccoud dry year. The whole population was I
athered in /: strip not more than scyenly-tiye |
lilies in its greatest width rurninr aIonr the |
oast. The peonle were crowded about the |
tics and Villages, living in wretcAcd huts, and
raWinI Government ratious. At one time !
lefc were loU,ooo OF tnem aC fortaieza, oo,u0V
afaeats, AMI 80 ou lof olher places.
BREAKING OUT OF s,fALL-Pc1. |