Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1880-04-01

cd people were now reduced to the ne,
cessity Of eating roots, cotton-pods, the
Mucuma bean, which produces dropsy,
lizards, dogs, cats, rats, roaches
any living or dead thing capa-
bic Of afording sustenance; and in
some instances they were even goaded
to cannibalism by the pangs Of hunger.
To increase the unimaginable horrors Of
the situation, the smallpox broke out
among the Sertaneios and became cpl
demie; typhus and other fevers were
raging, and, in February and March Of
1878, the mortality became frightful.
The cattle were now all dead, the rivers
dried up, and there being no railroads or
other communication by which provi-
sions could reach the Sertao, the inhabi-
tants, dreading wholesale starvation,
abandoned it altogether, and the whole
torrent Of life swept seaward.
Ceara, Parahyba, Aracaty, Baturute,
all the towns along the coast, were now
alive with suffering humanity,-age,
youth, men, women, and children, all
famine-stricken, coming in from the
country by thousands upon thousands.
The City Of Ceara, with $4,000 inhabit-
ants of its own, received over 10000
Sertanejos. Impossible to provide for
such host, the Cearenses did their best;
but it was sorrowful spectacle to see
thousands of emaciated creatures sitting
or lying in the open largos (sq1ares)
smitten with smallpox and other lOath-
some diseases, some lamenting their own
fate, or the loss of friends; others too
weak or i'll to complain; some wishing to
die from despair, and others insane from
suffering; a dangerous and most harrow
ing scene, one with few parallels in his
tory.
In Ceara, or Fortaleza, as it is indis-
criminately called, the highest mortality
in normal times was 900 per year. Now
about half the population (25,000) is
dead. In the beginning Of last NoYem-
ber, the population, including the influx,
numbered 100000 The greatest mortal
ity prevailed in the months of November
and December Of 1873. From the 1st of
November to the 9th of December there
died of smallpox alone, and were buried
in the Lagoa Funda deep lakes) Gene
terry, for the poor only, %, ,470; estimated
from 9th to 31st of December, /, 900; in
the St. Joao Baptiste Cemetery, 1921;
in the City Cemetery, 1000; estimated
buried outside in fields, etc., 1000; add
to this the mortality from other diseases,
ten per cent, 2,878; total interments for
two months, 81, ,571.
| have given the statistics, as figures
tell their own incontroYertible tale.
Sixty thousand Cearenses have been
buried in the Lagoa Funda Cemetery,
which was only commenced in the mid
die of last year The soil is sandy, in
which trenches are dug six feet deep,
and long enough to contain twelve un-
cofined corpses. Three or four more
are sometimes put in when the bodies
come too fast for the corps of graYe-dig-
gers, numbering twenty-five. These
diggers sometimes drop dead in the
trenches, from the efiluvia emanating
from the bodies, which permeates the
whole soil of the cemetery, and impreg-
mates the surrounding atmosphere for
nearly a mile.
At Parahyba, out of $4,000 SertanejOs
who came to that port, 10000 died,
others have wandered off, and the place
is nearly depopulated. OF Sobral, Pa
catuba and other towns, distressing ac-
counts, that augmented the sum of hui
man suffering, could be given, But
enough has been narrated to convey
some idea of the magnitude of the terri
Bile secca of Ceara. 1t is estimated that
10000 died from hunger alone; as
many more from its effects, and the re-
manning 100000 from disease. Mean
while the Brazilian Government, fully
alive to the facts, is doing its utmost to
alleviate the calamity. 1t has appro-
priated and nearly used as a relief fund
for the miserable sufferers $4,000, 600.
Every vessel that could be had was
freighted to its utmost capacity with sup
plies, and sent to Ceara. Ship loads of
Sertanejos, amply provided with seeds,
tools and provisions, were sent up and
distributed among the different towns
along the Valley Of the Amazon. Anew
railroad, employing 5000 laborers, sus-
tanning 1900 people, was started, and
is now in construction between Ceara
and Crato. Subscriptions have been
taken up, and other means Of help de-
yised, but, best of all, the blessed rains,
SO vainly longed for by the now dream
less slumberers, are coming. Two have
fallen in Ceara at last accounts, SO let us
hope the fearful scourge is over, that the
usual rainy seasons will return, and that
the barren and desolate Sertao will once
more blossom as the rose, and TEEN with
life, labor and abundance.
The TUrret SDider.