Claiborne guardian. [volume] (Homer, La.) 1877-188?, 1880-07-07
HORRORS OF A FAMINE.


The United States consul ct Per.
nambucO, Brazil, writes TO- the a..
sistant secretary Of stato, giving
terrible details Of the suffeffnRs ia
Northern Brazfl, caused BY the
protracted secca or droath. He
says: Two noted seccas prevailed
during the years Of 1925 and 18l5,
bat l doubt whether there has ever
been here or elsewhere, IN the histo-
~ Of the world, Q famine % fatal
in effects in proportion to the pop
Glati6n a. this Of Ceara. Those Of
India and China, il must be con.
Gdered, Occurring in crowded codh.
tries, where the people are counted
by millions, and not By thousands
like The Cearenses. Two years and
a half ago, when the secca com.
metced, the province Of CeAfa
numbered 900; 900 inhabitants; out
of these 500, 900 have died Of dis.
ease aud starvation.
The secca began In the summer
Of 1875, aud continued to the cl6be
Of the year 1878, lasting for thirty
months; no rain having fallen dur.
ing the whole two years and Q half,
aud the once fertile aud luxuriant
Sertao, where the farms and vii.
lagos prospered in peace and pleu.
~, now presents the appearance of
a vast blackened desert, burnt over
by FIRE.
In November Of 1879, sfssr the
"Esstivete,7 or summer sleep, whom
the "Chuvas de Cajus," Or fruit
rains, failed to appear, the people
did not worry, as their acteles, Or
ponds, were not exhausted, and
they looked confidently forward to
the winter rains to set everything
right. But these never came, and,
as the dry springs advanced, sad
accounts began to come eastward
of poverty and suffering among the
poor. Later on, a. the burning
summer passed, bringing no No
vember showers, and another Jan.
nary went By without rain, there
came appalling news OF famine,
disease, dead cattle, and Of dying
and despairing people.
Long penitential professions were
formed aud the miserable Sertane.
jos beat, cut, and otherwise pun
ished themselves to appease an
ohehded Deity. Bot he pitil4ss
secca still continued. threatening
everything and everybody With IN.
evitabie destruction.
The wretched people we're now
reduced to the necessity Of eating
roots, cotton pods, the MucaHa
bean, which produces dfop6y, liz.
ards, dogs, cats, rats, reaches, any
living Or dead thing capsule 81 AZ.
fording sustenance; and In some 10.
stances they were even goaded to
cannibalism BY the pangs Of hum
ger.
To increase the Gnimagiusble
horrors Of the situation, the small.
pox broke among the SertApe3os
and became epidemic; typhus and
other fevers were raging, and III
February and March Of 1873 the
became ftightful.
The cattle we're now all dead, the
rivers dried DIP, and there being no
or other communications
by which provisions could reach
the Seftao, the inhabitants, dread
ing Wholesale starvation, abandon
ed it altogether, and the whole tor
rent of life swept seward. r
Ceara, Parahyb a, Aracaty, b.
the tows along the coast
were now alive with suffering hu.
age, youth, men, women
and children, all famine stricken,
coming in from Che country BY
thousands upon thousands.
The city of Ceafs, win 5000
inhabitants Of its own, received
over 90, 900 Sertanejos. Impossible
to provide for snch q host, the Cea-
renses did their best, bat it vac =
spectacle to zee Thousands
of emaciated creatures sitting Or
lying on the open lsrgos (squares)
smitten with smallpox and other
loathsome diseases, some lamentinC
their own fate, or the loss OF friends,
others too week or i'll TO complain;
some wishing to die from despair,
and others insane from suffering;
and most narrowing
with few parallels IN
history.