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António da Silva Porto

When in Belmonte he helped the local mission, providing from his own money for school supplies, food and clothing for their children and remuneration for the teacher.

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But later, in Belmonte, Silva Porto was in good spirits, although Paiva Couceiro did notice that his compound had barrels of gunpowder (which he, laughing, brushed-off as full of sand).

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Paiva Couceiro arrived in the area of Teixeira da Silva around January 1890, with a contingent of 40 Mozambican soldiers, armed with Snider-Enfield breech-loading rifles, which worried the chief of Bié.

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In Belmonte, the most eastern Portuguese vanguard, Silva Porto experimented with exploring areas of the interior.

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The town of Kuito, founded by the Portuguese and named Belmonte at that time, was renamed Silva Porto.

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Nevertheless, Paiva Couceiro remained in the area until April, at which the chief (encouraged by threats to the Portuguese by the English) decided to send an ultimatum to the Captain-major in Teixeira da Silva: Couceiro and his troops should leave Bié by the morning of the following day.

Kuito

They later called it Silva Porto after António da Silva Porto who built his home embala Belmonte in the area.

see also