Wednesday, March 22, 2017

March 22

On this day in 1874, Doctor and Mrs. Cecil Tunbridge, Anglican missionaries who had recently landed in what is today known as The Niassa Province of  Mozambique - the most sparsely populated region of the land, and the most in need of spiritual guidance - experienced a crisis, when they discovered that the supply of tea they'd carried with them had been waterlogged during transport and was beyond salvation. Fortunately for the devout couple, they were in a region that had been colonized and used as a slave-trading outpost by the Portuguese since the early 16th century. The Portuguese, of course, had introduced tea and other European products and traditions to the savage lands of Africa, and Dr. Tunbridge was able to source a supply of the finest quality Munnar tea leaves in less than a day. The next day, upon drinking their first morning tea on the African continent, Dr. and Mrs. Tunbridge gave thanks for the gifts of the civilized world.

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