 Three major droughts in the 18th and 19th centuries resulted in well over 100,000 people starving to death.The Portuguese government sent almost no relief during any of the droughts.Textiles were smuggled and sold into black market, since its values were high and its origins were difficult to prove, between 1766 and 1776, 95,000 "barafulas" (Cape Verdean textiles) were imported to the Guinean coast.