TRAVELS

DIRECTIONS FOR PLACING THE PLATES.

REFERENCES

TO THE

PLAN OF THE PORT OF PERNAMBUCO.

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A. The bridge of Boa Vista.
B. The bridge of Recife.
C. Fort Bom Jezus.
D. Fort Picam.
E. Fort Brum.
F. Cross of Patram.
G. Fort Buraco.
H. The village of Arrombados.
I. The church of St. Amaro.
K. Jerusalem.

a. Houses and gardens.
b. The Carmelite convent.
c. The Church of Sacramento (parish).
d. The Franciscan convent.
e. The Treasury.
f. The Palace.
g. The cotton wharf (commonly called Forte do Mato).
h. The Madre de Deos convent.
i. The church of Corpo Santo (parish).
k. The Intendencia da Marinha (dock yard) and King’s wharf.

To enter the port, coming in from sea, keep Fort Picam and Fort Brum in one, until you have the point of Olinda bearing N., then steer due N., until the cross of Patram is in one with the coco-nut trees on St. Amaro, then steer directly for the same cross of Patram, until you open the inner part of the reef above water, with Fort Picam to the southward, where you may come to anchor, or stand on to the southward into the harbour of Mosqueiro.

To enter the channel for smaller vessels coming from sea, keep the same mark, Fort Picam and Fort Brum in one, until you are within a quarter of a mile of Fort Picam, then bring the two southern watch towers on Fort Brum in one, you clearing the northern extremity of the reef above water, and hauling short round the same, keep the reef close aboard until you are in the harbour of Mosqueiro.

[xiii]

i013

TRAVELS IN BRAZIL.

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CHAPTER I.

DEPARTURE FROM LIVERPOOL.—ARRIVAL AT PERNAMBUCO.—THE TOWN AND HARBOUR OF RECIFE.—THE GOVERNOR.—THE TRADE.

IF my health had not required a change of climate, I should not perhaps so soon have accomplished the wish I had often expressed of leaving England for a short time. An immediate removal was judged expedient; and as the ports of Spain and Portugal were either closed to British subjects, or at least not in a state to be visited by an invalid, I determined upon Brazil; to which my friends agreed.—I fixed upon Pernambuco, because a gentleman, who had for many years been acquainted with my family, was about to embark for that place, and from the favourable reports of the people and climate which I had received from several persons. On the 2d November 1809, I set sail from Liverpool in the ship Lucy.

We had a very prosperous passage of thirty-five days, without any occurrence worthy of particular notice.

I was agreeably awakened very early on the morning of the 7th December, with the news that we were in sight of land, and likely to get into harbour this day. We soon discovered two vessels, with all sail set, making for us; these proved to be two English merchant-ships, bound likewise to Pernambuco; they had never before been at this port, and therefore wished to receive some information respecting it; they judged that, from the manner in[2] which our vessel made for the land, her commander must be acquainted with it, which was the case, this being the second voyage of the Lucy to Pernambuco.

The land is low, and consequently not to be seen at any considerable distance; but as we approached it, we distinguished the hill upon which stands the city of Olinda, a little to the northward; and some leagues to the southward, the Cape of St. Agostinho; a nearer view discovered to us the town of St. Antonio do Recife, almost a-head with the shipping in front of it; the dreary land between it and Olinda, which is one league distant, and coco[1] groves northward, as far as the eye can reach; southward of the town are also seen great numbers of coco trees, woods, and scattered cottages. The situation of Olinda is the highest in the neighbourhood; and though not very high, is still not despicable. Its appearance from the sea is most delightful; its white-washed churches and convents upon the tops and sides of the hill; its gardens and trees, interspersed amongst the houses, afford a promise of great extent, and hold out expectations of great beauty. The sands, which extend one league to the southward of it, are relieved by two fortresses erected upon them, and by the ships in the lower harbour. Then follows the town of Recife, with the appearance of being built in the water, so low is the sand-bank upon which it has been raised; the shipping immediately in front partly conceal it; and the bold reef of rocks on the outside of these, with the surf dashing violently against and over it, give to them the appearance of being ashore; and as no outlet is seen, they seem to be hemmed in. The small tower or fort at the northern end of the reef, however, soon claims attention, and points out the entrance. We approached the land rather to the southward of the town, and coasted, under very easy sail, at a short distance from the reef, waiting for a pilot. It was not yet noon, the sea was smooth, the sun was bright, and every thing looked pleasant. The buildings are all white-washed; the sun shone upon them, and gave to them a glittering silvery appearance.

i018

A Jangada.

[3]

Nothing this day created so much astonishment on board our ship, amongst those who had not been before upon this coast, as the Jangadas, sailing about in all directions. These are simply rafts of six logs, of a peculiar species of light timber, lashed or pinned together; a large latine sail; a paddle used as a rudder; a sliding keel let down between the two centre logs; a seat for the steersman, and a long forked pole, upon which is hung the vessel containing water, the provisions, &c. These rude floats have a most singular appearance at sea, no hull being apparent even when near them. They are usually managed by two men, and go closer to the wind than any description of vessel.

A large row-boat at last made its appearance, doubling the end of the reef near the small fort, which was declared to be that which brings off the pilots. The patram-mor, harbour-master, in his naval uniform, likewise came on board. A large launch followed the pilot, manned chiefly by negroes, almost naked; the colour of these men; the state in which they were; their noise and bustle, when certainly there was no occasion for it, and their awkwardness, were to me all new. This very first communication with the shore gave me an idea, for the moment, that the manners of the country at which I had arrived, were still more strange than they actually proved to be. These visitors were followed by others of a very different description; two boats came alongside, manned by Englishmen, and conveying several English gentlemen. The former belonged to British ships loading in the harbour, and the latter were young men who had come out to Pernambuco to settle as merchants.

The pilot placed himself near to the ship’s windlass; a Portugueze sailor was sent to take the helm, but still the vociferation was extreme; the man seemed to think that, by speaking very loud, he would make the English seamen understand his language; and what with his bawling to them and to his own people, and their noise, the[4] confusion was excessive; however, we doubled the fort in safety, and came to anchor in the upper harbour. The reef is very perpendicular near to the bar; and to one unacquainted with the port, there is every appearance of the vessel being about to drive upon it. I then accompanied my fellow-passenger; we left the ship and proceeded to the shore. Here was a new scene indeed. We had taken the letter-bag with us; the crowd of well-dressed persons upon the quay was great; they saw the bag, and soon their anxiety for news overcame their politeness; the letters were asked for, and at last we gave them up, and they were scrambled for, each man seeking his own. We had landed at the custom-house wharf upon a busy day, and the negroes too were all clamour and bustle. Their hideous noise when carrying any load, bawling out some ditty of their own language, or some distich of vulgar Portugueze rhyme; the numerous questions asked by many persons who met us, and the very circumstance of seeing a population consisting chiefly of individuals of a dark colour, added to the sound of a new language, with which, although I was acquainted, still I had not since very early youth been in a country where it was generally spoken; all combined to perplex and to confuse. I was led along by those who were accustomed to these scenes, and we proceeded to the house of one of the first merchants in the place. We were ushered up one pair of stairs into a room in which were several piles of piece-goods, a table covered with papers, and several chairs. There were four or five persons in the room besides the owner of the house. I delivered my letter of introduction to him, and was treated with the greatest civility. Our next visit was to a colonel, who is also a merchant, from whom I met with the same behaviour.

As there are no inns or furnished lodgings at Recife, or at[2]Olinda, an acquaintance of my fellow-passenger obtained some temporary rooms for us, and supplied us with what we wanted. We are therefore at last quietly settled in our new habitation, if I may be allowed to call it quiet, whilst some twenty black women are under the windows[5] bawling out, in almost all tones and keys of which the human voice is capable,—oranges, bananas, sweetmeats, and other commodities, for sale.

The town of St. Antonio do Recife, commonly called Pernambuco, though the latter is properly the name of the captaincy, consists of three compartments, connected by two bridges. A narrow, long neck of sand stretches from the foot of the hill, upon which Olinda is situated to the southward. The southern extremity of this bank expands and forms the site of that part of the town particularly called Recife, as being immediately within the reef. There is another sand-bank also of considerable extent, upon which has been built the second division, called St. Antonio, connected with that already mentioned by means of a bridge. Yet a third division of the town remains to be mentioned, called Boa Vista, which stands upon the main land to the southward of the other two, and is joined to them also by a bridge. The recife, or reef of rocks already spoken of, runs in front of these sand-banks, and receives upon it the principal force of the sea, which, at the flow of the tide, rolls over it, but is much checked by it, and strikes the quays and buildings of the town with diminished strength. The greatest part of the extent of sand between Olinda and the town which remains uncovered, is open to the sea, and the surf there is very violent. Buildings have only been raised within the protection of the reef. The tide enters between the bridges, and encircles the middle compartment. On the land side there is a considerable expanse of water, having much the appearance of a lake, which becomes narrower towards Olinda, and reaches to the very streets of that place, thus facilitating the communication between the two towns. The view from the houses that look on to these waters is very extensive and very beautiful; their opposite banks are covered with trees and white-washed cottages, varied by small open spaces and lofty coco trees.

The first division of the town is composed of brick houses of three, four, and even five stories in height; most of the streets are narrow, and some of the older houses in the minor streets are of only one[6] story in height, and many of them consist only of the ground-floor. The streets of this part, with the exception of one, are paved. In the Square are the custom-house, in one corner, a long, low, and shabby building; the sugar-inspection, which bears the appearance of a dwelling-house; a large church, not finished; a coffee-house, in which the merchants assemble to transact their commercial affairs; and dwelling-houses. There are two churches in use, one of which is built over the stone arch-way leading from the town to Olinda, at which a lieutenant’s guard is stationed. The other church belongs to the priests of the Congregaçam da Madre de Deos. Near to the gate-way above-mentioned is a small fort, close to the water-side, which commands it. To the northward is the residence of the Port-Admiral, with the government timber-yards attached to it: these are small, and the work going on in them is very trifling. The cotton-market, warehouses, and presses, are also in this part of the town.[3]

The bridge which leads to St. Antonio has an arch-way at either end, with a small chapel built upon each; and at the northern arch is stationed a serjeant’s guard of six or eight men. The bridge is formed in part of stone arches, and in part of wood: it is quite flat, and lined with small shops, which render it so narrow that two carriages cannot pass each other upon it.

St. Antonio, or the middle town, is composed chiefly of large houses and broad streets; and if these buildings had about them any beauty, there would exist here a certain degree of grandeur: but they are too lofty for their breadth, and the ground-floors are appropriated to shops, warehouses, stables, and other purposes of a like nature. The shops are without windows, and the only light they have is admitted from the door. There exists as yet very little distinction of trades; thus all descriptions of manufactured goods are sold by the same person. Some of the minor streets consist of low[7] and shabby houses. Here are the Governor’s palace, which was in other times the Jesuits’ convent; the treasury; the town-hall and prison; the barracks, which are very bad; the Franciscan, Carmelite, and Penha convents, and several churches, the interiors of which are very handsomely ornamented, but very little plan has been preserved in the architecture of the buildings themselves. It comprises several squares, and has, to a certain degree, a gay and lively appearance. This is the principal division of the town.

The bridge which connects St. Antonio with Boa Vista is constructed entirely of wood, and has upon it no shops, but is likewise narrow. The principal street of Boa Vista, which was formerly a piece of ground overflowed at high water, is broad and handsome: the rest of this third division consists chiefly of small houses, and as there is plenty of room here, it extends to some distance in a straggling manner. Neither the streets of this part of the town nor of St. Antonio are paved. A long embankment has likewise been made, which connects the sand-bank and town of St. Antonio with the main land at Affogados[4], to the south and west of Boa Vista. The river Capibaribe, so famous in Pernambucan history, discharges its waters into the channel between St. Antonio and Boa Vista, after having run for some distance in a course nearly east and west.

Some few of the windows of the houses are glazed, and have iron balconies: but the major part are without glass, and of these the balconies are enclosed by lattice-work; and no females are to be seen, excepting the negro slaves, which gives a very sombre look to the streets. The Portugueze[5], the Brazilian, and even the Mulatto women, in the middle ranks of life, do not move out of doors in the day-time; they hear mass at the churches before day-light-, and do not again stir out, excepting in sedan chairs, or in the evening on[8] foot, when occasionally a whole family will sally forth to take a walk.

The upper harbour of Recife, called the Mosqueiro, as has been already said, is formed by the reef of rocks which runs parallel with the town at a very small distance. The lower harbour, for vessels of 400 tons and upwards, called the Poço, is very dangerous, as it is open to the sea, and the beach opposite to it is very steep. The large Brazil ships, belonging to merchants of the place, lie here for months at a time, moored with four cables, two a-head and two a-stern. If precautions are not taken very speedily, the entrance to the harbour of Mosqueiro will be choaked up, owing to a breach in the reef, immediately within the small fort, which is called Picam. The port has two entrances, one of which is deeper than the other. The tide does not rise more than five and a half feet. The principal defence of the town consists in the forts Do Buraco[6] and Do Brum, both of which are built of stone, and are situated upon the sands opposite to the two entrances. Likewise there is the small fort of Bom Jezus, near to the arch-way and church of the same name; and upon the south-east point of the sand-bank of St. Antonio stands the large stone fort of Cinco Pontas, so called from its pentagonal form. They are said to be all out of order. From what I have stated, it will be seen that the ground upon which the town has been built is most peculiarly circumstanced, and that the manner in which the harbour is formed is equally rare.

The town is principally supplied with water, which is brought in canoes, either from Olinda, or from the river Capibaribe, above the influence of the tide; it comes in bulk, and although the greater part of the vessels are decked, still it is usually filthy, as too much care is not taken in their cleanliness. The wells that are sunk in the sand upon which the town stands only afford brackish water.

The three compartments of the town, together, contain about[9] 25,000 inhabitants, or more, and it is increasing rapidly; new houses are building wherever space can be found. The population consists of white persons, of mulatto and black free people, and of slaves also of several shades.

The reef of rocks, of which I have before spoken, continues along the whole coast between Pernambuco and Maranham, and in some parts it runs at a very short distance from the shore; and in this case is usually high, remaining uncovered at low water, as at Recife; but in other places it recedes from the land, and is then generally concealed. It has numberless breaks in it, through which the communication with the sea is laid open.

Recife is a thriving place, increasing daily in opulence and importance. The prosperity which it enjoys may be in some measure attributed to the character of its Governor and Captain-General, Caetano Pinto de Miranda Montenegro, who has ruled the province for the last ten years with systematic steadiness and uniform prudence. He has made no unnecessary innovations, but he has allowed useful improvements to be introduced. He has not, with hurried enthusiastic zeal, which often defeats its end, pushed forwards any novelty that struck him at the moment, but he has given his consent and countenance to any proposal backed by respectable persons. He has not interfered and intermeddled with those concerns in which governments have no business, but he has supported them when they have been once established. I here speak of commercial regulations and minor improvements in the chief town, and in the smaller settlements of the country. He is affable, and hears the complaint of a peasant or a rich merchant with the same patience; he is just, seldom exercising the power which he possesses of punishing without appeal to the civil magistrate; and when he does enforce it, the crime must be very glaring indeed. He acts upon a system, and from principle; and if it is the fate of Brazil to be in the hands of a despotic government, happy, compared to its present state, would it in general be, if all its rulers resembled him. I love[10] the place at which I so long resided, and I hope most sincerely that he may not be removed, but that he may continue to dispense to that extensive region, the blessings of a mild, forbearing administration.

In political consequence, with reference to the Portuguese government, Pernambuco holds the third[7] rank amongst the provinces of Brazil; but in a commercial point of view, with reference to Great Britain, I know not whether it should not be named first.[8] Its chief exports are cotton and sugar; the former mostly comes to England, and may be accounted at 80,000 or 90,000 bags annually, averaging 160 pounds weight each bag. The latter is chiefly shipped to Lisbon. Hides, cocoa-nuts, ipecacuanha, and a few other drugs, are also occasionally sent from thence, but are exported in trifling quantities. These articles are exchanged for manufactured goods, earthenware, porter, and other articles of necessity among civilized people, and also of luxury to no very great amount. Two or three ships sail annually for Goa in the East Indies; and the trade to the coast of Africa for slaves is considerable. Several vessels from the United States arrive at Recife annually, bringing flour, of which great quantities are now consumed; furniture for dwelling-houses, and other kinds of lumber, and carrying away sugar, molasses, and rum. During the late war between the United States and England, which interrupted this trade, Recife was at first somewhat distressed for wheat-flour, but a supply arrived from Rio Grande do Sul, the most southern province of the kingdom of Brazil.[9] The[11] quality is good[10], and I rather think that some coasting-vessels will continue to supply the market with this article, notwithstanding the renewed communication with North America.

CHAPTER II.

VISIT TO THE GOVERNOR.—THE CLIMATE.—FIRST RIDE INTO THE COUNTRY.—RESIDENCE AT A VILLAGE IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF RECIFE.—OLINDA.—HOLY THURSDAY.—GOOD FRIDAY.—EASTER SUNDAY.—PROFESSION OF A FRIAR.—ST. PETER’S DAY.—VISIT TO A BRASILIAN FAMILY.—A DANCE.—ANOTHER VISIT TO OLINDA.

THE numerous arrangements necessary on our arrival, prevented our making immediately the customary visit to the governor; but on the following morning we proceeded to the palace, situated in a small square, with the guard-house on one side, at which is stationed a captain’s guard. We were ushered up stairs, remained some time in an anti-chamber with several cadets, and were then desired to enter; we passed the secretary’s room, and were shown into a very spacious apartment, in which the governor waited to receive us. He is a large handsome man, with quite the manners of a gentleman; we all sat down, and he asked several questions respecting affairs in Europe; I had some English newspapers, which I left with him, and in about half an hour we retired.

The first few days after my arrival were spent in delivering my letters of introduction. I soon became acquainted with all the English merchants, who live in a very respectable style, and have done much good in establishing some customs which the Portugueze have had the sense to follow, preserving at the same time those of their own, which are fitted to the country and the climate.

As this was the summer season, great numbers of the inhabitants were out of town; they remove to small cottages at Olinda, and upon[13] the banks of the rivers, to enjoy a purer air, and the amusement and comfort of bathing, during the months most subject to hot, parching weather. The heat is, however, seldom very oppressive; the sea-breeze, during the whole year, commences about nine o’clock in the morning, and continues until midnight. When exposed to it, even standing in the sun, the heat is so much alleviated by its influence, as to make the person so situated forget, for a moment, that in the shade he would be cooler. At the time this subsides the land-breeze rises, and continues until early in the morning, and the half hour in the forenoon which occasionally passes between the one and the other, is the most unpleasant period of the day. In the rainy season, just before the commencement of a heavy shower, the clouds are very dark, dense, and low; the breeze is suspended for a short time; there is then a sort of expectant stillness, and the weather is very sultry.

One afternoon I rode out with several young men to a village in the neighbourhood, for the purpose of delivering a letter to one of the rich merchants. We passed through Boa Vista, and proceeded along a narrow sandy road, formed by frequent passing and repassing; and along the sides of this are many of the summer residences of the wealthy inhabitants of the town, which are small, neat, white-washed cottages of one floor, with gardens in front and at the sides, planted with orange, lemon, pomegranate, and many other kinds of fruit-trees; some few are inclosed partly by low walls, but for the most part they are protected by fences of timber. About half way we came out upon the banks of the Capibaribe; the view is exceedingly pretty; houses, trees, and gardens on each side: the river bends just above, and appears lost among the trees; the canoes going gently down with the tide, or more laboriously forcing their way up against it, formed altogether a delightful prospect. The river is here rather narrower than the Thames at Richmond. Along the sides of the road, at this spot, are several black women selling oranges, other kinds of fruits and cakes, and canoe-men with their long poles, unable to delay, bargaining with them for some of their commodities. This was the first time I had left the town, and I was truly pleased with these[14] first looks of the country of which I had become an inhabitant. We again left the river, continuing along the road, still bordered by cottages of a better or worse appearance, until we reached a small village; through this we passed, and soon afterwards arrived at the end of our ride. The situation is very picturesque, upon the northern bank of the Capibaribe, and at the foot of a steep hill clothed with wood. On our arrival at the house, we entered immediately from the road into a hall with a brick floor, of which the doors and windows are very large, so as to leave the front very nearly open. We were received by the lady of the house, and her husband soon appeared; they were exceedingly civil, and ordered sweetmeats to be brought out.

Our English flat saddles created as much surprise to the people of Pernambuco, as those of the Portugueze appeared strange to us. They are high before and behind, which obliges the rider to sit very upright, and the fashion is to be as stiff as possible, and to hold quite perpendicularly a switch of most enormous length. The horses are taught a delightful amble, upon which some of them can be made to proceed with great speed.

The river Capibaribe is navigable during the whole year as far as Apepucos, half a league beyond Monteiro, the village at which my new acquaintance was now residing. It overflows its banks in the rainy season, oftentimes with great rapidity. As the lands through which it runs in this part of the country are very low, the floods are somewhat dreaded, as they occasionally extend far and wide. The straw hovels upon its banks are often carried away, and the whole neighbourhood is laid under water: canoes have been known to ply between this village and those of Poço da Panella and Caza Forte.

A Portugueze friend, with whom I had been acquainted in England, having taken a house at the former of the two last-mentioned places, I agreed to share the expence of it with him, and we immediately removed to it, to pass the summer months. The village was quite full; not a hut remained untenanted; and, as occurs in England at watering-places, families, whose dwellings in town were spacious and handsome[15] regardless of inconvenience, came to reside here during the summer in very small cottages. The Poço da Panella contains a chapel, built by subscription, a row of houses running parallel with the river, several washerwomen’s huts in front of them, and other dwellings scattered about in all directions. Here the ceremonious manners of the town are thrown aside, and exchanged for an equal degree of freedom. Our mornings were filled up, either in riding to the Recife or to some other part of the country, or in conversation at the houses of any of the families with whom we were acquainted; and the afternoons and evenings with music, dancing, playing at forfeits, or in dining with some of the English merchants, a few of whom had also removed to this place and its neighbourhood. At many of the Portugueze houses I found the card-tables occupied at nine o’clock in the morning; when one person rose another took his place; and thus they were scarcely deserted, except during the heat of the day, when each man either returned to his own home to dine, or, as is much less frequent, was requested to remain and partake with the family.

On the last day of this year I was invited to visit Olinda, that I might witness the festival of Our Lady of the Mountain. The city is, as I have already observed, situated upon a hill, very steep in front of the sea, and declining gradually on the land side. Its first appearance, on arriving upon the coast, is so beautiful, that the disappointment experienced on entering it is great; but still Olinda has many beauties, and the view from it is magnificent. The streets are paved, but are much out of repair; many of the houses are small, low, and neglected, and the gardens very little cultivated; indeed the place has been deserted for the Recife. However, one of the regiments of the line is stationed here[11]; it is the residence of the bishop, and the site of the ecclesiastical court, the seminary, which is a public college of education, and some convents and fine churches; therefore, it is by no means desolate, though its general aspect bespeaks tranquillity, regularity,[16] and a degree of neglect. The view to the southward takes in a lake of about three miles in length, of which the surface is covered with weeds and grass, and the opposite banks lined with thick woods and some cottages; the Recife and the bay behind it, formed by the entrance of the tide, extending to Olinda, but concealed in places by low and thick mangroves are also to be seen. Olinda covers much ground, but contains only about 4000 inhabitants. At this time the whole city presented a scene of bustle and amusement. The church, particularly decorated on this occasion, stands upon the highest point; the assemblage of persons was great; the church was lighted up, and a few individuals of both sexes were kneeling promiscuously in the body of it, but the service was over.

This is the season of cheerfulness and gaiety, and we were likewise to have our festival at the Poço da Panella. These festivals are always preceded by nine evenings of hymn-singing, and music, in honour of the Virgin, or the saint whose day is to be thus celebrated. On this occasion the performance for the novena, or nine evenings, consisted of a piano-forte played by a lady, the wife of a merchant, and a guitar, and some wind-instruments, played by several young men of respectability. The vocal music was also executed by the same persons, assisted by some female mulatto slaves belonging to the lady. I was somewhat surprised to hear the airs of country-dances and marches occasionally introduced. However, on the day of the festival, the performers were professional men, and in the evening fireworks were displayed. Every house in the village was crowded this day with people from all parts. My friend and I had several persons to dinner, but before we had half finished, some of their friends appeared, and without ceremony came in and helped themselves; soon all idea of regularity vanished, and things were scrambled for. In a short time both of us left our own house, and tried to gain admittance to some other, but all were in the same confusion. We were invited to a dance in the evening, at which the Governor was present; and although he is himself desirous of making every person feel at ease, still such is the dreadful idea of rank, for I know not[17] what else to call it, in this country, that the behaviour of every one was constrained, and the conversation carried on almost in a whisper.

I lost no Festivals, and amongst others, went to that of St. Amaro, the healer of wounds, at whose chapel are sold bits of ribbon, as charms, which many individuals of the lower orders of people tie round their naked ancles or their wrists, and preserve until they wear out, and drop off.

About the commencement of Lent, the villages in the neighbourhood are almost entirely deserted by the white people, who return to town to see the processions customary at this season in Catholic countries. The rains also usually begin about the end of March. I did not leave the Poço de Panella until the very last, but in the end found the place dull, and followed the rest.

On Holy Thursday, accompanied by two of my countrymen, I sallied forth at three o’clock, to see the churches, which are, on this occasion, lighted up, and highly ornamented. The whole town was in motion; the females, too, both high and low, were this afternoon parading the streets on foot, contrary to their usual custom; many of them were dressed in silks of different colours, and covered with gold chains and other trinkets, a general muster being made of all the finery that could be collected. The blaze in some of the churches, from great numbers of wax tapers, was prodigious; the object apparently aimed at was the production of the greatest quantity of light, as in some instances mirrors were fixed behind the tapers. The middle of the body of these churches is completely open; there are no pews, no distinction of places; the principal chapel is invariably at the opposite end from the chief entrance, recedes from the church, and is narrower; this part is appropriated to the officiating priests, and is railed in from the body of the church. The females, as they enter, whether white or of colour, place themselves as near to the rails as they can, squatting down upon the floor of the large open space in the centre. The men stand along either side of the body of the church, a narrow slip being in most instances railed off lengthways; or they remain near to the[18] entrance, behind the women; but every female, of whatever rank or colour, is first accommodated.

On the following day, Good Friday, the decorations of the churches, the dress of the women, and even the manner of both sexes was changed; all was dismal. In the morning I went with the same gentlemen to the church of the Sacramento, to witness a representation of our Saviour’s descent from the Cross. We entered the church by a side door; it was much crowded, and the difficulty of getting in was considerable. An enormous curtain hung from the ceiling, excluding from the sight the whole of the principal chapel. An Italian Missionary Friar of the Penha convent, with a long beard, and dressed in a thick dark brown cloth habit, was in the pulpit, and about to commence an extempore sermon. After an exordium of some length, adapted to the day, he cried out “Behold him;” the curtain immediately dropped, and discovered an enormous Cross, with a full-sized wooden image of our Saviour, exceedingly well carved and painted, and around it a number of angels represented by several young persons, all finely decked out, and each bearing a large pair of out-stretched wings, made of gauze; a man, dressed in a bob wig, and a pea green robe, as St. John, and a female kneeling at the foot of the Cross, as the Magdalen; whose character, as I was informed, seemingly that nothing might be wanting, was not the most pure. The friar continued, with much vehemence, and much action, his narrative of the crucifixion, and after some minutes, again cried out “Behold, they take him down;” when four men, habited in imitation of Roman soldiers, stepped forwards. The countenances of these persons were in part concealed by black crape. Two of them ascended ladders placed on each side against the Cross, and one took down the board, bearing the letters I.N.R.I. Then was removed the crown of thorns, and a white cloth was put over, and pressed down upon the head; which was soon taken off, and shown to the people, stained with the circular mark of the crown in blood: this done, the nails which transfix the hands, were by degrees knocked out, and this produced a violent beating of breasts among[19] the female part of the congregation. A long white linen bandage was next passed under each arm-pit of the image; the nail which secured the feet was removed; the figure was let down very gently, and was carefully wrapped up in a white sheet. All this was done by word of command from the preacher. The sermon was then quickly brought to a conclusion, and we left the church. I was quite amazed; I had heard that something of this kind was to be done, but I had no idea of the extent to which the representation would be carried.

On Saturday morning we were saluted with the bellowing of cattle, the grunting of pigs, and the cries of the negro slaves with baskets of fowls of several kinds for sale; these were to be devoured after the ensuing midnight, and many families, weary of their long abstinence, impatiently awaited the striking of the clocks, as a signal for the commencement of hostile operations, without mercy or scruple, upon turkies, pigs, &c. and all the rest of the miserable tribes which have been laid down as the lawful victims of our carnivorous nature.

On Easter Sunday I was invited by a physician to dine with him, and to attend the christening of one of his grandchildren. At dinner the party was small; the dishes, were served up two at a time to the number of ten or twelve, of all of which I was obliged to taste. From the table we adjourned to the church about four o’clock, where several persons, likewise invited, waited for us; the ceremony was performed by a friar, and each guest held a wax taper, forming a semicircle towards the altar; from hence we returned to the old gentleman’s house to supper. I met here, among others belonging to the same convent, the friar who preached the crucifixion sermon. The members of this convent are all Italians and Missionaries, but as no reinforcement has for a length of time come out from Europe, very few now remain. A long table was laid out, loaded with victuals. Several ladies were present, notwithstanding which enormous quantities of wine were drank, until the whole company began to be riotous, but still the ladies did not move. At last no order was left among them, bottles and glasses were overturned and broken in the[20] vehement wishes expressed for the prosperity of the whole family of our host, both old and young; when in the midst of this, I escaped about nine o’clock, accompanied by a Franciscan friar. We had a journey in contemplation for the next day, and thought it high time to get away. Parties of this kind are not frequent, and in a general way these people live in a very quiet manner. The old Doctor is a native of Lisbon, and a great friend to Englishmen; he was young at the time of the great earthquake, and says he shall never forget that he was in part cloathed from the necessaries sent out by the British government for the assistance of the Portugueze after that dreadful calamity.

On the following afternoon, the friar, myself, and a servant, proceeded to Iguaraçu, a small town distant from Recife seven leagues, for the purpose of witnessing the entrance of a novice into the Order of St. Francis. We arrived about nine o’clock at night at the gates of the convent; the friar rang the bell three times, as the signal of the arrival of one of the Order; a lay brother came, and asked who it was that demanded admittance; he was answered, that it was brother Joseph from the convent of Recife accompanied by a friend; the porter shut the gates again, but soon returned, saying that the Guardian, the name given to the principal of a Franciscan convent, allowed us to enter. We were conducted up a flight of steps into a long corridore, at the end of which sat the Guardian, to whom we were introduced; he directed us to the brother who had the management of the accommodations for visitors; this man placed us under the especial care of Frei Luiz, who took us to his cell. Supper was served up, upon which the Guardian came in, helped us once round to wine and made many apologies for the badness of his cook, and also excuses for the want of ingredients at this distance from Recife. The convents of St. Francis are all built exactly upon the same plan; in the form of a quadrangle, one side of which is appropriated to the church, and the remaining three to cells and to other purposes; the former are above, and to be entered from a gallery,[21] which runs round the whole building. The beds with which the friars supplied us were hard, but very acceptable after our ride.

The ceremony to be performed on the ensuing morning collected great numbers of persons from all quarters, as it is now very rare. Formerly, of every family at least one member was a friar, but now this is not the custom; children are brought up to trade, to the army, to any thing rather than to a monastic life, which is fast losing its reputation. None of the convents are full, and some of them are nearly without inhabitants.[12]

Early in the morning the church was lighted up, and about ten o’clock the family of the person about to take the vows arrived to occupy the seats prepared for them. Mass was then said, and a sermon preached; about eleven o’clock the novice, a young man of sixteen years of age, entered the principal chapel by a side door, walking between two brothers, with a large cross in his hands, and dressed in a long dark blue robe: there was then much chanting, after which he knelt down opposite to the Guardian, received the usual admonitions, was asked several questions relating to his belief in the doctrines of the church, and then made the separate vows, of defending his religion, of celibacy, and others of minor importance. The Guardian then dressed him in the habit of the Order, made of very thick, rough, dark brown cloth, which before lay stretched upon the ground in front of the altar, covered with flowers; this being done, the young man embraced all the brothers present, took leave of his relations, and left the church. Many of the friars were laughing during the ceremony, and were particularly amused at the Guardian accidentally saying, “Brother, don’t be ashamed[13];” owing to the young man being[22] much abashed. A visitor who stood near to me in the gallery, from which there are windows into the church, said, in a low voice to be heard only by those immediately around him; “See your chief himself thus advises him to put shame aside, which unfortunately you are all too much inclined to do;” at this the friars who were within hearing all laughed. Great part of the community and many other persons dined with the father of the young friar, and I among the rest; there was much eating, much drinking, and much confusion. In the evening fireworks were displayed, which ended by a transparency, representing a novice receiving the benediction of his Guardian.

It was determined that we should return to Recife this night, and that the journey was to be commenced as soon as the moon rose. The party consisted of five friars, several laymen besides myself all on horseback; some palanquins with ladies, and a number of negroes to carry them. We sallied forth about midnight; the moon was bright, and the sky quite clear. The scene was very strange; the road made in places abrupt turns, so as to give to those who were rather in advance, on looking back, a view of the whole procession, at times appearing and at times concealed among the trees; of this the friars formed an extraordinary part, in their robes tucked up round the waist, and tied with the long yellow cord of flagellation, and with their enormous white hats. At Olinda several persons remained, and the rest arrived at Recife about seven o’clock in the morning.

On the 10th of May I had a sudden attack of fever, which was accompanied with delirium; however, with the assistance of a medical man, the disorder subsided in the course of forty-eight hours, but it left me in a very weak state, from which I was some time in recovering. These fevers are well known in the country, but are not common, and in general are preceded for some days by ague. I can only account for this attack, from having suffered the window of my room, which had a western aspect, to remain open during the night, and the land breeze which rises about twelve o’clock is not accounted wholesome. A young Englishman insisted upon my removal to his house, that I might not remain in the hands of servants;[23] he brought a palanquin for this purpose, and made me get into it. With him I remained until my health was completely re-established, and was treated by him with that sort of kindness which can only be expected from a very near relation.

I dined with a friend on St. Peter’s day, the 29th June, and in the evening I proposed walking to the church, dedicated to this saint. As usual, the blaze of light was great, the congregation numerous, and the whole affair very brilliant. After the service, we recognised a party of ladies with whom we were acquainted, and one of them requested us to look for a young priest, her son; on making enquiries, we were desired to walk up stairs into a large room over the vestry, in which were several priests, and a table covered with refreshments of many descriptions. The young man came to us, and was soon followed by others, who invited us to stay and partake, but we declined and went down to the party we had joined; some of the priests accompanied us, and persuaded the ladies to ascend, and have a share of the good things; we were also requested to return, which we did. There were great quantities of fruit, cakes, sweetmeats, and wine. We met with the most marked attention from these ministers of the Roman Catholic religion; greater politeness could not have been shown to any person; even many with whom we had not been acquainted before, offered us wine, and requested to be introduced to us. I mention the conduct of these men more particularly, as I think it showed a great degree of liberality, and a wish to conciliate, and more especially as there were likewise several laymen present of their own nation[14]. About ten o’clock we left the church, and taking one family of our party home, remained with them until a very late hour.

We were invited to pass the following Sunday with this family, which consisted of the father and mother, and a son and daughter;[24] they were all Brazilians, and though the young lady had never been from Pernambuco, her manners were easy; and her conversation lively and entertaining. Her complexion was not darker than that of the Portugueze in general, her eyes and hair black, and her features on the whole good; her figure small, but well shaped. Though I have seen others handsomer, still this lady may be accounted a very fair sample of the white Brazilian females; but it is among the women of colour that the finest persons are to be found,—more life and spirit, more activity of mind and body; they are better fitted to the climate, and the mixed race seems to be its proper inhabitant. Their features too are often good, and even the colour, which in European climates is disagreeable, appears to appertain to that in which it more naturally exists; but this bar to European ideas of beauty set aside, finer specimens of the human form cannot be found than among the mulatto females whom I have seen.

We went to them to breakfast, which was of coffee and cakes. Backgammon and cards were then introduced until dinner time, at two o’clock. This consisted of great numbers of dishes, placed upon the table without any arrangement, and brought in without any regard to the regularity of courses. We were, as may be supposed, rather surprised at being complimented with pieces of meat from the plates of various persons at the table. I have often met with this custom, particularly amongst families in the interior, and this I now speak of had only resided in Recife a short time; but many of the people of the town have other ideas on these matters. Two or three knives only were placed upon the table, which obliged each person to cut all the meat upon his own plate into small pieces, and pass the knife to his next neighbour. There was, however, a plentiful supply of silver forks, and abundance of plates. Garlic formed one ingredient in almost every dish, and we had a great deal of wine during the dinner. The moment we finished, every one rose from the table, and removed into another apartment. At eight o’clock a large party assembled to tea, and we did not take our departure until a very late hour. On our arrival at home, my friend[25] and I sat together to consider of the transactions of this day, which we had thus passed entirely with a Brazilian family, and both agreed that we had been much amused, and that we had really felt much gratification, save the business at the dining table. The conversation was trifling, but entertaining; there was much wit and sport. The ladies of the house, joined by several others in the evening, talked a great deal, and would allow of no subject into which they could not enter.

It will be observed from what I have described, and from what I still have to mention, that no rule can be laid down for the society of the place in question; families of equal rank, and of equal wealth and importance, are often of manners totally different. The fact is, that society is undergoing a rapid change; not that the people imitate European customs, though these have some effect, but as there is more wealth, more luxuries are required; as there is more education, higher and more polished amusements are sought for; as the mind becomes more enlarged, from intercourse with other nations, and from reading, many customs are seen in a different light; so that, the same persons insensibly change, and in a few years ridicule and are disgusted with many of those very habits which, if they reflect for a moment, they will recollect were practised but a short time before by themselves.

On St. Anne’s day, the 29th July, two young Englishmen and myself proceeded by invitation to the house of one of the first personages of Pernambuco; a man in place, and a planter, possessing three sugar works in different parts of the country. About ten o’clock in the morning, we embarked in a canoe, and were poled and paddled across the bay, on the land side of the town. On our arrival upon the opposite shore, the tide was out, and the mud deep; in fear and trembling for our silks, two of us clang to the backs of the canoe-men, who with some difficulty put us down safe on dry land; but the third, who was heavier, for some minutes debated whether to return home was not the better plan, however, he took courage, and was, likewise, safely conducted through this region of[26] of peril. We then walked up to the house, which covers much ground, and of which the apartments are spacious, and all upon the first floor. The garden was laid out by this gentleman’s father, in the old style of straight walks, and trees cut into shapes. A large party was already assembling, as this was the anniversary of the birth-day of our hostess; but the females were all ushered into one room, and the men into another; cards and backgammon, as usual, were the amusements, but there was little of ease and freedom of conversation. At dinner, the ladies all arranged themselves on one side, and the men opposite to them; there were victuals of many kinds in great profusion, and much wine was drank. Some of the gentlemen who were intimately acquainted with the family, did not sit down at table, but assisted in attending upon the ladies. After dinner, the whole party adjourned into a large hall, and country dancing being proposed and agreed to, fiddlers were introduced, and a little after seven o’clock, about twenty couples commenced, and continued this amusement until past two o’clock. Here was the ceremony of the last century in the morning, and in the evening the cheerfulness of an English party of the present day. I never partook of one more pleasant; the conversation, at times renewed, was always genteel, but unceremonious, and I met with several well-educated persons, whose acquaintance I enjoyed during the remainder of my stay at this place.

The rains this season had been very slight, and scarcely ever prevented our rides into the country in the neighbourhood, to the distance of six or eight miles; but we never reached beyond the summer dwellings of the inhabitants of Recife. The villages are at this time very dull, having people of colour and negroes as residents almost exclusively. However, as I was fond of the country, I was tempted by the fineness of the weather, to remove entirely to a small cottage in the vicinity, where my time passed away pleasantly, though quietly, and in a manner very barren of events. There stands a hamlet not far distant from my new residence, called Caza Forte, formerly the site of a sugar plantation, which[27] has been suffered to decay, and now the chapel alone remains to point out the exact position. The dwelling-house of these works is said to have been defended by the Dutch against the Portugueze, who set fire to it, for the purpose of obliging their enemies to surrender. A large open piece of ground is pointed out as having been the situation upon which these transactions took place. It is distant from Recife about five miles, and the river Capibaribe runs about three quarters of a mile beyond it. I met with few of the peasants who had any knowledge of the Pernambucan war against the Dutch, but I heard this spot more frequently spoken of than any other[15]. Perhaps if I had had more communication with the southern districts of Pernambuco, I should have discovered that the war was more vividly remembered there.

I had an offer of introduction to another Brazilian family, which I readily accepted, and on the 7th August, I was summoned by my friend to accompany him to Olinda. He had been invited, and liberty had been given to take a friend. We went in a canoe, and were completely wet through on the way; but we walked about the streets of Olinda until we were again dry. The family consisted of an old lady, her two daughters, and a son, who is a priest, and one of the professors or masters of the seminary. Several persons of the same class were present, of easy and gentlemanlike manners; some of them proposed dancing, and although they did not join in the amusement, still they were highly pleased to see others entertained in this manner. Our music was a piano forte, played by one of the professors, who good-humouredly continued until the dancers themselves begged him to desist. About midnight, we left these pleasant people, and returned to the beach; the tide was out, and the canoe upon dry land; we therefore determined to walk; the sand was very heavy, the distance three miles, and after our evening’s[28] amusement, this was hard work. I did not attempt this night to go beyond Recife to my cottage, but accepted of a mattress at my friend’s residence.

Three or four families are in the practice of having weekly evening card parties, as was usual in Lisbon. I attended these occasionally, but in them there was no peculiarity of customs.

The foregoing pages will, I think, suffice to point out the kind of society to be met with in Pernambuco, but this must be sought for, as the families in which it is to be found, are not numerous. Of these, very few are in trade; they are either Portugueze families, of which the chief is in office, or Brazilian planters who are wealthy, and prefer residing in Recife or Olinda; or, as is frequently the case, a son or brother belonging to the secular priesthood, has imbibed more liberal notions, and has acquired a zest for rational society. As may naturally be supposed, the females of a family are always glad to be of more importance, to be treated with respect, to see, and to be seen. The merchants, generally speaking, for there do exist some exceptions, live very much alone; they have been originally from Portugal, have made fortunes in trade, and have married in the country; but most of them still continue to live as if they were not yet sufficiently wealthy, or at least cannot persuade themselves to alter their close and retired manner of living, and, excepting in the summer months, when sitting upon the steps of their country residencies, their families are not to be seen.

The gentleman, chiefly by whose kindness I had been introduced and enabled to partake of the pleasantest society of Pernambuco, was among the first British subjects, who availed themselves of the free communication between England and Brazil, and he even already observed a considerable change of manners in the higher class of people. The decrease in the price of all articles of dress; the facility of obtaining at a low rate, earthenware, cutlery, and table linen; in fact, the very spur given to the mind by this appearance of a new people among them; the hope of a better state of things, that their country was about to become of more importance; renewed[29] in many persons, ideas which had long lain dormant; made them wish to show, that they had money to expend, and that they knew how it should be expended.[16]

It was the custom in Pernambuco, to uncover when passing a sentinel, or on meeting a guard of soldiers marching through the streets. Soon after the opening of the port to British shipping, three English gentlemen accidentally met a corporal’s guard of four or five men, and as they passed each other, one of the latter took off the hat of one of the former, accompanying the action by an opprobrious expression; the Englishmen resented the insult, attacked and absolutely routed the guard. This dreadful mark of submission to military power was universally refused by every British subject, and has been very much discontinued even by the Portugueze. Another annoyance to these visitors was the usual respect paid to the Sacrament, carried with much pomp and ceremony to persons dangerously ill. It was expected, that every one by whom it chanced to pass, should kneel, and continue in that posture until it was out of sight; here Englishmen, in some degree, conformed in proper deference to the religion of the country, but the necessity of this also is wearing off.[17]

CHAPTER III.

THE GOVERNMENT.—THE TAXES.—THE PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS.—CRIMINALS.—PRISONS.—MILITARY ESTABLISHMENTS.—THE ISLAND OF FERNANDO DE NORONHA.

THE captaincies-general, or provinces of the first rank, in Brazil, of which Pernambuco is one, are governed by captains-general or governors, who are appointed for three years. At the end of this period the same person is continued or not, at the option of the supreme government. They are, in fact, absolute in power, but before the person who has been nominated to one of these places can exercise any of its functions, he is under the necessity of presenting his credentials to the Senado da Camara, the chamber or municipality of the principal town. This is formed of persons of respectability in the place. The governor has the supreme and sole command of the military force. The civil and criminal causes are discussed before and determined by the Ouvidor and Juiz de Fora, the two chief judicial officers, whose duties are somewhat similar, but the former is the superior in rank. They are appointed for three years, and the term may be renewed[18]. It is in these departments of the government[31] that the opportunities of amassing large fortunes are most numerous; and certain it is that some individuals take advantage of them in a manner which renders justice but a name. The governor can determine in a criminal cause without appeal, but, if he pleases, he refers it to the competent judge. The Procurador da Coroa, attorney-general, is an officer of considerable weight. The Intendente da Marinha, port admiral, is likewise consulted on matters of first importance; as are also the Escrivam da Fazenda Real, chief of the treasury, and the Juiz da Alfandega, comptroller of the customs. These seven officers form the Junta, or council, which occasionally meets to arrange and decide upon the affairs of the captaincy to which they belong.

The ecclesiastical government is scarcely connected with that above mentioned, and is administered by a bishop and a dean and chapter, with his vicar-general, &c. The governor cannot even appoint a chaplain to the island of Fernando de Noronha, one of the dependencies of Pernambuco, but acquaints the bishop that a priest is wanted, who then nominates one for the place.

The number of civil and military officers is enormous; inspectors innumerable—colonels without end, devoid of any objects to inspect—without any regiments to command; judges to manage each trifling department, of which the duties might all be done by two or three persons; thus salaries are augmented; the people are oppressed, but the state is not benefited.

Taxes are laid where they fall heavy upon the lower classes, and none are levied where they could well be borne. A tenth is raised in kind upon cattle, poultry, and agriculture, and even upon salt; this in former times appertained, as in other christian countries, to the clergy[19]. All the taxes are farmed to the highest bidders, and[32] this among the rest. They are parcelled out in extensive districts, and are contracted for at a reasonable rate, but the contractors again dispose of their shares in small portions; these are again retailed to other persons, and as a profit is obtained by each transfer the people must be oppressed, that these men may satisfy those above them and enrich themselves. The system is in itself bad, but is rendered still heavier by this division of the spoil. The tenth of cattle, as I have already said, is levied in kind upon the estates in the interior of the country, and, besides this, a duty of 320 reis per arroba of 32 lbs. is paid upon the meat at the shambles, which amounts to about twenty-five per cent. Fish pays the tenth, and afterwards a fifteenth. Every transfer of immoveable property is subject to a duty of ten per cent. and moveables to five per cent. Besides these, there are many other taxes of minor importance. Rum, both for exportation and home consumption, pays a duty of 80 reis per canada[20], which is sometimes a fourth of its value, but may be reckoned as from fifteen to twenty per cent. Cotton pays the tenth, and is again taxed at the moment of exportation 600 reis per arroba of 32 lbs. or about 1¼d. per lb. Nothing can be more injudicious, than this double duty upon the chief article of exportation from that country to Europe. The duties at the custom-house are fifteen per cent. upon imports, of which the valuation is left in some measure to the merchant to whom the property belongs. Here, I think, ten per cent. more might be raised without being felt. A tax is paid at Pernambuco for lighting the streets of the Rio de Janeiro, whilst those of Recife remain in total darkness.

[33]

Now, although the expences of the provincial governments are great, and absorb a very considerable proportion of the receipts, owing to the number of officers employed in every department, still the salaries of each are, in most instances, much too small to afford a comfortable subsistence; consequently peculation, bribery, and other crimes of the same description are to be looked for, and they become so frequent as to escape all punishment or even notice; though there are some men whose character is without reproach. The governor of Pernambuco receives a salary of 4,000,000 reis, or about 1000l. per annum. Can this be supposed to be sufficient for a man in his responsible situation, even in a country in which articles of food are cheap? His honour, however, is unimpeached; not one instance did I ever hear mentioned of improper conduct in him; but the temptation and the opportunities of amassing money are very great, and few are the persons who can resist them.

The only manufactory in Recife of any importance is that of gold and silver trinkets of every description, and of gold lace, but the quantities made of either are only sufficient for the demand of the place. The women employ themselves very generally in making thread lace and in embroidery, but the manufacture of these articles is not sufficiently extensive to allow of exportation.[21]

The public institutions are not many, but, of those that exist, some are excellent. The seminary at Olinda for the education of young persons is well conducted, and many of its professors are persons of knowledge and of liberality. It is intended principally to prepare the students for the church as secular priests, and therefore all of them wear a black gown and a cap of a peculiar form, but it is not necessary that they should ultimately take orders. Free schools are also established in most of the small towns in the country, in some of[34] which the Latin language is taught, but the major part are adapted only to give instruction in reading, writing, and arithmetic. Neither in these nor in the seminary is any expence incurred by the pupils. The Lazarus Hospital is neglected, but patients are admitted; the other establishments for the sick are very miserable. Strange it is, that fine churches should be built, whilst many individuals are suffered to perish from the want of a suitable building under which to shelter them. But the best institution of which Pernambuco has to boast, in common with the mother country, is the Roda dos Engeitados. Infants of doubtful birth are received, taken care of, reared, and provided for. Every person knows what the wheel of a convent is,—a cylindrical box open on one side, which is fixed in the wall and turns upon a pivot; near to this is placed a bell, to be rung when any thing is put into the box, that the inhabitants of the convent may know when it should be turned. One of these wheels stands ready night and day to receive the child—the bell is rung and the box turns. Thus the lives of many are saved—thus numbers are spared from shame. Never let it be imagined that births of a secret nature will be more frequent, from the consideration that this institution exists, but it removes all motives for unnatural conduct in a mother, and it may sometimes produce reform of future conduct, by the facility afforded of concealing what has already passed.

The friars are not numerous, though they are far too much so. These useless beings[22] amount to about one hundred and fifty in number at Olinda, Recife, Iguaraçu, and Paraiba[23]. But there are[35] no nuns in the province, though of the establishments called Recolhimentos or Retreats, three exist. These are directed by elderly females, who have not taken any vows, and who educate young persons of their own sex, and receive individuals whose conduct has been incorrect, but whose characters are not notorious, and who are placed here by their relations to prevent further shame. The number of churches, chapels, and niches in the streets for saints, is quite preposterous; to these are attached a multitude of religious lay brotherhoods, of which the members are merchants, and other persons in trade, and even some are composed of mulatto and black free people. Some of these continually beg for a supply of wax, and other articles to be consumed in honour of their patron. Almost every day in the year, passengers are importuned in the streets, and the inhabitants in their houses, by some of these people, and among others, by the lazy Franciscan friars. A Portugueze gentleman refused to give money for any of these purposes, but after each application, threw into a bag, placed apart for the purpose, a 5 reis coin, the smallest in use, and in value the third part of a penny. At the end of a twelvemonth, he counted his 5 reis pieces, and found that they amounted to 30,000 reis, about 8l. 6s. He then applied to the vicar of his parish, requesting him to name some distressed person to whom he should give the money.

The Holy Office or Inquisition has never had an establishment in Brazil, but several priests resided in Pernambuco, employed as its[36] familiars, and sometimes persons judged amenable to this most horrid tribunal, have been sent under confinement to Lisbon. However, the ninth article of the Treaty of Friendship and Alliance, between the crowns of England and Portugal, signed at the Rio de Janeiro in 1810, has completely determined, that the power of the Inquisition shall not be recognised in Brazil. It will appear surprising to English persons, that in a place so large as Recife, there should be no printing press or bookseller. At the convent of the Madre de Deos, are sold almanacks, prints and histories of the Virgin and saints, and other productions of the same description, but of very limited size, printed at Lisbon. The post-office is conducted in a very irregular manner. The letters from England are usually delivered at the house of the merchant to whom the ship which conveyed them is consigned, or at the office of the British consul. There is no established means of forwarding letters to any part of the interior of the country, nor along the coast, so that the post-office merely receives the letter bags which are brought by the small vessels that trade with other ports along this coast, and sends the bags from Pernambuco by the same conveyances, and as there is not any regular delivery of letters, each person must inquire for his own at the office. When the commerce of Brazil was trifling, compared to its present state, a post-office managed in this manner was sufficient, but in consequence of the increased activity of the trade along the coast, and with Europe, some attention ought to be given to the subject, to facilitate communication. There is a theatre at Recife, in which are performed Portugueze farces, but the establishment is most wretchedly conducted.

The Botanic Garden at Olinda is one of those institutions which have arisen from the removal of the Court to South America; it is intended as a nursery for exotic plants, from whence they are to be distributed to those persons who are willing and capable of rearing them. Thus the bread fruit tree has been introduced, the black pepper plant, the large Otaheitan cane, and several others. I much fear, however, that the zeal shown at the commencement has somewhat[37] cooled. A botanist has been appointed with an adequate salary. He is a Frenchman, who had resided at Cayenne, and with this choice many persons were much dissatisfied, as it was thought, and with good reason, that a Portugueze subject might have been found, quite capable of taking the management of the garden.

The sight, of all others, the most offensive to an Englishman, is that of the criminals, who perform the menial offices of the palace, the barracks, the prisons, and other public buildings. They are chained in couples, and each couple is followed by a soldier, armed with a bayonet. They are allowed to stop at the shops, to obtain any trifle which they may wish to purchase, and it is disgusting to see with what unconcern the fellows bear this most disgraceful situation, laughing and talking as they go along to each other, to their acquaintance whom they may chance to meet, and to the soldier who follows them as a guard[24]. The prisons are in a very bad state, little attention being paid to the situation of their inhabitants. Executions are rare at Pernambuco; the more usual punishment inflicted, even for crimes of the first magnitude, is transportation to the coast of Africa. White persons must be removed[38] for trial to Bahia, for crimes of which the punishment is death. Even to pass sentence of death upon a man of colour, or a negro, several judicial officers must be present. There does not exist here a regular police; when an arrest is to be effected in Recife or its neighbourhood, two officers of justice are accompanied by soldiers, from one or other of the regiments of the line, for this purpose. A ronda or patrol, consisting of soldiers, parades the streets during the night, at stated periods, but it is not of much service to the town. Recife and its vicinity were formerly in a very tranquil state, owing to the exertions of one individual; he was a sergeant in the regiment of Recife, a courageous man, whose activity of mind and body had had no field upon which to act, until he was employed in the arduous task of apprehending criminals, and at last he received special orders from the governor for patroling the streets of Recife, Olinda, and the villages around them; he and his followers were much dreaded, but at his death no one stepped into his place.[25]

The military establishment is much neglected. The regular troops consist of two regiments of infantry, which ought to form together a body of 2,500 men, but they seldom collect more effective than 600; so that sufficient numbers can scarcely he mustered to do the duty of the town of Recife, of Olinda, and the forts. Their pay is less than 2¾d. per day, and a portion of the flour of the mandioc weekly, and their clothing is afforded to them very irregularly. From their miserable pay, rather more than one farthing per day is held back for a religious purpose. Recruits are made of some of the worst individuals in the province; this mode of recruiting, and their most wretched pay, account completely for the depreciated[39] character of the soldiers of the line[26]. They are formed chiefly of Brazilians, and people of colour. Besides these regiments, the militia of the town sometimes do duty without pay, and these make but a sorry shew. The militia regiments, commanded by mulatto and black officers, and formed entirely of men of these casts, are very superior in appearance; but these I shall have again an opportunity of mentioning.

There is one political arrangement of this province which, above all others, cries aloud for alteration; it is a glaring, self-evident evil, it is a disgrace upon the government which suffers its existence. I speak of the small island of Fernando de Noronha. To this spot are transported, for a number of years or for life, a great number of male criminals. No females are permitted to visit the island. The garrison, consisting of about 120 men, is relieved yearly. It is a very difficult matter to obtain a priest to serve for a twelvemonth, as chaplain in the island. When the bishop is applied to by the governor, for a person of this calling, he sends some of his ecclesiastical officers in search of one; the persons of the profession, who are liable to be sent, conceal themselves, and the matter usually concludes by a young priest being literally pressed into the service. The vessel employed between Recife and the island, visits it twice during the same period, and carries provisions, cloathing, and other articles to the miserable beings, who are compelled to remain there, and for the troops. I have conversed with persons who have resided upon it, and the accounts I have heard of the enormities committed there, are most horrible; crimes, punished capitally or severely in civilized states, or which at least are held in general abhorrence, are here practised, talked of, publicly acknowledged, without shame, and without remorse. Strange it is, that the dreadful state of this place[40] should have so long escaped the notice of the supreme Government of Brazil. But the evil ends not here; the individuals who return to Pernambuco, cannot shake off the remembrance of crimes which have become familiar to them. The powers, likewise, conceded to the commandant, whose will is absolute, have oftentimes proved too great for due performance; punishment seldom follows. The most wanton tyranny may be practised almost without fear of retribution. The climate of the island is good, and the small portion of it admitting of cultivation, I have understood, from competent authority, to be of extraordinary fertility. It does not, however, afford any shelter for shipping.

The supineness of the ancient system upon which Brazil was ruled, is still too apparent throughout; but the removal of the Sovereign to that country has roused many persons who had been long influenced by habits of indolence, and has increased the activity of others who have impatiently awaited a field for its display. The Brazilians feel of more importance, their native soil now gives law to the mother country; their spirit, long kept under severe subjection to ancient colonial rules and regulations, has now had some opportunities of showing itself,—has proved, that though of long suffering, and patient of endurance, it does exist, and that if its possessors are not treated as men instead of children, it will break forth, and rend asunder those shackles to which they have forbearingly submitted. I hope, however, most sincerely, that the supreme Government may see the necessity of reformation, and that the people will not expect too much, but consider that many hardships are preferable to a generation of bloodshed, confusion, and misery.

Freedom of communication with other nations has already been of service to the country, and the benefits which it imparts are daily augmenting. This shoot from our European continent will ultimately increase, and a plant will spring up, infinitely more important than the branch from which it proceeded; and though the season of this maturity is far distant, yet the rapidity of its advance or tardiness[41] of its growth greatly depends upon the fostering care or indifferent negligence of its rulers. Still, whatever the conduct of these may be, its extent, its fertility, and other numerous advantages must, in the course of time, give to it, that rank which it has a right to claim among the great nations of the world.

CHAPTER IV.

JOURNEY TO GOIANA.—JOURNEY FROM GOIANA TO PARAIBA, AND BACK TO GOIANA.

I HAD much desired to perform some considerable journey into the less populous and less cultivated part of the country. The chief engineer officer of Pernambuco had intended to visit all the fortresses within his extensive district, and had kindly promised to permit me to accompany him, but unfortunately his projected journey was delayed from some cause connected with his place, until the following season. As I did not know how soon I might be under the necessity of returning to England, I could not postpone my views for this length of time, and therefore made enquiries among my friends and acquaintance, and discovered that the brother of a gentleman resident at Goiana, was about to set off for that place, and would, probably, from thence proceed further into the country, with some object in view connected with trade. It was my intention to advance as far as Seara. I applied to the governor for a passport, which was immediately granted without any difficulty.

On the afternoon of the 19th October, 1810, some of my English friends accompanied me to my cottage at the Cruz das Almas, that they might be present at my departure, in the course of the ensuing night. Senhor Feliz, my companion, arrived in the evening, bringing with him his black guide, a freeman. Preparations were made for proceeding upon our journey, and about one o’clock, as the moon rose, we sallied forth. Senhor Feliz, myself, and my English servant John on horseback, armed with swords and pistols; the black guide also on horseback, without saddle or bridle, carrying a blunderbuss, and driving on before him a baggage-horse, with a little mulatto boy mounted between the panniers. My English friends cheered us as we left the Cruz, and remained in my quarters, the command of which I had given up to one of them during my absence. That part of the road which we traversed by moon-light I had already passed over a short time before, and subsequently from frequent travelling, my acquaintance with it was such, that I might have become a guide upon it.

i057

Map of the Route

[43]

We rode along a sandy path for three quarters of a league, until we began to ascend a steep hill, of which the sides and the flat summit are covered with large trees, and thick brushwood growing beneath them. The hamlet of Beberibe stands at the foot of the corresponding declivity; to this place several families resort in the summer, and a small rivulet runs through it, of which the water is most beautifully clear. Half a league beyond Beberibe we crossed another rivulet, and immediately afterwards commenced our ascent of the hill of Quebracu, which is in most parts very steep and very narrow, being inclosed on one side by a precipice, and on the other by sloping ground covered with wood. This ridge of hill is quite flat along the top, and the path continues for half a league, between lofty trees and impenetrable brushwood. We descended into the long and narrow valley of Merueira, through which a rivulet runs, of which the water never fails. The hills on each side are thickly cloathed with wood, and in the valley are scattered several cottages, banana gardens, and mandioc lands, with a large inclosed piece of ground in which cattle graze. The ascent, on the opposite side of this beautiful vale, is very steep; the path along the summit of the ridge is similar to that over which we had travelled; we soon again descended, and on our arrival at the bottom, entered the long, straggling village of Paratibe, with mandioc lands and plaintain and tobacco gardens intermixed with the houses. The inhabitants are mostly labouring free persons, white, mulatto, and black. The houses are built on each side of the road at intervals, for the distance[44] of one mile. A rivulet runs through it, which in the rainy season often overflows its banks to a considerable distance on each side. Beyond this village the road is comparatively flat, but is still diversified by unequal small elevations; several sugar-works are seen, and great numbers of small cottages; the passing of the country people with loaded horses, carrying cotton, hides, and other articles, the produce of the country, and returning with many kinds of wares, salt meat and fish from Recife, may almost be called continual.

The town of Iguaraçu, which we now entered, has been already mentioned in a former chapter; it is one of the oldest settlements upon this part of the coast, and stands at the distance of two leagues from the sea upon the banks of a creek. The woods, that border the paths or roads, are in parts so thick and close as to be impassable even to a man on foot, unless he carries in his hand a bill-hook or hatchet to assist in breaking through the numberless obstacles which oppose his progress. Of these the most formidable is the cipo; a plant consisting of long and flexible shoots which twist themselves around the trees, and as some of the sprouts, which have not yet fixed upon any branch, are moved to and fro by the wind, they catch upon a neighbouring tree, and as the operation continues for many years undisturbed, a kind of net-work is made of irregular form, but difficult to pass through. Of this plant there are several varieties; that which bears the name of cipo cururu is in the highest estimation, from its superior size and strength, and likewise from its great flexibility. Several kinds of cipo are used as cordage in making fences, and for many other purposes.

Iguaraçu is partly situated upon a hill and partly in the plain below, where a rivulet runs, and a stone bridge has been built, as the tide reaches this spot, and would render the communication difficult[27]. The place plainly denotes that it has enjoyed greater prosperity[45] than it at present has to boast of; many of the houses are of two stories, but they are neglected, and some of the small cottages are in decay and ruin. The streets are paved, but are much out of repair, and grass grows in many of them. It contains several churches, one convent, and a recolhimento or retreat for females, a town hall, and prison. Its affluence proceeded formerly from the weekly cattle fair, which was held upon a plain in the vicinity, but this has now for some years past been removed to the neighbourhood of Goiana. Iguaraçu has many white inhabitants, several shops, a good surgeon, who was educated in Lisbon, and it is the resort of the plantations, to the distance of several leagues, for the embarkation of their sugar chests, and for the purchase of some articles of necessity. The town contains about eight hundred inhabitants reckoning the scattered cottages in the outskirts. The view from the tower of the principal church is said to be extensive and grand. The only regular inn of which the country has to boast is established here, for the convenience of passengers between Recife and Goiana, and at this we intended to have stopped had not the early hour at which we reached it, tempted us to push forwards before the sun became more powerful.[28]

The road continues flat and sandy, and two leagues beyond Iguaraçu we entered the village of Pasmado, which is built in the form of a square; it consists of a church and a number of cottages, most of them of mean appearance, containing from 300 to 400 inhabitants. We proceeded through it, crossed the most considerable stream we[46] had yet seen this day, called Araripe, and entered the inclosed field attached to the engenho, or sugar-works, of Araripe de Baixo, belonging to a Portugueze. We expected to have obtained a dinner from this good man, but after considerable delay, to the great discomfort of our stomachs, we understood from our host, that his intended hospitality would not be in readiness, until the day would have been too much broken into by the additional delay; therefore we again mounted our horses about two o’clock, with a broiling sun, ascended another steep hill, passed several sugar-works and cottages, and crossed several rivulets, traversing a most delightful country. We rode through the hamlets of Bû and Fontainhas, at the former of which there is a chapel. From the latter the road is chiefly over a sandy plain, almost without wood, until the engenho of Bujiri is discovered with its field of grass and woods around. Immediately beyond it is to be forded the river of Goiana, influenced by the tide as far as this spot. The wooden bridge which formerly existed was now fast decaying and dangerous for horses; we gave ours to the guide, who led them through the water, riding upon his own, whilst we found our way across some loose beams. This operation did not delay us long; we received our steeds from the guide, with their saddles wet and themselves all dripping, and in a few minutes more entered the town of Goiana, between four and five o’clock in the afternoon. The distance from Recife to Goiana is fifteen leagues.

The road we had travelled over is the highway from the Sertam[29], by which the cattle descend from the estates upon the river Açu, and from the plains of this portion of the interior to the markets of Recife; therefore the continued passing of large droves of cattle has beat down the underwood and made a broad sandy road; the large trees still remain, if it has so happened that any grew upon the track; these, if of any size, brave the crowd of animals, and[47] will remain either until they decay from age and fall, or till regular roads begin to be constructed in Brazil. Thus, if the ground is flat, the road is not bad; but upon the sides of hills, instead of being carried round the steepest ascents, the track has been made straight up and down or nearly so, and the winter torrents form deep caverns and ravines, the sides of which sometimes fall in and make the roads very dangerous; so that, unless well acquainted with a hill, it is by no means safe to ascend or descend by night, as one or two days of the usual rain of Brazil may have made a great difference, and have rendered the road impassable. In the course of this day we saw four or five large and rudely constructed crosses erected by the road side, pointing out the situations upon which murder had been committed.

I was received most kindly by Senhor Joaquim, whom I had before had the pleasure of meeting at Recife, and he was not a man to be long in becoming acquainted with. We sat down to dinner about five o’clock, when his lady and two little girls, his daughters, made their appearance. We had dishes cooked in Portugueze, Brazilian, and English style.

The town of Goiana, one of the largest and most flourishing in the captaincy of Pernambuco, is situated upon the banks of a river of the same name, which at this spot bends so considerably, that the town is almost surrounded by it. The dwellings, with one or two exceptions, have only the ground-floor; the streets are not paved, but are broad, and of these the principal one is of sufficient breadth to admit of a large church at one extremity, and the continuation of a street of considerable width on each side of the church. The town contains a Carmelite convent, and several other places of worship. The inhabitants are in number between four and five thousand, and it is an increasing place. Several shops are established here, and the commerce with the interior is considerable. In the streets are always to be seen numbers of the matutos[30], countrymen, either[48] selling produce or purchasing manufactured goods and other articles of consumption. In the vicinity are many fine sugar plantations. I suppose that some of the best lands in the province are in this neighbourhood. The proprietors of these occasionally reside in the town, and as daily intercourse often creates rivalry among wealthy families, this necessarily increases expenditure, and the town is in consequence much benefited by the augmented consumption of luxuries. The planters have the advantage of water carriage from hence to Recife for their sugar-chests, as this river is one of the largest for many leagues to the north or to the south, and is influenced by the tide even to a short distance above the town. Goiana stands four leagues distant from the sea in a direct line, but by the river it is reckoned to be seven. Above the town in the rainy season the river overflows its banks to a great extent.

Goiana and its extensive district is subject in military affairs to the governor of Pernambuco, but its civil concerns are directed by a Juiz de Fora, a judicial officer appointed by the supreme government for the term of three years, who resides in the town, and from his decisions appeal may be made to the Ouvidor of Paraiba.

We dined on one occasion with the proprietor of the Musumbu estate; this gentleman and a few others, besides ourselves, dined in one apartment, whilst the ladies, of whom we were not permitted even to have a transient view, were in another adjoining. Two young men, sons of the proprietor, assisted their father’s slaves in waiting upon us at dinner, and did not sit down themselves until we rose from table. The owner of the place is a Portugueze—it is among this portion of the population, who have left their own country to accumulate fortunes in Brazil, that the introduction of improvement is almost impossible. Many Brazilians likewise, even of the higher class, follow the Moorish customs of subjection and seclusion, but these soon see the preference which ought to be given to more civilized manners and easily enter into more polished habits, if they have any communication with the towns.

[49]

On the 24th of October, I delivered a letter of introduction which I had obtained at Recife, to the Dr. Manuel Arruda da Camara. This interesting person then lay at Goiana very ill of dropsy, brought on by residing in aguish districts. He was an enterprising man, and had always been an enthusiast in botany. His superior abilities would have caused him to be caressed by a provident Government, when one of this description is establishing itself in an uncultivated but improving country. He shewed me some of his drawings, which I thought well executed. I never again had an opportunity of seeing him; for when I returned from Seara, I had not time to enquire and seek for him, and he died before my second voyage to Pernambuco. He was forming a Flora Pernambucana, which he did not live to complete.

Senhor Joaquim had business at Paraiba, which he intended to have sent his brother Feliz to transact; but as I offered to accompany him, he thought it would be pleasant to go with me, and show the lions of that city. We sent off his black guide and my servant with a loaded horse before us, and followed the next day with his black boy. We crossed the Campinas de Goiana Grande about sunrise, and passed the sugar plantation of that name, belonging to Senhor Giram, standing at the foot of the hill, which carries you to the Dous Rios. The road I afterwards followed to Rio Grande, is through Dous Rios, but the road to Paraiba strikes off just before you reach it, to the right. The road between Goiana and Paraiba presents nothing particularly interesting,—the hills are steep but not high, and woods, plantations, and cottages are, as usual, the objects to be seen. The distance is thirteen leagues. We entered the city of Paraiba at twelve o’clock, and rode to the house of the colonel Mattias da Gama, a man of property, and a colonel of militia. He was an acquaintance of Senhor Joaquim, and was about to leave the place for one of his sugar plantations, which he did, giving us entire possession of his house, and a servant to attend upon us.

The city of Paraiba, (for much smaller places even than this bear the rank of city in these yet thinly peopled regions) contains from two to three thousand inhabitants, including the lower town. It[50] bears strong marks of having been a place of more importance than it is now, and though some improvements were going on, they were conducted entirely through the means which Government supplied for them, or rather, the Governor wished to leave some memorial of his administration of the province. The principal street is broad, and paved with large stones, but is somewhat out of repair. The houses are mostly of one story, with the ground floors as shops, and a few of them have glass windows; an improvement which has been only lately introduced into Recife. The Jesuit’s convent is employed as the governor’s palace, and the Ouvidor’s office and residence also; the church of the convent stands in the centre, and these are the two wings. The convents of the Franciscan, Carmelite, and Benedictine Orders are very large buildings, and are almost uninhabited; the first contains four or five friars, the second two, and the third only one. Besides these, the city has to boast of six churches. The public fountains at Paraiba are the only works of the kind I met with any where on the part of the coast which I visited. One was built, I believe, by Amaro Joaquim, the former governor,—it is handsome, and has several spouts; the other, which was only then building, is much larger, and the superintendance of the workmen was the chief amusement of the governor.

We waited upon this gentleman the day after our arrival; my companion had been acquainted with him in Lisbon, when he was an ensign. His parents were respectable people in one of the northern provinces of Portugal; he was placed at some seminary for the purpose of being educated for the church, but he escaped from thence, and enlisted as a private soldier in Lisbon. One of the officers of the regiment in which he was enrolled, soon found out that he was a man of education,—having learnt his story, he was made a cadet, as being of good family. He came over in the same ship with the Princess of Brazil, a captain of infantry; married one of the maids of honour on their arrival at Rio de Janeiro, and in about eighteen months, had advanced from a captaincy to the government of Paraiba, and a commandery of the Order of Christ. We next crossed[51] to the other wing of the building, and paid a visit to the Ouvidor, a very affable and good-humoured old gentleman. His chaplain, a jolly little friar, and an old acquaintance of Senhor Joaquim, made his appearance, and was afterwards very civil to us during our stay. The prospect from the windows presents Brazil scenery of the best kind; extensive and evergreen woods, bounded by a range of hills, and watered by several branches of the river, with here and there a white washed cottage, placed upon their banks, and these, though they were situated on higher spots of land, were still half concealed by the lofty trees. The cultivated specks were so small, as to be scarcely perceptible.

The lower town consists of small houses, and is situated upon the borders of a spacious basin or lake, formed by the junction of three rivers, which from hence discharge their waters into the sea, by one considerable stream. The banks of the basin are covered with mangroves, as in all the salt water rivers of this country; and they are so close and thick, that there seems to be no outlet. I did not follow the river down to the sea, but I understand that there are in it some fine islands, with good land, quite uncultivated[31]. Paraiba was the scene of much fighting during the Dutch war, and I now regret not having proceeded down the river, to the famous Fort of Cabedello. This war was conducted upon a small scale, but the deeds which were performed by the brave defenders of their country, may rank with those which any other people have displayed in a cause of equal import to the actors.

The trade of Paraiba is inconsiderable, though the river admits of vessels of 150 tons upon the bar; and when in the basin, opposite to the lower town, a rope yarn would keep them still, as no harm could reach them. It contains a regular custom-house, which is seldom opened. Paraiba lies out of the road from the Sertam[32] to Recife,[52] that is, out of the direct way from the towns upon the coast further north. The inhabitants of the Sertam of the interior, will make for Recife rather than Paraiba, as the more extensive market for their produce. The port of Recife admits of larger vessels, and has more conveniences for the landing and shipment of goods, consequently it obtains the preference. The houses of this place, which may be reckoned handsome from a general comparison of the country, have been built by the great landholders in the neighbourhood, as a residence during the depth of the winter, or rainy season. The lands of the captaincy are, generally speaking, rich and fertile, but so great a preference is given to plantations nearer to Recife, that those of Paraiba are to be purchased at a much less price. The sugar of this province is reckoned equal to that of any part of Brazil.

I soon saw what was to be seen, and we had no society; time, however, did not appear to hang heavy, for Senhor Joaquim was a man of inexhaustible good humour and hilarity. We lived by magic, as the colonel had ordered his servant to supply every thing for us.

The late governor, Amaro Joaquim, brought the captaincy into great order, by his necessary severity. A custom prevailed, of persons walking about the town at night in large cloaks, and crape over their faces; thus concealed, to carry on their irregular practices. The governor, not being able to discover who these persons were, gave orders one night for the patrole to take into custody all who were so dressed; this was done, and some of the principal inhabitants were found the next morning in the guard-house. A man of the name of Nogueira, the son of a black or mulatto woman, and of one of the first men in the captaincy, had made himself much dreaded by his outrageous proceedings; he had carried from their parents’ houses, the daughters of some persons of respectability in the captaincy, murdering the friends and relatives who opposed his entrance. The man was at last taken; Amaro Joaquim would have had him executed, but he found this was not to be done, from the interest which the family made for him, and therefore ordered him to be flogged. Nogueira said, that being half a fidalgo, a nobleman, this mode of punishment could not be practised upon him. The governor then ordered that he should be flogged upon only one side of his body, that his fidalgo side might not suffer, desiring Nogueira to say which was his fidalgo side. He was accordingly punished in this manner, and after remaining some time in prison, was sent to Angola for life. The city of Paraiba still enjoyed the good effects of Amaro Joaquim’s strict government.

i072

Crossing a River.

[53]

I was acquainted with him at Pernambuco, before I set off on this journey; his appearance and his conversation both bespoke a man of superior abilities. When I saw him in Recife, he was on his way to Piauhi, of which captaincy he had been appointed governor. He died on board a coasting vessel, on the passage to Piauhi, of a fever.

Senhor Joaquim wished to return by the sea shore to Goiana, a distance of twenty-two leagues. We set off at the time the tide was flowing, and proceeded along the beach, until about eleven o’clock we reached the house of a Capitam-mor, quite a first rate man in this part of the world. It was a mud cottage, as bad or worse than that of any labourer in England, situated upon the burning sands, with a pool of salt water before the door, which is never quite dry, consequently, breeds insects of all kinds. We crossed two ferries in the course of the morning; the conveyances are small jangadas[33]; the saddle is placed upon it, and the horse swims by the side, whilst the rider stands upon the raft, and holds the reins. The ferryman either paddles across the stream, or poles, if it be not too deep. About three o’clock, we found that we had entered upon a considerable[54] track of sand, inclosed by perpendicular rocks, against which the water mark was at some height, however, the tide was already on the ebb; we made our guide mount the horse, which until now he had driven before him, and keep pace with us, whilst we quickened ours. The tide was still very near to the rocks, and we found that the water still reached one which projected further than the rest, therefore as we were yet hemmed in, we left our horses, and climbed up this rock. The guide, in the mean time, drove the loose horses into the water, they fortunately leaned to the right, passed out far enough to see the land on the other side of the rock, and made for it. I was getting over the rock, missed my footing, and fell up to my arms into a hole between two pieces of it; however, I succeeded in raising myself, and leaped from it on to the sand on the other side, just at the return of a wave, by which means I had an unintentional cold bath up to my waist. We might certainly have waited to have allowed the tide to retreat, but were afraid of being benighted, which after all our exertions, did happen to us. The country, on the other side of the projecting rock, is low, and sandy uncultivated land. At dusk, we arrived upon the banks of a broad stream, so that by the light which then remained, we could not see the other side; after several calls, the ferryman did not make his appearance, and the night closed in. I advised sleeping under the tree which then sheltered us; to this my companion would not consent, but asked the distance to Abia, the nearest sugar plantation; the guide answered three leagues,—we must either sleep where we were, or go to Abia. We had already advanced sixteen leagues, and Senhor Joaquim’s horse, a fine highly fed animal, began to give way. The guide led, and we followed, through a narrow path, very little frequented, as the bushes oftentimes nearly took off our hats, and were continually brushing against us the whole way. On our arrival at Abia, the house was quite deserted, as the steward was from home, and we did not like to enter a cottage which stood near to the principal house, when we found that the party in it was larger than our own, and not likely to be of the best kind. We had now another[55] half league to go to Senhor Leonardo’s, a friend of my fellow-traveller.

He gave us a good supper, and hammocks, took good care of our horses, and in the morning we set forth for Goiana, seven leagues. We passed through Alhandra, an Indian village, containing about six hundred inhabitants. This village is not so regularly built as many of the others which I have seen; instead of a square, with houses on each side, it is built in streets, and though the square is preserved, still it is not the principal feature of the place. The Indians of Alhandra, from their vicinity to Goiana, which is distant about three leagues, are not so pure as those further from a large town; they have admitted among them some mamalucos and mestizos.

Great part of this extent of coast was uninhabited, but wherever the land was low, and the surf not violent, there we found a few cottages; the banks of the rivers were also not entirely destitute of inhabitants. The two streams which we first crossed might be about eighty or one hundred yards in breadth; they are deep, but do not proceed far into the country. When the action of the tide ceases, all these lesser streams become insignificant, and most of them quite dry. The great river which we were to have crossed is the Goiana; it spreads very widely when the tide enters, but is easily passed at the ebb, and the channel becomes much contracted, and very shallow during the spring tides. It is judged to be about a league in breadth, at its mouth, and is much deeper immediately within the bar than upon it.

CHAPTER V.

JOURNEY FROM GOIANA TO RIO GRANDE.—THE CITY OF NATAL.—THE GOVERNOR.

I HAD entertained hopes of being accompanied by Senhor Joaquim, at least as far as Rio Grande, but he changed his mind, and I began to make the necessary arrangements for going alone. I purchased three more horses, and hired a guide for the Sertam, who was a white man of the country, and two Indian lads of about sixteen years of age. On the 3d November, I again set forth, accompanied by my English John, Francisco the guide, Julio, and the other boy, his companion. We only reached Dous Rios the same evening, which is two leagues distant from Goiana; we had left that place late in the day, and got on very slowly, as the two loads upon the horses were not well divided and arranged. I now found, on stopping for the night, that I had not provided as many things as were necessary; that I wanted an additional piece of baize to cover myself at night, that we ought to have brought more kitchen apparatus, and that knives and forks were to be had very rarely. I had with me a trunk with my cloaths, on one side of the pack-saddle, and a case, with some bottles of rum and wine, on the other side, and my hammock in the middle; these made one load. The other horse carried in the malas, a kind of trunk, on the one side, our provisions, and on the other, the cloaths of my people, additional ropes, and other tackle. I was far from being well supplied, but afterwards provided myself with more things as I went on, learning by experience. The hammocks are all[57] made of cotton, and are of several sizes and colours, and of various workmanship. Those in use among the lower orders, are made of cotton cloth, of the manufacture of the country; others are composed of net-work, from which all the several kinds derive the general name of Rede, a net; others, again, are knit or woven in long straight threads, knotted across at intervals: these are usually dyed of two or three colours, and are to be found in the houses of wealthy persons. This species of bed has been adopted from the Indians, and nothing more convenient and better adapted to the climate, could possibly be imagined; it can be wrapped up into a very small compass, and, with the addition of a piece of baize as a coverlid, is usually of sufficient warmth.

I could not discover that there was any stream at this place, though it bears the name of Dous Rios, or the two rivers. It is a large open piece of land, with cottages upon the skirts, and attached to each is a pen for cattle. The great weekly fair for cattle from the Sertam, for the Pernambuco market, is held here.

From Dous Rios, we advanced the following day to the sugar plantation of Espirito Santo, situated upon the banks of the river Paraiba, which becomes dry in the summer, at a short distance above this estate. I had letters to the owner of it, who is a member of the Cavalcante family, and the Capitam-mor of the captaincy of Paraiba. I was received by him in a very friendly manner. The house is in the usual style of the country, having only the ground-floor, and no ceiling, the tiles and rafters being in full view. Supper of dried meat, and the flour of the mandioc made into paste, and called piram, was placed before me; also, some hard biscuits, and red wine. I was not then sufficiently a Brazilian to eat piram, and took the biscuits with the meat in preference, which much astonished my host. Sweetmeats were afterwards brought in, which are always good in the houses of persons of his rank in life; the opulent people in Brazil taking as much pride in their doces, as an English citizen in his table or his wines. The cloth was laid at one end of a long table, and I sat down by myself, whilst the Capitam-mor placed himself[58] upon the table, near to the other end, and talked to me; and some of the chief persons of his establishment stood around, to see the strange animal called an Englishman. We adjourned from the supper-room into another spacious apartment, and each of us took a hammock, of which there were several in the room, and swung and talked until we were half asleep. One of his men supposed, that as I spoke Portugueze, either I must be an Englishman who did not speak English, or that any Portugueze, on going to England, would immediately speak the language of that country, as I did Portugueze. The Capitam-mor seldom leaves his estate to go to Recife, or even to Paraiba, and lives in the usual style of the Brazilian gentry, in a kind of feudal state. He had several young men about him, some of whom were employed by him; neither his wife, nor any of his children appeared. The principal apartments of this house are two spacious rooms, having a great number of doors and windows; in one, were several hammocks and a sofa; and in the other, the long table upon which I supped; there were a few chairs in each of them; the floors were of brick, and the shutters and doors were unpainted. The owner of this mansion wore a shirt and a pair of drawers, a long bed-gown, called a chambre, and a pair of slippers. This is the usual dress of those persons who have no work to perform. When a Brazilian takes to wearing one of these long gowns, he begins to think himself a gentleman, and entitled, consequently, to much respect.

The next day we advanced about seven leagues, and, for the first time, I slept in the open air. We intended to have taken up our lodging for the night at a neighbouring hamlet, but the huts were so small and miserable, being constructed of the leaves of palm trees, that I preferred the open air. We made for the rivulet which runs at a little distance from these habitations; the horses were immediately unloaded, and their pack-saddles taken off, that they might roll in comfort. The next thing to be done, was to get firewood,—in most parts of the country it is very plentiful, and as we were upon the skirts of a thick wood, there was here no want of it. A light[59] was struck, and two fires made; we got an additional pan from one of the neighbouring huts, and our dried meat was cooked. The meat is dried in the old Indian manner, by laying it upon a platform of twigs, raised about eighteen inches from the ground, and making a fire underneath. We discovered that not far off, a field or piece of land, rather more cleared of wood than the rest, was rented by a cottager, who would allow our horses to be put into it for a vintem, about five farthings each, for the night, which the guide thought I should consider dear, and therefore told me, it was the usual price. As may be supposed, I made no great difficulties on this score, and the horses were taken to the place by Julio, and his companion. I now thought myself settled for the night, and therefore ate my supper, sitting in my hammock, which was slung between two trees, with the plate upon one of the trunks; having finished, I took my segar, and sat down close to the fire; the guide lighted his pipe, and placed himself on the opposite side, that we might have a talk about our proceedings for the morrow. I returned to my hammock about ten o’clock, but found the air very sharp, and consequently laid down under the lee of the fire, upon a hide, of which we had two for covering the loads in case of rain.

This was to me a new scene,—when I thought of the complete change of habits which this kind of life required, and how entirely different it was from any thing in England, I may almost say in Europe,—when I looked round, and saw our several fires, for the cold air had, by this time, obliged each person to have his own; the men all asleep, our pack-saddles, trunks, and other parts of our baggage scattered about, as it was taken from the horses,—when I heard the running of the water, and the rustling of the trees; and, when I considered, that I was entering among a people with whose habits I was little acquainted, whose feelings towards my countrymen I was ignorant of,—I felt a kind of damp; but this was soon removed, by thinking of the pleasure of return, and of the accomplishment of what I was deemed incapable of performing. I was cheered by my recollection of the knowledge I had of the language, and by the determination[60] I felt within me of conforming to the customs of the people,—of submitting to their prejudices. I was not old enough to have contracted any habits, too deep to be laid aside when necessary. These thoughts were interrupted by the cry of “Jezus,” which was repeated every half minute in a dismal voice; I called to the guide, supposing it to proceed from some person in distress; he waked, and I told him what had made me call to him,—he said, it was only some person helping another “a bem morrer,” that is, that some dying person, which I found was the usual custom, had a friend to repeat the word “Jezus,” until the sufferer expired, that it might not be forgotten, and, perhaps, to keep the devil off.

I dined the following day at the village of Mamanguape, situated upon the banks of a dry river; it is a thriving place. These more modern villages have been built in one long street upon the road, the older ones in a square. It had then about three hundred inhabitants; but I have since heard, that the number is more than doubled, and that new houses are building. The river can scarcely be reckoned of any advantage to the village, but the place forms a convenient break between Goiana and Rio Grande for the travelling pedlars, a useful, industrious, and, generally, honest set of men, as their resting-place and head-quarters; from hence they make daily excursions to the plantations, at a little distance, and return here to sleep. I passed the night in the out-houses of some sugar-works; my guide was much astonished at my not asking for lodgings at the caza-grande, or owner’s house; but I preferred these kind of quarters to better ones, where I might run the risk of being obliged to remain half the night awake, for the purpose of giving news. The hospitality, however, of the planters, is very great; and no recommendation is necessary, though I had provided myself with a few letters.

The next day we proceeded to Cunhàû, the sugar-plantation of the Colonel Andre d’Albuquerque do Maranham, the chief of the Maranham branch of this numerous and distinguished family of the Albuquerques. He is a man of immense landed property. The plantation of Cunhàû extends along the road fourteen leagues,[61] and the owner has since purchased another large estate adjoining; his lands likewise in the Sertam for breeding cattle are supposed not to be less than thirty to forty leagues in extent—of those kind of leagues that sometimes take a man three or four hours to get over one.

I had letters to him from some of his relations and friends at Pernambuco; he was sitting at his door, with his chaplain and several of his stewards and other persons employed by him, to have all the benefit of the fresh air. He is a man of about thirty years of age, handsome, and rather above the middle size, with genteel manners, rather courtly, as the Brazilians of education generally are. He lives quite in feudal state; his negroes and other dependants are numerous. He commands the regiment of militia cavalry of Rio Grande, and has them in good order, considering the state of the country. He came forwards on my dismounting, and I gave him the letters, which he put by to read at leisure, and then desiring me to sit down, asked me several questions of my wishes, intentions, &c. He took me to his guests’ apartments at a little distance from his own residence, where I found a good bed; hot water was brought to me in a large brass basin, and every necessary was supplied in a magnificent style—the towels were all fringed, &c. When I had dressed myself, I expected to be called to supper, but, to my amazement, I waited until near one o’clock, when a servant came to summon me. I found in the dining-room a long table laid out and covered with meat of several kinds, and in quantity sufficient for twenty persons; to this feast the colonel, his chaplain, another person, and myself sat down; when I had tasted until I was quite tired, to my utter dismay another course came on, equally profuse of fowls, pastry, &c. &c. and when this was removed, I had yet a third to go through of at least ten different kinds of sweetmeats. The supper could not have been better cooked or handsomer, if it had been prepared at Recife, and even an English epicure might have found much to please his palate. I was not able to retire to rest until near three o’clock; my bed was most excellent, and I enjoyed[62] it still more from not expecting to find one. In the morning, the colonel would not allow me to leave his house, until I had breakfasted; tea, coffee, and cakes were brought in, all of which were very good. He then took me to see his horses, and pressed me much to leave my own, and take one of his for my journey, that mine might be in good condition on my return, and he also urged me to leave my pack-horses, and take some of his; but as mine were still all in working order, I declined accepting his offer. These circumstances are mentioned to show the frankness with which strangers are treated. I could not get away before ten o’clock, and therefore only advanced two leagues to dinner; I stopped by the side of a rivulet under some trees, upon a most beautiful spot.

At a short distance from the estate of Cunhàû, is a hamlet of the same name through which I passed in my way to the colonel’s plantation. This hamlet, or the estate itself, was the scene of a massacre, which was committed by the Pitagoares and Tapuyas from the Potengi in the year 1645. A battle was fought by Camaram, the Indian chieftain, to whose prowess the Portugueze are so much indebted, against the Dutch, in the following year, between Cunhàû and Fort Keulen which stands at the mouth of the Potengi.[34]

The captaincy of Rio Grande commences some leagues to the southward of Cunhàû, at a place called Os Marcos—a deep dell inhabited by runaway negroes and criminals; the paths of the dell are intricate, and when once a man has taken up his residence here, it is impossible to dislodge him.

This season the crop of cotton had failed; it was one of those years in which a great want of rain was felt. The colonel of Cunhàû had, for the first time, planted a piece of land, from which he expected to have gathered 10,000 arrobas, but in the end only gathered about 100; and he told me that he should keep to his sugar henceforwards. He is lenient to his slaves; they looked fat and well, and he has[63] the character of not making as much of his plantation as he might, which is one proof of his kindness to them. The estate of Cunhàû is one of the largest, if not quite the most extensive, in these parts. There are upon it about 150 negroes, and the lands belonging to it would employ four or five times the number, but the colonel pays more attention to cattle, by which his father increased his fortune very largely.

As usual, on our arrival by the side of the rivulet the horses were unloaded, and my hammock was slung for me. I laid down in my cloaths, but soon I started up, finding myself uneasy. The guide saw me, and called out, “O sir, you are covered with carapatos.” I then perceived them, and felt still more their bites. Instantly throwing off part of my cloaths, but with the remainder upon me I ran into the water, and there began to take them off. The carapato or tick, is a small, flat insect, of a dark brown colour; about the size of four pins’ heads placed together, it fastens upon the skin, and will in time eat its way into it. It is dangerous to pull it out quickly, when already fixed, for if the head remains, inflammation is not unfrequently the consequence. The point of a heated fork or penknife applied to the insect, when it is too far advanced into the skin to be taken out with the hand, will succeed in loosening it. There is another species of tick of much larger size, and of a lead colour; this is principally troublesome to horses and horned cattle, that are allowed to run loose in lands which have been only partially cleared. I have, in some instances, seen horses that have had such vast numbers upon them, as to have been weakened by the loss of blood which they have occasioned. The insects of this species of carapato[35] fasten themselves to the skin, but do not force their way into it. The hammock had fallen to the ground accidentally when taken from the trunk to[64] be slung, and had thus picked up these unpleasant visitors. I had some trouble in getting them all off, but was successful, as I had attacked the enemy in time.

We set off again about two o’clock; I had intended to have ridden until sunset, and then to have put up near to some cottage, but a young man overtook us, and we entered into conversation. He lived at Papari, a village about half a league out of the road, and he pressed me so much to accompany him to sleep at his place, that I agreed. Papari is a deep and narrow valley, a most delightful situation. The whole of the valley is cultivated, and principally this year, the lands were in great request, as the rains had failed, and the high sandy lands had proved barren. For, whilst every other part of the country appeared dry and burnt up, this spot was in full verdure—it appeared to laugh at all around it, aware of its own superiority. The inhabitants seemed by their countenances to partake of the joyful looks of the land they lived in. Papari yet enjoys another advantage; though it is at the distance of three or four leagues from the sea, a salt water lake reaches it, so that its inhabitants have the fish brought to their own doors. The tide enters the lake, which is never dry, for although the fresh springs which run into it might fail, still it would always preserve a certain portion of water from the sea. The fishermen come up upon their small river jangadas, which do not require more than twelve inches of water. Papari is about five leagues from Cunhàû. Senhor Dionisio introduced me to his lady; he is a native of Portugal, and she a Brazilian. They possessed a small piece of land in the valley, and appeared to be comfortably situated. Papari may contain about three hundred inhabitants very much scattered. In the course of this year, I afterwards heard, that many persons flocked to it from other parts, owing to the absolute want of provisions. I went down to the edge of the lake to see the fishermen arrive, the people of the valley had all assembled to receive them; it was quite a Billingsgate in miniature—save that the Portugueze language does not admit of swearing.

[65]

We dined in Brazilian style, upon a table raised about six inches from the ground, around which we sat or rather laid down upon mats; we had no forks, and the knives, of which there were two or three, were intended merely to sever the larger pieces of meat—the fingers were to do the rest. I remained at Papari during one entire day, that my horses might have some respite, that I might purchase another from Senhor Dionisio, and on poor Julio’s account, whose feet had begun to crack from the dryness of the sands.

Distant from Papari, from three to four leagues, is the Indian village of St. Joze, built in the form of a square; this place might contain about two hundred inhabitants, but it had evidently the appearance of falling to decay; the grass in the centre of the square was high, the church neglected, and the whole aspect dull. St. Joze stands upon a dry sandy soil, and the severity of the season might have contributed to its dismal look. This day we experienced the utter impossibility of trusting to the accounts we received of distances, and my guide had no very clever head for recollecting them, although he, like most of these people, possessed a kind of instinct with respect to the paths we were to follow. We were told that Natal was distant from St. Joze three or four leagues, and therefore expected to arrive at that place by dusk, but about five o’clock we entered upon the dismal sand hills, over which lies the road to the city; the whole country is uninhabited, and I may say uninhabitable, between Natal and St. Joze, consequently we had very faint hopes of meeting any one to give us information of the distance; but the guide said he supposed we could not be nearer to it than from two to three leagues, from the recollection he had of these hills, which when once passed over cannot be entirely forgotten. When it was nearly dark, and when our horses were almost giving way, we saw two boys on horseback, coming towards us: we asked them the distance, they answered “two leagues, and all deep sand,” adding, that they belonged to a party, which had come to make farinha, upon a spot of land, half a league distant from where we were, upon which mandioc was cultivated. They said, that to go on to[66] Rio Grande the same night was madness, that they were going a short way to water their horses, and that on their return, they would guide us to their party. I agreed to wait for them. When they arrived, they struck soon from the road, down the side of one of the hills,—it was now dark; we followed, entered some high and thick brushwood, and a considerable way into it, found the persons to whom the boys told us they belonged. The implements for making the farinha were placed under a shed, which was thatched with the leaves of the macaiba, and other palm trees. These persons had fixed upon this spot, as there was a spring of brackish water hard by, which was, however, only to be reached by descending a precipice; the pitcher was fastened to a cord, and drawn up, and the person who descended to fill it, ascended the precipice by means of the brushwood which grows upon the side. I did not much like the party, therefore we took up our lodgings at some little distance from them, and none of us settled regularly for the night. I now much regretted not having a dog with me. Our horses passed a wretched night, feeding upon the leaves of the shrubs around us.

The next morning we continued our journey over the sand hills to Natal, travelling at about two miles within the hour. The distance from Goiana to Natal is fifty-five leagues. The sand hills are perpetually changing their situations and forms; the high winds blow the sand in clouds, which renders it dangerous to travellers; it is white, and very fine, so that our horses sunk up to the knees at every step,—painful to a very great degree, when the sun has had full power upon it. Poor Julio had mounted upon the haunches of one of the loaded horses, and occasioned our travelling still slower. All was desolate and dreary; for the great lightness of the sand almost prevented vegetation, though some of the creeping sea-side plants had succeeded here and there in establishing a footing.

The track of country between Goiana and Espirito Santo, and indeed even to Cunhàû, keeping at no great distance from the coast, is appropriated for the most part to sugar-plantations; but many of the Senhores de Engenho, sugar-planters, also employ part of their time in raising cotton. The general feature is of an uncultivated country,[67] though a great quantity of land is yearly employed. The system of agriculture is so slovenly, or rather, as there is no necessity for husbandry of land, from the immensity of the country, and the smallness of its population, lands are employed one year, and the next the brushwood is allowed to grow up, giving thus to every piece of ground that is not absolutely in use that year, the look of one totally untouched, until a person is acquainted, in some measure, from practice, with the appearance of the several kinds of land. He will then perceive the difference between brushwood that will not grow because the land is of a barren kind, and that which is left to rise, that the land may rest for another crop. From this manner of cultivating their lands, a plantation requires three or four times more ground than would otherwise be necessary. I passed through several deep woods, and ascended some steep hills, but I saw nothing which deserved the name of mountain; I crossed some flat sandy plains, upon which the acaju, mangaba, and several species of palm or cabbage trees grow; these are merely fit to turn cattle upon in winter, and will only be brought into cultivation when lands begin to be scarce in Brazil. Varseas, or low marshy lands, adapted to the sugar cane, I also frequently saw. The cercados, or fenced pieces of ground, attached to each sugar plantation, upon which are fed the cattle kept for the work of it, are the only spots which bear the look of fields; and even in these, the brushwood is not always sufficiently cleared away, unless the proprietor is wealthy and has an abundance of persons upon his estate; otherwise, such is the fertility of the soil, that without great care, the cercado will in time become a wood. There are several hamlets upon the road, consisting of three and four cottages, and these are built of slight timber, and the leaves of the cabbage trees; others have mud walls, and are covered with these leaves; and now and then, a house built of mud, with a tiled roof, is to be seen,—this bespeaks a man above the common run of people. I crossed several rivulets, which were much reduced by the drought; but I did not see any great streams. The Paraiba was dry where I passed[68] it, as also was the river near Mamanguape. A rivulet, that runs into the lake at Papari, was the only stream which appeared still to possess its usual strength. The road from Goiana to Mamanguape is the great Sertam track, and is similar to that between Recife and Goiana, excepting that the plains of the part of the country I had just now traversed, are more extensive, and the roads over these are dangerous, as they are only marked by the short and ill-grown grass being worn away upon the path; but as the cattle extend more upon a plain, and cannot be kept so close, from the greater extent of ground over which they pass, each part receives fewer footsteps, and the grass not unfrequently resists their passing, and vegetation still continues; consequently, in an imperfect light, an experienced guide is necessary, as on these plains no huts are ever to be met with, being, for the most part, destitute of water. These, the Brazilians call taboleiros, distinguishing them by this name, from campinas; upon the latter, the soil is closer, and they afford good grass. Beyond Mamanguape, the road is sometimes a mere path, with breadth sufficient only for two loaded horses to pass, and, in some places, it has not even the necessary width for this purpose. The valley of Papari I have already mentioned, as being much superior to the rest of the country. The trees in Brazil are mostly evergreens, and the drought must be great indeed to make them lose their leaves; but the green of the leaves of a parched plant, though still a green, is very different from the bright joyful colour of one that is in full health. This produced the striking difference between that valley and the burnt lands above it,—besides, the misfortunes of other parts made its good luck more apparent.

I arrived about eleven o’clock in the morning at the city of Natal, situated upon the banks of the Rio Grande, or Potengi. A foreigner, who might chance to land first at this place, on his arrival upon the coast of Brazil, would form a very poor opinion of the state of the population of the country; for, if places like this are called cities, what must the towns and villages be; but such a judgment would not prove correct, for many villages, even of Brazil, surpass this city;[69] the rank must have been given to it, not from what it was or is, but from the expectation of what it might be at some future period. The settlement upon rising ground, rather removed from the river, is properly the city, as the parish church is there; it consists of a square, with houses on each side, having only the ground floor; the churches, of which there are three, the palace, town-hall, and prison. Three streets lead from it, which have also a few houses on each side. No part of the city is paved, although the sand is deep; on this account, indeed, a few of the inhabitants have raised a foot path of bricks before their own houses. The place may contain from six to seven hundred persons.

I rode immediately to the palace, as I had letters of introduction to the governor, from several of his friends at Pernambuco. He received me in the most cordial manner. He asked me for my passport, which I produced; it was scarcely opened, and he immediately returned it, saying, that he only did this, that all necessary form might be complied with. He said, that I should stay with him, and he would provide a house for my people. At one o’clock we dined, and one of his aide-de-camps was with us. In the afternoon, we walked down to the lower town. It is situated upon the banks of the river; the houses stand along the southern bank, and there is only the usual width of a street between them and the river. This place may contain from two to three hundred inhabitants, and here live the men of trade of Rio Grande. The bar of the Potengi is very narrow, but is sufficiently deep to admit vessels of 150 tons. The northern bank projects considerably, and for this reason, it is necessary that a ship should make for it from the southward. The entrance to the reef of rocks, which lies at some distance from the shore, also requires to be known, so that altogether the port is a difficult one. The river is very safe, when once within the bar; the water is deep, and quite still, and two vessels might swing in its breadth; but it soon becomes shallow, and in the course of a few miles is greatly diminished. I should imagine, that six or seven vessels might swing altogether in the harbour. The bars of rivers that are formed, as in[70] this case, of sand, are, however, not to be trusted to, without good pilots, as they soon change their depth, and even their situation. When the tide enters, the northern bank is overflowed about one mile from the mouth of the harbour, and spreads over a considerable extent of ground, which, even during the ebb, is always wet and muddy, but never becomes sufficiently deep to prevent passing. The governor was raising a road over this piece of land, and the work was then nearly half finished. The new road would be about one mile in length. The captaincy of Rio Grande is subject to the governor of Pernambuco, and those of Paraiba and Seara were formerly in the same situation, but have of late years been formed into independent provincial governments.

The governor, Francisco de Paula Cavalcante de Albuquerque, is a native of Pernambuco, and a younger brother of the chief of the Cavalcante branch of the Albuquerques. His father, a Brazilian also, was first an ensign in the Recife regiment of the line; he afterwards established himself upon a sugar-plantation, and made a fortune. The old man died, and left to each of his sons considerable property; two remained upon their estates, and still live upon them; this third son entered the Olinda regiment, and was much beloved by the men. The regiment had then only one company, of which he became the commander, and large sums of money taken from his own purse, were expended by him for their good equipment. He went to Lisbon on some business relating to his company, and whilst he was there a denuncia, a private accusation, was given by some enemy to the family—that the brothers were forming a conspiracy against the government. He was obliged to leave Lisbon, afraid of being put under an arrest, and fled to England, where his reception was such, that he has ever wished for opportunities of shewing kindness to persons of that nation. His brothers suffered much in person and in property, but matters were at last cleared up, as the accusation was proved to be false. Francisco was immediately promoted to a majority, and soon afterwards sent to govern Rio Grande. He is a man of talent, and of proper feelings in regard of his duties,—enthusiastic in wishing[71] to better the condition of the people over whom he was placed. I am grieved to say, that he has been removed to the insignificant government of St. Michael’s, one of the Azores or Western Islands.

When he was appointed to Rio Grande, there was scarcely a well dressed person in it, but he had succeeded in persuading one family to send for English manufactured goods to Recife—when once these were introduced they made their way—one would not be outdone by another, and, in the course of two years, they had become general. We visited the church in the evening—all the ladies were handsomely dressed in silks of various colours, and black veils thrown over the head and face. A twelvemonth previous to this period, these same persons would have gone to church in petticoats of Lisbon printed cottons, and square pieces of thick cloth over their heads, without stockings, and their shoes down at the heels.

The military establishment consists of one hundred and fourteen men—one company—which were in much better order than those of Pernambuco, or Paraiba. The captaincy of Rio Grande enjoyed perfect quietude from robberies through his exertions. The governor promoted the building of a large house, which was going on very fast, and for which he had subscribed largely; the rent of it was to be appropriated to the support of the widows of the soldiers of the captaincy. This work has, I am afraid, been laid aside since his removal. The situation of the prisoners was very miserable; he wished to better it, and requested that the principal persons of the place would take it in turn weekly to carry a bag round to all the inhabitants, that each might give some trifle to assist in their support; for some time this went on well, but after a few weeks it was neglected. He, therefore, took the bag himself, and, accompanied by one of his aides-de-camps, called at every house. He said, that this was the most comfortable week the prisoners had ever passed since their confinement, as more was given by each person than was usual, and the excellent arrangement was again taken up with ardour, by the same persons who had neglected it.

A British vessel was wrecked near Natal, and I have always[72] understood that the proprietors were perfectly satisfied that every exertion possible had been made use of to save the property.

The drought of this year had caused a scarcity of the flour of the mandioc—the bread of Brazil—and the price was so high at Recife, Goiana, &c. that those persons of Rio Grande who possessed it, began to ship it off for other places; this the governor prohibited; he ordered it to be sold in the market-place, at a price equal to the gain the owners would have had by sending it away, and if all was not bought he took it himself, again giving it out when necessary at the same price. These anecdotes of him I had partly from himself, but principally from persons of the place, to whom I was introduced. When he left the city, on his appointment to St. Michael’s, the people followed him to some distance, praying for his prosperity.

[73]

CHAPTER VI.

CONTINUATION OF THE JOURNEY. FROM NATAL TO AÇU.

THE governor did all in his power to dissuade me from proceeding further, the drought being so great as to render it not quite prudent; but as I had come so far, I was resolved, at any rate, to make the attempt. If I had been certain of being able to undertake the journey at a future period, it would have been better to have returned, and to have waited until a more favourable season; but I am rejoiced that I went at that time, as, otherwise, I should most probably have been under the necessity of foregoing my plan altogether. Some of the disagreeable circumstances which I met with, certainly proceeded from the rigour of the season.

I received from the governor a letter of introduction to Aracati. He also insisted upon my leaving my own horse, that he might be in good condition when I returned. I was to sleep at a place from which Rio Grande is supplied with farinha during the drought; but, in usual years, it is too wet to be cultivated, unless it was drained, and of this operation scarcely any notions are entertained. At Natal, I purchased another horse. I crossed the river in a canoe, and the horses and men upon jangadas; we were landed upon the new raised road, and immediately beyond it overtook some persons who were going to the Lagoa Seca, or dry lake above-mentioned, where I was to purchase maize and farinha, for crossing the tract of country through which runs the river Seara-meirim. We left the usual road, and turned down a narrow path, which leads to this lake; it was[74] overhung with trees. I struck my head against a branch of one of these, and found that I had disturbed a large family which had taken up its residence upon it; my shoulders were quickly covered with small red ants, and I did not get rid of them without feeling some of their bites. We arrived at the dry lake about six o’clock in the evening, and put up at one of the cottages. In the course of the following morning, I made known my principal errand, and that I likewise wished to purchase another horse. The people who were residing here, had removed from high lands which had on this season proved barren; they had erected small huts, some of which had not been finished, and the family, therefore, lived in public; these huts had only a roof to shelter their inhabitants, who expected that the first heavy rain would drive them back to their usual habitations, as these lands, after violent rains, are laid under water. Each man possessed his small field of mandioc and maize. I left John’s horse here in charge of one of these men, as it began to give way, and I proceeded with four loaded horses; two as before, and one of farinha, and another of maize. I had provided myself at Rio Grande with leathern bags, for carrying water, and several other necessary things which I had not been instructed to bring, but which experience had taught me the necessity of possessing.

We remained at this place during one entire day, and the next morning set off, intending to sleep at a hamlet, called Pai Paulo. We rested at mid-day near to a well, and in the afternoon proceeded. Wells are generally formed in these parts by digging a hole in the ground, to the depth of two or three feet, until the water appears; if a person in the neighbourhood of one of them, who takes water from it, should be nice about these matters, a fence is made round it, but if not, as is oftener the case, the well remains open, and the cattle come down to drink at it. These pits or wells are called caçimbas. The grass was much burnt up, but still there was plenty of it. In the afternoon we passed over some stony ground,—it was the first I had met with, and it was very painful to the horses which had come from the sandy soil of Pernambuco; but we soon entered upon a long[75] though narrow plain, bounded by brushwood, over which the road was clear, and the grass burnt up entirely on each side. We overtook a white man on foot, with twelve loaded horses, and a very small poney which carried a saddle; the loads were all alike, each horse carrying two skins or bags of some kind of provisions. I was much surprised at the circumstance of this man having the management of so many horses, because generally, the number of men is nearly equal to that of the beasts. I observed that his horses began to spread upon the plain, and seemed inclined to take to the brushwood; I called to my guide to ride to the right, whilst I did the same to the left, and go in quickly between them and the wood, to prevent the animals from separating. The man thanked me, which brought on further conversation; he asked the guide where we intended to sleep, and was answered, “at Pai Paulo.” The wells at Pai Paulo, he told us, were all dried up, and the inhabitants had deserted their houses. What was to be done: he said, that he intended to remain upon a plain two leagues distant from where we then were, that no water was to be had there, but that for our party and himself, his slave would bring a sufficient quantity, who had remained behind to fill a skin at a well which we had passed. There was no alternative; to remain here was impossible, for there was no grass. Therefore I ordered Julio and his companion to let our horses and those of our new friend remain together, and to look to them equally. The slave soon joined us with the water, gave the skin to my guide, and went on to assist Julio, whilst I advanced very slowly, that I might have some more conversation with the owner of the comboio, or convoy, which we had thus joined. He was the son of a man of property, who resided upon the banks of the Açu, and possessed several cattle estates in those parts; the old man was a colonel of militia, and he with whom I conversed, was the major of the same regiment. The drought had been so severe with them, that they feared a famine, and he had been sent down to the coast to purchase farinha for the family, which the skins contained, with the exception of one load consisting of maize for his horses. After he had purchased his farinha he heard of the[76] prohibition of the governor respecting it, and understood that a guard of soldiers was to be sent down to the lake to take it from him; he had, therefore, stolen a march, and that nothing might be suspected, he had left all his people, excepting this one slave, and had even left his cloaths. His saddle horse carried a heavy load, and he set off a day before he had intended; the animal upon which he had placed his saddle was a colt and too young to bear any further weight. Thus was this major, in true Brazilian campaigning style, in his shirt and drawers, his alpargatas or sandals, upon his feet, his musquet upon his shoulder, his sword by his side, hanging from a belt over one shoulder, and his long knife in his girdle. He was a stout, handsome man, about forty years of age, and where his skin was not exposed, it was as white as that of a European, but his face, neck, and legs were of a dark brown colour. This man, who at other times enjoyed all the comforts that his country affords, who was respected for his rank and wealth, was obliged to make this journey absolutely to save the lives of his family. True it is, that he is not to be considered as we should persons of his situation in Europe; like most of these people, he had been from his infancy daily accustomed to what men in a more civilised state would account very great hardships.

The alpargatas are pieces of leather, of a size rather larger than the soles of the feet of the person for whom they are intended. Two loops are fastened in front of each, through which two of the toes are placed; there is a ring of leather round each ankle, through which are drawn and tied two thongs, which proceed from each side of the hinder part. These are the shoes of the Brazilians, who live removed from great and improving towns. Julio was now provided with a pair of them, else I hardly know how he could have proceeded.

We halted at the place appointed, upon an immense plain; the grass was all gone, and even the hardy trees, the acaju and mangaba, seemed to feel the want of water, for their leaves had begun to fall. The two parties took up their stations under separate clumps of trees; but upon these plains, the trees scarcely ever grow sufficiently[77] near to each other, to enable the traveller to hang his hammock between two of them. The poor horses were taken to a dell at some distance, to try to pick up what they could find, that had escaped the drought and the traveller. Our allowance of water was not large, and therefore we were afraid of eating much salt meat; we did not pass the night comfortably, for the wind rose, and scattered our fires, nor did we sleep much, and at four o’clock the horses were fetched to give to each of them a feed of maize. One of them refused to eat his portion.

The following morning we advanced to Pai Paulo, three leagues further, still crossing the same plain, at the extremity of which we first approached the Seara-meirim, and on the opposite side from that on which we were, stands the village of Pai Paulo, upon rising ground. This was, without exception, the most desolate place I ever beheld; the roofs of some of the cottages were falling in, the walls of others had fallen, but the roofs remained. The course of the river was only marked by the depth of its bed, for the soil around was a loose sand, destitute of any covering, and nothing differing from that in the channel of the river. The trees had mostly lost their leaves. I had now entered upon the Sertam, and surely it deserves the name. We passed Pai Paulo, and about noon reached an open well of brackish water, dug in the bed of the river; our Pernambuco horses at first refused to drink, but the dirt was cleared away, as much as possible, for them, and the water left to settle; however, even then, they did little more than taste it. Here we were to rest, and to give our horses some maize, for there was no grass. The same horse again refused his feed; the guide said that he supposed he was not accustomed to it, and therefore must be taught to like it, otherwise he could not possibly get over this barren track of country. The first operation was to soak the maize in water, until it softened,—then the guide forced some of it down the animal’s throat, closing forcibly its mouth. Whether this had the effect, or hunger, I know not; but at night he performed his part pretty well, taking rather more time than the others to finish his feed. I drank a small portion of the water,[78] mixing it with lemon juice and sugar, which I had with me. We carried some of this water on with us, for at night we should find none. The country presented the same appearance; we crossed the Seara-meirim several times, which in some parts had large rocks in the centre of the bed. At night I was not much inclined to eat, but I made up by smoking. We found a sheltered place behind part of the bank of the river, and slung our hammocks upon sloping ground, as the wind rises about eleven or twelve o’clock in these parts, and renders shelter very requisite; it sometimes blows hard: it is a dry wind, but healthy.

The following day, we proceeded again in the same manner. I had by this time fully entered into the custom of smoking early, and as we could never get any thing cooked until twelve o’clock, I found that this prevented any unpleasant sense of hunger. My people could not have any thing to eat early, as it would have caused delay, therefore it would not have been proper for me to show a bad example. I had become very intimate with my friend the major—he learnt from me that we had horses, and cows, and dogs in England, and he liked me the better for this; at first, he wondered how it happened that I could ride; he thought I must be an apt scholar to have learnt since I had gone over to Brazil. He was also much surprized to hear that we had churches in England, which he had never understood before. He said he should not believe henceforwards that the English were Pagoens, heathens. I told him that one chief point upon which our religion differed from his, was in ours not enjoining us to confess; he thought confession a great annoyance, but he could not doubt its propriety.

We reached another dirty pool or well of water in the river, which we had again crossed several times. Our resting-place at mid-day afforded no shelter, excepting what could be obtained from one small shrub, which was in full leaf. The leaves or branches of it reached to the ground. I lay down upon the sand, and pushed my head in among them, covering the rest of my body with a hide; this was a hot birth, but better than to be completely exposed to the sun. I[79] was astonished at the appearance of this shrub. There are two kinds of trees in certain parts of the Sertam, which are called Pereiro and Yco; both seem to flourish most when the seasons are the driest, and both are particularly dangerous to horses; that is, as they do no mischief to the wild cattle or wild horses, they may be supposed not to possess any pernicious qualities if the animals which eat their leaves are not overheated and fatigued; the latter of these plants kills the travellers’ beasts, and the former has the effect of appearing to produce intoxication, and sometimes also proves fatal. The major said, that this part of the country abounded in these trees, and consequently our horses were tied to those around us, and to each was given a feed of maize. The plant, of which I have spoken above, was very beautiful, the green of its leaves was bright and healthy, and I afterwards saw many more of them upon this travesia or crossing. I particularly observed them on this track of country, as other plants had lost all appearance of life.

We were less unpleasantly situated at night, as the water though brackish was comparatively clear.

The following day we had still the same country and river to cross. The consciousness of having advanced upon our journey alone caused the knowledge of a change of situation, so exactly similar was the face of the country. At mid-day we had again no shelter from the sun. The water was little different from that of the preceding day. I laid down under the shady side of a rock, which afforded sufficient shelter until the sun began to decline, and throw its rays into the quarter under which I had taken up my station. We had often seen cattle about the pools or wells—on this occasion, one miserable cow came down to drink; the major happened to be near the pool at the time. He looked at the mark she bore, and knew it to be that of the cattle upon his own estates. “How can this animal,” he exclaimed, “have strayed so far from its own home?” The want of water had made it stray at least one hundred leagues. This day we overtook a party of Sertanejos, as the inhabitants of the Sertam are called, likewise going our way. They were at the[80] mid-day resting-place, and one of their horses was, at the time of our coming up, tottering from having eaten of the Yco; they were trying to give it maize, in the hope of recovering it, as this is said to have the effect, if it is taken soon after; but at the time we left them, the animal, when he fell, was with difficulty raised, and the major said that he thought him too far gone. I never heard whether these persons returned, or still advanced after this misfortune. I observed in the afternoon several heaps of rocks in the bed of the river, which must form beautiful falls of water when the stream is rapid.

Towards evening my guide began to try me. I found that there had been some conversation between him and the two Indians respecting the journey, and now he sounded me about returning. I told him I had perfectly determined to go on, and that I would most certainly shoot the man who attempted to go back, and that even if he then escaped me, I would follow him until I overtook him. He had not said that he would return, but had hinted at the danger of the undertaking at this season, and that the two lads were afraid of proceeding, but I knew him to be the mover. At night he could not have found his way back, as the only mark of a road that was to be perceived, proceeded from the sand being more worn away, and the banks of the river being broken down at the proper crossings. In fact, the marks were such, that even in the day-time, a man accustomed to this description of road could alone find it out—therefore I was certain that desertion could only take place in the day-time, which was almost impossible, as I always rode in the rear of the whole party. The guide had no fire-arms of his own; besides he never would have made any attempt to murder me, as he knew how little I slept, and that my pistols were always with me in my hammock, besides any thing of this sort could only have been done in concert with Julio, who, in the sequel, proved worthy of the greatest confidence. I found more necessity to be on my guard in returning, when John was no longer with me; however, although this man had sufficient courage he had no watchfulness. The summary manner in which I threatened to treat the guide, can only be justified by the[81] necessity of the case, for had he returned, the two Indians would most probably likewise have deserted me. If a man suffers himself to be trifled with, he cannot possibly succeed under circumstances such as these; however, I made the threat under the conviction of that being sufficient.

We carried water from the resting-place at mid-day, and, as usual, fixed our quarters at night upon the banks of the river.

The next day we advanced again exactly in the same manner, but at noon, to our dismay, there was no water; the pool had dried up, but we rested the horses for a short time, notwithstanding this dreadful disappointment. My thirst was great, for I had not drank the night before. We had still some lemons left, which were distributed, and these afforded much relief. In the afternoon the major told me to follow his example, and put a pebble into my mouth, which was the usual resource of the Sertanejos on these occasions. I did so, and certainly found that it produced considerable moisture. This was a dismal day, and we knew not whether we should be able to reach a well before some of our horses failed. One of those belonging to the major, already ran loose among the others, as he was weak, and his load had been changed to the horse which had carried the maize, the remainder of this being distributed in small portions, that it might be carried by the rest. My horses bore it very well, as those which had been loaded with provisions were, of course, in part relieved, and the largest load, that of my trunk and case of bottles, was carried by each of them in turn, that the hard work might be equally divided. This day we passed some deserted cottages. Our night was very miserable, for some of the horses refused to finish their feeds of maize; the danger of their failing prevented our thinking so much of our own inconvenience—my spirits were kept up by the necessity I felt of keeping up those of others. John was not quite well, and this made me uneasy, as it was as much as we could do to carry ourselves; indeed, had any of the party fallen sick, I know not how we should have proceeded.

The next morning, about nine o’clock, we reached a well to our[82] great joy, but, fortunately for us, the water was so bad, that we could not drink much; it was as usual dirty and brackish, but of the first draught I shall never forget the delight;—when I tried a second, I could not take it, the taste was so very nauseous. On looking round, we saw some goats, Julio went towards them, and then discovered some fowls, proceeded a little farther and found an inhabited cottage. He came and gave us the joyful intelligence; we determined to remain here to rest, if the people could give us any hopes of food for our horses. I found an elderly woman and her two daughters in the hut; the father was not at home. The old woman seemed quite astonished to hear that we had crossed the Seara-Meirim; she said, she did not know how soon she and her family might be obliged to leave their cottage, as many others had done. She directed the major and my people to a dell at some distance, where dry grass and leaves might perhaps still be picked up; she said, that it was the last place which could have any, for travellers did not in general know of it, and she and her husband made a point of not discovering it. But I paved the way, by making her a present of some farinha, throwing maize to the fowls, and by pouring in an immense number of minhas Senhoras. I had purchased a kid and a fowl, and laid down the money immediately. Persons circumstanced as these were, are sometimes robbed in a most unpardonable manner by travellers, who take advantage of their houses, eat their poultry, and leave them without paying; but considering the entire non-existence of law in these regions, I am only surprized that greater enormities are not committed; however, every man feels it to be his own case, if he has a house and family; he is aware that on going from home, those he may leave are in the same helpless state. These persons and their property were at the mercy of any travellers; if they had been murdered, and the cottage from being deserted began to fall, it would have been supposed that its inhabitants, like many others, had decamped, and no enquiry would be made about the direction they had taken, such is the rambling disposition of the people in general, and the state of this part of the country, at the period of which I[83] speak. They have nothing to make them remain upon one spot, neither comfort nor security.

In the afternoon we advanced as usual, and passed some deserted cottages, but towards the close of the day arrived at some that were inhabited, and at dusk put up near to two or three that stood together, after having crossed the Seara-Meirim for the last and forty-second time. This river takes its sources from the mountains to the northward, in the same direction as those of the river Açu, of which I shall have occasion to speak. The Seara-Meirim falls into the Potengi, and perhaps some branches of it bend their course as far as the Paraiba. The face of the country presents one continued flat, from Pai Paulo to the place at which we left the river; the soil is a loose sand, which is sometimes, though rarely, intermixed with black earth. The trees are thinly scattered, and, at the time that I travelled, were without leaves. The river winds like the coils of a serpent, to have followed them would have been endless; it sometimes fills after heavy rain, in the course of a very short time, the water coming down in a torrent, delayed only by the inequality of the depth of the channel, and the walls with which the rocks in some parts oppose its progress. The sand in the bed of the river is little different from that of which the banks are composed, being however on the whole thicker, and approaching nearer to gravel. The water which oozes from it, on digging into the sand, is in all parts brackish, and in some places is too salt for any use to be made of it. This is not, however, peculiar to the Seara-Meirim, for I found that all the beds of the rivers which become dry in the summer contained more or less salt; at best, the water taken from them was never quite sweet.

The place at which we had arrived is reckoned to be distant forty leagues from Natal; the league of the Sertam is never less than four miles, and is often much more; there are legoas grandes, legoas pequenas, and legoas de nada, or nothing leagues, which I have found quite long enough, notwithstanding their encouraging name. Pai Paulo may be about eight or ten leagues from Natal, which makes the travesia or barren-crossing, thirty or thirty-two leagues. We advanced[84] at about three miles within the hour or rather more, and travelled from half-past five to ten in the morning, and in the afternoon from two, or half-past two, to six o’clock.

We had now reached again the habitations of man; there was still the same burnt-up appearance, but the wells were taken care of, the water was better, and grass, although it was dry, was still to be had. I intended to accompany the Major, part of the way to his home, or the whole, but it was necessary that I should be guided by circumstances,—by the accounts we heard of the state of the country;—we advanced in our usual manner, resting more at mid-day, traversing a dead flat, and passing two or three Fazendas, or cattle estates, each day, of which the live stock was looking very miserable, and the people half starved.

After being with the Major four days, since we had left the Seara-Meirim, I saw that it would not be prudent to proceed farther; the accounts from the interior were bad, and we arrived at one estate, of which the cattle were all dying, and the people intending, if there was no rain very soon, to leave their houses. I now judged myself to be distant from the coast not less than two hundred miles. We had advanced northward and westward, and were therefore not far to the southward of Açu, but were to the westward of it. I now resolved to make for it, for my horses might fail, and all the country was in so bad a state, that we might not have found others in a proper condition to go on with us; in fact, as I was not acting from orders, but merely for my own amusement, and as the guide was afraid of proceeding, I did not think I was authorized in persevering; if I had had orders for the purpose, the case would have been altered, and I must have run all hazards. Here, also, desertion was easier in the night, as the country was comparatively inhabited towards Açu—the difficulty was in advancing, and not in retreating.

Each cattle estate has a tolerably decent house, in which the owner or herdsman resides, and usually a few smaller habitations are scattered about upon the plain around it. The pens stand near to the[85] principal house, and enable the travellers to distinguish immediately, although at some distance, the site of a Fazenda.

I heard of a strange custom existing in these parts of the country that are so thinly inhabited, which arises from this state of things. Certain priests obtain a licence from the bishop (of Pernambuco,) and travel through these regions with a small altar constructed for the purpose; of a size to be placed upon one side of a pack-saddle, and they have with them all their apparatus for saying mass. Thus with a horse conveying the necessary paraphernalia, and a boy to drive it, who likewise assists in saying mass, and another horse on which the priest himself rides, and carries his own small portmanteau, these men make in the course of the year between 150 and 200l.—a large income in Brazil, but hardly earned, if the inconveniences and privations which they must undergo to obtain it are taken into consideration. They stop and erect the altar wherever a sufficient number of persons who are willing to pay for the mass is collected. This will sometimes be said for three or four shillings, but at other times, if a rich man takes a fancy to a priest, or has a fit of extreme devotion upon him, he will give eight or ten mil reis, two or three pounds, and it does happen, that one hundred mil reis are received for saying a mass, but this is very rare;—at times an ox or an horse, or two or three, are given. These men have their use in the world; if this custom did not exist, all form of worship would be completely out of the reach of the inhabitants of many districts, or at any rate they would not be able to attend more than once or twice in the course of the year, for it must be remembered that there is no church within twenty or thirty leagues of some parts; besides, where there is no law, nor real, rational religion, any thing is better than nothing. They christen and marry, and thus preserve these necessary forms of religion, and prevent a total forgetfulness of the established rules of civilised society; a sufficient link is kept up to make any of these people, if they removed into more populous districts, conform to received ideas.

[86]

I left the Major[36] to pursue his journey homewards, whilst I retreated, or rather advanced, in a contrary direction, but a retreat it was from this inhospitable region. We found no change during that day, and if we had not met with a good natured herdsman, should have fared very badly for want of water, unless we had seen some other person equally well disposed. I asked him the way to the nearest estate, which he told me, and then I made enquiries about water, to which he answered, that unless I was acquainted with the place, I should not find the well, and this part of our conversation ended by his turning back to show it to me, regardless of thus increasing his journey four or five miles. I asked him when we arrived at the well to stay and dine with me, for although I had no great dainties to offer, still he carried only what provision his boroacas contained. These are small leathern bags, one of which hangs on each side of the saddle. He would not, however, dismount, and immediately turned his horse and went his way. My guide had remained behind, as his horse was rather lame, and now he joined us. We passed over some stony ground, and the well itself was situated among rocks, between two of which the horses passed and descended to it.

i108

A Sertanejo.

[87]

I may give some description of my friend, who turned back to shew me the well, and this may be taken as the usual appearance of a travelling Sertanejo. He rode a small horse with a long tail and mane; his saddle was rather raised before and behind; his stirrups were of rusty iron, and his bit was of the same; the reins were two very narrow thongs. His dress consisted of long pantaloons or leggings, of tanned but undressed leather, of a rusty brown colour, which were tied tight round his waist, and under these are worn a pair of cotton drawers or trowsers, as the seat is left unprotected by the leather. He had a tanned goat skin over his breast, which was tied behind by four strings, and a jacket also made of leather, which is generally thrown over one shoulder; his hat was of the same, with a very shallow crown, and small brim; he had slip-shod slippers of the same colour, and iron spurs upon his naked heels,—the straps which go under the feet prevent the risk of losing the slippers. A long whip of twisted thongs hung from his right wrist; he had a sword by his side, hanging from a belt over one shoulder; his knife was in his girdle, and his short dirty pipe in his mouth. Fastened to his saddle behind, was a piece of red baize, rolled up in the form of a great coat, and this usually contains a hammock and a change of linen,—a shirt, and drawers, and perhaps a pair of nankeen pantaloons; his boroacas hung also on each side of the back of his saddle, and these generally contain farinha and dried meat on one side, and on the other, a flint and steel, (dried leaves serve as tinder) tobacco, and a spare pipe. To this equipment is sometimes added, a large pistol, thrust partly under the left thigh, and thus secured. The usual pace of the Sertanejo’s horse is a walk, approaching to a short trot; so that the horses of these people often have acquired the habit of dragging their hind legs, and throwing up the dust. The usual colour of the Sertanejos is a dark brown; for even those who are born white, soon become as completely tanned as the dress which they wear, from exposure to the sun. The annexed print will give some idea of the Sertanejo, as he is daily seen in Recife. The colour of the leather, as it is represented in the print, is brighter than that of the dresses which are usually to be met with, which is owing to the drawing having been made from a dress that had not been much used.

[88]

At one of the estates I heard an anecdote, which is illustrative of the neglect or the impossibility, on all occasions, of conforming to religious duties. A priest, on passing, was requested by the wife of the owner of the place to stay, for the purpose of baptizing her son; he consented to this, but after waiting some time, said, that he wished to proceed upon his journey, and therefore desired that the child might be brought to him; the woman answered, “Pray, wait a short time longer, as the boy has taken the horses to water, and will soon return.” The priest was surprised, but was still more astonished, when he was required to christen a fellow of thirteen or fourteen years of age.

The next day we still proceeded over the same sort of ground, in parts stony, and where stony, it was rather hilly; but not sufficiently so to form a decided ridge of hills. John was, at night, taken suddenly ill; he had drank too much water, and would not mix any spirit with it, neither would he smoke. I considered smoking as almost absolutely necessary for the preservation of health on these occasions; it is generally practised among the people of the country, and indeed many of the women are as fond of it as their husbands. Towards the morning, the man recovered.

The following day we reached, at ten o’clock, the estate of St. Luzia; it is situated upon a wide plain, similar to those upon which we had been travelling for many days. This is a campina, and not a taboleiro. There were no trees upon it, excepting a few near to the well. The sight of this place raised our spirits, for there was no want of water, nor of grass, though it was completely dry. The lots, lotes, of mares came down to drink, all in fine condition, followed and protected by the master horse of each lot; the cattle, the sheep, and every other living thing, seemed to enjoy and to be conscious of the abundance of which they were reaping the advantage. We unloaded near to the well under the trees. The house of the chief herdsman stood before us, distant about one hundred yards, upon rather higher ground; it was a low white washed cottage, with the stables, pens, &c. on each side. About twelve o’clock, I saw some[89] men employed in milking the goats; I sent Julio with a half-gourd for some milk, desiring him to offer payment; the guide cautioned me not, but still I ordered Julio to present the money. The milk came, but the money was not taken, and soon afterwards, three of the men, came down towards us; I thanked them for the milk; and they addressed me saying, that they wished to know if I had intended to insult them, by offering payment, as such things were not customary in their country:—the guide had told me I should affront them, and therefore I had brought this upon myself; but I put them into good humour by answering that they would pardon my mistake, when I told them, that I belonged to a country, in which we were obliged to purchase the sand with which we scoured our houses. They then said, that the boy, on going for the milk, had mentioned that there was an Englishman in company, whom they wished much to see, as it was a bicho, an animal, they had never seen. I said that he was gone with the horses, and would soon return. I meant John,—however the guide soon told them that I was an Englishman. Their countenances shewed much disappointment, when they were persuaded that this was true; they had expected to see some strange beast. John soon came, and he certainly was a curiosity, for he did not speak Portugueze; and when any thing went wrong, he swore away in English, at which they were all astonishment: they said, “He speaks the negro language[37].” They sat upon the ground near to my hammock, and asked me of the news from Pernambuco, for they cared about nothing more distant. I was acquainted at Recife with the owner of the place, which I made them confident was the case, by describing his house and garden, and they asked me after him, &c. The conversation concluded by an offer of horses to proceed, and, on their return to the house, a present of dried meat was sent. Thus I was in the end a gainer, by offering to pay for the milk; but I was more careful ever after.

From St. Luzia, we proceeded across the plain, expecting to reach a[90] lake, of which the guide had some recollection; but when the night had already closed in, we were still upon the same endless plain, over which the track was only marked by the sand upon it being more worn away, consequently, it might easily be lost at night. The lake at which we had entertained hopes of arriving, never becomes entirely dry in the summer; but there was only one place at which it could be crossed, therefore it would be dangerous to reach its borders in the dark. The plain presented no tempting lodging; there were several rocks upon it of different sizes, but no trees, and the wind blew hard. The guide dismounted, to feel if there was any of the long dry grass where we were; on not finding any, he walked to the left of the road, but was not successful; he then tried to the right, and found some. We only discovered his situation by the sound of his voice; he called, and we answered, several times, until at last we joined him; he had also discovered a large rock, under the lee of which we unloaded, and then lighted our fire, and fettered the horses to feed. We soon found, that to cook any victuals was impossible, for the wind scattered our fire, which was only formed of the branches of the small shrubs and briars that grow upon these plains. Water we had by accident, as the guide had brought a small skin of it, in case he should be thirsty during the afternoon, for we had made ourselves quite certain of reaching the lake by night. I slept upon two of our packages, under the lee of the rock, and the whole party did the same, sharing, as equally as possible, our scanty means of accommodation. This afternoon I had seen many rocks of remarkable forms; one, particularly, struck me as extraordinary: it was placed upon another, of much smaller dimensions, and the resting-point was so small, as to render its removal apparently easy; but, on trial, it had not the slightest motion. The discomfort of this night was great, caused chiefly by the violence of the wind; we had, at last, no fire,—all was dark around us, and we could scarcely make ourselves heard. The horses seemed to feel as much as we did, the unsheltered situation; they were near to us during the whole of the night.

On continuing our journey the following morning, we discovered[91] that we had halted within half a league of the lake. The water was all gone; but the ground was boggy, and not to be crossed, excepting at the place over which is the usual path. It extends to the right and left to a considerable distance, but is not broad. If the mud was cleared away, it might, perhaps, afford an inexhaustible source of water to the neighbourhood; but Brazil is not in a state for such works; hands, in these parts, are not yet sufficiently numerous. In the afternoon, we crossed some stony hills, and passed by two fazendas. This day, I observed, at some distance, a high hill, of a circular form, standing quite alone, and unconnected with any other high ground. Its sides appeared to be too steep for horses to ascend; and I much regret not being so situated as to be enabled to delay, for the purpose of taking a nearer and more exact view of it. The guide was surprised at my curiosity about it, and told me that horses could not go up its sides, that there were snakes upon it, &c. All this might be true; but it was evidently said, to prevent any intention I might have had of delaying to see it more correctly. The plain appeared in many parts, as if the sea had at some time covered it;—the dead flat, the sand in places mixed with particles of a substance which looked like broken shells, and the rocks worn away in such parts, as, from their situation, could not have been acted upon by rain. We slept this night at an estate, where there were several houses forming a hamlet, having passed through a considerable quantity of wooded land.

The next morning we again proceeded over some lands that were covered with wood; and, near twelve o’clock, reached the town of Açu. Oh, the joy of again seeing a church! of the sight of a regular village, and civilized persons; if even these can be called civilized, according to European ideas.

The country I passed over from Natal, never can, in any state of civilization, or from any increase of population, be rendered a fertile track; but it might be, without doubt, much improved, if proper wells were sunk, reservoirs made for rain water, and trees planted; much might be done. The plains I crossed are of three kinds; those of which the soil is a loose sand, producing the acaju, the mangaba[92] and several kinds of palm or cabbage trees; upon them the grass is short, and of a kind which is not reckoned nourishing; in these situations are likewise produced several creeping plants, similar to those growing upon the common lands, near the sea-shore, in England, and the trees are thinly scattered. The fruit of the acaju or cashew tree, and of the mangaba, are most delightful, and are doubly acceptable in crossing the sands upon which they are to be met with. The former has been often described; the latter is a small round fruit, and is not unlike a crab-apple in appearance, but it is sweet, and is unfit to be eaten until it drops from the tree; the pulp is fibrous but soft, and three seeds or kernels are contained in it, of which the taste approaches that of almonds. The palm or cabbage trees[38] also afford fruits, which are eaten when other food fails; but these are insipid.

These plains are the taboleiros, of which there exists also another kind, which are covered with brushwood, of stinted height, from the nature of the soil, but it is close and higher than a man on horseback. The road lies, in many places, through it; but as it does not afford any shade, and prevents the wind from alleviating the intenseness of the heat; it is here that the power of the sun is fully felt. This brushwood is, however, not too thick to prevent cattle from breaking their way through it, and feeding among it. The third description of plains are those of a better kind of soil, which produce good nourishing grass, but upon these no trees grow; small shrubs and briars alone are to be seen, and oftentimes not even these. They are, in parts, stony, and have rising ground upon them, which is not sufficiently high to deserve the name of a ridge of hills; but is enough to break the ocean-like flatness and immensity which these plains sometimes present to the traveller; after proceeding for hours, the same distance still seems to remain for him to traverse. These are the campinas. I passed over some spots covered with high trees, which in our own country would be called woods of considerable extent; but in Brazil, they could not be accounted of sufficient magnitude to compose a distinguishing[93] feature in the naked regions which I traversed. The impression which a recollection of this portion of land left upon my mind, is of a flat uncovered country.

I heard very little of beasts of prey; they had removed to better districts, I suppose; nor were we much troubled with snakes. But my people never failed, in taking up our quarters, to look well around, which proves their frequent appearance, else this cautious behaviour would not have become habitual with them. I merely say, that they are not plentiful in this barren part; for elsewhere, near lakes and large pools of water, in fertile districts, the rattle of the snake, of which this is the distinguishing mark, is often heard. We saw a small kind of rabbit, near rocky ground, which is called moco. The carapato or tick, and the chigua had entirely disappeared, since we left the dry lake, near Natal. The chigua has been so often described, that a minute account of it in this place is unnecessary; it is a very small insect, which lodges itself principally under the nails of the feet. In the country, bordering upon the sea, it is to be found most abundantly in sandy districts; and yet, although the plains of the Sertam appear to be formed of the same kind of sand, the insect is not to be met with in the whole track of country between Natal and Aracati.

We arrived at Açu on the 1st December, having travelled about 340 miles in 19 days. The continual anxiety in which I was kept, prevented me from keeping any regular journal of my proceedings. From Açu to Aracati, I have preserved the names of the places through which I passed. The country is more inhabited, and I was nearer to the coast; I travelled also with more ease; but, between Natal and Açu, excepting the deserted Pai Paulo, I did not pass any settlement which deserved even the name of village; single cottages, much separated from each other, and often uninhabited, contained the whole population of this district. It is a miserable, desolate country.

The town of Açu is built in a square, and consists of about three hundred inhabitants; it has two churches, and a town-hall[94] and prison, at that time building; the governor was the promoter of the work. The place stands upon the great river of Açu, where it runs in two channels for a short distance; it is situated upon the northern bank of the smaller branch. There is an island of sand between the two branches, and the distance from whence the river is divided to where it is again united, is about two or perhaps three miles. We crossed their dry beds, and entered the square, which is not paved, and the sand is deep. Many of the inhabitants were at their doors, for all travellers are objects of curiosity, and our appearance increased it. I rode upon an English saddle, and this particularly attracted the notice of an equestrian people. The houses have only the ground floor; some of them are plastered, and white-washed, but the mud of which others are composed, remains in its natural colour, both within and without, and the floors also are of earth; so that in spite of the greatest care, when water is scarce, their inhabitants cannot keep themselves clean. Though the lower class of Brazilians, of all casts, have many dirty customs, allied to those of savage life, still they are remarkably clean in their persons; one of the greatest inconveniences of a situation, when a Brazilian complains of the place he happens to reside in, is the want of a river or pool of water in the neighbourhood, for the purpose of bathing.

We enquired for the house of a man of colour, a saddler by trade, with whom my guide was acquainted. This person, like many others, had come to his door to see the travellers; he soon recognised his friend, and came forwards to speak to him. He procured a house for us during our stay; it was a small place, upon which neither plaster nor white wash had been bestowed, with two rooms, one opening to the square, and the other to the river. When we were a little settled, and I had dressed myself, I sallied forth to visit the vicar, who resided in the best, or rather least miserable looking habitation in the town; it was about the size of the cottages of labourers, or small farmers in England, but not nearly so comfortable, though the floors were bricked. It is true, that this climate does not demand, as much as those of bleaker regions, that necessary of an English[95] dwelling, of English growth, that undefinable something, called comfort. I told him, I had called upon him, as the first person of the neighbourhood, and that I should always be happy in my proceedings to have the prayers and good wishes of his order, and particularly his, as the governor had spoken so very highly of him. Some further conversation passed between us; but I did not stay long, for I was much tired. I made arrangements for sending my horses towards Piatô, where grass was to be had, and the green stalks of maize, sugar cane, and other plants; but the guide recommended that we should not stay here longer than was necessary. He said, that whilst the horses continued on their journey, they would bear up very well; but if they were suffered to rest, they would become stiff, lose flesh, and be rendered entirely unfit for service, for a considerable time. I did not then quite believe him, but as there was no object in staying, I desired Julio to return with them to Açu the next day at two o’clock, that we and they might have, at any rate, a rest of twenty-four hours. I afterwards learnt, by experience, that the guide was quite right regarding the horses; that regular work is better than a rest of more than one whole day.

Our friend, the saddler, among other stories, mentioned having passed over the same ground which we had traversed from St. Luzia, only a short time before us. He was in company with another man and a boy, and had also a dog with him; they had put up for the night under shelter of one of the rocks, in the vicinity of the lake of which I have spoken. His companion had taken the horses to some little distance to graze; the boy and the dog remained with him; he had made a fire, and was in the act of preparing some dried meat to be cooked, when the boy called out “where is the dog,”—the man answered “here he is, why what is the matter?” the boy said, “what eyes, then, are those?” pointing, at the same time, to the corner of the rock; the man looked, and saw the eyes, for nothing else was to be seen; he called to the dog, took up his fowling-piece, and fired, whilst the dog started up, and darted towards the spot. A jaguar rushed out, and made off; it had been partly concealed under the[96] rock, which, with the dazzle of the fire had prevented its body from being seen; it had crouched, and was ready for a spring, when every thing was quiet, and unprepared.

I learnt, that there are some extensive salt-works at the mouth of the Açu, and that small craft come from different parts of the coast occasionally, to carry away the overplus.

I took an additional guide here, as the man I had brought with me from Goiana was not acquainted with the remainder of the road; but I kept him with me, for although he was not a person I liked, still he was master of his employment; he managed the horses well, for they had, through his attention and knowledge of this business, all arrived here without sore backs, which I found, from the surprise expressed by all those who saw them, was not a usual piece of good fortune, or good management. He was, however, a great bully, when we quartered ourselves in the houses of poor people, with whom he found he could so act with impunity: he was also continually reporting, that I was a great personage, that he might increase his own importance. Of this I said nothing; but on our return, whilst I was unwell, he gave himself out as the chief of the party, which I once caught him in the act of doing; I disconcerted him, by threatening to turn him out of my service; and when I recovered, he took care to draw in, and be more careful who overheard him. The additional man I took with me, was a dark-coloured mulatto, young and stout; his father lived at Açu, and this son had a fair character. He brought with him a beautiful dog, which I afterwards possessed.

The next day, Julio came with the horses; and between three and four o’clock in the afternoon, we left Açu.

CHAPTER VII.

CONTINUATION OF THE JOURNEY.—FROM AÇU TO ARACATI.—FROM ARACATI TO SEARA.—INDIANS.—THE LATE GOVERNOR.—THE FAMILY OF THE FEITOZAS.

OUR way was through woodlands for about one league, when we came out upon the borders of the lake Piatô; we proceeded along them for another half league, and unloaded near to the caza de palha, or straw cottage, of the commandant of the district. Piatô is a lake of three leagues in length, and about one league in breadth. In the summer its sides become sufficiently dry to enable them to be cultivated, but the centre of it is invariably marshy and impassable. The fertility of its sides is very great, affording most plentifully rice, maize, sugar cane, melons, &c. and I saw some cotton trees planted very near to the edge. The lake is filled from the river in the rainy season, and as the lands around it are much higher than the lake itself, the waters which run down from them wash away all vestiges of cultivation, till these again subside and the same operations are continued the following season. In such dreadfully severe years as that during which I travelled, the people of the district would be starved if this lake did not exist; it enabled the inhabitants of Açu, at the time I was there, to remain in their houses. The appearance of abundance, the bright green, the well fed horses and cattle, which we saw as we travelled along its banks, enlivened us all; there was a look of security, a seeming certainty of at least the necessaries of life let what would happen, which we had not for a long time felt. The parched hills which surround the lake, its beautifully cultivated borders, and the dark and dangerous bogs which compose its centre and prevent the communication of the inhabitants of either bank, formed a very extraordinary scene. No water was to be seen, but the mud[98] was too deep, and not of sufficient consistence for a man to be enabled to wade across; nor could a passage to the other side be effected by means of a raft, for a very trifling weight would make it sink.

We unloaded under a small tree on rising ground, with the lake on our right; between us and the house of the commandant, there was a deep ravine, down which, in the rainy season, the waters rush from the hills. This ravine was under cultivation and was inclosed, a narrow path only being left to cross from where we had stationed ourselves to the hut on the opposite hill, which was entirely composed of wood and the leaves of the Carnaùba and other kinds of cabbage trees. This was only a temporary habitation for the summer months, the usual residence of the owner being at Açu. He had a large family, who were all very shy, indeed the females I scarcely saw, though they sometimes did peep at the Englishmen, not knowing until now, that these were truly and bona fide nothing but men.

I was this afternoon surprised at a feat of dexterity of one of the commandant’s sons, a boy of about fourteen years of age. I had often heard of the manner of catching the wild cattle in the Sertam; the person employed for the purpose pursues on horseback, with a long pole, having a goad at one end, the animal which he is desirous of bringing to the ground, until he overtakes it—he then pierces its side between the ribs and the hip-bone, which, if it is done at the moment the beast raises its hind feet from the ground, throws it with such violence, as sometimes to make it roll over. Some oxen had often trespassed upon the commandant’s maize; one of the boys could no longer bear this quietly, he therefore mounted one of his father’s horses, of which there were several very fine ones, took one of the long poles and set off without a saddle, and in his shirt and drawers, to attack the animals. He drove them out of the maize, reached one of them with the goad at the right moment and threw it down, but before he could turn his horse, another had attacked him, running his horns into the fleshy part of one of the horse’s thighs. The boy had taken the precaution of putting a bridle[99] on to his horse, otherwise, if he had mounted with a halter only, he would most probably have suffered much more. One of his brothers came to his assistance, and drove the oxen quite away. The facility with which the beast was thrown, proved that practice and quickness were more requisite than strength in this operation.

Towards the evening a shower of rain came on, being the first we had had since we left Goiana, and indeed this was the only rain which fell during my journey between Goiana and Seara. However there is not usually much wet weather at this season of the year; the distress occasioned by the want of it, arose from the failure of the accustomed rains in the preceding winter. We removed to the hut across the ravine, leaving the greatest part of our baggage under the tree, but the shower did not continue long. The hut was too small to admit of our taking up our lodging for the night in it, and in case of rain the tree was too far from the hut to reach it in time to prevent being wet, for which reason I determined to sleep in the ravine close to the fence, at the foot of the hill upon which the hut stood. I made a bed for myself upon two packages, to windward of the fire which we had kindled, but multitudes of mosquitos rose about midnight, which obliged me to remove and lie down upon a hide to leeward; the fire was mostly composed of the dried ordure of cattle, the smoke from which is so thick and pungent as to prevent entirely any annoyance from these troublesome insects, but the remedy is bad enough, as it is almost impossible to open your eyes or to speak. The misery of being exposed to the myriads of mosquitos which hovered around us this night, made us chuse the smoke as the more endurable evil. Notwithstanding these inconveniences we had some amusement at the distress of him whose fire was allowed to burn low; none of us slept much, for attention to the fires obliged every one to be on the alert. Towards morning the smoke was scarcely sufficient to protect us from these tormenting insects. I now learnt that near to any lake or pool of water, the highest ground is always to be fixed upon for a night station; even the commandant upon the hill had fires to windward of the house during the whole of the night.

[100]

Early in the morning we continued our journey for some distance along the banks of the lake, and then entered upon some open land, which was now quite dry; we slept under a clump of trees, distant about twenty miles from Piatô. The cattle we saw this day, were in good condition, plainly showing, that the country enjoyed a plentiful supply of water.

The road of the next day led us through woodlands, and over loose stony ground; but the woods of this part of the country are not large and luxuriant; they have not the grandeur of the forests of Pernambuco, nor is the brushwood which grows under them so close and thick. We passed through some estates, of which the live stock seemed in good condition; and saw this day a whole drove or lot (lote) of cream-coloured mares. I asked for water to drink at one of the houses; some was brought to me by a pretty white girl, who was apparently about seventeen years of age; she talked a great deal, and in a lively manner, so as to show that she had inhabited more civilized regions. There were in the house two children of colour, which she told me were her’s; she was the daughter of a man of small property, who had married her contrary to her wishes, to a wealthy mulatto man. She gave a message to the guide to deliver to her husband, who was superintending the felling of some timber by the road side, along which we were to pass; we met with him, he was of dark complexion, and about forty years of age. I learnt her story from the Açu guide; he said, it had made some noise in these parts at the time. In the afternoon we passed over a salt marsh, surrounded by great numbers of carnàûba trees. We bordered the marsh, looking for a crossing and entered it, where we found the footsteps of others who had recently passed; the mud was from twelve to eighteen inches deep where we crossed; but it was in some parts impassable. The salt had coagulated wherever the footstep of a horse had formed an opening in the mud, and had collected a small quantity of water. The breadth of the marsh might be about two hundred yards in the centre, and its length about one league. After leaving the marsh, we reached the taboleiro, upon which we were to sleep. Towards[101] evening, the wind was high. I was riding as if I had been seated upon a side-saddle, with both my legs on the same side of the horse, and with my umbrella over my head to shade me from the heat of the sun; a sudden gust of wind took me and my umbrella, and landed us in the sand, to the no small entertainment of my companions. If the horse had gone off, I should have been awkwardly situated; but he had travelled too many leagues to be frightened at trifles such as these.

We continued travelling for two days over the same kind of ground; plains with trees thinly scattered, and spots of wooded land. We likewise crossed two salt marshes; but upon these there was no mud. The water which oozes from the land, on digging into it, is however, salt; but the soil was dry and hard. Mimoza, the dog belonging to my new guide, afforded us considerable amusement. She generally made her way through the wood at a little distance from the road, now and then returning to the path. She was very expert in discovering the tatu bola, or rolling tatu, a small species of armadillo; this animal is protected by its bony shell; on being touched, it rolls itself up in the manner of the hedge-hog. As soon as the dog saw one of these, she touched it with her nose, and barked, continuing the same operation as often as the armadillo attempted to move, until her master answered the well-known signal. Several were caught in this manner. The flesh is as fine as that of a young pig. The tatu verdadeiro, or legitimate armadillo, which is much larger, does not roll itself up, and Mimoza sometimes pursued it to its hole, and stood at the mouth of it, until she had her master’s permission to come away. There exists a third species of armadillo, called the tatu peba, which is said to feed upon human flesh.

On the 7th December, we arrived at ten o’clock in the morning at the village of St. Luzia, containing from two to three hundred inhabitants. It is built in a square, and has one church; the houses are small and low. Here I was able to replenish my spirit bottles, and to purchase a supply of rapaduras. These are cakes of brown sugar or treacle, boiled to a sufficient consistency to harden, by which[102] means it is more portable, and much less liable to be wasted in its conveyance.

The day before we reached St. Luzia, our resting place at mid-day was under some trees, and not far from a cottage. I observed the skin of a jaguar, the onça pintada, in the language of the country, stretched upon several pieces of wood; it had the appearance of being quite fresh. I had afterwards some conversation with the cottager, and he told me, that he had killed the animal to which the skin had belonged, with the assistance of three dogs, only the day before. It had committed great destruction, particularly among the sheep; but had escaped for a length of time, from never appearing at the same place twice successively. The preceding day this man had gone out with his three dogs, as was occasionally his practice; his musket was loaded, but he was without any farther supply of ammunition, and he had his long knife in his girdle. One of the dogs got scent of the jaguar, and followed it up to the den; the beast was within, the dogs attacked it; one of them was killed, and another much maimed, which we saw, and even the third was hurt. The man fired as soon as the jaguar came out, and wounded it; and when he saw that it was considerably disabled, he ran in upon the animal with his knife, and killed it; in doing which, one of his arms was much lacerated, and this was bound up at the time I conversed with him. He asked for some powder, saying that there was still another jaguar in the neighbourhood. The skins are much valued in Brazil for saddle-cloths; and from the make of the saddles used in that country, a cloth of some sort, or a skin is required for each. I have the skin of a jaguar in my possession, which measures five feet and three inches. The onça vermelha, felis concolor, and the onça preta, felis discolor, are also to be met with; but the jaguar is more common, and more dreaded than either of these.

The same day we passed over the dry bed of the Panema; it was the third river we had crossed since our departure from Açu, and all were in the same state.

St. Luzia stands upon the northern bank of a dry river, in a sandy[103] loose soil. We took up our mid-day station under the roof of a miserable hut; the ashes of an extinguished fire in its centre, and a bench of twisted twigs, alone denoted that it had served as a dwelling. Several of the inhabitants of the village soon came to us to enquire for news from Pernambuco; and among others, a young man, whose accent discovered him to be a native of some of the northern provinces of Portugal, and whose manner displayed the idea which he entertained of his own importance; he said, that he had orders from the commandant to demand my passport, to which I answered, that if the commandant had wished to see the passport, he would certainly have sent one of his officers to ask for it; the young man rejoined, that he was the sergeant of the district. I said that I did not doubt the truth of what he said, but that I could not know him in that capacity, because, instead of being in uniform, he had appeared in the usual dress of shirt and drawers; and I added, that his manner was such, that I had quite resolved not to show it to him at all. He said, I must and should show it; I turned to Julio, and asked him, if he heard what the man said; Julio answered, “Yes, sir, never mind.”[39] The sergeant went off, and we prepared our arms, much to the amazement and amusement of some of the more peaceable inhabitants. I soon saw him again, and he was coming towards us, with two or three other persons; I called to him to keep at a distance, telling him that Julio would fire if he did not. This he judged advisable to do; and as I thought it proper and prudent to advance as soon as possible, we left the place soon after one o’clock, with a broiling sun; therefore we then saw no more of the sergeant. The dry river, upon which this village stands, divides the captaincies of Rio Grande and Seara, consequently there was much reason for the commandant’s demand of my passport; but it was necessary to preserve the high opinion generally entertained of the name of Inglez, Englishman, wherever the people possessed sufficient knowledge to understand[104] that the said Inglezes, were not bichos, or animals; and also to keep up my own importance with the persons about me. It would not have answered, to have thus given way to a man who was inclined to make me feel the consequence which he judged his place would allow him to assume. If I had been invited to the commandant’s house in a civil way, or if the sergeant had come to me in his uniform, all would have gone well. These trifles, though apparently of no importance, weigh very heavily with persons who have made such small advances towards civilization; public opinion is every thing. If the idea of my being a bicho and a heretic had not been counter-balanced by that of rank and consequence, I might have had the whole village upon me, and have been deserted by my own people into the bargain.

The general features of the captaincy of Rio Grande, may be laid down as displaying tolerable fertility to the southward of Natal, and as having a barren aspect to the northward of it, excepting the banks and immediate neighbourhood of the Potengi.

We passed through the estate of Ilha, distant from St. Luzia one league and a half, and proceeded, after taking water, four leagues beyond it, to an uninhabited and unfinished house. The owner had commenced building during the rains of the former year, and had gone on with the work until the spring of water, near to the place, failed. The house was tiled and spacious; but the wood work only of the walls was erected. It had been the intention of this person to establish a fazenda here; but the failure of the spring of water would, probably, deter him from his purpose. The country from Ilha to Tibou, where we halted at noon on the following day, a distance of ten leagues, was now without water. Two parties of travellers, besides our own, had taken up their night’s lodging at this unfinished house. The several fires, the groups around them, some cooking, some eating, and others asleep; the pack-saddles and trunks strewed about, as they had been taken from the horses’ backs, formed a scene worthy of a painter; all was darkness around, and the wind blew fresh, for the house had no walls, and no obstruction to oppose its[105] entrance, save the upright posts which supported the roof. The light of the fires sometimes flashed upon one or other of the countenances of the travellers, and on these occasions alone could I discover their colour and consequently, in some degree, their rank. I might be in the company of slaves or of white men, for both would have taken up their night’s station in the same manner. An old man of colour addressed me, asking if I was the Englishman who had rested at noon at St. Luzia; on my answering in the affirmative, he said that he was at the commandant’s at the time, and that there were several debates about the mode of proceeding respecting me and mine—that my determination not to give up my passport had caused some demur, and that among other suppositions of who I might be, one wiseacre said, there was no knowing whether I was not one of Bonaparte’s ministers, and what might be my diabolical plans. Indeed I was often amused with the strange ideas which the country people entertained of distant nations, of which they had heard the names, and perhaps some further particulars; these were altered in such a manner by their misapprehension, that it was oftentimes difficult to discover what the real circumstances were which had been related to them.

We traversed another salt marsh this afternoon. The marsh I have mentioned as having crossed on the 4th of this month, was the only one of that description which I met with. The others I have spoken of, and those which I shall have occasion to mention, are dry, and the soil upon them in summer is hard, it is dark coloured and produces no grass, but upon the skirts of the marshes are seen several sea-side plants, and the water that oozes from them is quite salty.

Our road the next morning lay through brushwood for three leagues over heavy sand, and three leagues over a salt marsh. Near mid-day we passed a cottage, in which resided the herdsman of a fazenda and immediately beyond, ascended a hill of heavy sand called Tibou, from which we again saw the sea. I scarcely can describe the sensations which were occasioned by this sight; I felt as if I was at home, as if free to act as I pleased. The spring of water near to the cottage was dried up, but there was one on the opposite side of the[106] sand-hill, which still afforded a small supply; we now took up our mid-day station under a miserable hut, erected at the summit of the hill, by the inhabitants of the cottage, for the purpose of curing their fish; they had fixed upon this spot from its height and consequent exposure to the wind. The descent to the sea-shore is steep, but not dangerous, as the depth of the sand prevents any apprehension of a horse falling and rolling down. The great length of the journies of the two last days, had almost knocked up the horse upon which my Goiana guide rode; I saw that the man was not inclined to walk for the purpose of easing the animal, and therefore wishing to see what could be done by example, I dismounted and took off the greatest part of my cloaths, removed the bit from my horse’s mouth, tied the bridle round his neck, and turned him loose among the others; this had the desired effect, and John also was then ashamed to be the only person on horseback.

We advanced very quickly over the wet sands, passed two fishermen’s huts distant from Tibou two leagues; and one league further turned up from the shore by a steep, sandy path, which took us to the hamlet of Areias, composed of one respectable looking dwelling and five or six straw huts. The lands we passed this afternoon, bordering the shore, are low and sandy, without trees and without cultivation. In seasons less severe than this there is a small spring of water, not far from the fishermen’s huts which we had passed, but now it was entirely dried up; they stand near to a small piece of ground, of which the soil is less sandy than that in the neighbourhood, and a crop of water melons is usually obtained from it, which had however completely failed this year. On our arrival at Areias I made for the principal house, and asked for a night’s lodging. The front room was offered to me, upon which our horses were unloaded, and our baggage put into it. I was surprised to see no elderly or middle aged person belonging to this house; there were three or four boys only, of whom the oldest was about sixteen years of age, and he appeared to direct the concerns of the establishment. He had a piece of inclosed ground near to the house, into which he allowed our horses to be turned, and this arrangement[107] being made, I had then time to look round, and see my quarters. Not a tree or shrub was to be seen in the neighbourhood, but there were immense sand-hills on one side, and on the other the sea. The convenience of the spot for fishing could alone have made these people fix upon it for a residence. I sent out to purchase a fowl; one was brought, for which I paid 640 reis, about 3s. 6d. Julio told me that he had seen some goats and kids, upon which I sent him to purchase one of the latter; he returned with a large one, for which the owner asked 80 reis, less than 6d. I thought I was in duty bound to eat my fowl, but the kid was much finer of its kind. A boy passed in the evening with a large turtle, which he begged the guide to exchange for about one pound of the kid; the meat was given to him, but his turtle would have been of no use to us.

Julio, when he went to purchase the kid, had heard a long story about a ghost, which made its appearance in the house at which we had stationed ourselves. The persons from whom he heard it, had advised him to make me acquainted with the circumstance, that I might move to some other place for the night. I began to suspect some trick, and told my people my idea of the sort of ghost we were likely to meet with; I found that this cheered them, as by them shadows were more dreaded than flesh and blood. We slung our hammocks in different directions in the large room, and each took his arms, and settled for the night;—a sudden panic seized my additional guide, and he was sneaking out of the room; but I stopped him, and said, that I would send him back to his own country if he went out; the business was however settled by taking the key from the door. The story ran thus, the master and mistress of the house had been murdered by two of their slaves, and it was said that their ghosts occasionally took a walk in this room; nay, it was even reported that the old gentleman used his gold headed cane, and woke with it those who slept in the house. We had not, however, the honour of his company, and in the morning had much laughter, at the fellow who had been so dreadfully frightened.

The country through which we proceeded on the morrow, presented[108] a more cheering appearance. We reached, at a short distance from Areias, some inclosed and cultivated lands, then passed over a salt-marsh and arrived at Cajuaes, distant from Areias two leagues. The place receives its name from the great number of acaju trees, and consists of six or seven huts. Here we dined, finding good water and abundance of maize-stalks for our horses. There was some appearance of comfort and enjoyment of life, at least comparatively speaking. Beyond Cajuaes three leagues we slept near to a hut, after travelling through some more cultivated ground. I was asked, by some persons at Cajuaes, at what place I had slept the preceding night; I answered at Areias, they then enquired in what house at Areias, as at that village there was none into which travellers could be received. I replied, that on the contrary, there was the great house, which I had found very comfortable; they were perfectly astonished at my sleeping in this haunted place, and for some time imagined that I was joking. Afterwards, on other occasions, I heard of the same story, which appeared to have taken deep root in the faith of all those who spoke of it.

The next day we reached Aracati, distant seven leagues from where we had slept, about five o’clock in the afternoon. Great part of this day’s journey was through salt marshes or plains covered with the Carnàûba; the tall naked stems of the palms, crowned with branches like the coco tree at the summit, which rustle with the least breath of air, and the bare and dark coloured soil upon which no grass grows and rarely any shrub, give a dismal look to these plains. The computed distance from Açû? to Aracati is forty-five leagues. When I approached Aracati, I sent my Goiana guide forwards with the letter which I had received from the governor of Rio Grande to Senhor Joze Fideles Barrozo, a wealthy merchant and landed proprietor. On my arrival, I found that the guide had delivered the letter, and that Senhor Barrozo had given to him the keys of an unoccupied house, which I was to inhabit during my stay.

The town of Aracati consists chiefly of one long street, with several others of minor importance branching from it to the southward; it[109] stands upon the southern bank of the river Jaguaribe, which is so far influenced by the tide. At the ebb, the stream is fordable, and as it spreads considerably from the main channel, some parts remain quite dry at low water. The houses of Aracati, unlike those of any of the other small places which I visited, have one story above the ground floor; I enquired the reason of this, and was told, that the floods of the river were sometimes so great, as to render necessary a retreat to the upper part of the houses. The town contains three churches, and a town-hall and prison, but no monasteries; this captaincy does not contain any such pest. The inhabitants are in number about six hundred.

The house I was to occupy, consisted of two good sized rooms, with large closets or small bed-chambers leading from each, called alcovas, and a kitchen, these were all above; and underneath there was a sort of warehouse. To the back we had an oblong yard, inclosed by a brick wall, with a gate at the farther end, by which our horses entered; and here they remained until better arrangements could be made for them. I slung my hammock in the front room, and desired that some fowls should be purchased, as stock, whilst we remained here. One was preparing for me, when three black servants appeared from Senhor Barrozo; the first brought a large tray with a plentiful and excellently cooked supper, wine, sweetmeats, &c.—a second carried a silver ewer and basin, and a fringed towel, and a third came to know if there was any thing which I particularly wished for, besides what had been prepared; this man took back my answer, and the other two remained to attend, until I had supped. I learnt from the guide afterwards, that another tray had been sent for my people. I supposed that Senhor Barrozo had thought proper to treat me in this manner on the day of my arrival, from an idea that I could not have arranged any means of cooking, &c. until the next day; but in the morning coffee and cakes were brought to me, and the same major-domo came to know if all was to my liking. Whilst I remained at Aracati, Senhor Barrozo provided every thing for me and for my people, in the same handsome[110] manner. This treatment is usual where persons are well recommended; it is noble, and shows the state of manners among the higher orders.

In the morning I received a visit from Senhor Barrozo, whose manners were ceremonious and courtly. On my mentioning the inconvenience to which I was putting him by my stay, he said, that he could not alter in any way his mode of treating me, because, if he did, he should not do his duty to the governor of Rio Grande, to whom he owed many obligations, and, consequently, took every opportunity of showing his gratitude by all the means in his power. The reason which he thus gave for his civility, completely set at rest any thing I could have said to prevent its continuance. He ordered all my horses to be taken to an island in the river, upon which there was plenty of grass. I had resolved to send John back to Pernambuco by sea, and spoke to Senhor Barrozo upon the subject, when he immediately said, that one of his smacks was going, in which my servant might have a birth. John was out of health, and not adapted to the kind of life which we had been leading, and should be yet under the necessity of continuing. This day I remained at home, employing the greatest part of it in sleeping; and in the evening returned Senhor Barrozo’s visit. A white man, with whom my Goiana guide was acquainted, called upon me, and we arranged an expedition in a canoe, for the next day, to go down the river to its mouth.

My guide’s friend came as he had appointed, and his canoe was waiting for us. His two negroes poled where the water was shallow, and paddled us along where it became deep. We passed several beautiful islands, some of which had cattle upon them; and others, of which the land was too low to produce grass; the latter were entirely covered with mangroves, which grow likewise on the borders of the river, the shores being clear of them only where settlements are formed, and the proprietors have extirpated them. The river is, in parts, about half a mile in breadth, and in some places, where there are islands, it is broader, if taken from the outermost sides of the two branches which it, in these situations, forms. The town is distant from the bar about[111] eight miles. We boarded Senhor Barrozo’s smack, took the long boat belonging to it, and proceeded to the bar, which is narrow and dangerous, owing to the sand banks on each side; upon these the surf is very violent. The sand is so loose at the mouth of the river, that the masters of the coasting vessels are obliged to use every precaution possible each voyage, as if they were entering a harbour with which they are unacquainted. The river widens immediately within the bar, and forms rather a spacious bay. Even if no other obstacle presented itself, the port cannot, from the uncertainty of the depth of its entrance, ever become of any importance. Coasters alone can enter, and I understand that the sand in the river also accumulates; the sand banks project from each side in some places so much as to render the navigation, even for a boat, somewhat difficult from a short distance above the bay[40]. On our return, we dined at an estate upon the banks of the river, of which the owner was an acquaintance of the man who had proposed this party. Opposite to the dwelling-house of this estate stands an island, which produces abundance of grass; but there is no fresh water upon it; this obliges the cattle that feed there, regularly to pass over to the main land every day to drink, and return to the island, which they are so much accustomed to do, that no herdsman is necessary to compel them. We saw them swim across, and all passed close to the house in their way to the pool. The owner said, that the calves invariably took that side of their mothers to which the tide was running, to prevent being carried away by the force of the stream: and indeed I observed, that all the calves took the same side.

In the evening arrangements were made for the hire of two horses to carry me and one of my people to Seara, leaving my own beasts to rest for the journey back to Pernambuco. I again called upon Senhor Barrozo, to make known to him my plan, and he then gave[112] me a letter to a gentleman with whom he was acquainted at Seara. A guide for the journey was also procured.

The horses were ready, and in the morning I set forth, accompanied by my Goiana guide, and the man whom I had hired for this additional journey; he rode a horse with which he had been charged to take to Seara. He was an old man, half mad, and very amusing. We hailed the ferryman to take us across the river before day-break; but as he did not answer, we took possession of a large canoe which lay empty, and was tied to a post; we got into it, and the Goiana guide paddled us very dexterously to the middle of the river, where the canoe grounded; it had struck upon a sand bank, owing to the man being unacquainted with the navigation of the stream. We were obliged to undress, and get into the water to push the canoe off, which we succeeded in doing, and reached the opposite side in safety. The horses crossed over, tied to the sides of the canoe, swimming or taking the ground according to the depth of the water.

The distance between Aracati and the Villa da Fortaleza do Seara Grande, is thirty leagues, principally consisting of sandy lands covered with brushwood; in a few places, the wood is loftier and thicker, but of this there is not much. We passed also some fine varseas, or low marshy grounds, which were now sufficiently dry for cultivation; and indeed the only land from which any crop could be expected in this particularly severe dry season. The country is, generally speaking, flat, and in some parts the path led us near to the sea shore, but was never upon it. We saw several cottages, and three or four hamlets; the facility of obtaining fish from the sea, has rendered living comparatively easy in these parts. We passed through an Indian village, and the town of St. Joze, each built in a square, and each containing about three hundred inhabitants. I understood that the governors of Seara are obliged to take possession of their office at St. Joze. We made the journey in four days, arriving at the Villa da Fortaleza on the 16th December, and might have entered it at noon on the fourth day, but I preferred waiting until the evening. I performed the journey from Natal to Seara, a distance of one hundred and sixty[113] leagues, according to the vague computation of the country, in thirty-four days. The morning after my arrival I sent back to Aracati the men and horses which I had brought with me.

The town of the fortress of Searà is built upon heavy sand, in the form of a square, with four streets leading from it, and it has an additional long street on the north side of the square, which runs in a parallel direction, but is unconnected with it. The dwellings have only a ground floor, and the streets are not paved; but some of the houses have foot paths of brick in front. It contains three churches, the governor’s palace, the town-hall and prison, a custom-house, and the treasury. The number of inhabitants I judge to be from one thousand to twelve hundred. The fort, from which the place derives its name, stands upon a sand-hill close to the town, and consists of a sand or earth rampart towards the sea, and of stakes driven into the ground on the land side; it contained four or five pieces of cannon of several sizes, which were pointed various ways; and I observed that the gun of heaviest metal was mounted on the land side. Those which pointed to the sea were not of sufficient calibre to have reached a vessel in the usual anchorage ground. The powder magazine is situated upon another part of the sand-hill, in full view of the harbour. There is not much to invite the preference given to this spot; it has no river, nor any harbour, and the beach is bad to land upon; the breakers are violent, and the recife or reef of rocks affords very little protection to vessels riding at anchor upon the coast. The settlement was formerly situated three leagues to the northward, upon a narrow creek, where there exists now only the remains of an old fort. The beach is steep, which renders the surf dangerous for a boat to pass through in making for the shore. A vessel unloaded during my stay there, and part of her cargo consisted of the flour of the mandioc in small bags; the long boat approached as near to the shore as it could without striking, and the bags were landed on men’s heads; the persons employed to bring them ashore passed through the surf with them; but if they were caught by a wave the flour was wetted and injured, and indeed few reached the shore perfectly dry.[114] The anchorage ground is bad and exposed; the winds are always from the southward and eastward; and if they were very variable a vessel could scarcely ride upon the coast. The reef of rocks forms a complete ridge, at a considerable distance from the shore, and is to be seen at low water. Upon this part of the coast the reef runs lower than towards Pernambuco, which has obliged the people of Searà to take advantage of the rocks being rather higher here, and affording some little protection to ships at anchor. The spot seems to have been preferred owing to this advantage, trifling as it is, though the rocks are much inferior to those which form the bold reef of Pernambuco. The ridge runs parallel with the shore for about one quarter of a mile, with two openings, one above and the other below the town. A small vessel may come to anchor between it and the shore; but a large ship can only bring up either to the northward or to the southward of the town, in one of the openings of the ridge or on the outside of it. The opening to the northward is to be preferred. A vessel coming from the northward should make the point of Mocoripe, which lies one league to the southward of the town, and upon it stands a small fort; this being done, she will then be able to make the anchorage ground. On the appearance of a ship the fort of the town will have a white flag flying upon a high flag-staff. To the northward of the town, between the reef and the shore, there is a rock called Pedra da Velha, or the Old Woman’s Rock, which is to be seen even at high water by the breakers upon it. When a vessel leaves the port she may either pass between this rock and the shore, giving a birth to a shoal about one hundred yards to the northward, or she may run between the rock and the principal ridge or reef.

The public buildings are small and low, but are neat and white-washed, and adapted to the purposes for which they are intended. Notwithstanding the disadvantage to the general appearance, imparted by the wretched soil upon which the town has been erected, I could not avoid thinking that its look was that of a thriving place; but I believe that this can scarcely be said to be the real state of the town. The difficulty of land carriage, particularly in such a country,[115] the want of a good harbour, and the dreadful droughts, prevent any sanguine hope of its rise to opulence. The commerce of Searà is very limited and is not likely to increase; the long credits which it is necessary for the trader to give, preclude the hope of quick returns, to which British merchants are accustomed.

I rode immediately on my arrival to the house of Senhor Marcos Antonio Briçio, the chief of the Treasury and of the Naval department, with several other titles which are not transferrable into our language; to this gentleman I had a letter of introduction from Senhor Barrozo. I found several persons assembled at his house to drink tea and play at cards. Senhor Marcos is an intelligent and well-informed man, who has seen good society in Lisbon, and had held a high situation at Maranham before he was appointed to Searà. I was introduced to Senhor Lourenço, a merchant, who had connections in trade with England; he recognized my name, for he had been acquainted with near relations of mine in Lisbon. I was invited to stay with him and received from him every civility.

The morning after my arrival I visited the governor, Luiz Barba Alardo de Menezes[41], and was received by him with much affability; he said, that he wished he had more opportunities of shewing the regard which he entertained for my countrymen, and that some of them would come and settle in his captaincy. He built, during his administration of the province, the centre of the palace, and employed Indian workmen, paying them half the usual price of labour. He was in the habit of speaking of the property of individuals residing within the province as if it was his own, saying, his ships, his cotton, &c. I happened to be at Searà, on the Queen of Portugal’s birthday; the company of regular troops, consisting of one hundred and fourteen men, was reviewed; they looked respectable, and were in tolerable order. In the chief apartment of the palace stood a full length picture of the Prince Regent of Brazil, which was placed[116] against the wall, and was raised about three feet from the ground. Three or four steps ascended from the floor to the foot of the picture; upon the lowest of these the governor stood in full uniform, and each person passed before him and bowed, that thus the state of the Sovereign Court might be kept up. I dined with the governor this day, at whose table were assembled all the military and civil officers, and two or three merchants; he placed me at his right hand, as a stranger, thus shewing the estimation in which Englishmen are held. About thirty persons were present at the table, of which more than half wore uniforms; indeed the whole display was much more brilliant than I had expected; every thing was good and handsome.

I had opportunities of seeing the Indian villages of Aronxas and Masangana, and there is a third in this neighbourhood, of which I have forgotten the name; each is distant from Searà between two and three leagues, in different directions; they are built in the form of a square, and each contains about three hundred inhabitants. One of my usual companions on these occasions was acquainted with the vicar of Aronxas, and we therefore made him a visit. He resided in a building which had formerly belonged to the Jesuits; it is attached to the church, and has balconies from the principal corridor, which look into it.

The Indians of these villages, and indeed of all those which I passed through, are Christians; though it is said that some few of them follow in secret their own heathenish rites, paying adoration to the maracà, and practising all the customs of their religion, if I may use this word, of which so exact a description is given in Mr. Southey’s History of Brazil. When the Roman Catholic religion does take root in them, it of necessity degenerates into the most abject superstition. An adherence to superstitious rites, whether of Roman Catholic ordination or prescribed by their own undefined faith, appears to be the only part of their character in which they shew any constancy. Each village has its priest, who is oftentimes a vicar, and resident for life upon the spot. A director is also attached to each village, who is supposed to be a white man; he has[117] great power over the persons within his jurisdiction. If a proprietor of land is in want of workmen he applies to the director, who agrees for the price at which the daily labour is to be paid, and he commands one of his chief Indians to take so many men and proceed with them to the estate for which they are hired. The labourers receive the money themselves, and expend it as they please; but the bargains thus made are usually below the regular price of labour. Each village has two Juizes Ordinarios or Mayors, who act for one year. One Juiz is a white man, and the other an Indian; but it may easily be supposed that the former has, in fact, the management. These Juizes have the power of putting suspicious persons into confinement, and of punishing for small crimes; those of more importance wait for the Correiçam, or circuit of the Ouvidor of the captaincy. Each village contains a town-hall and prison. The administration of justice in the Sertam is generally spoken of as most wretchedly bad; every crime obtains impunity by the payment of a sum of money. An innocent person is sometimes punished through the interest of a great man, whom he may have offended, and the murderer escapes who has the good fortune to be under the protection of a powerful patron. This proceeds still more from the feudal state of the country than from the corruption of the magistrates, who might often be inclined to do their duty, and yet be aware that their exertions would be of no avail, and would possibly prove fatal to themselves. The Indians have likewise their Capitaens-mores, and this title is conferred for life; it gives the holder some power over his fellows, but as it is among them, unaccompanied by the possession of property, the Indian Capitaens-mores are much ridiculed by the whites; and indeed the half naked officer with his gold-headed cane is a personage who would excite laughter from the most rigid nerves.

The Indians are in general a quiet and inoffensive people, they have not much fidelity, but although they desert they will not injure those whom they have served. Their lives are certainly not passed in a pleasant manner under the eye of a director, by whom they are imperiously[118] treated, consequently it is not surprising that they should do all in their power to leave their villages and be free from an immediate superior; but even when they have escaped from the irksome dominion of the director they never settle in one place. The Indian scarcely ever plants for himself, or if he does, rarely waits the crop; he sells his maize or mandioc for half its value, before it is fit to be gathered, and removes to some other district. His favourite pursuits are fishing and hunting; a lake or rivulet will alone induce him to be stationary for any length of time. He has a sort of independent feeling, which makes him spurn at any thing like a wish to deprive him of his own free agency; to the director he submits, because it is out of his power to resist. An Indian can never be persuaded to address the master to whom he may have hired himself, by the term of Senhor, though it is made use of by the whites in speaking to each other, and by all other free people in the country; but the negroes also use it in speaking to their masters, therefore the Indian will not; he addresses his temporary master by the term of amo or patram, protector or patron. The reluctance to use the term of Senhor may perhaps have commenced with the immediate descendants of those who were in slavery, and thus the objection may have become traditionary. They may refuse to give by courtesy what was once required from them by law. However, if it began in this manner, it is not now continued for the same reason, as none of those with whom I conversed, and they were very many, appeared to know that their ancestors had been obliged to work as slaves.

The instances of murder committed by Indians are rare. They are pilferers rather than thieves. When they can, they eat immoderately; but if it is necessary they can live upon a very trifling quantity of food, to which their idleness often reduces them. They are much addicted to liquor, and will dance in a ring, singing some of the monotonous ditties of their own language, and drink for nights and days without ceasing. Their dances are not indecent, as those of Africa. The mulattos consider themselves superior to the Indians, and even the Creole blacks look down upon them; “he is as paltry[119] as an Indian[42],” is a common expression among the lower orders in Brazil. They are vilely indifferent regarding the conduct of their wives and daughters; lying and other vices attached to savage life belong to them. Affection seems to have little hold upon them; they appear to be less anxious for the life and welfare of their children than any other cast of men who inhabit that country. The women however do not, among these semi-barbarians, perform the principal drudgery; if the husband is at home he fetches water from the rivulet and fuel from the wood; he builds the hut whilst his wife takes shelter in some neighbour’s shed. But if they travel she has her young children to carry, the pots, the baskets, and the excavated gourds, whilst the husband takes his wallet of goat-skin and his hammock rolled up upon his back, his fishing net and his arms, and walks in the rear. The children are washed on the day of their birth in the nearest brook or pool of water. Both the men and the women are cleanly in many of their habits, and particularly in those relating to their persons; but in some other matters their customs are extremely disgusting; the same knife is used for all purposes, and with little preparatory cleaning is employed in services of descriptions widely opposite. They do not reject any kind of food, and devour it almost without being cooked; rats and other small vermin, snakes and alligators are all accepted.

The instinct, for I know not what else to call it, which the Indians possess above other men, in finding their way across a wood to a certain spot on the opposite side without path or apparent mark, is most surprising; they trace footsteps over the dry leaves which lie scattered under the trees. The letter-carriers, from one province to another, are mostly Indians, for from habit they endure great fatigue, and will walk day after day, with little rest, for months together. I have met them with their wallets made of goat-skin upon their[120] shoulders, walking at a regular pace, which is not altered by rough or smooth. Though a horse may outstrip one of these men for the first few days, still if the journey continues long, the Indian will, in the end, arrive before him. If a criminal has eluded the diligence of the police officers, Indians are sent in pursuit of him, as a last resource. It is well known that they will not take him alive; each man who sees the offender fires, for they do not wish to have any contention. Nor is it possible for the magistrate to fix upon the individual of the party who shot the criminal; for if any of them are asked who killed him, the answer invariably is “os homems,” the men.

It is usually said, that a party of Indians will fight tolerably well; but that two or three will take to their heels at the first alarm. Some of them however are resolute, and sufficiently courageous; but the general character is usually supposed to be cowardly, inconstant, devoid of acute feelings, as forgetful of favours as of injuries, obstinate in trifles, regardless of matters of importance. The character of the negro is more decided; it is worse, but it is also better. From the black race the worst of men may be formed; but they are capable likewise of great and good actions. The Indian seems to be without energy or exertion; devoid of great good or great evil. Much may at the same time be said in their favour; they have been unjustly dealt with, they have been trampled upon, and afterwards treated as children; they have been always subjected to those who consider themselves their superiors, and this desire to govern them has even been carried to the direction of their domestic arrangements. But no,—if they are a race of acute beings, capable of energy, of being deeply interested upon any subject, they would do more than they have done. The priesthood is open to them; but they do not take advantage of it[43]. I never saw an Indian mechanic in any of the towns; there is no instance of a wealthy Indian;[121] rich mulattos and negroes are by no means rare. I have had many dealings with them as guides and carriers, and subsequently as labourers, and have no reason to complain, for I was never injured by any of them; but neither did I receive any particular good service, excepting in the instance of Julio. For guides and carriers they are well adapted, as their usual habits lead them to the rambling life which these employments encourage. As labourers, I found that they had usually a great inclination to over-reach; but their schemes were badly made, and consequently easily discovered. I never could depend upon them for any length of time, and to advance money or cloathing to them is a certain loss. If I had any labour which was to be performed by a given time, the overseer would always reckon upon his mulatto and negro free people; but did not mention in the list of persons who were to work, any of the Indians whom I was then employing; and on my speaking of them, he answered “An Indian is only to be mentioned for the present day[44],” meaning that no reliance is to be placed upon them.

Like most of the aboriginal inhabitants of the western hemisphere, these people are of a copper colour. They are short, and stoutly made; but their limbs, though large, have not the appearance of possessing great strength, they have no shew of muscle. The face is disproportionately broad, the nose flat, the mouth wide, the eyes deep and small, the hair black, coarse, and lank; none of the men have whiskers, and their beards are not thick. The women, when they are young, have by no means an unpleasant appearance; but they soon fall off, and become ugly; their figures are seldom well shaped. Deformity is rare among the Indians; I do not recollect to have seen an individual of this race who had been born defective; and the well-informed persons with whom I conversed were of opinion, that the Indians are more fortunate in this respect than any other race with whom they were acquainted. All the Indians of Pernambuco speak[122] Portugueze, but few of them pronounce it well; there is always a certain twang which discovers the speaker to be an Indian, although the voice was heard without the person being seen; many of them however do not understand any other language. The Indians seldom if ever speak Portugueze so well as the generality of the creole negroes.

It must be perfectly understood, that although there may be some unfair dealings occasionally of the director towards the Indian, still this race cannot be enslaved; the Indian cannot be made to work for any person against his inclination, he cannot be bought and sold. An Indian will sometimes make over his child, when very young, to a rich person to be taught some trade, or to be brought up as a household servant, but as soon as the child is of an age to provide for itself, it cannot be prevented from so doing; it may leave the person under whose care it has been placed if it be so inclined.

Two Indians presented themselves at the gate of the Carmelite convent of Goiana, and requested and were permitted to see the prior. They put into his hands a purse containing several gold coins, saying that they had found it near Dous Rios; they begged that he would order a number of masses to be said in their behalf, which were to be paid for from the contents of the purse. The prior, admiring their honesty, asked one of them to remain with him as his servant, to which the man agreed. The friar was in the habit of going into the country to a friend’s house to shoot. On one occasion, after the Indian had served him for some time, he left the convent and took him on one of these expeditions, but when they were about half way, the friar discovered that he had forgotten his powder-horn; he gave the key of his trunk to the Indian and desired him to fetch the powder whilst he proceeded. In vain he waited at his friend’s house for his servant, and on his return to the convent in the evening he heard that he was not there. He went immediately to his cell, supposing that he had been robbed of all his money, and whatever else the fellow could carry of; but to his joy he discovered on examination, that the man had only taken the powder-horn, two silver[123] coins of about 4s. value each, an old clerical gown, and a pair of worn out nankeen pantaloons. This story I had from an intimate friend of the prior.

One of the days of my stay at Searà we passed upon the borders of a lake, which is between two and three leagues distant from the town, for the purpose of shooting. This lake was nearly dry. The general feature of the country about Searà is arid; the captaincy produces no sugar, but the lands are adapted for cotton, of which however the crop this year was very trifling. So excessive had the drought become, that a famine was feared, and great distress would have been experienced if a vessel had not arrived from the southward laden with the flour of the mandioc. The usual price of it was 640 reis per alqueire, but the cargo of this vessel was sold at 6400 reis per alqueire; a fact which proves the scarcity to have been very great. Formerly considerable quantities of beef were salted and dried here, and were exported to the other captaincies, but from the mortality among the cattle, caused by the frequent dry seasons, this trade has been unavoidably given up entirely, and the whole country is now supplied from the Rio Grande do Sul, the southern boundary of the Portugueze dominions. But the meat which arrives at Pernambuco from the Rio Grande do Sul, still preserves its name of Searà meat, carne do Searà. The country to the northward and eastward I understood to be much superior to that in the neighbourhood of Searà. The captaincy of Piauhi, which lies in that direction, is accounted fertile, and is not subject to droughts.

Many were the praises which I heard of the late governor of Searà, Joam Carlos, who was appointed to this province before he had arrived at the age of twenty years, and who was at the time I visited Searà captain-general of Mato Grosso. His administration of justice was in general summary, but on one occasion he waved his usual severity; he was informed, whilst playing at cards at the house of Senhor Marcos, which is near to the palace, that a soldier was robbing his garden. He answered, “Poor fellow, great must be his hunger when he runs the risk of entering his governor’s garden—don’t[124] molest him.” Some persons were in the practice of taking doors off their hinges, and other tricks of the same sort, during the night; the governor had in vain attempted to discover who they were, and he resolved at last to wrap himself up in his cloak and to apprehend some of them, if possible, with his own hands. A young man, with whom I was acquainted, had met the governor on one of these nights, he demanded his name and, on discovering who it was, admonished him to be at home at an earlier hour on the following evening.

The family of the Feitozas still exists in the interior of this captaincy and that of Piauhi, in possession of extensive estates, which are covered with immense droves of cattle. In the time of Joam Carlos, the chiefs had risen to such power, and were supposed to be so completely out of the reach of punishment, that they entirely refused obedience to the laws, both civil and criminal, such as they are. They revenged their own wrongs; persons obnoxious to them were publicly murdered in the villages of the interior; the poor man who refused obedience to their commands was devoted to destruction, and the rich man, who was not of their clan, was obliged silently to acquiesce in deeds of which he did not approve. The Feitozas are descendants of Europeans, but many of the branches are of mixed blood, and perhaps few are free from some tinge of the original inhabitants of Brazil. The chief of the family was a colonel of militia, and could at a short notice call together about one hundred men, which is equal to ten or twenty times the number in a well-peopled country. Deserters were well received by him, and murderers who had committed this crime in the revenge of injuries; the thief was not accepted, and much less the man who for the sake of pillage had taken the life of another.

Joam Carlos had received from Lisbon secret instructions to secure the person of this chief of the Feitozas. His first step was to inform the colonel, that he intended on a certain day to visit him at his village, for the purpose of reviewing his regiment. The village is not many leagues from the coast, but is distant considerably from Searà.[125] Feitoza answered, that he should be ready to receive His Excellency on the appointed day. The time came and Joam Carlos set out, accompanied by ten or twelve persons; the colonel greeted him most courteously, and had assembled all his men to make the greatest possible shew. After the review, the colonel dismissed them, fatigued with the day’s exercise, for many of them had travelled several leagues. He retired with the governor to his house, accompanied by a few of his near relations. At the time all the party was preparing to settle for the night, Joam Carlos, having arranged every thing with his own people, rose and presented a pistol to the breast of the chief, his followers doing the same to the colonel’s relations and servants, who were unable to make any resistance, as they were unprepared, and not so numerous as the governor’s men. Joam Carlos told Feitoza, that if he spoke or made the least noise he should immediately fire, though he well knew that his own destruction would be certain. He conducted him to the back door, and ordered him and all the persons present to mount the horses which had been prepared for them. They made for the sea-shore, and arrived there very early in the morning; jangadas were in waiting to take them on board a smack, which was lying off and on near to the coast. The alarm was given soon after their departure from Feitoza’s village, and as the governor reached the smack, he saw the colonel’s adherents upon the beach, embarking in jangadas to try to overtake them, but it was too late; the smack left the land, and the next day made for the shore, landed the governor, and then proceeded on her voyage. Feitoza was supposed to be in the prison of the Limoeiro at Lisbon when the French entered Portugal, and either died about that time or was released by them[45]. His followers still look forwards to his[126] return. The loss of their chiefs broke the power and union of the clan, and they have had disputes among themselves. Brazil is likewise undergoing a change of manners, and emerging rapidly from semi-barbarism.

A young man of Searà had been, a short time before my arrival, to the distance of thirty leagues into the interior, accompanied by two constables, to serve a writ upon a man of some property for a debt; they rode good horses, that they might perform their errand before he could have any knowledge that they were going, and might attempt, in consequence, any thing against their lives. It is a dangerous service to go into the interior to recover debts. The Portugueze law does not allow of arrest for debt, but by serving a writ any property which was sent down to the town to be shipped might be seized.

I was received at Searà most hospitably; the name of Englishman was a recommendation. In the morning I generally remained at home, and in the afternoon rode out with three or four of the young men of the place, who were much superior to any I had expected to find here, and in the evening a large party usually assembled at the house of Senhor Marcos; his company and that of his wife and daughter would have been very pleasant anywhere, but was particularly so in these uncivilized regions. Parties were likewise occasionally[127] given at the palace, and at both these places, after tea and coffee, cards and conversation made the evenings pass very quickly. The palace was the only dwelling in the town which had boarded floors; it appeared at first rather strange to be received by one of the principal officers of the province, in a room with a brick floor and plain white washed walls, as occurred at the house of Senhor Marcos.

This gentleman had delivered to me a crimson coloured satin bag, containing government papers, and directed to the Prince Regent of Portugal and Brazil, and he gave me directions to put it into the hands of the post-master at Pernambuco. I obtained, from being the bearer, the power of requiring horses from the several commandants upon the road. To him it was convenient, as with me its chance of safety was greater than if it had been forwarded by a single man on foot, which is the usual mode of conveyance. The men employed for this purpose are trust-worthy, but must of course sometimes meet with accidents.

I had in my journey from Goiana to Searà seen Pernambuco, and the adjoining provinces to the northward, in almost their worst state—that of one whole season without rain; but extreme wretchedness is produced by two successive years of drought; in such a case, on the second year, the peasants die by the road side; entire families are swept away, entire districts are depopulated. The country was in this dreadful state in 1791, 2, 3, for these three years passed without any considerable fall of rain. In 1810, food was still to be purchased, though at exorbitant prices, and in the following year the rains came down in abundance, and removed the dread of famine. I had, I say, seen the provinces through which I passed upon the brink of extreme want, owing to the failure of the rains; I had myself experienced inconvenience from this cause, and in one instance considerable distress from it; now in returning, the whole country was changed, the rains had commenced, and I was made to feel that great discomfort is caused by each extreme; but the sensations which the apprehension of a want of water produces are much more painful than the disagreeable[128] effects of an immoderate quantity of it—heavy rains and flooded lands.

I was obliged to stay at Searà longer than I had at first intended, owing to an accident which I met with in bathing; this confined me to my bed for some days. As soon as I was allowed to move I made preparations for my return; I purchased four horses, one to carry my trunk and a small barrel of biscuit, a second for farinha, a third for maize, and the fourth for myself. Senhor Lourenço sent for three trusty Indians from one of the villages for the purpose of accompanying me, and on the 8th January, 1811, I commenced my return to Pernambuco.

CHAPTER VIII.

RETURN.—FROM SEARA TO NATAL.—SERTANEJOS.—CATTLE.—VEGETABLE WAX.—FROM NATAL TO RECIFE.

I LEFT Searà at day-break with three Indians, and three loaded horses, and one of the young men with whom I had formed an acquaintance accompanied me to a short distance from the town. I deviated on my return to Aracati, in some measure, from the road by which I had travelled to Searà. The first day passed without any circumstance worthy of being mentioned, and I was chiefly occupied in finding out what sort of beings my Indians were, for I had had very little conversation with them before we set off. In the afternoon of the second day, having asked one of the Indians if the road was intricate to our next resting-place, and being answered, that there was no turning by which I could lose the right path, I left the loaded horses and rode on, being tired of following them at a foot’s pace;—this I had often done on other occasions. About five o’clock I put up at a cottage in which were two boys, whose appearance was very wretched, but they seemed glad to say that they would let me have a night’s lodging. On enquiry, they told me that their parents were gone to some distance to make paste from the stem of the Carnàûba, for that their usual food, the flour of the mandioc, was no longer to be had at any price in that neighbourhood. I was shown some of this paste, which was of a dark brown colour[46], and of the consistence[130] of dough that has not been sufficiently kneaded; it was bitter and nauseous to the taste. On this substance these miserable people were under the necessity of subsisting, adding to it occasionally dried fish or meat. My party arrived about an hour after me, and late in the evening, the younger boy began to beg; inconsiderately I gave him money, but shortly he returned, saying his elder brother desired him to tell me, that it would be of no use to them, as nothing could be purchased with it. Then I understood their meaning in begging at this moment,—my men were going to supper,—the children were of course desired to sit down with them. Here Feliciano, one of the Indians, sewed two hides loosely round the two bags of farinha, saying, that if we proceeded without disguising what they contained, we should at some hamlet upon the road be obliged to satisfy the people, who would probably beg part of it from us. He had not known, before he enquired from these children, that this part of the country was in such a dreadful state of want. The inhabitants had eaten up their own scanty crop, and some of them had even been tempted by the exorbitant price, to carry their stock to Searà for sale. They had not heard of the supply which had arrived at that place from the southward. We reached Aracati on the fifth day.

I remained two days at Aracati, that the horses might be brought from the island upon which they had been put out to grass. I experienced fully now what the guide had before told me respecting the horses. They had all lost flesh, and were apparently less fit for work than when I first arrived at Aracati, though doubtless the relief from daily work for so long a period must have rendered them better able to renew it again now. The Spanish discoverers in South America, who understood the business into which they had entered, strongly inculcated to their people the necessity of the steady and regular continuance of their journies, unless a pause could have been made for some length of time[47]. I bought a large dog at Aracati,[131] which had been trained to keep watch over the baggage of travellers.

A man presented himself here, requesting to be allowed to go with me to Pernambuco. He described himself as a Portugueze sailor, a European by birth, and as having belonged to the Portugueze sloop of war, called the Andorinha, which was wrecked upon the coast between Parà and Maranham. He had travelled from the spot at which he had landed to this place without any assistance from government. No provision had been made by any of the men in power for the subsistence of the persons who escaped. I consented to his joining me; he behaved well, and I never afterwards had any cause to doubt the truth of his story.

I had now a great increase in my number of men and horses, but was advised to take the men all forwards with me, as the rains might commence and the rivers fill, in which case the more people I had to assist in crossing them, with less danger would it be accomplished. The additional number of horses enabled me to divide the weight into smaller loads, and to have two or three beasts unencumbered, for the purpose of relieving the others if necessary. The party now consisted of nine persons and eleven horses.

Senhor Barrozo’s kindness was still continued towards me, and I hope I shall never cease to feel grateful for it.

I was advised to get on to the sea-shore as soon as possible on leaving Aracati, this being the better road; consequently I slept the first night, distant three leagues from that place, at Alagoa do Mato—a small lake which was now nearly dried up. The following morning we travelled over the sands, passed a small village near to the shore called Retiro, and slept at Cajuaes, a place we were acquainted with; and from hence to St. Luzia we followed the same route as in going to Searà. From Cajuaes we passed through Areias, famous for the ghost story, and rested at Tibou, proceeding in the afternoon with the intention of sleeping at the unfinished house on the road to Ilha; but the night was closing in upon us when we were still two leagues short of it, and for this reason it was thought adviseable to stop and[132] pass the night among the brushwood. We had had several showers of rain, occasionally for some days past, and although they were slight, the grass had begun to spring up in some places. The rapidity of vegetation in Brazil is truly astonishing. Rain in the evening upon good soil will by sunrise have given a greenish tinge to the earth, which is increased, if the rain continues, on the second day to sprouts of grass of an inch in length, and these on the third day are sufficiently long to be picked up by the half starved cattle.

The brushwood among which we had determined to pass the night was low and not close, so that only two shrubs were found to be near enough to each other and of sufficient strength to support a hammock; between these mine was hung, whilst the people took up their quarters upon the packages as to them seemed best. Between one and two o’clock in the morning the rain commenced, at first, with some moderation; the guide fastened two cords from shrub to shrub above my hammock, and laid some hides upon them as a covering for me, but soon the rain increased, and the whole party crowded under the hides. I got up, and all of us stood together in some degree sheltered, until the hides fell down owing to their being quite soaked. Our fires were of course completely extinguished. I reminded my people of the necessity of keeping the locks of our fire-arms dry; indeed those persons of the party who knew the Sertam must be even more aware than myself of the numbers of Jaguars which are to be met with upon these travessias. I had not spoken many minutes before Feliciano said that he heard the growl of one of these animals—he was right, for a lot of mares galloped across the path not far from us, and shortly after the growl was distinctly heard; either the same or many of these beasts were near to us during the remainder of the night, as we heard the growl in several directions. We stood with our backs to each other and by no means free from the chance of being attacked, though the Indians from time to time set up a sort of song or howl, (such as is practised by the Sertanejos when guiding large droves of half tamed cattle) with the intent of frightening the Jaguars. Towards day-break the deluge somewhat abated, but still[133] the rain was hard and it did not cease. In the morning there was much difficulty in finding the horses, as the Jaguars had frightened and scattered them; indeed we much doubted that they would all be alive, but I suppose the wild cattle were preferred as being in better condition. The loads were arranged and we proceeded to Ilha, distant six leagues, arriving there about two o’clock in the afternoon, after having sustained twelve hours of continued rain. The owner of the estate of Ilha sent a message to say that he wished me to remove from the out-house, in which I had settled myself for the remainder of the day and ensuing night, to his residence; I accepted his offer. It was a low, mud cottage covered with tiles, which had been made from the clay that is to be found upon the skirts of the salt marsh near to which his house stood. He gave us plenty of milk and dried meat; there was a scarcity of farinha, but a plentiful year was expected. Immediately on my entrance into his house he offered me his hammock, in which he had been sitting, but mine was soon slung and we sat, talked, and smoked for a considerable time. The mosquitos were very troublesome, indeed from this day we were scarcely ever without them at night, and they annoyed us more or less, according to the state of the wind and the quantity of rain which had fallen during the day. The inconvenience occasioned by these insects is inconceivable, until it has been experienced.

The next day we advanced to the village of St. Luzia, and rested at noon there in an unfinished cottage. Soon after we had unloaded our horses and I had lain myself down in my hammock intending to sleep, the guide told me that a number of people appeared to be assembling near to us, and that I ought to recollect the quarrel which we had had here in going. I got up and asked for my trunk, opened it with as little apparent design as possible, turned over several things in it, and taking out the Red Bag, placed it upon a large log of timber near to me, and then I continued to search in the trunk, as if for something I could not immediately find. When I looked up again, in a few minutes, all the persons who had assembled were gone—either the important consequences attending this bag were known,—that[134] of having the power of making a requisition of horses, or some other idea of my situation in life was given by the sight of this magical bag. The river near St. Luzia had not yet filled. We proceeded in the afternoon and reached the banks of the river Panema, a narrow but now a rapid stream. One of the men went in to try if it was fordable, but before he was half way across he found that it would be impossible to pass, as the rapidity and depth would effectually prevent any attempt to carry the packages over upon the heads of the Indians. I desired the people to remain where they were, whilst I turned back with the Goiana guide to look for some habitation, because, owing to the commencement of the rains, sleeping in the open air would have been highly imprudent.

We made for a house, which was situated among the Carnàûba trees, at some distance from the road, and as the owner of it said that he could accommodate us, and that there was abundance of grass for our horses, the guide returned to bring the party to this place, which was called St. Anna. In the course of the night I had an attack of ague, which would have delayed me at St. Anna even if the height of the waters had not prevented me from proceeding. However I became more unwell, and perhaps I imagined myself to be worse than I really was, but I began to wish to arrive at Açù, as, by so doing, I should be advancing upon my journey, and at the same time I should obtain the advantage of being near to some priest, to whom I could impart any message which I might have to send to my friends. Although I was not in immediate danger, I was aware of the sudden changes to which aguish disorders are liable. As soon as the waters began to subside I determined to remove, but as I could not mount on horseback, it would be necessary that I should be carried in a hammock; however the difficulty consisted in procuring a sufficient number of men. By waiting another day six persons were obtained from the cottages in the vicinity, some of which were distant more than a league. On the fifth day from that of my arrival here, we set off, crossed the river, which was barely fordable, and entered upon the flooded lands. The waters covered the whole face of[135] the country, though they were now subsiding a little. The depth was in parts up to the waist, but was in general less than knee-deep. The men knew the way from practice, but even the guide whom I had hired at Açu could not have found it without the assistance of those who carried me. At noon the hammock with me in it was hung between two trees, resting the two ends of the pole by which the men carried it upon two forked branches; and hides were placed over this pole to shade me from the sun, as the trees had not recovered from the drought and were yet without leaves. The men slung their hammocks also, the packages were supported upon the branches of trees, and the horses stood in the water and eat their maize out of bags which were tied round their noses. The water was shallow here, as this spot was rather higher than the lands around; and in one place the ground was beginning to make its appearance. At dusk we reached Chafaris, a fazenda, situated upon dry land, and here we put up under an unfinished house. The horse upon which my trunk and case of bottles had travelled, had fallen down, and to add to my discomfort, my cloaths were completely wetted, and even the red bag did not entirely escape.

I passed a wretched night, from the ague and from over fatigue. The following morning I had some conversation with the owner of the place, and purchased two of his horses. At noon I sent off the comboio, under the care of Feliciano, who was desired to reach Piatô the following night. I remained with the Goiana guide and Julio, who had been promoted to John’s place of groom. With considerable difficulty the packages were carried across the river, which runs just below this estate; the stream was at present rapid, and the stony bed in which it runs increased the difficulty. When I passed on the morning following, the depth and rapidity of the current were considerably diminished, for no rain had fallen during the night. I had mounted the two persons who accompanied me upon the two horses which had been purchased the day before, and I rode a led horse which was quite fresh; resolving to arrive at Piatô, distant ten leagues, in one day; this I accomplished, resting only a short time[136] at noon. I was very unfit for so much exertion, but the necessity of the case did not allow me any alternative, and I was determined to ride until absolute exhaustion forced me to give way.

We overtook my people, and all of us rested at the same place. Feliciano shot an antelope, upon which we dined. It was seldom if ever absolutely necessary to depend upon our guns for subsistence, though the provision thus obtained was by no means unacceptable, as it varied our diet. We could generally either purchase a considerable supply of dried meat, or as occasionally occurred, it was afforded us gratuitously. Sheep were sometimes to be bought, and at others, fowls might be obtained on enquiring at the cottages; but although numbers of the latter were to be seen about the huts, and a high price offered, still the owners frequently refused to part with them. The women, naturally enough, had the management of this department of household arrangement, and after much bargaining, the housewife would often at last declare, that all of them were such favourites, that she and her children could not resolve to have any of them killed. This behaviour became so frequent, that at last when either the guide or myself rode up to a cottage to purchase a fowl, it was quite decisive with us, if the husband called to his wife, saying that she would settle the matter. Unless we had time to spare for talking, we generally went our way.

My friend the commandant was still residing at Piatô; I felt as if I was returning home; my spirits were low, and any trifle relieved them. This night I was still very unwell, my thirst was great, and nothing satisfied and allayed it so much as water-melons, of which there was here a superabundance. I ate several of them. The guide said I should kill myself; but I thought otherwise, for I liked the fruit. In the morning I awoke quite a changed person, and the ague returned no more. The guide often said afterwards that he never had known until the present occasion, that water-melons might be taken as a cure for the ague. He was quite certain that they had performed the cure, and that they would have the same effect upon all persons in the same disease. Such are the changes to which this[137] strange complaint is subject; often thus suddenly leaving the patient, but as frequently or more so, ending in fever and delirium; however it seldom proves fatal.

On the morrow we left Piatô, with the addition to our party of a small tame sheep, and a tame tatu-bola, or armadillo, both having been given to me by the commandant. The former kept pace with the horses for many days, and it never gave us any trouble, until the long continuance of the journey wearied it out, and then I was obliged to make room for it in one of the panniers; in this manner it travelled for a day or two at a time. The armadillo was conveyed in a small bag, and only on one occasion gave us any trouble; when we released it at our resting-places, it usually remained among the packages, either feeding or rolled up. It was with some difficulty that Mimoza was prevented from annoying it; but latterly she and the armadillo were very good friends. At Açu I changed one of my horses for another that was in better condition, and gave about the value of a guinea to boot.

Our friends, the saddler and the owner of the house which we had inhabited in going, received us very cordially, and offered to assist us in crossing the river, which was full; but they advised me to wait for a decrease of the depth and rapidity of the stream; however I was anxious to advance, and my people made no objection. Here I discharged the young man whom I had taken from hence as a guide to Aracati. We crossed the smaller branch of the river, with the water reaching to the flaps of the saddles. When we arrived at the second and principal branch, it was discovered that a jangada would be necessary to convey the baggage across. Several of the inhabitants of the place had followed us, judging that this would be the case, and they were willing to be of service to us in expectation of being compensated for their trouble. A few logs of timber were soon procured; some of them had been brought down by the stream, and were now upon the banks, and others were conveyed from the town; the cords with which the packages were fastened to the pack-saddles were made use of to tie the logs together, for the purpose of forming the raft. The father of[138] the young man who had been with me to Aracati accompanied us to the river side to assist, and had brought Mimoza with him. I requested him to secure her, otherwise I thought she would follow me; he did so, and sent her back to the town by a boy. When the raft was prepared, the saddles and all the packages were placed upon it, and I sat down among them. Four men laid hold of each side of the raft, and shoved off from the shore, and when they lost their footing, each man kept hold of the raft with one hand, swimming with the other; but notwithstanding their exertions, the stream carried us down about fifty yards before we reached the other side, which however was gained in safety. The Indians were already there with the horses. The river of Açu is from two to three hundred yards in breadth; it was now deep and dangerous, and from the violence of the current, a guide is requisite, that advantage may be taken of the shallowest parts. The Sertanejos have a curious contrivance for crossing rivers, which is formed of three pieces of wood, and upon this they paddle themselves to the opposite side. I heard it often spoken of by the name of cavalete; but as I did not see any of them, I cannot pretend to give an exact description[48].

The men soon left us to arrange the loads, which we were doing with all possible expedition, when on turning round, I saw Mimoza running up to me, half crouched and half afraid. I had often wished to purchase this animal, but nothing would induce her master to part with her; he said that he had had her from a whelp, and added, that if he put the pot upon the fire, and then went out with her, he was sure to return by the time it boiled, bringing something with which to fill it. He did not mean that this was literally the case; but thus quaintly he wished to impress the idea of her great expertness in[139] hunting. She followed us, as she found that she was well received. We advanced, and halted at St. Ursula, a fazenda, distant from Açu one league and a half, and here we slept. The roads lay through woods, which were thick and close. From hence to the Seara-meirim, the country was new to me, as I deviated from the road by which I had arrived at Açu, on my way northwards. I now took the shortest road to Natal, but had frequently to cross this winding river.

Whilst I was at dinner, Mimoza was near to me, watching for her share, when suddenly she crept under the bench upon which I sat; I soon saw what had caused this movement, for the old man, the father of her owner, was coming towards us; he said that he came for his son’s dog. I persuaded him to sell her, and when he was going his way, Mimoza ran out from under the bench and fawned upon him. I told him to go on, and invite her to follow him; but upon this she immediately returned growling to her old station under the bench. She had been better treated and better fed with me than when she was with her master. I always fed her myself, and had several times prevented him from beating her.

The next day we passed through the fazendas of Passagem and Barra; the road was over loose stony ground and we crossed one dry marsh. In the afternoon we travelled from S. Bento to Anjicos, which obliged us to pass over some higher ground, which was very stony and painful to our horses. We crossed a small shallow stream several times.

Our next day’s march carried us across more stony ground. The persons to whom we spoke, said that there had been no rain, and indeed this was evident. There was no grass, and the country was yet parched and dreary. The horses had no water at noon, for the well was small, and the spring which supplied it was insufficient for so great a number of beasts. I was thirsty in the afternoon, and therefore left the comboio to follow at its usual pace, and rode on accompanied by Julio; the two dogs likewise would come with us. We entered upon a plain, and now for the second time I saw an ema, a species of ostrich. Notwithstanding my attempts to prevent[140] them, the dogs set off after it, and much against my inclination I was obliged to wait until their return. The bird ran from them with great velocity, flapping its wings, but never leaving the ground. The emas outstrip the fleetest horses. The colour of the one which we saw was a dark grey; its height, including the neck, which was very long, was about that of a man on horseback, and it had that appearance at first sight, when at some distance. The Sertanejos say, that when pursued the ema spurs itself to run the faster; that the spurs or pointed bones are placed in the inside of the wings, and that as these are flapped, the bones strike the sides and wound them. I have heard many people say, that when an ema is caught after a hard chase, the sides are found to be bloody. It is possible that this effect may be produced by some cause similar to that by which a pig cuts its own throat in swimming. The eggs of the ema are large, and although the food which they afford is coarse, it is not unpalatable. The feathers are much esteemed. When the dogs returned we continued our journey; the road led us between high rocks, and after proceeding along it for some time, the dogs suddenly struck from the path, and went up the side of a flat rock, which sloped down towards the road, but was sufficiently low to allow of a horse ascending it. Our horses stopped and snuffed up the air. Julio cried out at the same time “water, water,” and spurred his horse to follow the dogs, and I did the same. Julio was quite correct in what he had supposed, from the direction which the dogs immediately took, and from the stopping of the horses. There was a long and narrow but deep cleft in the rock, which was nearly full of water, clear and cold. The sides of the cleft slanted inwards, and the water was below the surface, so that the dogs were running round and howling, without being able to reach it; the horses too, as soon as we dismounted, and they saw the water, began to paw, and attempted to press forwards to drink. We had brought no vessel with which to take up any of it, and were under the necessity of using our hats to satisfy the horses and dogs. The rest of the party came up after some time; Feliciano was acquainted with the spot, but if[141] the dogs and horses had not pointed it out to Julio, he and I should have missed it. We were delayed considerably in giving water enough to all the horses, as we had no large vessel in which to take it up. I heard from Feliciano, and subsequently from other persons, that these clefts in the rocks are common; but that they are known to few, and those principally of his rank and occupation in life, and that this knowledge enabled them to find plenty of water when others were in great distress. He said, “we never refuse to give information, but we say as little about it as possible.” I travelled until ten o’clock at night, wishing to reach some fazenda, and not to remain in the open air, as there were several heavy clouds flying about, from the look of which we well knew that if the wind abated, rain would come on. We reached a fazenda, and applied for a night’s lodging, which was granted; but upon a survey of the interior of the house, I preferred the open air with all its disadvantages. The place was full of persons who had assembled from the neighbouring estates, in expectation of rain, as they had come to assist in collecting cattle. The fellows were eating dried meat, and had by some means obtained a quantity of rum. I took up my station at a distance from the house, and we scarcely laid down during the night, from the fear of rain, and in some measure that we might be prepared to prevent any of our horses being stolen, as a piece of sport, by the people in the house.

The next day we crossed over a plain which was partly without trees and in part covered with brushwood; in going over this last portion I had pushed on with Julio, leaving the comboio to follow us. We had nearly lost our way at the division of several paths; even Julio’s knowledge was insufficient, and had we not met some travellers and enquired of them, I know not how far from the baggage we might have been at night.

On the following morning we advanced again, took water in skins near to some cottages, and at noon stationed ourselves in the bed of a rivulet, where there was good grass, but no water. As the bed was lower than the neighbouring land the very first shower had made the[142] grass spring up, though there had not been rain sufficient to excite vegetation upon its banks. Here the armadillo strayed into some brushwood; Feliciano followed it by the marks of its footsteps over the grass and dry leaves, and brought it back. I am quite confident that he did not see which way it went, and to a person unused to tracing footsteps there appeared to be none. If it had passed over sand, there would not have been any thing extraordinary in discovering the way which the animal had taken, but upon grass and dry leaves so small an animal could make but a most trifling impression. I mentioned at this place accidentally that the skins had spoiled the water, for it tasted of the grease with which they had been rubbed. Feliciano heard me, and took up a small skin that lay empty, which was old and therefore not greasy, and said, “I’ll try to find some for you that is better;” and away he went. In about an hour he returned with the skin full of excellent water. He had recollected a cleft in a rock at some distance, and had gone to see if any yet remained in it.

We slept at a fazenda, and the next day proceeded in the expectation of reaching the Searà-meirim, which we did. This track of country had not recovered from the drought, but the trees were beginning to be cloathed, and the grass under them was in most parts of sufficient length to afford subsistence to our horses. Water was still scarce and bad, but the rain had made it less brackish and more plentiful. We passed over the travessia with all possible haste, as the floods were expected shortly, and sometimes the water comes down, as I have before stated, with great rapidity. There is some danger in being caught by the water upon any of the peninsulas or islands which are formed by its bends, for to be under the necessity of crossing over a stream which runs with much violence, perhaps ten times or more successively, would be too much for almost any horse to bear, and particularly for those which were already fatigued by a long journey. We left the Searà-meirim in four days, passed Pai Paulo, and early on the fifth day arrived again at the dry lake. The people of this place were upon the point of decamping,[143] as the rains were expected or rather had already commenced. We now met several parties of travellers, who had taken advantage of the first rains to pass over this track of country, and who were hastening before the floods came down the river.

January is not properly speaking the rainy season. The rains at the commencement of the year are called the primeiras aguas or the first waters, and continue for about a fortnight or three weeks, after which the weather generally becomes again settled until May or June, and from this time until the end of August the rains are usually pretty constant. From August or September until the opening of the year there is not usually any rain. The dry weather can be depended upon with more certainty from September until January, than from February until May; likewise the wet weather can be looked for with more certainty from June until August than in January. There are very few days during the whole course of the year of incessant rain. What I have said regarding the seasons must however be taken with some latitude, as in all climates they are subject to variation.

The horse I left at the dry lake was faithfully delivered to me, and I continued my journey on the following day to Natal. The governor received me with the same cordiality as before.

I had now left the Sertam, and though it treated me rather roughly, still I have always wished I could have seen more of it. There is a certain pleasure which I cannot describe in crossing new countries, and that portion of territory over which I had travelled was new to an Englishman. From the sensations which I experienced I can well imagine what those are, which travellers in unexplored countries must feel at every step—at every novelty which comes under their view. There is yet much ground upon the continent of South America to be traversed, and I most heartily wish that it had been my fate to be the civilized individual first doomed to cross from Pernambuco to Lima.

I have perhaps hardly said sufficient to give a correct idea of the inhabitants of the fazendas or cattle estates. Unlike the Peons of the[144] country in the vicinity of the river Plata, the Sertanejo has about him his wife and family, and lives in comparative comfort. The cottages are small and are built of mud, but afford quite sufficient shelter in so fine a climate; they are covered with tiles where these are to be had, or, as is more general, with the leaves of the Carnàûba. Hammocks usually supply the place of beds and are by far more comfortable, and these are likewise frequently used as chairs. Most of the better sort of cottages contain a table, but the usual practice is for the family to squat down upon a mat in a circle, with the bowls, dishes, or gourds in the centre, thus to eat their meals upon the floor. Knives and forks are not much known, and are not at all made use of by the lower orders. It is the custom in every house, from the highest to the lowest, as in former times, and indeed the same practice prevails in all the parts of the country which I visited, for a silver basin, or one of earthenware, or a cuia, and a fringed cambric towel, or one that is made of the coarse cotton cloth of the country, to be handed round, that all those who are going to sit down to eat may wash their hands; and the same ceremony, or rather necessary piece of cleanliness, takes place again after the meal is finished. Of the gourds great use is made in domestic arrangements; they are cut in two and the pulp is scooped out, then the rind is dried and these rude vessels serve almost every purpose of earthenware—water is carried in them, &c. and they are likewise used as measures. They vary from six inches in circumference to about three feet, and are usually rather of an oval shape. The gourd when whole is called cabaça, and the half of the rind is called cuia. It is a creeping plant, and grows spontaneously in many parts, but in others the people plant it among the mandioc.

The conversation of the Sertanejos usually turns upon the state of their cattle or of women, and occasionally, accounts of adventures which took place at Recife or at some other town. The merits or demerits of the priests with whom they may happen to be acquainted are likewise discussed, and their irregular practices are made a subject of ridicule. The dress of the men has already been described, but when they are at home a shirt and drawers alone remain. The[145] women have a more slovenly look, as their only dress is a shift and petticoat, no stockings, and oftentimes no shoes; but when they leave home, which is very seldom, an addition is made of a large piece of coarse white cloth, either of their own or of European manufacture, and this is thrown over the head and shoulders; a pair of shoes is likewise then put on. They are good horsewomen, and the high Portugueze saddle serves the purpose of a side-saddle very completely. I never saw any Brazilian woman riding, as is the case occasionally in Portugal, in the manner that men do. Their employment consists in household arrangements entirely, for the men even milk the cows and goats: the women spin and work with the needle. No females of free birth are ever seen employed in any kind of labour in the open air, excepting in that of occasionally fetching wood or water, if the men are not at home. The children generally run about naked until a certain age, but this is often seen even in Recife; to the age of six or seven years, boys are allowed to run about without any cloathing. Formerly, I mean before the commencement of a direct trade with England, both sexes dressed in the coarse cotton cloth which is made in the country; the petticoats of this cloth were sometimes tinged with a red dye, which was obtained from the bark of the coipuna tree, a native of their woods; and even now this dye is used for tinging fishing-nets, as it is said that those which have undergone this process last the longer.

In those times, a dress of the common printed cotton of English or of Portugueze manufacture cost from eight to twelve mil reis, from two to three guineas, owing to the monopoly of the trade, by which the merchants of Recife put what price they pleased upon their commodities; other things were in proportion. Owing to the enormous prices, European articles of dress could of course only be possessed by the rich people. However, since the opening of the ports to foreign trade, English goods are finding their way all over the country, and the hawkers are now a numerous body of men. The women seldom appear, and when they are seen do not take any part in the conversation, unless it be some one good wife who rules the roast; if they[146] are present at all when the men are talking, they stand or squat down upon the ground, in the door-way leading to the interior of the house, and merely listen. The morals of the men are by no means strict, and when this is the case, it must give an unfavourable bias, in some degree, to those of the women; but the Sertanejo is very jealous, and more murders are committed, and more quarrels entered into on this score, by tenfold, than on any other. These people are revengeful; an offence is seldom pardoned, and in default of law, of which there is scarcely any, each man takes it into his own hands. This is without any sort of doubt a dreadful state of society, and I do not by any means pretend to speak in its justification; but if the causes of most of the murders committed and beatings given are enquired into, I have usually found that the receiver had only obtained what he deserved. Robbery in the Sertam is scarcely known; the land is in favourable years too plentiful to afford temptation, and in seasons of distress for food, every man is for the most part equally in want. Subsistence is to be obtained in an easier manner than by stealing in so abundant a country, and where both parties are equally brave and resolute; but besides these reasons, I think the Sertanejos are a good race of people. They are tractable and might easily be instructed, excepting in religious matters; in these they are fast rivetted; and such was their idea of an Englishman and a heretic, that it was on some occasions difficult to make them believe that I, who had the figure of a human being, could possibly belong to that non-descript race. They are extremely ignorant, few of them possessing even the commonest rudiments of knowledge. Their religion is confined to the observance of certain forms and ceremonies, and to the frequent repetition of a few prayers, faith in charms, relics, and other things of the same order. The Sertanejos are courageous, generous, sincere, and hospitable: if a favour is begged, they know not how to deny it; but if you trade with them either for cattle, or aught else, the character changes, and then they wish to outwit you, conceiving success to be a piece of cleverness of which they may boast.

The following anecdote is characteristic. A Sertanejo came down[147] from the interior with a large drove of cattle, which had been entrusted to him to sell; he obtained a purchaser, who was to pay him at the close of two or three months. The Sertanejo waited to receive the money, as his home was too far distant to return for this purpose. Before the expiration of the term, the purchaser of the cattle found some means of having him imprisoned; he went to him when he was in confinement, and pretending to be extremely sorry for his misfortune, hinted, that if he would allow him to appropriate part of the debt to the purpose, he would try to obtain his release; to this the Sertanejo agreed, and consequently soon obtained his freedom. He heard soon afterwards how the whole of the business had been managed by the purchaser of the cattle, to avoid paying for what he had bought, and he could not obtain any part of the money. Having advised his employers in the Sertam of these circumstances, he received for answer, that the loss of the money was of little consequence, but that he must either assassinate the man who had injured him, or not return home; because he should himself suffer if the insult remained unrevenged. The Sertanejo immediately made preparations for returning; he had always feigned great thankfulness towards his debtor for obtaining his release, and a total ignorance of his unjustifiable conduct. On the day of his departure, he rode to the house of the man whom he had determined to destroy, and dismounted, whilst one of his two companions held his horse; he saw the owner of the house, and as he gave him the usual parting embrace, ran his long knife into his side; he then quickly leapt on to his horse, and the three persons rode off. None dared to molest them, for they were well armed, and although this occurred in a large town, they soon joined a considerable number of their countrymen who waited for them in the outskirts, and proceeded to their own country, without any attempt being made to apprehend them. These circumstances took place several years ago; but the relatives of the man who was killed still bear in mind his death, and a determination of revenging it upon him who committed it, if he was again to place[148] himself within their reach. Many persons can vouch for the truth of the story.

The colour of the Sertanejos varies from white, of which there are necessarily few, to a dark brown; the shades of which are almost as various as there are persons: two of exactly the same tint are scarcely to be met with. Children of the same parents rarely if ever are of the same shade; some difference is almost always perceivable, and this is, in many instances, so glaring, as to lead at first to doubts of the authenticity; but it is too general to be aught but what is right. The offspring of white and black persons leans, in most instances, more to one colour than to the other, when perhaps a second child will take a contrary tinge[49]. These remarks do not only hold good in the Sertam, but are applicable to all the country which I had opportunities of seeing. The Sertanejo, if colour is set aside, is certainly handsome; and the women, whilst young, have well-shaped forms, and many of them good features; indeed I have seen some of the white persons who would be admired in any country. Their constant exposure to the sun, and its great power at a distance from the sea, darkens the complexion more than if the same persons had resided upon the coast; but this gives them a decided dark colour, which has the appearance of durability, and is much preferable to a sallow sickly look, though of a lighter tint.

The persons who reside upon and have the care of the cattle estates, are called Vaqueiros, which simply means cowherds. They have a share of the calves and foals that are reared upon the land, but of the lambs, pigs, goats, &c. no account is given to the owner; and from the quantity of cattle, numbers are reckoned very loosely; it is therefore a comfortable and lucrative place, but the duties attending it are heavy, require considerable courage, and great bodily strength and[149] activity. Some of the owners live upon their estates; but the major part of those through which I passed, were possessed by men of large property, who resided in the towns upon the coast, or who were at the same time sugar-planters.

The interior of Pernambuco, Rio Grande, Paraiba, and Seara, contains, properly speaking, no wild cattle[50]. Twice every year the herdsmen from several estates assemble for the purpose of collecting the cattle. The cows are driven from all quarters into the area in front of the house, and here, surrounded by several horsemen, are put into spacious pens. This being done, the men dismount, and now their object is, if any of the cows are inclined to be unruly, which is often the case, to noose them by the horns so as to secure them; or another mode is adopted, which is by noosing one of the hind-legs, and carrying the cord quite round the animal, so as to throw it down. The calves are then caught, and this is done without much difficulty; they are marked on the right haunch with a red-hot iron, which is made of the shape that has been fixed upon by the owner as his peculiar mark. When the oxen are to be collected for a market, the service is more dangerous, and frequently the rider is under the necessity of throwing the animal to the ground with his long pole, as I have in another place mentioned. On the man’s approach, the ox runs off into the nearest wood, and the man follows, as closely as he possibly can, that he may take advantage of the opening of the branches which is made by the beast, as these shortly close again, resuming their former situation. At times the ox passes under a low and thick branch of a large tree, then the man likewise passes under the branch, and that he may do this, he leans to the right side so completely, as to enable him to lay hold of the girth of his[150] saddle with his left hand, and at the same time his left heel catches the flap of the saddle; thus with the pole in his right hand, almost trailing upon the ground, he follows without slackening his pace, and being clear of this obstacle, again resumes his seat. If he can overtake the ox, he runs his goad into its side, and if this is dexterously done, he throws it. Then he dismounts, and ties the animal’s legs together, or places one fore-leg over one of the horns, which secures it most effectually. Many blows are received by these men, but it is seldom that deaths are occasioned.

In crossing the Seara-meirim, I mentioned an instance of a cow having strayed to an immense distance from its native pasture. This propensity to ramble is common among horned cattle, even without its proceeding from the scarcity of grass or water. Often at the time of collecting the cattle, those persons who have been to a considerable distance to assist others, drive back a number of beasts with their own mark; the estate to which they belonged being distant twenty leagues or more. When a traveller is in distress for water, he cannot do better than to follow the first cattle-path, as these usually lead to the nearest pool of water, in a direct line. The paths are easily distinguished, being very narrow, and the wood uniting above, leaving open below only a shady walk, of the height of the animals which made it.

Each lot of mares with its master horse is driven into the pens; this consists of from fifteen to twenty in number. The foals are likewise marked in the same manner as the calves. It is worthy of remark, and the circumstance was often repeated to me, that the horse of the lot drives from it not only the colts but the fillies also, as soon as they are full grown. The fact was only qualified in two or three instances, when told to me, by the person who related it adding, that if the horse did not do so, he was taken from the lot, and broken for the pack-saddle, being considered of a bad breed. When a horse is to be tamed for any purpose whatsoever, he is noosed, after being put into a pen, and is tied to a stake; on the following day, or perhaps the same afternoon, if he appears at all tractable, a small low[151] saddle is placed upon him, and a man then mounts with a double halter. The animal runs off with him, which the man, far from attempting to prevent, rather urges him to do; though in general the whip and spur are not made use of, unless he is obstinate and refuses to go forwards. Horses of good breeds are said to be those most easily tamed. The horse runs until he becomes weary, and is then brought back quietly by its rider; and perhaps they do not reach the rider’s home until the following day. The man must not dismount until he has returned to the spot from whence he started, as he would probably experience great difficulty when he wished again to proceed, from the restiveness of the horse. The same operation is continued as long as the animal is not supposed to be effectually broken in, and safe to mount. It happens on some occasions, that by plunging, the horse gets rid of both man and saddle, and is not again seen for a length of time; however, unless the girths give way, he has little chance of throwing his rider, for the Sertanejos are most excellent horsemen.

The horses are small, and some of them are finely shaped, though little attention is paid to the improvement of the breed. Great stress is laid upon the colour, in the choice of these animals; some colours being accounted more demonstrative of strength than others. Thus a cream-coloured horse, with a tail and mane of the same colour, is rejected for the pack-saddle, or for any kind of severe labour; and if horses of this description are sold for these purposes, the price is lower than that of an animal of an equally promising appearance in form and size, of any other tinge: they are much esteemed if well shaped, as saddle-horses, for short distances. A cream-coloured horse, with a black tail and mane, is reckoned strong. The horses that have one fore-leg white, and the other of the colour of the body, are supposed to be liable to stumble. The usual colours are bay and grey; but chesnut, black, and cream-colour are less common; those most esteemed for work are dark bays, with black tails and manes, and greys dotted with small bay spots. Stallions are broken in both for the saddle and for carrying loads in[152] the neighbourhood of the towns; but the Sertanejos, both from necessity and from their knowledge of their superior ability to perform hard labour, make use of geldings. It is not always safe to ride a high-spirited horse in the Sertam, because when he begins to neigh, instances have occurred of some master horse coming to give him battle, and as both are equally desirous of fighting, the rider may perhaps find himself under the necessity of placing himself at a distance from the combatants. However, if he should chance to have a good stick in his hand, and can prevent his own horse from rearing as the wild horse approaches, he may come off in safety.

Sheep are kept upon every estate for their flesh, when that of a more esteemed kind fails; that is, either when the oxen are in a meagre state, owing to a long continuance of dry weather; or that the herdsman is too much occupied at home, or too lazy to go out and kill one. The mutton is never well-tasted, and though it is true that in the Sertam no care whatever is taken in rearing or feeding the sheep, still I do not think that this kind of meat is to be brought to any great perfection[51]. The lambs are covered with fine wool, and this continues until they are one year and a half or two years old; but after this age, it begins to drop, and is replaced by a species of hair. Although the wool should remain longer in some instances, it appeared to me that it was coarse and short[52]. A wound[153] upon the body of this animal is more difficult to heal than upon that of any other, and the flesh of it is of all others the most rapid in its advances to putrefaction.

The division of property in the Sertam is very undeterminate, and this may be imagined, when I say, that the common mode of defining the size of a fazenda, is by computing it at so many leagues; or, as in some cases, by so many hundreds of calves yearly, without any reference to the quantity of land. Few persons take the trouble of making themselves acquainted with the exact extent of their own property, and perhaps could not discover it if they made the attempt.

The climate is good; indeed the inland flat country is much more healthy than that immediately bordering the coast. I can hardly name any disorders that appear to be peculiar to it; but several are known. Agues are not common, but they exist. Dropsy also they are acquainted with. Ulcers in the legs are common, but less so than upon the coast. Ruptures frequently occur. The small-pox[53] makes dreadful ravages, and the measles are much dreaded. When the venereal disease has once settled, the sufferer seldom gets rid of it entirely; applications of herbs are used, but as these people are unacquainted with or unable to follow its proper mode of treatment, some of the patients are crippled, and the major part of them never again enjoy good health. The yaws also is to be met with; but I had afterwards more opportunities of seeing this complaint, and will therefore not now give any account of it. Instances of consumption occur. The hooping-cough did not appear to be known in any part of the country which I visited; I made many inquiries respecting it, but could not obtain any information upon the subject. I slept many times in the open air, and never felt any bad effects from so doing. The dew is trifling, and a high wind is usual in the night. The sun[154] is powerful, and is of course particularly felt in travelling over sandy loose soil; but it did not seem to do any mischief. I never suffered from head-ache, and excepting the attack of the ague, which is accounted for from the heavy rain which we experienced, I never enjoyed better health.

The food of the inhabitants of the Sertam consists chiefly of meat, of which they make three meals; and to this is added the flour of the mandioc stirred up into paste, or rice sometimes supplies its place. The bean, which is commonly called in England the French bean, is a favourite food; it is suffered to run to seed, and is only plucked up when quite dry and hard. I have often been surprised to see of how little service maize is to them as food, but yet it is occasionally used. In default of these, the paste of the carnàûba is made; and I have seen meat eaten with curds. Of green vegetables they know nothing, and they laugh at the idea of eating any kind of salad. The wild fruits are numerous, and to be obtained in any quantities, but few species are cultivated; among the latter are the water-melon and the plantain. The cheese of the Sertam, when it is fresh, is excellent; but after four or five weeks, it becomes hard and tough. Some few persons make butter, by shaking the milk in a common black bottle, but this must of course be experimental, and not general. In the towns even of the Sertam, rancid Irish butter is the only kind which is to be obtained. Wherever the lands admit of it, these people plant mandioc, rice, &c. but much, I may say the greater part of the vegetable portion of their food, is brought either from more fertile districts near to the coast, or from the settlements still further back,—the vallies and skirts of the Cariris, Serra do Teixeira, and other inland mountains.

The trade of the Sertam consists in receiving small quantities of European manufactured goods[54]; the cotton cloth of the country, of which they make some among themselves; a small portion of European[155] white earthenware, and considerable quantities of the dark brown ware of the country, which is made for the most part by the Indians who live in the districts that contain the proper kind of clay; rum in small casks; butter, tobacco, snuff, sugar or treacle made up in cakes, spurs, bits for bridles, and other gear for their horses, excepting the saddles, of which the greater part are made in their own districts; gold and silver ornaments also find a market to a certain amount. The pedlars travel about from village to village, and from one estate to another, bartering their commodities for cattle of all kinds, cheese, and hides of horned cattle. A colt of from two to three years, sells for about one guinea; a horse broken in for the pack-saddle, for two or three guineas; a horse broken in for mounting, from five to six guineas. A bullock of two years, ten shillings; a full grown ox, one guinea and a half; a cow varies much, according to the quantity of milk, from one guinea to five guineas. A sheep, from two to three shillings; a goat for slaughter is worth even less, but a good milch goat is valued at one guinea, and sometimes higher. Children are frequently suckled by goats, which increases the value of these animals. The goat that has been so employed always obtains the name of comadre, the term which is made use of between the mother and godmother of a child; and so general is this, that she-goats are frequently called comadres, without having had the honour of suckling a young master or mistress. Dogs are sometimes valued at from one to two guineas, and even higher, if they are good sporting, or good house and baggage-dogs. A fowl is as dear as a sheep or goat; and in one instance, as has been related, I paid four times the money for one of these birds that I had given for a kid. The hawkers seldom obtain money in exchange for their wares; they take whatever is offered, and hire people to assist in conveying the cattle or produce to a market, where they are exchanged for goods, and then the owner again returns. A twelvemonth is sometimes passed in turning over the property once; but the profits are usually enormous; two or three hundred per cent.

During my stay at Natal, the governor shewed me a species of[156] wax which is produced from the leaves of the carnàûba, a tree I have frequently mentioned. A quantity of this wax was sent by him to Rio de Janeiro; it is mentioned in one of Dr. Arruda’s publications, and a sample of it found its way to England, and has been taken notice of by the Royal Society[55]. The governor, in one of his journeys through his province, passed the night, as often happened, in a peasant’s cottage. A wax candle was lighted and placed before him, which was rudely made, but afforded a good light; he was somewhat surprised at this, because oil is generally used; on making enquiry, he found out that the wax dropped from the leaves which covered the cottage, during the heat of the day;—I suppose the cottage had been newly built, or that a fresh covering of leaves had been put on to it. He afterwards made the experiment himself, tried some of the candles, and became confident of the importance of the vegetable wax. The governor also gave me a piece of iron ore, which was the produce of the captaincy of Rio Grande. He told me that he entertained little doubt of the existence of considerable quantities of this metal in this part of the country, and that the Government would be well recompensed for their trouble, if proper persons were appointed for the purpose of making discoveries on this subject. I saw some cloth which he had ordered to be woven from the thread of the crauatâ[56]. Its texture was not unlike that of the coarse linen which is used for sheeting; it is very strong. I have some of the thread in my possession.

As soon as I had arranged that I should leave Natal in the morning of the 6th February, the governor told me that he intended setting off on business relating to his province at the same time. We took leave of each other at night, and in the morning when I rose, I found myself in possession of the house, as he had set out at four o’clock. We did not get away until about seven, owing to the[157] number of horses’ loads, and other matters which it was necessary to arrange. I felt quite at home at Natal, though I was yet distant from Recife seventy leagues; but the country is well watered, well wooded, and comparatively well peopled.

I passed again through St. Joze, the Indian village, but did not turn off from the road towards Papari. I slept at a hamlet, and in the morning proceeded to Cunhàû. About ten o’clock we were under the necessity of turning loose, and leaving behind upon one of the plains, a horse which I had purchased at Chafaris; he was completely fagged, and could not proceed farther. The colonel of Cunhàû was not at home, but his steward wished me to make use of his master’s house; however, I merely mentioned having left a horse at some distance upon the lands of the plantation, and the guide drew for his government the mark which it had upon the haunch. I have often observed the quickness of these people in recognising a mark which they have once seen, and the accuracy with which they will draw it after having only taken seemingly a casual glance, and perhaps after a period of some weeks has elapsed since they had had even this[57]. We then rode on half a league to the hamlet. The commandant of this place introduced himself to me, and was extremely civil; he put my horse into his stable and wished me to stay until the following morning, but I preferred advancing, and slept the same night at another hamlet two leagues beyond. This day we passed several rivulets which were all much swollen, but none of them were sufficiently full to prevent the continuance of our journey. There had already been some rain, and the face of the country bore a more pleasing appearance. Two letter-carriers passed through the place in the evening, and I wrote by them to a friend at Pernambuco, that the cottage at the Cruz das Almas might be ready for me on my arrival.

[158]

The next day we passed some sugar plantations and over some hills; the country was most beautiful, for every thing looked green and healthy. I crossed a considerable rivulet at the foot of a hill, and, ascending on the opposite side, put up at a single cottage, which was inhabited by white people; an old man, a widower, with a fine family of handsome sons and daughters. Their cottage had not room for us all, and therefore we intended to sleep in the open air altogether, but the old man insisted upon my going to sleep in the house, and I was not sorry for this, being rather afraid of a return of the ague. Nearly at sunset, or at the close of the day, which in that country are almost about the same time, the tame sheep was missing; great search was made for it, but to no purpose. The old man ordered two of his sons to set out, and not to return until every enquiry had been made in the neighbourhood. I did all in my power to prevent giving this trouble, but he persisted, saying, “No, you are under my roof, and this unfortunate circumstance may lead you to have an unfavourable opinion of me.” Long after dark the young men returned with the sheep and a mulatto man in custody. I wished the man to be released, but they said that this could not be, for he was a runaway slave, who had committed many depredations, and for whose apprehension a considerable reward was offered by his master. They had followed the footsteps of the sheep upon a sandy path as long as the day-light lasted, and then had taken a direction, which they thought might lead to some mocambos, or huts of the wood, made by runaway slaves. After they had proceeded a little way, the bleating of the sheep was heard, upon which they prepared themselves and came suddenly upon this fellow and a woman who were in a hut; the woman escaped, which they regretted, as she was likewise most probably a runaway slave. The man was taken into the house, and was tied fast upon a long bench with his face downwards, and the cord was passed round his arms and legs several times; this was done in the room which I was to inhabit for the night. The whole of the family retired to rest, and left us together; I had my knife with me, but naturally soon[159] fell asleep. In the morning the bench and the cords remained, but the man was gone; he had crept through a small window at the opposite end of the room. The young men of the house were sadly vexed, but I told them it was their own fault, for some of them should have kept watch, as they could not suppose that I should remain awake, who had come in fatigued from travelling. We were now afraid that he might have taken one of our horses for his more convenient escape, but this was not the case.

Our journey took us again through the village of Mamanguape; and a little distance beyond it, I left the road, accompanied by the guide, and went to the principal house of a sugar plantation, where we asked for a night’s lodging. I was told that the master was not at home, and great doubts seemed to be entertained of taking us in. Whilst we were talking at the door, a young man of dark colour came up, mounted a horse which was standing there without a saddle, and rode off, seemingly avoiding to observe that there were any strangers present. One of the black women said, “Why did not you speak to him, for he is one of our young masters.” I now enquired and discovered that the owner of the place and his family were mulattos. This was the only instance of incivility I met with, and the only occasion on which a night’s lodging was denied to me during the whole course of my stay in Brazil. We lodged this night under a tree, distant about one hundred yards from the engenho, near to a neat and comfortable looking cottage, of which the owner was an elderly woman; she was civil to us, and expressed her sorrow at the treatment which we had received. There had been very little rain here, for the grass in the field of the plantation had still a parched look, and the cattle were in bad condition.

Towards the evening of the following day we reached a hamlet, and at one of the cottages I obtained permission to pass the night. There was a pent-house standing out from the front; these are usual even for dwellings of wealthy persons. Under it I slung my hammock, but was surprised to find, that though the house was inhabited, still[160] the door was shut, and that the person within spoke to us, but did not open it. This I thought strange, and began to suppose that he might be afflicted with some contagious disorder and had been forsaken by his friends, or rather, that his family had been advised to remove to some neighbouring cottage. But the guide explained, saying that the man had been bitten by a snake, and that the bite of this species only became fatal if the man who had received it saw any female animal, and particularly a woman, for thirty days after the misfortune. As the lower orders imagine that all snakes are poisonous, it is not surprising that many remedies or charms should be quoted as efficacious. It is well known that many of those reptiles are innoxious, but as this is not believed by the people in general, it is naturally to be supposed that any cause rather than the true one is ascribed on a recovery from a bite.

On the morrow we left these good people in expectation of their friend’s restoration to health at the allotted period, and proceeded to dine on the banks of the river Paraiba, at a spot which was not far distant from the plantation of Espirito Santo, where we had slept on our way northwards. The river was still as dry as it had been during the drought, that is, the pools or hollows in the bed of it had water in them, but they did not contain a sufficient quantity to overflow, unite, and form a stream. We arrived upon the banks about ten o’clock, and heard from several persons of a report which had been spread, that the river was filling fast. About twelve o’clock the water made its appearance, and before we left it the river was three feet deep. We afterwards heard that the stream was not fordable at five o’clock of the same afternoon, and that it continued to run with great rapidity for some days. I went round to Espirito Santo and spoke to the capitam-mor, but did not dismount, as I was more and more anxious to end my journey. We slept at a single cottage about two leagues beyond, and on the following morning again set forth. About noon, for I had pushed on without resting until this hour, we were descending a long and steep hill, when a[161] violent shower of rain came on, which soon caused a torrent to run with much noise and velocity through the gullies in the road. The clay of which the hill was composed was rendered excessively slippery, and far from proceeding more quickly, the horses became more cautious; and on these occasions it is needless to attempt to urge them forwards faster than they themselves are willing to go; they are aware of the danger of a false step, and nothing the rider can do will make an old roadster alter his usual manner of proceeding. At the foot of the hill stood a venda or liquor shop, at which travellers were in the habit of putting up. Most of the hamlets contain one of these places, and we had met with them much more frequently since we had entered upon the great cattle road. Wet as we were, through and through, it would have been impossible to go on further this day, therefore we were thankful in having a house so near; indeed, the rain continued during the greatest part of the afternoon. We had descended into a narrow and beautiful valley, much of which was covered with flourishing plantations of sugar cane, looking very green and luxuriant. This was not the first night that I had seen the beautiful luminous insect, elater noctilucus, which is called by the Portugueze cacafogo. It is to be met with chiefly in well wooded lands, and emits at intervals a strong but short lived light.

After leaving this place the next morning, we discovered that we had lost some trifles belonging to our baggage. I sent the guide and another man back to seek for them; but they returned unsuccessful. We had, it is true, seldom taken up our lodgings in public houses, but perhaps if we had done so oftener, I should have had more reason to complain; however as it is, this was the only occasion upon which I lost any part of my baggage, with a suspicion of theft attached to its disappearing.

We rested at mid-day near Dous Rios, and in the afternoon passed through that place, arriving at Goiana about sunset. It will be remembered that I purchased some of my horses at Goiana; now on my return, two of the same animals were still with me, and this alone[162] proves that they were of the best kind. When we were distant from Goiana about one league, one of them made towards a narrow path to the right of the road, and was prevented by his driver from turning up into it, but immediately after passing it, he began to flag, and in a few minutes I was under the necessity of having him released from his load, and of desiring one of the men to lead him, otherwise he would have turned back. He had from this time the appearance of being quite fatigued. I can only account for the circumstance by supposing that the path led to his former master’s residence, and that the animal had proceeded thus far in expectation of ending his journey here.

I was received by my friends at Goiana in their usual friendly manner; but I found that the town was in a dreadful state from the scarcity of provisions. One person was said to have died of hunger, and I was told by an inhabitant that several respectable women had been at his house to beg for farinha, offering to pawn their gold ornaments for it.

On the morning of the 15th February, I left Goiana, and assisted my people in crossing the river. As soon as they were all safe on the Recife side of it, I pushed on accompanied by Julio and Feliciano, all three of us being mounted upon our best horses. We rested during the heat of the day at Iguaraçu. My horse recognized the place, for as he entered the town, he quickened his pace, and without being guided, went up to the door of the inn, from whence he refused to stir again until I dismounted. We arrived a little after sunset at the Cruz das Almas. John was prepared for me, but did not expect me for one or two days.

The following morning I rode to Recife, and was received by my friends as one who had been somewhat despaired of; and even my particular friend to whom I had written, did not expect me so soon. When I returned home in the evening, the rest of the party had arrived; and Feliciano and his two companions set off two days[163] afterwards on their return to Searà[58]. Julio likewise left me, with which I was much displeased.[59]

CHAPTER IX.

VOYAGE FROM PERNAMBUCO TO MARANHAM.—ST. LUIZ.—TRADE.—WILD INDIANS.—THE GOVERNOR.—ALCANTARA.—THE AUTHOR SAILS FROM ST. LUIZ, AND ARRIVES IN ENGLAND.

EIGHT days after my return from Searà, arrived a vessel from England, bringing letters which obliged me to leave Pernambuco and proceed to Maranham. As a cargo could not be obtained for the brig at the former place, the consignee determined to send her to Maranham, and being myself desirous of taking advantage of the first opportunity, I prepared for the voyage, and sailed in the course of forty-eight hours.

We weighed anchor on the 25th February, and had a prosperous passage of seven days. We were in sight of the land nearly the whole time, and occasionally, as the brig was small, and the master wished if possible to become acquainted with the points of land, we were very near to it. The Portugueze ships seldom come up this coast without a pilot, nor is it prudent to do otherwise; but we could not obtain one without delay, to which the master objected. He had scarcely ever before been out of the British seas; but their school is good, and now he found his way to Maranham with as much dexterity as an experienced pilot. This coast is generally known to be dangerous; and the land has for the most part a dreary and dismal look, particularly after passing Rio Grande. We entered the bay of St. Marcos with the lead going, took the channel to the eastward of the baixo do meio or middle bank, passed the Fort of St. Marcos, and[165] came to an anchor opposite and very near to the sand banks at the mouth of the harbour of St. Luiz. As no pilot came off to us, the master and myself got into the boat, intending to fetch one; but on coming opposite to the Fort of St. Francisco, a gun without shot was fired, and the sentinel beckoned us back to the ship. We pulled for the fort, and when we approached it, an enormous speaking trumpet was produced, and through it we received orders not to proceed to the city. However we landed at the fort, and I told the officer that the master was particularly desirous of having a pilot, as he was unacquainted with the bay or port; but it is well known that they contain many sand banks. We were answered that the pilot would come in due time; and finding remonstrance of no avail, returned to the ship. When the pilot arrived, he was accompanied by a soldier and a custom-house officer. It was with some difficulty that I could persuade the master to allow the former to come into the vessel. Sailors and soldiers never very well agree, and the blunt Englishman said that he had no idea of his ship being taken from him by a fellow in a party-coloured jacket. This was a new regulation. Indeed in most of those regarding the port of Maranham, I could not avoid recollecting the old proverb of “much cry, &c.” As the brig came up the harbour, we received the health and custom-house visit. It was composed of several well-dressed men, some of whom wore cocked hats and swords; and all of them ate much bread and cheese, and drank quantities of porter. The administrador of the customs was among them, and was dressed in the uniform of a cavalry officer. I scarcely ever saw so much astonishment pictured in the countenance of any man as in that of the master of the brig. He had been accustomed to enter our own ports, where so much business is done in so quiet a manner; and he now said to me in half joke, half earnest, “Why it is not only one, but they are coming in shoals to take the ship from me.” After all these personages, and all the trouble they had given us, I was still obliged to pass the night on board, because the guardamor, the officer especially appointed to prevent smuggling, had not made his visit. Fortunately, I found means of having[166] the letters conveyed on shore, otherwise the vessel would have arrived four and twenty hours before the merchant to whom she was consigned, could have obtained any information regarding her. To render the night still more agreeable, some heavy rain fell; the deck was leaky, and about midnight I was obliged to rise and look for a dry corner.

The city of St. Luiz, situated upon the island of Maranham, and the metropolis of the estado, or state of Maranham, is the residence of a captain-general and the see of a bishop. It is built upon very unequal ground, commencing from the water’s edge, and extending to the distance of about one mile and a half in a N.E. direction. The space which it covers, ought to contain many more inhabitants than is actually the case; but the city is built in a straggling manner, and it comprises some broad streets and squares. This gives to it an airy appearance, which is particularly pleasant in so warm a climate. Its situation upon the western part of the island, and upon one side of a creek, almost excludes it from the sea breeze, by which means the place is rendered less healthy than if it was more exposed. The population may be computed at about 12,000 persons or more, including negroes, of which the proportion is great, being much more considerable than at Pernambuco. The streets are mostly paved, but are out of repair. The houses are many of them neat and pretty, and of one story in height; the lower part of them is appropriated to the servants, to shops without windows, to warehouses, and other purposes, as at Pernambuco. The family lives upon the upper story, and the windows of this reach down to the floor, and are ornamented with iron balconies. The churches are numerous, and there are likewise Franciscan, Carmelite, and other convents. The places of worship are gaudily decorated in the inside; but no plan of architecture is aimed at in the formation of the buildings themselves, with the exception of the convents, which preserve the regular features appertaining to such edifices. The governor’s palace stands upon rising ground, not far from the water side, with the front towards the town. It is a long uniform stone building of one story in height; the principal[167] entrance is wide, but without a portico. The western end joins the town-hall and prison, which appear to be part of the same edifice; and the oblong piece of ground in its front, covered with grass, gives to it on the whole a handsome and striking appearance. One end of this is open to the harbour and to a fort in the hollow, close to the water; the other extremity is nearly closed by the cathedral. One side is almost taken up with the palace and other public buildings, and the opposite space is occupied by dwelling-houses and streets leading down into other parts of the city. The ground upon which the whole place stands, is composed of a soft red stone; so that the smaller streets leading from the town into the country, some of which are not paved, are full of gullies, through which the water runs in the rainy season. These streets are formed of houses consisting only of the ground floor, and having thatched roofs; the windows are without glass, and the dwellings have a most mean and shabby appearance. The city contains a custom-house and treasury; the former is small, but was quite large enough for the business of the place, until lately.

The harbour is formed by a creek in the island, and is to be entered from the bay of St. Marcos. The channel is of sufficient depth for common sized merchant ships; but is very narrow, and not to be entered without a pilot. Opposite to the town the water is shallow at the ebb. It is worthy of remark, that the tide rises gradually more and more along the coast of Brazil, from south to north. Thus at Rio de Janeiro the rise is said to be trifling; at Pernambuco it is from five to six feet; at Itamaraca eight feet; and at Maranham, it is eighteen feet. The forts of Maranham are all of them said to be in bad order. I heard one person observe, half in earnest, that he did not suppose each fort contained more than four guns which were in a fit state to be fired. I did not see that of St. Marcos, which is situated at the entrance of the bay; but it is reported to be in the same state as the others. Those I saw are small, and built of stone. The soldiers were well dressed and well fed, and they looked respectable. The barracks are new and large comparatively[168] speaking, and have been built in an airy situation, in the outskirts of the city. The garrison consists of one regiment of regular infantry of about one thousand men when complete; but these are much divided, being stationed in several forts. Recruits are formed of the lower orders of white persons, and of the people of colour. The men were never exercised with the artillery, and were merely accustomed to the common routine of mounting guard, though a few detachments have on some occasions been sent on to the main land at the back of the island, to assist the planters against the wild Indians.

The island of Maranham forms the S.E. side of the bay of St. Marcos, consequently this bay is to the westward of it. To the eastward of the island is the bay of St. Joze. From some similarity between the point of Itacolomi, by which vessels are in part guided when about to enter the bay of St. Marcos, and another point of land upon the small island of St. Anna, which is at the entrance of the bay of St. Joze, instances have occurred of vessels mistaking the latter for the former, and entering the bay of St. Joze. This error causes great danger and inconvenience, because owing to the prevalence of easterly winds, it is next to impossible for a vessel to beat her way out of it. It is therefore necessary that she should go through the narrow channel between the main land and the island of Maranham, a passage of considerable difficulty[60]. The bay of St. Marcos is spotted with several beautiful[169] islands, and is of sufficient extent to admit of considerable grandeur. The width from St. Luiz to the opposite shore is between four and five leagues; its length is much greater; towards the south end there are several sand banks, and the water is shallower. It receives here the waters of a river, along the banks of which are situated several cattle estates, but the river Itapicuru, which runs into the narrow channel between the main land and the island, enjoys the greatest share of cultivation; its banks are extremely fertile, and upon them have been established the principal plantations of cotton and rice, which are the two chief and almost only articles of commerce from the city of St. Luiz. The island is in itself very little cultivated. There is no considerable plantation upon it. A few of the rich merchants residing in the city have country houses distant from it about one league, but the remainder of the lands are left untouched, owing, as is said, to the unfitness of the soil for the purposes of agriculture[61].[170] There is a horse-path through the island to a house which stands immediately opposite to the mouth of the river Itapicuru; at this is stationed a canoe, for the purpose of conveying people from one shore to the other. Another horse-path also leads to the village and chapel of St. Joze.

The importance of the province has increased very rapidly. Previous to the last sixty years no cotton was exported, and I heard that when the first parcel was about to be shipped, a petition was made by several of the inhabitants to the Camara or municipality, requesting that the exportation might not be permitted, for otherwise they feared that there would be a want of the article for the consumption of the country; this of course was not attended to, and now the number of bags exported annually is between forty and fifty thousand, averaging [171]about 180 lbs. weight each[62]. The quantity of rice grown there is likewise great[63]; but the sugar which is required for the consumption of the province is brought from the ports to the southward. Some sugar cane has lately been planted, but hitherto molasses only have been made. I heard many persons say, that the lands are not adapted to the growth of the sugar cane[64]. The cotton and rice are brought to St. Luiz in barks of about 25 or 30 tons burthen. These come down the rivers with the stream from the plantations; their return is not however so easy, as they are obliged to be rowed or warped, but being then empty, or nearly so, the difficulty is not very great.

Considerable quantities of manufactured goods have been sent out from Great Britain since the opening of the trade, as has been done to the other principal ports upon the coast; but a ready sale has not been found for them here to any great amount. The province of Maranham will not bear comparison with that of Pernambuco. It is still in an infant state; there still exist wild Indians, and the plantations upon the main land are still in danger from their attacks. The proportion of free persons is much smaller; the slaves very much preponderate, but this class can of necessity use but little of what is in any degree expensive, of what in such a climate is mere luxury. There exists at St. Luiz a great inequality of ranks; the chief riches of the place are in the hands of a few men who possess landed property to a great extent, numerous gangs of slaves, and are also merchants. The wealth of these persons and the characters of some of the individuals who enjoy it, have raised them to great weight and consequence, and indeed one governor knows to his cost[172] that without their concurrence it was useless to attempt the introduction of the innovations proposed, and impossible to trample long upon the rest of the community. But the great inequality of rank bespeaks the advancement of this place to have been less rapid than that of other settlements further south, where the society is more amalgamated, and property more divided. As a port of trade with Europe, St. Luiz may be accounted the fourth establishment upon the coast of Brazil in point of importance, giving precedence to Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, and Pernambuco.

The wild Indians have occasionally crossed from the main land to the island, and have committed depredations upon the houses and gardens in the neighbourhood of St. Luiz. Some of these people have been at different times made prisoners and brought to the town, where very little pains, I fear, have been taken to conciliate them. I did not see any of them, but they were represented to me as most frightful beings; their features are excessively ugly, and their hair is black and preposterously long, both before and behind. They are of a dark copper colour, darker than Indians that have been domesticated. The last individuals taken, to the number of four or five, were brought into the town quite naked, were put into close confinement, and I was informed that there they died. I could not find out that any attempt had been made to send them back as mediators, or that any plan of conciliation had been entered into; and on mentioning something of this kind, I was in more than one instance told that it would be of no use, that rigour was the only method. I do not think that this is the general opinion regarding them, but I much apprehend that, but faint hopes can be entertained of any zeal being shown for their civilization. There are now no enthusiastic missionaries; the Jesuits no longer exist in that country, and the other orders of friars have become lazy and worse than useless. However the Indians cannot be enslaved; therefore, at least, they are not hunted down like wild cattle, as formerly was the practice. The name which is given generally both here and at Pernambuco to all wild Indians is Tapuya; and that of Caboclo is applied to those who have been domesticated.

[173]

Having thus given an outline of the place at which I had arrived, I may now leave my quarters on board the brig and be allowed to land, which I accomplished on the morning subsequent to that of our entrance into the harbour. I was received upon the quay by my friend, a young Portugueze with whom I had been intimate in England and at Pernambuco. He told me it was necessary to go to the palace, for the purpose of presenting my passport, as the regulations of the port had for some time been most strictly followed, and several indeed had been lately added. I then, for the first time, recollected that I had no passport, having forgotten to obtain one, owing to the haste with which I left Pernambuco. This produced a demur, as my friend was afraid that I should be imprisoned, the governor not being friendly to Englishmen; however I determined to call myself the supercargo of the brig. We proceeded to the palace, the entrance to which was guarded by two sentinels, and we passed several others in going up the stairs into the anti-chamber, where we were received by a gentlemanlike officer, who heard what I had to say, asked no questions, and soon dismissed us. I thought I had seen the great man himself, but was undeceived, and heard that he seldom honoured any one with an audience. The officer to whom we had spoken was the lieutenant-colonel of the regiment of regular infantry. The guard at the palace consisted of one company; the muskets were piled in front of the chief entrance and appeared to be in good order.

I soon discovered that St. Luiz was ruled with most despotic sway; the people were afraid of speaking, as no man knew how soon it might be his fate to be arrested, from some trifling expression which he might allow to escape him. The governor was so tenacious of the honours due to his situation, that he required every person who crossed the area in front of the palace to remain uncovered until he had entirely passed the whole building. Not that the governor was himself always in view, but this adoration was thought necessary even to the building within which he dwelt. The distinction, until then reserved, by the Romish church for its highest dignitaries, was however not thought by His Excellency too exalted for himself; the bells of the cathedral rang every time he went out in his carriage. Persons,[174] even of the first rank in the place, were to stop, if in their carriages or on horseback, when they met him, and were to allow him to pass before they were again to move forwards.

I was introduced to several of the first merchants and planters, and particularly to the Colonels Joze Gonçalvez da Silva and Simplicio Dias da Silva; the latter is the sub-governor of Parnaiba, a small port situated about three degrees to the eastward of St. Luiz. They are both of them men of great wealth and of independent spirit. The former is an elderly man who has made a large fortune in trade, and latterly has increased it in planting cotton. He possesses between 1000 and 1500 slaves. On one occasion the mulatto driver of his carriage, though ordered by his master to stop, that the governor might pass, refused so to do. The following day an officer came to the old gentleman’s house with orders to arrest the man. The colonel sent for him and said, “Go, and I’ll take care of you,” adding to the officer, “tell His Excellency I have still several other drivers.” To the surprise of every person about the prison, two servants made their appearance in the evening with a tray, covered with a cloth which was handsomely embroidered, and filled with the best kinds of victuals; sweetmeats, &c. were not forgotten. All this was for the driver, and was repeated three times every day until the man received an order for his release.

The Colonel Simplicio had been sent for by the governor to St. Luiz. Had it not been for the circumstances in which he was placed, I should have gone down to his residence at Parnaiba; he has there a most noble establishment, part of which consists of a band of musicians, who are his own slaves; some of them have been instructed at Lisbon and at Rio de Janeiro. It is through such men as these that improvements are to be expected. I likewise became acquainted with a gentleman who had been imprisoned for a trifling breach of some new port regulation. Any of his friends were allowed free ingress to see him, and I passed some pleasant evenings with him and other persons who were in the habit of assembling there; he was allowed two small rooms in the prison, and was confined in this manner for several months. The Ouvidor of the province was also suspended from exercising the functions of his office, was removed from St. Luiz, and imprisoned in one of the forts. The Juiz de Fora, the second judicial officer, performed for the time the duties of the situation; he was a Brazilian, and a man of independent character, who spoke and acted freely, notwithstanding the ostensible place he held, and the danger of it under such a government. The master of an English merchant ship, I was told, had been arrested for some breach of port regulation, and was confined in a miserable dungeon for three days. I heard many more stories of the same nature; but these will, I think, suffice to shew the state of the city of St. Luiz at the time and just before I visited that place.

i198

Fishing Canoe.

[175]

The governor was a very young man, and a member of one of the first noble families of Portugal[65]. There are few situations in which it is so greatly in a man’s power to be much beloved or much disliked as that of governor of a province in Brazil; in which a man may be either the benefactor or the scourge of the people over whom he is sent to rule.

My friend’s residence, in which I staid during my visit to Maranham, was situated by the water side, and almost within hail of the ships at anchor in the harbour. I was amused sometimes at the rapidity with which the fishermen paddled their canoes; these are long and of just width sufficient to allow of two men sitting abreast. I have seen in one of them as many as sixteen men in two rows, with each a paddle, which they move with quickness and great regularity. The last men upon the bench steer the canoe when necessary, placing the paddle so as to answer the purpose of a rudder; one or other of the two men steering, according to the direction which the vessel is to take. These fellows are mostly dark-coloured mulattos and blacks, and are entirely naked excepting the hats which they wear upon their heads; but when they come on shore, they partially cloath themselves. The print will give some idea of the strange appearance which they make. The nakedness of[176] the negro slaves is also not sufficiently concealed; neither males nor females have any covering from the waist upwards, excepting on Sundays and holidays. Though the climate may not require any more cloathing, decency certainly does. I speak here of slaves who are at work in the streets, for the household servants are at least tolerably covered, and some of them are neatly and even gaudily dressed. At Pernambuco, the slaves are always decently cloathed. The criminals who are to be seen chained together, as at Pernambuco, are here more numerous; and in walking the streets, the clanking of the chains is continually striking the ear, reminding every man of the state of the government under which he resides. Such is the power of a governor, that a respectable person might be sentenced to this dreadful punishment, at least until redress could be obtained from the seat of the supreme government at Rio de Janeiro, a period of four months or more intervening.

I brought with me the horse which had carried me as far as Rio Grande on my journey to Searà, and took several rides in the neighbourhood of the city, with an English gentleman who was residing there. The roads are extremely bad, even in the immediate vicinity of St. Luiz, and our usual practice was to ride several times round the open piece of ground upon which the barracks stand. Maranham is again in this respect far behind the place I had lately left; the number of country houses is small; the paths are few, and no care is taken of them. Notwithstanding this, several persons have carriages, which are of a form similar to those used in Lisbon, and not unlike the cabriolets drawn by a pair of horses, which are to be seen in France and Flanders. The horses that may be purchased at St. Luiz are small, and few of them are well formed. Grass is scarce, and the inducements to take exercise on horseback are so few, that the number of these animals upon the island is not considerable; this too may be one cause why fine horses are not to be met with there; for if a ready sale was found for the beasts of this description, some would, doubtless, be carried from Piauhi to Maranham, which might be done with almost as little difficulty as is experienced[177] in conveying many of them from the interior of Pernambuco to Recife.

An English gentleman with whom I was acquainted, arrived at Maranham, a short time after the opening of the trade to British shipping; he was riding in the vicinity of the city one afternoon, when he was accosted by an old woman, who said that she had heard of the arrival of an Englishman, and wished to know if it was true, as she was going to St. Luiz, and much desired to see this bicho or animal. After some further conversation upon the subject, he told her that the bicho she was speaking to, was the Englishman himself. Of the truth of this, some difficulty was found in persuading her; but when she was confident that it was so, she cried out, “Ai tam bonito,” O, how handsome. She expected to have been shown some horridly ugly beast, which it was dangerous to approach, and was consequently agreeably surprised to find that she was mistaken, and to see flesh and blood in human form, handsomely put together.

I nearly lost a number of books which I had brought with me; the box containing them was carried to the custom-house; they were taken out, and I was desired to translate each title-page, which I did. Though the works were chiefly historical, still I found that the officer who looked over them, was not inclined to let me have them, and a hint was given to me by one of my acquaintance, that they might be considered as irrecoverable; however I made immediately a petition to the governor, to be allowed to send them on board again; this was granted, and thus I regained possession. If I had delayed, I am almost certain that I should not have seen them again. Such are the difficulties which are experienced with books in the parts of Brazil which I visited, that the only resource which remains is that of smuggling them into the country[66]. I hope, however, that[178] the enlightened minister who is now at the head of affairs, at Rio de Janeiro, will put an end to this dreadful bar to improvement.

I brought a letter from one of my acquaintance at Pernambuco to a gentleman who resided at Alcantara, a town on the opposite side of the bay of St. Marcos. My friend at St. Luiz, another young Portugueze, and myself, accompanied by two servants, agreed to hire a vessel and go over, for the purpose of making him a visit, and of seeing the place. We hired a small bark, and set sail one morning early, with a fair but light wind. The beauties of the bay are only to be seen in crossing it; the number of islands diversify the view every five minutes, from the discovery of some hidden point, or from a change in the form of the land, owing to the progress of the boat. The entrance into the harbour of Alcantara, the town itself, and the size of the vessel in which we were, reminded me much of the models of these realities. The place, the port, and our boat were all small, and of proportionate dimensions, having much the appearance of play-things. It was not like a small vessel entering a large harbour; for in our case, as there was but little water upon the bar, as much pilotage was necessary as with a large ship in coming to anchor at St. Luiz. We were about five hours in reaching the end of our voyage. The boatmen obtained for us a small cottage, near to the beach; we intended to be independent, and have our victuals cooked by our own servants; but soon after we were settled in our new habitation, the gentleman introduced himself to whom we were furnished with a letter. He said that he had heard of our arrival, and he insisted upon our removal to his house.

The town is built upon a semi-circular hill, and at first sight from the port is very pretty; but it falls short of its promise on a nearer[179] examination. The houses are many of them of one story in height, and are built of stone; but the major part have only the ground floor. It extends back to some distance in a straggling manner, with gardens, and large spaces between each house; and many of the habitations in that situation are thatched, and some of them are out of repair. As the hill which rises from the water side is not high, and the land beyond rather declines in a contrary direction, the meaner part of the town is not seen at the first view. Alcantara is however a thriving place, and its importance increases rapidly as the lands in the neighbourhood are in request for cotton plantations. A handsome stone quay was building upon the inside of a neck of land, round which the harbour extends for small craft. The place contains a town-hall and prison, and several churches.

The evening we passed with our new friend and his partner, both of whom were pleasant men. The latter took us to a neighbouring church, to hear a famous preacher, and to see all the fashion and beauty of the place. It was much crowded, and therefore we saw little or nothing of the congregation; but the preacher, a large handsome Franciscan friar, with a fine toned and clear voice, delivered a very florid discourse, with much energy and animation. This man and one other were the only persons of those I heard preach in Brazil, who deviated from the common praises usually given to the Virgin and to the Saints. It was a good practical sermon, inculcating moral duties; but by way of conformity to established custom, he now and then mentioned the worthy in whose honour the festival was given[67]. The next day was agreeably passed in conversation; and in the evening two guitars were introduced, and some of the young men of the place came in, and added to the amusement of the party; they sang and played, and there was much sport. There was no ceremony; but[180] the behaviour of these people was gentlemanly, and their conversation entertaining.

I heard here of a certain estate, of which the slaves were numerous, but they had become rebellious; more than one steward had been killed by them, and for some time they remained without any person to direct them, but still they did not leave the place. When things had gone on in this manner for some time, a native of Portugal presented himself to the proprietor of the estate, and offered to take charge of it if he would allow him a salary of one conto of reis, about 250l. annually (which is an enormous stipend); and if he would sign an agreement by which he should not become responsible for any slaves who might be killed in reducing the remainder to obedience. To all this no objection was made; and the man set off, accompanied by two other persons, his friends, and a guide, all of them being well provided with fire arms and ammunition. They arrived upon the scene of action one evening, and finding the door of the principal house open, took up their lodgings in it. In the morning, several of the negroes, on discovering the intentions of the persons who were in possession of the house, assembled in the area in front of it, but at some little distance. The new steward soon came to the door unarmed, not permitting his companions to appear, and called to one of the ring-leaders by name, as if nothing was amiss. The man answered and came out of the group, but said that he would not approach any nearer than the spot to which he had advanced. The steward made no reply, but quickly took a loaded musket, which stood immediately within the door, fired, and brought the man to the ground, and without delay, called to another of the slaves also by name. No answer being given, his companions came forwards, and all of them fired in among the slaves. Such was the effect of this summary manner of proceeding, that in two or three days all was quiet, and went on smoothly as had formerly been the case; a few only of the slaves absconding.

On our return from Alcantara we had a disagreeable passage, as the wind blew hard and some heavy rain fell, which made us apprehensive[181] of not being able to fetch the harbour of St. Luiz. Our vessel had no cabin, but she was decked, and therefore as a matter of necessity we crept into the hold, in which we could not stand upright, and the bilge water occasionally reached our feet; but this produced much laughter, and we ultimately arrived in safety. Not far from the mouth of the port of Alcantara stands an island of three miles in length and about one in breadth, called the Ilha do Livramento; it is inhabited by one man and woman, who have under their care a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Deliverance, which is visited by the inhabitants of the neighbouring shores, once every year for the purpose of celebrating by a festival this Invocation of the Virgin. My departure from Maranham sooner than I had purposed at first, prevented the fulfilment of my intention of landing and spending a day upon this spot. I know not what idea I might have formed of the island if I had more narrowly examined it, but the view I had of it at a distance was extremely beautiful. From what I heard of it, I think, that if any one was about to settle at Maranham, here it is that he should try to fix his residence.

I was introduced by my friend to a respectable family of St. Luiz. We made them a visit one evening without invitation as is the custom, and were ushered into a tolerably sized room, furnished with a large bed, and three handsomely worked hammocks, which were slung across in different directions; there were likewise in the apartment a chest of drawers and several chairs. The mistress of the house, an elderly lady, was seated in a hammock, and a female visitor in another, but her two daughters and some male relations sat upon chairs. The company, which consisted of two or three men besides ourselves, formed a semicircle towards the hammocks. There was much ceremony, and the conversation was carried on chiefly by the men, and an occasional remark was made by one or other of the old ladies. An answer was given by the daughters to a question asked, but no more, and some of the subjects touched upon would not have been tolerated in mixed society in England. A part of the formality might perhaps have worn off on further acquaintance.[182] The education however of women is not attended to, which of necessity curtails the possibility of their entering into conversation upon many subjects, even if so to do was accounted proper. Still the ladies of St. Luiz cannot be said to be generally thus reserved, for gaming among both sexes is much practised, and is carried to great excess. A young lady in one instance, when going out with her mother to some evening company, passed through the apartment in which her father was at play with several of his acquaintance. He spoke to his daughter, asking her to take a card, which she did. She went on playing until she had lost three hundred mil reis, about 80l., and then said she had no more money. A fresh supply was afforded to her, and she accompanied her mother to their party, where most probably play was likewise the entertainment of the evening. Dancing is an amusement much too violent for the climate, and is only resorted to on some grand occasion. The love of gaming may be easily accounted for where there is little or no taste for reading, and great sums of money are amassed without any means of expending them. Living is cheap; a fine house, a carriage, and a number of servants may be had for a small sum. The opening of the trade has however given to these people a new turn of expenditure, in the facility of obtaining articles of dress and furniture.

Two English merchants only were established at St. Luiz; the commercial transactions of British houses of trade were entrusted chiefly to Portugueze merchants of the place[68]. Many of these were accustomed to little ceremony, and walked the streets in short jackets, some of them were without neckcloths and a few without stockings; but others dress according to the manner of persons in Europe. It was with much difficulty that I could persuade the generality of those with whom I conversed that I had no business to transact; they could not comprehend the motive by which a man could be actuated[183] who was putting himself, by travelling, to certain inconveniences for the sake of amusement; indeed many persons would not be convinced, and thought that in so saying I had some sinister views.

I had not many opportunities of gaining information respecting the interior, but still I will mention what I heard. The banks of the river Itapicuru, of which I have already spoken, though they are much cultivated compared to what they were a few years ago, are yet very wild, and there is space incalculable for new colonists. The captaincy of Piauhi and the interior of the State of Maranham abound in cattle, and these parts of the country are not subject to droughts. The town of Aldeas Altas[69], which is situated in the latter, and the city of Oeiras in the former and further inland, are said to be flourishing places. Great numbers of cattle are annually driven from these quarters of the Sertam to Bahia and Pernambuco. The proprietors of the estates which are situated in districts so far removed from the seat of government are at times unruly, and a party of soldiers, which was sent up to arrest one of these men, some time before I arrived at St. Luiz, returned without effecting its purpose.

Among other anecdotes, I heard of a mulatto slave who ran away from his master, and in the course of years had become a wealthy man, by the purchase of lands which were overrun with cattle. He had, on one occasion, collected in pens great numbers of oxen which he was arranging with his herdsmen to dispatch to different parts for sale, when a stranger who came quite alone made his appearance, and rode up and spoke to him, saying that he wished to have some private conversation with him. After a little time they retired together, and when they were alone the owner of the estate said, “I thank you for not mentioning the connection between us, whilst my people were present.” It was his master, who had fallen into distressed[184] circumstances, and had now made this visit in hopes of obtaining some trifle from him. He said that he should be grateful for any thing his slave chose to give to him. To reclaim him, he well knew, was out of the question—he was in the man’s power, who might order him to be assassinated immediately. The slave gave his master several hundred oxen, and directed some of his men to accompany him with them to a market, giving out among his herdsmen that he had thus paid a debt of old standing for which he had only now been called upon. A man who could act in this manner well deserved the freedom which he had resolved to obtain.

As it was my intention to pass the ensuing summer in England, and no ships arrived from thence, I was afraid of being delayed some months for a conveyance, therefore I thought it better to take my passage in one of the ships which were about to sail. I preferred the Brutus, as I was intimate with the supercargo, a young Portugueze. We set sail from St. Luiz on the 8th of April, in company of another British ship; but we were soon out of sight of each other, owing to one vessel holding a better wind. On the 18th we reached variable winds, in lat. 22° N. lon. 50° W. It is not usual to find them so far to the southwards, therefore we might consider ourselves remarkably fortunate. We passed our time pleasantly, as the weather was fine and the wind favourable. On the 7th of May, the wind freshened, but we had a good ship and plenty of sea-room. A wave struck the stern and entered the cabin on the 8th in the morning, setting every thing afloat; this occurred soon after we had risen. On the 9th we discovered two vessels at a great distance a-head and rather to windward, both of them were laying to, but soon each appeared to stand on different tacks. One proved to be an English brig loaded with timber; she was water-logged and about to sink, and the latter was an American ship, which had lain to, and was in the act of assisting the people in leaving her. If the brig had not been loaded with timber she must have gone down long before. As the American ship was bound to her own country, we took the crew on board the Brutus, nine persons; they were in most woeful plight; some lame,[185] others nearly naked, and all of them half starved with cold and hunger. The vessel had sprung a leak, which increased so rapidly, as to oblige them to retreat from the deck into the foretop, where they had been for three days and two nights, almost destitute of provisions.

We arrived safe off Falmouth on the 20th of May. Here the supercargo and myself landed, and proceeded to London.

CHAPTER X.

THE AUTHOR SETS SAIL FROM GRAVESEND AND ARRIVES AT PERNAMBUCO.—STATE OF RECIFE.—JOURNEY TO BOM JARDIM WITH A CAPITAM-MOR, AND RETURN TO RECIFE.

AT the commencement of the winter my friends again recommended a return to a more temperate climate than that of England; and therefore understanding that the Portugueze ship Serra Pequeno was upon the point of sailing, I took my passage in her. She was lying at Gravesend, and on the 4th October, 1811, I embarked again for Pernambuco.

Contrary winds detained the ship at Portsmouth for about six weeks. On the 20th November, the wind came round to the northward and eastward, and the signal guns from the ships of war, appointed as convoys, awakened us. All was bustle and confusion at Cowes, where great numbers of persons, belonging to the ships, who were circumstanced as we were, had stationed themselves. In a few hours the vessels were under weigh, and before the night closed in, all of them had cleared the Needles. The Serra Pequeno and other Portugueze ships had taken instructions from a frigate, which was bound to the Mediterranean, intending to keep company with her as far as her destination and their’s obliged them to follow the same course; but in the morning we discovered that we were with another frigate, which was bound to Lisbon. We soon left her, and were accompanied by other two Portugueze ships. On the night of the 22d, we fell in with the Kangaroo sloop of war, which was bound [187]to the coast of Africa, with a few vessels under convoy. On the 24th we parted from this convoy, and on the 26th proceeded with only one Portugueze ship. Our passage was most prosperous; we had no boisterous weather, and few calms. On the 3d December, we fell in with the Arethusa frigate, when in sight of the Canary islands. The captain of the Serra was obliged to take the papers of his ship on board the frigate. The regulations regarding the slave trade, which is carried on by the Portugueze, perhaps occasioned more enquiry than would otherwise have been deemed necessary. We crossed the line on the 22d. In the evening of the 26th we stood for the land, supposing that we had reached the latitude of our port, but that we were much to the eastward of it; however, we made the land about two o’clock in the morning, which was sooner by several hours than the officers of the ship imagined we should. This frequently occurs on board of those vessels which do not carry chronometers; the calculation of longitude without their assistance being of course rendered extremely liable to error. At day-break, it was discovered that we were somewhat to the northward of Olinda. We entered the port about nine o’clock, and came to anchor in the lower harbour called the Poço.

The Serra Pequeno is one of the heavy deep-waisted Brazil ships, requiring a great number of hands to manage her. The business of the ship was carried on in a manner similar in almost all points to that which is practised on board of British merchant vessels; there was however less cleanliness observed, and more noise was made. The second officer, who is called in the British merchant service the mate, bears in Portugueze vessels that of pilot; and the regulations of their marine confine him to the navigation of the ship, giving up to an inferior officer the duty of attending to the discharging or stowage of the hold when loading or unloading, and all other minutiæ of the affairs either at sea or in a harbour.

I was received on shore by all those persons with whom I had before had the pleasure of being acquainted, with the same friendliness which I always experienced at Pernambuco. Several English gentlemen offered me an apartment in their houses, until I[188] obtained one of my own. I accepted the offer which was made to me by him through whose great kindness my health had been so much benefited, after the severe attack of fever which I had suffered in the preceding year. The first few weeks were passed in visits to my friends and acquaintance, with some of whom I occasionally staid a few days in the neighbourhood of the town, which was now much deserted, according to the usual custom, at this season of the year.

I perceived a considerable difference in the appearance of Recife and of its inhabitants, although I had been absent from the place for so short a period. Several houses had been altered; the heavy sombre lattice work had given place, in many instances, to glass windows and iron balconies. Some few families had arrived here from Lisbon, and three from England; the ladies of the former had shown the example of walking to mass in broad day-light; and those of the latter were in the habit of going out to walk towards the close of the day, for amusement. These improvements being once introduced and practised by a few persons, were soon adopted by some, who had been afraid to be the first, and by others who found that they were pleasant. Formal silks and satins too were becoming a less usual dress on high days and holidays, and were now much superseded by white and coloured muslins, and other cotton manufactures. The men, likewise, who had in former times daily appeared in full dress suits of black, gold buckles, and cocked hats, had now, in many instances, exchanged these for nankeen pantaloons, half boots, and round hats. Even the high and heavy saddle was now less in use, and that of more modern form was all the fashion. The sedan chairs, in which the ladies often go to church, and to pay visits to their friends, had now put on a much smarter appearance, and the men who carried them were dressed more dashingly. These cannot fail to attract the attention of strangers, in their gay cloaths, their helmets and feathers, and their naked legs. The annexed print represents one of these equipages.

i213

A Lady going to Visit.

[189]

The country residences which had been lately built, were also numerous; lands in the vicinity of Recife had risen in price; the trade of brick-making was becoming lucrative; work-people were in request; and besides many other spots of land, the track between the villages of Poço da Panella and Monteiro, in extent about one mile, which in 1810 was covered with brushwood, had now been cleared; houses were building and gardens forming upon it. The great church of Corpo Santo, situated in that part of the town which is properly called Recife, was now finished, and various improvements were meditated[70]. The time of advancement was come, and men, who had for many years gone on without making any change either in the interior or exterior of their houses, were now painting and glazing on the outside, and new furnishing within; modernizing themselves, their families, and their dwellings.

This spirit of alteration produced, in one case, rather ludicrous consequences. There was a lady of considerable dimensions, who had entered into this love of innovation, and carried it to a vast extent. She was almost equal in circumference and height, but notwithstanding this unfortunate circumstance, personal embellishments were not to be despised; she wished to dress in English fashion, and was herself decidedly of opinion that she had succeeded. Upon her head she wore a very small gypsey hat tied under the chin. Stays have only lately been introduced, but this improvement she had not yet adopted; still her gown was to be in English fashion too, and therefore was cut and slashed away, so as to leave most unmercifully in view several beauties which otherwise would have remained concealed. This gown was of muslin, and was worked down the middle and round the bottom in several colours; her shoes were as small as[190] could be allowed; but the unfortunate redundance of size also reached the ankles and the feet, and thus rendering compression necessary; the superabundance which nature had lavishly bestowed, projected and hung down over each side of the shoes.

I became acquainted and somewhat intimate with the Capitam-mor of a neighbouring district, from frequently meeting him, in my evening visits to a Brazilian family. He was about to make the circuit of his district in the course of a few weeks, and invited one of my friends and myself to accompany him in this review or visit to his officers, to which we readily agreed. It was arranged that he should make us acquainted in due time with the day which he might appoint for setting out, that we might meet him at his sugar-plantation, from whence we were to proceed with him and his suite further into the country.

The Capitaens-mores, captains-major, are officers of considerable power. They have civil as well as military duties to perform, and ought to be appointed from among the planters of most wealth and individual weight in the several Termos, boundaries or districts; but the interest of family or of relations about the Court, have occasioned deviations from this rule; and persons very unfit for these situations, have been sometimes nominated to them. The whole aspect of the government in Brazil is military. All men between the ages of sixteen and sixty, must be enrolled either as soldiers of the line, as militia-men, or as belonging to the body of Ordenanças. Of the regular soldiers, I have already spoken in another place. Of the second class, each township has a regiment, of which the individuals, with the exception of the major and adjutant, and in some cases the colonel, do not receive any pay. But they are considered as embodied men, and as such are called out upon some few occasions, in the course of the year, to assemble in uniform, and otherwise accoutred. The expense which must be incurred in this respect, of necessity, precludes the possibility of many persons becoming members of this class, even if the Government was desirous of increasing the number of militia regiments. The soldiers of these are[191] subject to their captains, to the colonel, and to the governor of the province. The colonels are either rich planters, or the major or lieutenant-colonel of a regiment of the line is thus promoted to the command of one of these; in this case, and in this case only, he receives pay. I am inclined to think that he ought to possess some property in the district, and that any deviation from this rule is an abuse; but I am not certain that the law so ordains. The majors and the adjutants are likewise occasionally promoted from the line; but whether they are regularly military men or planters, they receive pay, as their trouble in distributing orders, and in other arrangements connected with the regiment is considerable.

The third class, that of the Ordenanças, consisting of by far the largest portion of the white persons and of free mulatto men of all shades, have for their immediate chiefs the Capitaens-mores, who serve without pay, and all the persons who are connected with the Ordenanças, are obliged likewise to afford their services gratuitously. Each district contains one Capitam-mor, who is invariably a person possessing property in the part of the country to which he is appointed. He is assisted by a major, captains, and alferes, who are lieutenants or ensigns, and by sergeants and corporals. The duties of the Capitam-mor are to see that every individual under his command has in his possession some species of arms; either a firelock, a sword, or a pike. He distributes the governor’s orders through his district, and can oblige any of his men to take these orders to the nearest captain, who sends another peasant forwards to the next captain, and so forth, all which is done without any pay. A Capitam-mor can also imprison for twenty-four hours, and send under arrest for trial a person who is accused of having committed any crime, to the civil magistrate of the town to which his district is immediately attached. Now, the abuses of this office of Capitam-mor are very many, and the lower orders of free persons are much oppressed by these great men, and by their subalterns, down to the corporals. The peasants are often sent upon errands which have no relation to public business; for leagues and leagues these poor fellows are made to travel, for the[192] purpose of carrying some private letter of the chief, of his captains, or of his lieutenants, without any remuneration. Indeed, many of these men in place, seldom think of employing their slaves on these occasions, or of paying the free persons so employed. This I have witnessed times out of number; and have heard the peasants in all parts of the country complain: it is a most heavy grievance. Nothing so much vexes a peasant as the consciousness of losing his time and trouble in a service which is not required by his Sovereign. Persons are sometimes confined in the stocks for days together, on some trifling plea, and are at last released without being sent to the civil magistrate, or even admitted to a hearing. However, I am happy to say, that I am acquainted with some men, whose conduct is widely different from what I have above stated; but the power given to an individual is too great, and the probability of being called to an account for its abuse too remote, to insure the exercise of it in a proper manner.

The free mulattos and free negroes whose names are upon the rolls, either of the militia regiments which are commanded by white officers, or by those of their own class and colour, are not, properly speaking, subject to the Capitaens-mores. These officers and the colonels of militia are appointed by the supreme government, and the subaltern officers are nominated by the governor of each province.

The above explanation of the state of internal government I thought necessary, that the reader might understand the grounds upon which I was about to undertake the journey, of which some account will immediately be given.

On the 28th January, 1812, the Capitam-mor sent one of his servants to summon us to his plantation, and to be our guide. Early on the morning following, my friend, myself, our own two servants, and the boy who had been sent to us by the Capitam-mor, set forth on horseback in high spirits; my friend and I expecting to see something new and strange. I had before, as has been already related, travelled into the less populous parts of the country; but I had had very little communication with the planters. On that occasion, I proceeded[193] too rapidly to obtain as much knowledge of their manners and customs as I wished.

We proceeded to Olinda, and passed through its wretchedly paved streets, with much care; and when we were descending the hill, upon which it stands on the land side, there was laid open to us a considerable extent of marshy ground, which was partly covered with mandioc, planted upon raised beds or hillocks, which were made of a circular form, that the water might not reach the roots of the plants; the remainder of the land was still undrained and unproductive. The darkness of the green of the plants which grow upon marshy ground immediately points out the lands that are in this state. The country which was to be seen in the distance was covered with wood. We crossed a rivulet, communicating with the marshy land on each side of the road, and passed on over some rising ground, and by several scattered cottages, until we reached, distant from Olinda one league, the low lands surrounding the hill which forms the site of the sugar plantation of Fragozo. From hence the lands are low and damp, almost without any rising ground, to the sugar plantation of Paulistas. The beautiful spots upon this track of country are numerous; cottages are oftentimes to be met with, half concealed among the trees and brushwood; they are built of mud, and are covered with the leaves of coco-trees. They have usually a projecting pent-house with a small area in front, which is clear of weeds; under this pent-house is slung the hammock, with its dark-coloured owner, idly swinging backwards and forwards, who raises his head as he hears the horses’ footsteps; the dog is basking in the sun, or lying under the shade, or running out to annoy the traveller; and the fishing baskets and the gourds hang as chance directs upon the protruding stems of the coco-leaves, which cover the lowly hut. Some times the sight of these rude dwellings is enlivened by the figure of a female, who runs off, and conceals herself, as the passenger upon the road looks down the narrow path which leads to the cottage. The road itself was likewise narrow, (for this was not the great cattle track) and all view of the country was generally shut out, by the[194] wood on each side, against which the legs of the horseman are often brushing, and into which he is obliged to force his horse, if he should chance to meet a carrier, with his panniers or his cotton bags on either side of his beast, or one of the carts which are employed upon the plantations. The print represents one of the cotton-carriers. In the fore ground is described the species of palm tree called Tucum[71], and immediately behind it is the Mamoeiro, which produces its fruit upon the stem; the fruit is large, and the pulp of it is soft, having much resemblance in consistence and in taste to a melon that is too ripe; the appearance of the fruit has some similarity likewise to a small round melon.

To those who are unaccustomed to a country that is literally covered with woods, which prevent an extensive view of the surrounding objects, and the free circulation of air, the delightful sensations which are produced by a fine green field, opening all at once to the sight, and swept by a refreshing breeze, cannot possibly be felt. The plantation of Paulistas is so situated. The buildings were numerous, but most of them were low, and somewhat out of repair. These are the dwelling-house of the owner, which is spacious, and has one story above the ground floor; the chapel, with its large wooden cross erected upon the centre of the gable end; the mill, a square building without walls, its roof being supported upon brick pillars; the long row of negro huts, the steward’s residence, and several others of minor importance. These edifices are all of them scattered upon a large field, which is occupied by a considerable number of tame cattle; this is skirted by a dike which runs in front, but somewhat at a distance from the dwelling-house of the owner, and through it runs the water which turns the mill. On the opposite side of the field is the chaplain’s cottage, with its adjoining lesser row of negro huts, its plantain garden, and its wide spreading mango trees behind it. Beyond the principal house, are low and extensive cane and meadow lands, which are skirted on one side by the buildings of another small plantation, and bordered at a great distance by woods, which are situated upon the sides and summit of rising ground.

i221

A Cotton Carrier.

[195]

This valuable and beautiful plantation was in the possession of a near relation of our Capitam-mor. We were acquainted with the son of the owner, who was chaplain to the estate, and had invited us to make his residence our resting-place; this we did. He was prepared to receive us, and after having breakfasted, we proceeded to pay a visit to the old gentleman at the Great House, as the dwellings of the owners of plantations are called. He was unwell, and could not be seen; but we were received by his wife and two daughters. They made many enquiries about England, and conversed upon other subjects which they supposed we might be acquainted with. This estate was not much worked; the slaves led a most easy life, and the Great House was full of young children. Of these urchins several came in and out of the room, they were quite naked, and played with each other, and with some large dogs which were lying at full length upon the floor. These ebony cupids were plainly great favourites, and seemed to employ the greater part of the thoughts of the good ladies, the youngest of whom was on the wrong side of fifty; and even the priest laughed at their gambols. These excellent women and the good priest possess a considerable number of slaves, who are their exclusive property. It is their intention eventually to emancipate all of them, and that they may be prepared for the change, several of the men have been brought up as mechanics of different descriptions; and the women have been taught needle-work, embroidery, and all branches of culinary knowledge. Thus, by the death of four individuals, who are now approaching to old age, will be set free about sixty persons, men, women, and children. As these people have been made acquainted with the intentions of their owners respecting them, it is not surprising that the behaviour of many of them should be overbearing. To some, the deeds of manumission have been already passed conditionally, obliging them to serve as slaves until the death of the individual to whom they are[196] subject. These papers cannot be revoked, and yet no ingratitude was feared; but among so considerable a number of persons, some instances of it cannot, I fear, fail to be experienced. The owners said that all their own immediate relations are rich, and not at all in need of assistance; and that therefore independent of other reasons connected generally with the system of slavery, these their children had no right to work for any one else. Of the slaves in question, only a few are Africans, the major part being mulattos and creole negroes.

We returned to the cottage of the priest to dinner, and in the afternoon proceeded to the sugar plantation of Aguiar, belonging to the Capitam-mor, which is distant from Paulistas five leagues, where we arrived about ten o’clock at night, much fatigued. Immediately beyond Paulistas is the narrow but rapid stream of Paratibi, which near to its mouth changes this name for that of Doce. In the rainy season it overflows its banks, and becomes unfordable. The width of it, when it is in the usual state, near to Paulistas, is not above twenty yards. In its course to the sea, it runs through much marshy ground. We passed by four sugar-mills this afternoon; that which bears the name of Utringa de baixo, is situated in an amphitheatre, being surrounded by high hills, covered with large trees. These woods have not been much disturbed, and therefore give refuge to enormous quantities of game, among which the porco do mato, or pig of the woods, is common. I never saw this animal, and therefore cannot pretend to describe it; but I have often heard it spoken of, as being extremely destructive to mandioc, and that its flesh is good. This animal is not large, and is not unlike the common hog[72]. Many criminals[197] and runaway negroes are harboured in these woods. The inhabitants of Utinga seem to be shut out from all the rest of the world, as the path which leads from it is not immediately distinguished. The last three leagues, which we traversed in the dark, were covered with almost unbroken woods; the path through them is narrow, and the branches of the trees cross it in all directions; our guide rode in front, and many times did his head come in contact with them.

The dwelling of the Capitam-mor is a large building of one story above the ground floor: the lower part of which forms the warehouse for the sugar and other articles which the estate produces. We ascended a wooden staircase, erected on the outside of the building, entered a small anti-chamber, and were received by our host and one of his sons, who conducted us into a spacious apartment beyond. A long table, and one of rather less dimensions, a couple of benches, and a few broken and unpainted chairs formed the whole furniture of these rooms. Four or five black boys, who were of a size too far advanced to wear the bow and arrow, but who were quite as little encumbered with dress as if they still might wield these dangerous weapons in the character of cupids, stood all astonishment to view the strange beings that had just arrived; and at all the doors were women’s heads peeping to see whom we might be. The supper consisted as is usual of great quantities of meat, placed upon the table without arrangement.

At five o’clock in the morning, the capitam-mor, my friend, myself, and three servants proceeded to the distance of three leagues without any addition to our party; but we were soon joined by the adjutant of the district and several other officers, in uniforms of dark blue with yellow facings most monstrously broad—the gay cuffs reaching half way up to the elbows; they wore round hats with short feathers, straight swords of most prodigious length, and very loose nankeen pantaloons and boots; the former were thrust within the latter, which caused the higher part of the pantaloons to appear to be of preposterous width. We dismounted at a sugar plantation, being the third we had[198] passed through this morning; here we were invited to stay to breakfast, but this we could not do, and were therefore regaled with pine-apples and oranges. The owner of this place had taken great pains with his garden, and had reared several fruits which require much care; but it is strange that, although there are many which may be raised with very little trouble, still upon far the greater number of plantations even oranges are not to be found. The ant is, I well know, a great persecutor of this tree, but when care is taken in this respect, and a little water is afforded during the dry months for two or three years, none else is necessary. Upon the same plantation have been practised the most monstrous cruelties; the conduct of the owner towards his slaves is often spoken of with abhorrence, but yet he is visited and treated with the same respect which is paid to an individual of unblemished character. It is however almost the only instance of which I heard of systematic, continued, wanton enormity; but it has here occurred and has passed unpunished, and this one is sufficient, even if none other existed, to stamp the slave system as an abomination which ought to be rooted out. The estate was inherited by the person in question, with sixty good slaves upon it; fifteen years have elapsed since that time to the period of which I speak, and there were then remaining only four or five individuals who were able to work. Some have fled and have escaped, others have died, God knows how, and others again have committed suicide in sight of their master’s residence.

We arrived at mid-day at Santa Cruz, and had now reached the cotton country. The track through which we had passed was for the most part well watered and well wooded; the marshy lands being less frequently interspersed than upon the journey of the preceding day. The sugar plantations were numerous; we saw eight of them this morning. The ground was often uneven, and we crossed one rather steep hill. The lands upon which we had now arrived and those to which we were advancing are altogether higher, and the grass upon them was now much burnt up, the “first waters” not having yet fallen. The soil in these parts retains less moisture than that[199] of the country which we had left, and soon becomes too hard to be worked. The party was now much increased, and in the afternoon we proceeded to Pindoba, a cotton plantation of considerable extent; the owner of it is wealthy and possesses many slaves. He received us in his dressing-gown, under which he wore a shirt, drawers, and a pair of stockings. After the first greetings were over, he brought out a small bottle of liqueur made in the country, to which he himself helped his guests, one solitary glass, which was filled, and then emptied by each person, being made use of by the whole party. After supper a guitar player belonging to the house entertained us until a late hour, whilst our host sat upon a table smoking from a pipe of fully six feet in length. Several hammocks were slung in two large apartments, and each person either talked or went to sleep, or occasionally did one and the other, no form or ceremony being observed.

The peasants began to assemble early on the following morning, as three companies of the Ordenanças were to be reviewed. These were the first which were to undergo inspection, as the capitam-mor purposed visiting again the places through which we had passed on his return, and intended then to perform this duty. The men wore their usual dress of shirt and drawers, and perhaps a nankeen jacket and pantaloons were added, and most of them had muskets. The capitam-mor came forth this day in his scarlet uniform, and sat himself down near to a table. The captain of the company which was about to be reviewed stood near to him with the muster-roll. The names of the privates were called over by the captain, and as each name was repeated by the sergeant, who stood at the door-way, the individual to whom it belonged came in and presented arms to the capitam-mor, then turned about and retired. It was truly ridiculous, but at the same time painful, to see the fright which the countenances of some of the poor fellows expressed, and their excessive awkwardness when they came to present themselves; whilst others displayed evident self-sufficiency; these were well-dressed and performed every manœuvre with as much neatness and promptitude as they were capable of, expressive of superior knowledge and in hopes of admiration.[200] There were of course many absentees, and for the non-appearance of these some reason was given by one of the officers of the company to which the man belonged, or by a neighbour. The excuses were usually received as all-sufficient, without any further enquiry being made. However the absence of one of the captains was not thus quietly acquiesced in, and therefore an officer was dispatched to his house to bring him to Pindoba under an arrest. Whether this proceeded from some private pique, or from zeal for the public service, I do not pretend to determine, but he soon arrived in custody. He was put into one of the apartments of the house which we were inhabiting, and a sergeant was stationed at the door as a sentinel. The capitam-mor soon however relented, upon which he was released and allowed to return home.

At dinner the great man took the head of the table, and the owner of the house stood by and waited upon him. Every thing was served up in enormous quantities, for the party was large and this is the custom; there was no sort of regularity observed; every man helped himself to the dish which pleased him best, and this was oftentimes done, with the knife which the person had been making use of upon his own plate, and by reaching across two or three of his neighbours for the purpose. A nice bit was not safe even upon one’s own plate, being occasionally snatched up, and another less dainty given in return. Much wine was drank during dinner, and the glasses were used in common. We soon rose from table, and the party, generally speaking, took the accustomed sesta or nap after dinner which is usual in warm climates. My friend and I walked out in the afternoon, but there was nothing to tempt us to go far, for the neighbourhood possessed no natural beauty and the dry weather had burnt up the grass, and had made the face of the country extremely dreary.

Early on the morrow about forty persons sallied forth for the village of Bom Jardim. It is distant from Pindoba one league and a half. We arrived there at seven o’clock. This village is built in the form of a square; the houses are low, but the church is large and handsome. Like the huts of Açu and of some other places, those of Bom Jardim are not white-washed, and therefore the mud of which[201] they are composed remains in its original colour. The place contains about 500 inhabitants. We ascended a steep hill to arrive at it, and on the opposite side still another of equal height is to be surmounted in proceeding farther inland. The village is situated upon a break of the hill. The soil is chiefly composed of red earth, approaching in places to a bright scarlet, with veins of yellow running through it; this is the description of soil, which is said to be the best adapted to the growth of cotton. Bom Jardim is a great rendezvous for the hawkers who are proceeding to the Sertam, and for others who merely advance thus far. It is distant from Recife twenty good leagues, in a N. E. direction.

My friend and I walked out and descended the hill by a path which led us to the bed of the river, for there was now no water in it. Great want of water is often experienced at Bom Jardim, but I think that if wells of sufficient depth were dug, a supply might be obtained[73]. On our return to the village, we discovered that Mass was about to be said, and therefore we accompanied some of our party to the church. It was crowded; indeed it is a remark which I was frequently led to make, that on Sundays and Holidays when the peasantry assemble at the church doors, their numbers must astonish those persons who merely pass through the country without opportunities being afforded to them of a more minute examination. The cottages upon the road side do not promise so numerous a population as is on these occasions to be seen; but from the thickness of the woods and the lowness of the huts, even when a view of the country is by any accident to be obtained from a high hill, the dwellings of the lower orders of people are not to be perceived; they are scattered all over the country; and narrow paths which appear impassable or nearly so, and are scarcely to be observed, often lead to four or five huts, situated in the centre of a wood or upon some low ground, adapted to the cultivation of mandioc and maize.

[202]

One company was reviewed at Bom Jardim, and from hence a captain was deputed to continue the review further into the country. We rode this afternoon one league to the house of Captain Anselmo, being so far upon our return. On our way to this place we saw the woods on one side of the road on fire. In the dry season the grass and brushwood become so completely parched, that the least spark sets a whole track of country in a blaze. I mean that the fire will sometimes run on for a league, and even more. It will occasionally blaze forth most violently, and catching the branches of the large trees, the flames will at intervals flash above their summit;—it will then subside, but continue smothered in the hollow of some aged tree, or in a heap of leaves which still retain some moisture; but a breath of air spreads it abroad, and it again runs on with violence. The peasants almost invariably smoke as they go along, and oftentimes they ask for a lighted piece of wood at a cottage which they may chance to pass. It is astonishing to see with what unconcern they will hurl this from them still unextinguished, knowing, as they do full well, the consequences which frequently have ensued. The act of setting fire to a wood is subject to punishment by law, if intention or even carelessness can be proved. The crop of canes of some estates have, in many instances, been injured by these means.

Captain Anselmo resides upon a cotton plantation which is his own property, and is cultivated by about forty negroes. The house is situated upon the shelf of a steep hill, with a beautiful plain below, upon which trees are thickly scattered. At the foot of the hill is a large fishpond, through which a rivulet runs in the rainy season. The owner has lately inclosed a piece of land, and was making a garden upon the borders of the pond. The dwelling-house was new and had a second floor; it was very clean and well furnished. This was the most pleasantly situated and the best arranged mansion which we visited during this journey; the huts for the slaves were well built and looked comfortable. Here we were entertained with such music as has as yet found its way into these parts of the country. Three[203] negroes with bagpipes attempted to play a few tunes whilst we were at dinner, but they seemed to play in different keys from each other, and sometimes each appeared to have struck up a tune of his own composing. I think I never heard so bad an attempt at producing harmonious sounds as the charameleiros made. The possession of a band of these bespeaks a certain degree of superiority, consequently the planters pride themselves upon their musicians.

Our party could not let pass this opportunity of being together without practising the amusement of the intrudo[74], although the usual time of its celebration was yet distant one week. On the day subsequent to that of our arrival, dinner was scarcely over before the farinha, the bananas, the rice, and other dainties upon the table, were hurled at each other’s heads; soon the smart uniform coats were taken off, and in his shirt sleeves each man began this civil war with heart and soul. Every thing was borne with perfect good humour, and at last, fatigued and bedaubed, all of us retired to the hammocks which had been provided for the party. But as our evil stars would have it, a brave captain closed quietly all the shutters (as the moon was shining very bright into the room) and then he placed himself near to an enormous jar of water, which stood in one corner of the apartment, and with a small pitcher in his hand soon dealt around him its contents, awakening us with repeated showers, and obliging us to take shelter under the chairs and tables. This, and other jokes allied to it, continued until the break of day, when we prepared for a continuation of our journey. One company was reviewed here.

We proceeded to the house of Captain Paulo Travasso, distant one league. As was our usual custom, my friend and I walked out soon[204] after our arrival, and in returning, instead of pursuing the path, which was rather circuitous, we attempted to climb up a bank, that we might the sooner reach the house; my friend was before me, and as he scrambled up it, his foot slipped, which caused him to catch at the stump of a small plant, that grew upon the side of the bank. He gave up his idea of going by that way to the house, and returned to me, bringing with him the plant, with its root and the earth about it. On going to throw it away, he perceived upon his hand the glitter of a substance which made us return to the spot. We gathered some more of the earth, and this gentleman, who had long resided upon the coast of Africa, judged the substance which was mixed with it to be gold dust.

At this place the intrudo was continued more violently than before; for even the blackened pots and pans from the kitchen were introduced to besmear each other’s faces. We obtained here a view of the females belonging to the house; but every where else, they had been too rigorously guarded, or were naturally too reserved to enable us to see them. Some excuse was made by the young men who were acquainted with the family, to draw them into the sport; and the ladies and their slaves were nothing loath to see and to participate in what was going forwards. A circumstance occurred which created much laughter, and which is but too characteristic. One man whom we met at this place, had all along begged of those who were engaged in the sport, that they would not wet him, because he was unwell; however it was seen that he did not observe towards others that forbearance which he entreated from them towards himself. One of our party seeing this, attacked him with a large silver ladle filled with water; the man ran out of the house, and the other followed; but when they were at some distance from it, he turned upon his pursuer, and drawing his knife, stood at some distance, threatening to stab him if he advanced. The other, striking his left side at the place in which knives are usually carried, likewise threatened him, and without delay advanced towards him, having picked up a thick stick as he approached. But his adversary did not like the[205] thoughts of a close combat, and soon set off at full speed, with his knife in his hand. In this manner, he entered the back door of the house, whilst he of the silver ladle took the front door. They met in the apartment from which they had started, when the latter opened his waistcoat and shewed that he had not a knife; thus proving before the whole party, that he of the knife had run away from one who was unarmed. This was quite sufficient; the women made a general attack upon him: he went to the stable, mounted his horse, and set forth; but his misfortunes had not yet ended, for the path by which he must retreat lay under two of the windows of the house, and as he passed, two large tubs of water drenched him and his steed, which immediately quickened its pace, amidst the hooting of every one present.

We continued our journey in the afternoon to a sugar plantation, the property of Captain Joam Soares, where we remained until the following day. Some of us were tired of the intrudo, and therefore sought shelter in the mill and adjoining out-houses, when we saw the sport again commencing; but we were about to be attacked, when we gained the roofs of one of the buildings, and from hence could not be dislodged.

I had frequently seen the saboeiro or soap tree, which is to be chiefly found in these districts. It is a large shrub, which puts forth numerous branches in every direction, so that when it is in full leaf, it has somewhat the appearance of trees that have been clipped, (as was formerly practised in gardens,) which is increased by the leaves being small and growing very close to each other. The receptacle of the seed is about the size of a small plum; when this is put into water, and rubbed with some violence, it produces the same effect as that which is caused by soap in water, and it has the same property of cleansing[75]. The pao do alho or garlic tree, is to be met with in[206] great abundance in these districts. The name is derived from the similitude of the smell of the leaves and the wood of this plant to garlic. The tree abounds so greatly, and, I suppose, reminded the first settlers so much of one of their favourite European culinary ingredients, that it has given name to a town, and to a whole district.

About five o’clock in the afternoon we proceeded to Limoeiro, a large and thriving village[76]. It is composed of one street of about three quarters of a mile in length, which is closed at one end by the church and vicarage: this building belonged formerly to the Jesuits. The trade of Limoeiro with the interior is considerable, and particularly on the day of the market, which is held weekly, the bustle is excessive. These days seldom pass without some murders being committed, or at least many wounds and blows being given; but the markets of Nazareth or Lagoa d’Anta are those which are particularly famed for the disturbances that usually take place there. These became so considerable at one time, that the governor found it necessary to issue orders for a patrole to keep the peace on market days.

Limoeiro contains about six hundred inhabitants, and is increasing daily. It stands upon the banks of the river Capibaribe, which was at this time quite dry. The distance from Recife is fourteen good leagues. We were entertained by the vicar, who has taken very little pains to have a decent residence, and cannot fail to be somewhat indifferent about his own life, for every step to which we advanced as we ascended to the apartments above, promised to be the last that would hold us. The floors of the rooms into which we were ushered, seemed to be laid out as traps to ensnare those who might not tread cautiously; some of the boards were broken, and large holes remained; others were loose, and it was dangerous to pass over them;[207] and besides the several perils of this mansion, substances which are not pleasant to the nose might unwarily be trampled upon. Never did I see so miserable a dwelling, whose inhabitant might with so much ease have bettered the state in which we found it. However, I ought not to complain, for to counterbalance all this, we had a teapot, sugar basin, and other parts of the equipage of silver.

The Capitam-mor had still several posts to visit, which would delay him for a considerable time; therefore as my friend was anxious to return to Recife, we left our party, with much regret, and were accompanied in the morning by the adjutant, who was about to return home. I had been greatly amused, and wished to have seen the conclusion of the affair. At Limoeiro, several companies were to be reviewed, and from thence the Capitam-mor proceeded to Pao do Alho[77] and Nazareth, or Lagoa d’Anta[78], two large villages of considerable importance. Both of them are within a few leagues of the place from which we separated from our companions. We returned to Santa Cruz, passed through that village, and were entertained at the house of the adjutant. We reached Aguiar in the afternoon, being received at that place by one of the Capitam-mor’s sons, a young man of eighteen years of age; and we also saw the Capitam-mor’s interesting wife, who is likewise his niece; she was about fifteen years of age, he being about forty-six. We slept there, and stopped at Paulistas on the following day at noon, from whence we proceeded to Recife on the evening of the 6th February.

I heard one of the sugar planters bitterly complaining of his poverty, and that his want of hands to work his mill obliged him to[208] give up the cultivation of much of the best land of his estate. Soon after he had uttered these complaints, the conversation turned upon saddle-horses and their trappings; and he then told us that he had lately purchased a new saddle and bridle, which he wished us to see. These new trappings were most superb affairs; the saddle was made of morocco leather and green velvet, and silver headed nails and plates of the same metal were profusely scattered and placed upon all parts of this and of the bridle. He told us that the whole had cost him four hundred mil reis, about 110l. This sum of money would have purchased four slaves. But the matter did not end here, for he opened a drawer in which were strewed several broken silver spoons, spurs, &c. and he said that he was collecting a sufficient quantity of this metal for the purpose of having his groom’s horse ornamented in the same manner as his own.

The free persons of colour who inhabit the track of country through which we passed are more numerous than I had previously imagined. The companies of Ordenanças vary much in strength; some consist of one hundred and fifty men and more, and others of not above fifty. The peasantry of the Mata, that is, of the country which lies between the plentiful well-watered districts of the coast and the Sertoens, have not a general good character. The miserable life which they, oftener than others, are obliged to lead from the want of water and of provisions, seems to have an unfavourable effect upon them; they are represented as being more vindictive and more quarrelsome, and less hospitable than their neighbours. To say that a man is a matuto da mata, a woodman of the wood, is no recommendation to him.

During this journey I heard the following story; and as I was acquainted with the person to whom the circumstances occurred, I can vouch for its veracity. A Brazilian who had been wealthy, but who had, through many imprudencies, and from many deeds which deserve a much severer name, reduced himself to a state of comparative poverty, resided in this part of the country at the time I travelled through it. He was a man of loose morals and savage disposition,[209] but of most pleasant manners. He had in one particular instance, which pre-eminently stamped his character, behaved in a most shameful manner to a lady to whom he professed himself to be attached. He had possessed many slaves; but at the time the following occurrences took place three or four only remained, and of these one alone was in health. Apprehensive of being assassinated by some of the persons whom he had injured and insulted, he usually kept the doors and windows of his residence well secured, excepting one entrance which was likewise closed at dusk. One evening, three men knocked at the door, and asked leave to pass the night in some of the out-houses of the plantation; the owner answered from within, but did not open the door, saying that they might sleep in the mill. About an hour afterwards there was another knock, and a person requested that some fruit might be sold to him. The owner fetched some, and inconsiderately opened the door to give it to the man; but when he looked out, all the three were there, and as he reached the fruit to one of them, a second fired, and the greatest part of the shot entered the abdomen. The known courage of the wounded man made these fellows hesitate in approaching him immediately, by which means he had time to reach his sword, which stood near to where he was, and he was enabled to close and bolt the door. This being done, he reached his bed with great difficulty, expecting that every minute would be his last. The men tried to gain admittance through some of the doors or windows; but not succeeding in this, they rode off. As soon as the slave who was in health heard the report of the gun, and saw his master wounded, he left the house, recollecting (which is somewhat surprising) to lock the door; he made all haste to a neighbouring plantation, distant one league. The owner of the place to which the slave had fled, ordered a hammock to be prepared, and set off with sixteen negroes; he was accompanied by his chaplain, who brought with him a candle, and all the other necessary appendages to the bed-side of a dying Catholic. They arrived, and found the wounded man in a state which led them to suppose that he could[210] not live many hours; but he was confessed, and anointed with the holy oil, and thus prepared for the worst. Then they put him into the hammock, and his neighbour had him conveyed to his residence. The person who related this story to me, did not fail to add, that a lighted candle was carried in a lantern, that the wounded man should not run the risk of dying without having the light in his hand, as is the custom. A surgeon was sent for to Iguaraçu, which is distant several leagues, and he succeeded in extracting almost all the shot. Notwithstanding the delay, and other unfavourable circumstances, I saw this man in good health in 1813. Whilst he still remained in a dangerous state at the house of his friend, a Sertanejo Indian, well armed, passed through the place, and asked one of the negroes if he was still alive. It was generally said that he must remove to some far distant part of the country, otherwise he might daily expect another attack, and particularly as his enemies were Sertanejos. The men who had attempted to murder him were dressed after the manner of these people, and were seen on the following day travelling towards the interior. They mentioned at some of the cottages at which they stopped, that they believed they had prevented one man from eating any more piram, which is equal to an European using in the same manner the word bread. The person whom they had attacked could not be sure of the quarter from whence the blow proceeded; for many were those from which he might have expected it. In Brazil, injured persons or their relatives must either allow their own wrongs and those of their families to go unpunished, or they must themselves undertake the chastisement of him who has committed the crime. The evil proceeds, immediately, from the vastness of the country, and from the want of attention in the government to counteract this disadvantage.

CHAPTER XI.

RESIDENCE AT JAGUARIBE.—JOURNEY TO GOIANA.—ILLNESS.—RETURN TO JAGUARIBE.

AFTER the journey to Bom Jardim, I did not again leave Recife for any length of time, until I entered with a friend into a scheme of farming. It had been greatly my wish to remove from the town into the country, from preference, rather than from any other cause.

In the beginning of April, 1812, we rented the sugar-plantation of Jaguaribe, distant from Recife four leagues, in a northward direction, and about one league from the coast; it had upon it several slaves, oxen, machinery, and implements, which enabled the new tenant to enter it immediately. A few days after these matters were arranged, I accompanied the owner to the plantation for the purpose of meeting the person who was about to leave it, being the second visit which I had made to my intended place of residence. Having agreed with this man, the owner and myself returned to sleep at the dwelling of one of his brothers, which was situated about a mile and a half from the coast; this person had purchased some lands, which he was now clearing, and upon which he was erecting several buildings. He and his family inhabited a barn, and we were to sleep in his new house, of which the roof and the wood-work of the walls were alone erected. The rainy season had commenced, and this unfinished dwelling was almost surrounded by pools of stagnant water, inhabited by enormous toads, whose loud and hoarse croaking continued during the whole of the night, without intermission. The[212] trunks of the trees which had been cut down a short time before, were lying as they had fallen in all directions. In the morning I set off alone, on my return to Recife; I made for the sea-shore, and soon reached the river Doce, a narrow stream, which after a course of four or five leagues here discharges its waters into the sea. The tide enters it, and again recedes with considerable rapidity; at such times it is not fordable, but at the ebb the remaining waters are very trifling, and some parts of the channel are left quite dry. It is necessary to pass quickly over, as the sand of which its bed is composed is very fine, and although not altogether what is called quicksand, still to delay in one spot is not quite safe. When the tide is out the water of the river is quite sweet, which has obtained for it the name of Doce.

It was upon the borders of this river that the Portugueze and the Dutch were first opposed to each other in that part of Brazil[79]; here commenced that memorable struggle upon which the Pernambucans, with so much reason, pride themselves. The beginning was not propitious, and did not augur well of the result, but time proved the people to be worthy of the beautiful country which they inhabit. The river Tapado, upon the banks of which the Portugueze commander afterwards attempted to rally his men[80], lies between the Doce and Olinda. It is a rivulet or dyke (for it resembles more the latter than the former) without any outlet to the sea, but it is only separated from it by the sands, which are here about twenty yards across. When the rains have been violent the additional waters of the Tapado are discharged over the sands, and sometimes at spring tides, when the wind blows fresh, a few waves will reach over them and fall into the dyke; this being the only manner in which they can communicate with each other. At the Doce likewise landed Pedro Jaques de Magalhaens, the general, and Brito Freire (now known as an historian), the admiral of the fleet which[213] assisted the patriots of Pernambuco in the completion of their long-desired and hardly-earned object,—the re-conquest of Recife and consequent expulsion of the Dutch.[81]

But to return,—I arrived upon the banks of the Doce, and asked at a cottage, which was not far distant, if the river was fordable, and being answered in the affirmative, I rode up to its banks and attempted to make my horse enter it, which he refused to do. I made a second and a third trial, when he plunged in swimming; it was with much difficulty that he gained the outermost point of the sand-bank on the opposite side. He had passed a bad night and was not in a proper state to perform this task, nor should I have attempted it if I had known the depth, but I imagined that the tide had sufficiently retreated. My clothes were dry before I arrived at home, but I long felt the consequences of crossing the Doce.

About the middle of May I removed to Jaguaribe. The road to it is through the plantation of Paulistas, from whence, after crossing the Paratibi, a narrow path leads to the left through a deep wood for nearly one league. A steep hill is to be surmounted, and its corresponding declivity carefully descended. The wood continues to a break in the hill, on the side nearest to Jaguaribe. On reaching this spot there was a view before me, which would in most situations be accounted very beautiful, but in this delightful country so many fine prospects are continually presenting themselves, that I opened upon this with few feelings of pleasure at the sight. I cannot avoid owning that the advantages of the place as a plantation occupied my mind more deeply than its beauties. Immediately before me was a cottage and a row of negro huts, surrounded by banana-trees, standing upon a shelf of the hill. Beyond these to the left was the narrow, but far-extending valley, upon whose nearest border were situated the buildings of Jaguaribe upon an open field, with the hills behind, and in front was the rivulet. To the right was[214] a deep dell, with an expanse of country not thickly covered with wood; and rather in advance, but also to the right, were numerous deep-coloured mangroves, which pointed out that a stream of considerable size ran down among them. On the other side of the nearest of these mangroves, and yet not very far, was the high peak of St. Bento, with the mandioc, and maize lands, and wood upon its side, and the path winding up through them, which is at times concealed, and at times in view;—but the buildings are not to be seen, though the tolling of the chapel-bell may be often heard, from the spot upon which I was standing.

I was under the necessity of taking up my abode in the vestry of the chapel, as the Great House was still occupied. The negroes were already at work for us, and under the direction of a proper feitor or manager. The whole neighbourhood was astonished at the place I had determined to inhabit, until some other dwelling presented itself. I was certainly not comfortably situated, for the vestry consisted of only one apartment, with a door-way to the field and another into the church, the latter being without a door; the church was unfinished, and was the resort of bats and owls; however it was principally my unconcern respecting ghosts which my neighbours were surprised at. A negro boy and myself remained at night to encounter these, if any should appear, and to receive our constant visitors the bats. My companion rolled himself up upon the ground in a piece of baize and a mat, and thus cased, was quite safe. I slept in a hammock, and oftentimes these unwelcome guests alighted upon it, as if they had come for the chance of a toe or a finger making its appearance, upon which they might fix. This way of living did not last long, nor did I wish that it should.

The house of which I have spoken as being situated upon a shelf of the hill, and as looking down upon the valley, was soon without an inhabitant, and therefore to this I removed. It was large, but the floors of the rooms were without bricks, and the interior walls had not been white-washed for ages, and some of them had never undergone the operation. I received visits and presents, as is customary,[215] from my immediate neighbours,—the white persons and those of colour who aspire to gentility; and indeed many individuals of the lower class did not neglect to come and offer their services to the new-comer, whose character and disposition towards them, they judged that it was necessary to become acquainted with. In many instances, the wives of the latter description of visitors came also and brought sweetmeats, fruit, or flowers. I received them all, sitting in my hammock; the men sat round on chairs, but the women generally squatted down upon the floor, though it was formed of earth. I talked to them of my intentions, and of my wish to conciliate, and I heard much of bickerings and squabbles among those of their own rank, and of feuds between their superiors, the same stories being related to me in many different ways. They were much surprised that I should wear so much cloaths, saying, that I ought to do as they did and be unencumbered; and their advice I soon followed. I was much amused, and for some days these visits took up the largest portion of my time.

The lands around me to the North, belonged to the Benedictine friars; and to the East to an old lady; those of the latter were much neglected, but those which were possessed by the former were in high order. To the South, beyond the wood through which I passed in coming to Jaguaribe, are the lands of Paulistas; and to the West and North West are some excellent cane lands, belonging to a religious lay brotherhood of free negroes of Olinda, which were tenanted by and subdivided among a great number of persons of low rank, whites, mulattos, and blacks.

The work went on regularly, and I had soon very little in which to employ my time, excepting in those things by which I might think proper to amuse myself.

In the beginning of June, it was necessary that I should visit Goiana; however I took a circuitous route for the purpose of seeing something new. I was accompanied by an old free man of colour and by Manoel, a faithful African. We slept the first night at Aguiar, the estate of the capitam-mor with whom I had travelled to Bom Jardim; and[216] on the following morning proceeded through several sugar plantations. We rested at mid-day at Purgatorio, a small cotton and mandioc plantation, but we could not purchase any thing of which to make a dinner, and therefore, as was usual on such occasions, we smoked in place of eating. When the sun had declined a little we again set forth. A few of the sugar plantations through which we passed in the afternoon were in a decayed state. We stopped at a cottage, and begged the owner to sell us a fowl but she refused;—we had not eaten any thing this day. I was loath so to do, but I could not avoid saying that she must sell one, that I did not mind the price, but that hunger would not allow me to let her do as she pleased in this case. She fixed upon one, and made me pay exorbitantly for it. We parted in the end very good friends; she offered me some herbs with which to cook the bird, and after this reconciliation we again advanced. By going to Purgatorio we had left the usual direct road—cross roads even in England are not good, so what must they be in Brazil? In one part we were obliged to lean down upon our horses’ necks, and to proceed in this manner for some distance, with the branches of the trees completely closed above. The plantation of Mundo Novo, or the new world, which we reached late in the afternoon, was in ruins; trees grew in the chapel, and the brushwood in front of the dwelling-house rose higher than its roof. I slept at a cottage hard by, which was inhabited by an elderly man and a number of children, large and small. The ill-fated fowl, and another which we had also obtained by the way, were dressed by the daughters of our host. Soon the cooking was effected, and I commenced operations, literally with tooth and nail, upon one of the birds, for there were no knives, forks, or spoons to be had; however I did receive some assistance from my own faca de ponta, a pointed knife or dirk, which, though prohibited by law, is worn by all ranks of persons. At night, my hammock was slung under the pent-house; at a late hour a shower of rain came on; our host had a vast herd of goats; these crowded in from the rain, and soon I was obliged, in self-defence, to rise, as I discovered that they had very little respect for me;—my[217] head and some of their’s having come in contact, made me look out for better quarters; and these I found upon a high table, where I remained until the visitors again ventured forth. We proceeded on the morrow, and reached Goiana by the low marshy lands of Catû. The river was scarcely fordable; but we crossed, and on the opposite side the loose mud in the road reached above the horses’ knees and continued along it for more than one hundred yards; we entered it, and the horses gently waded through; but mine unfortunately felt that his tail was not quite easy in the mud, and therefore began to move it to and fro on either side; and as it was long, (much too long on this occasion) it struck me at every jerk. My dress was a light-coloured nankeen jacket and trowsers, and I came forth, without exaggeration, one cake of mud from head to foot.

I rode to the residence of a person with whom I had been long acquainted; he had taken up his quarters at a new mandioc plantation which had been lately established in the outskirts of Goiana; my friend had removed to this place to superintend some of the workmen. I stayed only two days at Goiana, for I soon accomplished the object of my journey, which was to obtain twenty Indian labourers from Alhandra. My return to Jaguaribe was by the usual road.

The day after my arrival at my new home, I rode to Recife, and had on the following day an attack of ague. I had exposed myself lately too much to the sun, and had been several times wet through. The disorder left me in a fortnight; my horses were sent for,—they came, and I set off for Jaguaribe; but in mid-way, I was drenched with rain, and reaching that place much tired, went to sleep unintentionally in my hammock, without changing my cloaths. In the morning I felt that the ague was returning, and therefore ordered my horse and rode out to try to shake off the attack, which the peasants say it is possible to do. However, whilst I was talking with a neighbour, on horseback at his door, the ague came on, and I was unable to return to my own dwelling.

The next day the Indians from Alhandra arrived; they had imbibed[218] strange notions of the riches of an Englishman; and their captain told me, that they knew I was very rich, and could afford to give higher wages than any one else. I tried to undeceive them in this respect, but all to no purpose. I offered the usual rate of labour in the country; but their characteristic obstinacy had entered into them, and they preferred returning as they came to any abatement of their first demand; although this was 25 per cent. higher than any person had ever been known to give for daily labour. They dined, placed their wallets upon their shoulders, and went their way. One of my people said, as they disappeared, ascending the hill, beyond the field, “They had rather work for any one else for half the money, than lower in their demands to you.”

I was removed from this neighbour’s house, after a few days, in a hammock; but finding that the disorder increased, I sent for the manager, an old man of colour, whose wife attended upon me. By my desire, he collected a sufficient number of bearers, as it was my wish to be carried to Recife. About five o’clock in the afternoon we set off; there were sixteen men to bear the hammock by turns, and the manager was likewise in company; of these persons only two were slaves. After we had passed the wood and had arrived upon a good road, the bearers proceeded at a long walk approaching to a run. Their wild chorus, which they sung as they went along,—their mischief in throwing stones at the dogs by the road side, and in abuse, half joking, half wishing for an opportunity of quarrelling, confident in their numbers, and that as they were in the service of a white man he would bring them out of any scrape;—was very strange, and had I been less unwell, this journey would have much amused me. As we passed through Olinda, a woman asked my men if they carried a dead body (for it is in this manner that they are brought from a distance for interment). One of the bearers answered, “No, it is the devil[82]:” and then turning to me, said, “Is it not so, my master[83]?” I said, “Yes,” and the good woman walked away, saying, “Ave-Maria,[219] the Lord forbid[84].” The wind was high and some rain fell, as we crossed the Olinda sands; we arrived at Recife between nine and ten o’clock. The bearers stopped before we approached the gate way at the entrance of the town, that each man might, in some way or other, conceal his long, unlawful knife; without one of these weapons no peasant or great man leaves his home, notwithstanding the prohibition.

I became gradually worse, until my recovery was not expected; but the kind, attentive hand of another Englishman here again was stretched forth. My former friend had left the country, but another supplied his place, and from him I received every brotherly kindness. I cannot forbear mentioning the following circumstances relating to my illness. I went on board an English merchant ship, some weeks after my recovery, and on passing a cask which was lying upon the deck, I struck it intentionally, but without any particular object. The master, who was an old gentleman with whom I had come from England, and who had been long acquainted with me, said, “Yes, you would not have it.” I asked him what he meant, to which he replied, “It was for you, but you gave us the slip this time.” I did not yet understand him, so he then continued, “Why, do you think I would have let you remain among these fellows here, who would not have given you christian burial? I intended to have taken you home in that puncheon of rum.” I was told by one of my medical attendants when I was recovering, that some old maiden ladies, who lived near to where I resided, had frequently pressed him, whilst I was in a dangerous state, to have the Sacrament brought to me, for they were much grieved that I should die without any chance of salvation. An English merchant of Recife asked my particular friend when the funeral was to take place; and one of the medical men wrote a note to the same person late one night, enquiring whether his attendance on the following morning had been rendered unnecessary.

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As soon as I was well enough to remove, I took a small cottage at the village of Monteiro, that I might have the advantage of better air than that of Recife, and yet not be too far distant from medical advice. Here I passed my time very pleasantly in daily intercourse with a most worthy Irish family, of whom I shall always preserve recollections of gratitude for the kindness which I received at that time and on other occasions. On the night of my arrival at Monteiro, one of my pack-horses was stolen, but the animal was recognised some weeks afterwards by a boy who was in my service; the man into whose hands he had fallen happened to pass through the village, and thus I recovered the horse. It is astonishing to what a great extent horse-stealing has been carried, in a country which abounds so much with these animals. It is almost the only species of robbery, for the practising of which regular gangs of men have been discovered to have been formed; but these fellows will sometimes also chance to lay hold of a stray ox or cow.[85]

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I was most anxious to return to Jaguaribe, and about the middle of October was making preparations for the purpose; when the manager arrived from the plantation, with the intelligence that one of his assistants had been attacked two nights before, and nearly killed, by some persons who had been commissioned to perform this deed in revenge of some real or imagined injury which the man had committed. This determined my proceedings; the following morning I set off with the manager and a servant, to see the wounded man. I found him at his father’s house, in most woeful plight; his face was dreadfully lacerated, and his body much bruised; the work had been done by bludgeons, and evidently in fear, else the task would have been performed less clumsily and more effectually. I never could discover by whom the murder was intended, nor the persons who attempted it; they were dressed in leather, like unto Sertanejos; but the sufferer imagined that this costume was made use of as a disguise. Two men sprang out upon him, in a narrow lane which had high banks on each side; he defended himself for some time with his sword, but they overpowered him at last, and his weapon was the only part of his property which they carried off. I removed altogether from Monteiro in a few days; my presence had long been necessary at Jaguaribe, for the mill was at work, and as frequently happens in every country, some of the persons who were employed had not remained empty handed.

The poor fellow who had been way-laid, soon returned to the plantation; he told me that every night large stones were thrown violently against his door, between the hours of one and four in the morning. I called the manager the following evening, and both of us being armed, we took our station near to the gate which leads into the field, one being on each side, behind the high bank. We could hear the[222] footsteps of any person long before he could approach us, as the splashing in the rivulet which runs beyond the gate, would give us timely notice. The musquitos gave us much employment; however we remained at our post until half an hour before day break, without seeing any thing; but the practice was discontinued. Two men had arrived early in the night to offer themselves as labourers; they were awake when we returned, had made a good fire upon the ground in the mill (a spacious roof supported upon brick pillars) and were sitting round it upon their heels; we joined them, and here I heard their stories of their own prowess, of charms, and miracles, and other conversation of the same nature, each of them telling something strange which he had seen or heard.[86]

Much time had been lost, and the cane ought to have been planted for the crop of the following year; the negroes in my possession could not perform what ought to be done in proper time, and therefore I collected free labourers for the purpose; and in a short period between thirty and forty men, some of whom brought their families, removed on to the lands of the plantation; and most of them erected hovels of palm-leaves, in which they dwelt; but a few of them were accommodated with huts of mud. There were Indians, mulattos, free negroes, and slaves working together; a motley crew.

I had now taken up my abode at the house which was usually inhabited by the owner or tenant; this was a low, but long mud cottage,[223] covered with tiles, and white-washed within and without; it had bricked floors, but no ceiling. There were two apartments of tolerable dimensions, several small rooms, and a kitchen. The chief entrance was from a sort of square, formed by the several buildings belonging to the estate. In front was the chapel; to the left was a large dwelling-house unfinished, and the negro huts, a long row of small habitations, having much the appearance of alms-houses, without the neatness of places of this description in England; to the right was the mill worked by water, and the warehouse or barn in which the sugar undergoes the process of claying; and to the view of these buildings may be added the pens for the cattle, the carts, heaps of timber, and a small pond through which the water runs to the mill. At the back of the house was the large open field, the mill dam beyond, and cottages, mandioc lands and trees along the valley, bordered on each side by steep hills covered with thick woods.

Oftentimes I have sat at night upon the threshold of the door, after all my people had retired to their habitations; they have supposed that I was asleep; then I have heard the whisperings in the negro huts, and have observed some one leave his house, and steal away to visit an acquaintance, residing at some distance; or there has been some feast or merry-making, thus late at night, thus concealed. Neighbouring negroes have been invited, and have crept in during the evening unperceived. It is on these occasions that plans for deceiving the master are contrived; in these sweet unpermitted meetings, the schemes are formed. Then the slave owner who is aware of such secret practices, and reflects, must feel of how little avail are all his regulations, all his good management. Restraint creates the wish to act contrary to given rules. The slave has a natural bias to deceive him who holds him in subjection. A man may love the master whom he may at pleasure leave; but to be tied down, and as a duty enjoined to esteem, fails not in most instances to rouse contrary feelings, to awaken a sense of pleasure rather than of pain, in counteracting the wishes, and in rendering nugatory the determinations of him who commands.

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At other times far different ideas from these have occupied my mind; I have thought of the strange life I was leading; a remembrance of feudal times in Europe has crossed me, and I could not forbear comparing with them the present state of the interior of Brazil. The great power of the planter, not only over his slaves, but his authority over the free persons of lower rank; the respect which is required by these Barons from the free inhabitants of their lands[87]; the assistance which they expect from their tenants in case of insult from a neighbouring equal; the dependance of the peasants, and their wish to be under the peculiar protection of a person of wealth who is capable of relieving them from any oppression, and of speaking in their behalf to the governor, or to the chief judge; all these circumstances combined, tend to render the similarity very great. I even felt the power which had unintentionally fallen into my hands. I had collected a considerable number of free workmen, and the estate was respected for miles round. Many of these fellows would have committed almost any crime under the impression that my protection would screen them; and if I had not turned some away, and threatened others that I would aid the law rather than evade it, should their[225] proceedings be irregular, I know not what evil deeds might not have followed.[88]

Whilst I was unwell at Recife and Monteiro, the manager and his wife had taken possession of the house; and here they remained for some time after my return. Thus, I lived literally among these people; I had indeed my meals alone, but generally two or three of the persons employed upon the plantation were in the room, whilst I breakfasted or dined, and they stood or sat talking to me. Any one reached me a plate or ought else for which I asked, if he happened to be near to what I wanted. The manager and his wife told me many[226] strange tales; he was a man of feudal stamp, honest and faithful in every respect, from personal regard to the man whom he served, but not in general to the world; not from a principle of right and wrong. This is very frequently the case among these people. He was however of the right sort for what I wanted; and if I was again to travel there, I should seek him out.

I had become somewhat intimate in several families of the neighbourhood; but was the most amused with my acquaintance in those of secondary rank, where there is less ceremony than among persons of the first class. In the former, the females often appear, when the visitor is a neighbour, has concerns with the master of the house, and becomes intimate with him.

The Festival of St. Bento was to be celebrated about the close of the year in the adjoining plantation, belonging to the monks of whom he is the patron saint. The convent is at Olinda, and there the abbot resides; the fraternity is rich, possessing much landed property. Upon the estate adjoining to Jaguaribe, mandioc, maize, rice, and other articles of food are cultivated, with which the convent is supplied. The slaves upon it are in number about one hundred, of all ages; and the last African died whilst I resided in that part of the country. The festival, at which I intended to be present, was to our Lady of the Rosary, the patroness of negroes. The expence which was to be incurred was subscribed for by the slaves of the estate, and the festival was entirely managed by them. Three friars attended to officiate at the altar; but the lights, the fireworks, and all other necessary articles were provided for by a committee of the slaves. The manager of the estate was a mulatto slave, who made me a visit upon my arrival at Jaguaribe, and on the occasion of the festival came to invite me to the novena and to the festa, (the nine previous evenings and the festival); or rather he came to request that I would not fail to go, as he feared that my people and his might quarrel. I went with a large party of men and women; we ascended the hill, and on our arrival at its summit, I was invited by one of the black women to enter her cottage, the same invitation being made to several other[227] persons of our party. The chapel is placed quite upon the highest point of the hill; and the house in which the friars dwell, when they come to the estate, and the row of negro huts form a semicircle about it, thus in part inclosing the chapel. These habitations look down upon the broad river of Maria Farinha, winding below among the mangroves, and there are several creeks on the opposite side, which look like so many branches.

The crowd which had assembled was considerable, and was not a little increased by my free workmen; some of whom were unmarried men, unencumbered, and ready for any mischief. I was armed with a long pike and the large knife of the country; and had brought three of my slaves, accoutred much in the same manner,—three resolute Africans, upon whom I could depend, and whose business it was closely to watch their master. Before the commencement of the prayers and singing in the chapel, the black people extended several mats upon the ground in the open air; and our party sat down upon them to converse and to eat cakes and sweetmeats, of which many kinds were exposed for sale in great abundance. All went on quietly for three nights, for the mulatto manager forbad the sale of rum; but on the fourth night some liquor unfortunately found its way up the hill, and Nicolau, the manager, came in haste to inform me that a few of my Indians were earnestly bent on quarrelling with a party of his people. I rose from the mat upon which I had been seated, and followed by my body guard, accompanied him back to the spot, where I soon saw that a fight had commenced; persuasion was of no avail, and therefore my negroes made use of the butt ends of their pikes, and brought an Indian to the ground, who was delivered over to Simam, one of my fellows; and I desired the two slaves who remained to assist the St. Bento negroes. I thus proved, that I would not uphold my own people if they acted irregularly; and the matter fortunately ended with only some trifling bruises, and one broken head. The Indian was conveyed home by Simam, who returned to tell me that he had placed the man in the stocks, with the intent of sobering him. No more quarrels were entered into; for this affair[228] quite sickened all those who might have been so inclined. In the morning the Indian was set at liberty, and he quietly went off to his work, not being much the worse.

I had great pleasure in witnessing the most excellent arrangements of this plantation; the negroes are as happy as persons in a state of slavery can be; but although the tasks are, comparatively speaking, easy, and corporal punishments are only resorted to for children, still the great object at which they aim is to be free, and to purchase the freedom of their children[89]. One man, who was a fisherman by trade, had obtained the manumission of his wife, though he was still a slave himself, with the intent that if she should still have any more children, they might be free; and he purposed afterwards purchasing his own freedom, and that of his young ones. Several instances of the same behaviour are frequently occurring upon the estates belonging to these and other friars. Thus every one wishes to be a free agent; and it is this feeling alone which makes a St. Bento negro do all in his power to be able to act for himself; for very probably he may be obliged to labour with more diligence to obtain his living as a free man than as a slave. The emancipated negro oftentimes becomes an excellent member of society, for he contracts habits of industry, in which he continues; but again, if he has been hardly treated by a rigorous master, he becomes disgusted with, and indifferent to life, is rendered callous to shame, and drags on an idle, miserable existence.

Another festival was to take place at one of the chapels upon the coast, which is dedicated to our Lady of the Conception. This was distant one league and a half from Jaguaribe; however we formed a party and mounted our horses one moon-light evening; the females riding behind their husbands and relations, with a sheet or counterpane thrown over the horse’s haunches, upon which they sat. We came[229] out upon the sea-shore at the church of our Lady of the O, (of which I shall presently speak) not far from the Fort of Pao Amarello, and from thence proceeded along the sands to the place of our destination. I was introduced to the family of an old Portugueze who resided here; his son had just taken orders as a secular priest, and was to say his first mass on the day of the festival. There were puppet-shows, tumblers, and all their attendants in great abundance; fireworks and bon-fires, noise, bustle, and no lack of quarrelling. Within the chapel there was a display of wax tapers, praying, singing, and music, as is usual.

The assemblage of persons was very considerable; indeed wherever the surf is not violent the sea-shore is well-peopled, along the whole extent of coast between Olinda and the bar of the river Goiana; in many parts the low straw huts are united, or nearly so, in long rows for half a mile together. White-washed cottages with tiled roofs are frequently interspersed; churches and chapels have been built, and few intervals of much extent remain unpeopled. The lands are planted with the coco-trees, which is the most profitable plant of Brazil[90]; the coco-tree appears to be adapted to the sandy soil of the coast, upon which only very few others will vegetate; here it flourishes and seems to derive nourishment from its vicinity to the sea, but when it is situated in rich land the coco-tree droops, and even upon the sandy plains of the interior, it does not bear its fruit with the same luxuriance, or reach that height, which it attains when exposed to the sea breeze. These coco groves through which the eye can reach for miles, with the hovels composed entirely of the leaves of these trees spread among them, form in some parts very picturesque views; and if, as frequently occurs, the cottage is situated upon the border of a wood, just where the cocos end, and the dark green foliage of the forest trees is seen behind, then the view is even romantic; and if the wind is high, the rustling of the coco-trees, and the dashing of the waves, increases much the wildness of the scene.

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However to return. As soon as the church service was ended we mounted our horses, and rode back to Our Lady of the O. We alighted at a cottage which stood near to the church, the inhabitants of which were acquainted with some of our party; the moon was bright and the breeze moderate. We sat down upon mats before the door, and were regaled with quantities of young coco nuts, a most delightful fruit when they are in this state. Some of us walked down towards the beach; the tide was out, and I observed several large blocks of hewn stone, partly buried in the sand below high water mark. I enquired what had caused them to be there, and was answered, that a church had formerly stood upon that spot; and I heard then, and afterwards often saw, that the sea was making considerable encroachments along the coast, to the distance of half a league or more each way. The new church of Our Lady of the O. was now building, at the distance of about three hundred yards from the shore. Strange tales are told of the miraculous deeds of this lady. When the church was about to be rebuilt, many of the landholders of the neighbourhood were desirous of having the edifice upon their ground; this proceeded from a religious feeling. Lots were drawn to determine upon the site of the new church, and although manifestly inconvenient, from many causes, it has been erected upon the spot where it now stands, because the same lot was drawn three times. A very great objection, and one which in common cases would have been insurmountable, is that this is the lowest piece of land in the neighbourhood, and is opposite to the place upon which the sea is making the most rapid advances. Water too, for mixing the lime and sand, must have been conveyed from a considerable distance; but a spring of it gushed forth at the moment that one of the labourers was making preparations for the commencement of his work, and since the capella-mor, or principal chapel, has been built, all kinds of diseases are said to be cured. The fame of this most powerful lady has reached far and wide, and from the interior to the distance of 150 leagues, persons who were afflicted with disorders which had been considered incurable by human means, have come down[231] to make their offerings to this avaritious personage, whose powerful intercession is not to be obtained unless she is in return well paid for her trouble.[91]

As the road from the Sertam to the sea-shore was by Jaguaribe, I saw many of the travellers; I conversed with many wealthy persons, whose sole errand was to offer part of their possessions, upon condition of relief from the malady under which they suffered. The patrimony of this church is now considerable, from the numerous donations which have been made; some of these have been advanced on credit, the donors being fully confident of repayment in the manner which they desire; others have been made, owing to the persons who gave them having been really cured;—faith has done what medicine could not do. Such has been the reliance upon the efficacy of the prayers which were offered up, and upon the power of the Lady, that the probability of disappointment has never occurred to them; and when the disorder proceeds more from the imagination than from the body, I should suppose that a cure may be effected, much in the same manner that in other countries cures are said to be performed by medicinal waters; of which, although the qualities may be very excellent, yet the name may surpass the reality, in bringing about the desired end. The miracles of Our Lady of the O. are performed in three ways—by prayer from the patient,—by drinking the water of the spring or by application of some of it to the part affected—and by eating or outwardly applying, a small quantity of the salt which oozes from the wall against which the High Altar stands[92]. A village has risen up around the church, composed of[232] huts for the sick, who have journeyed far from other districts. The business has completely succeeded, the money which was required for rebuilding the church has been obtained, and when I came away the concern was going on prosperously. I heard the remark made by some firm believers, that such was the sinfulness of the inhabitants of the vicinity, that the Lady had scarcely vouchsafed to perform any cures upon them. The wonderful stories of cures were always of persons who lived in remote districts; but I did meet with a few cases in which fancied illness from lowness of spirits was removed. The general credulity of the lower orders of people, and even of many individuals of the higher ranks, is beyond all belief; no persuasion, no reasoning is of any service; even a doubt of the truth of every story which is told is not admitted[93].

From hence we proceeded to pay another visit. The owner of this cottage had no cocos to offer, but he would have dressed some fish, and he gave us some wild fruits. The sail of a jangada was extended for us, and we laid down for some [233]time to converse. At a late hour we set off homewards, and from carelessness lost our way; we wandered through the paths of the woods of Mamanguape, until we judged (rightly, as it happened) that we were in the road which would lead us to Jaguaribe. There was much merriment notwithstanding the disaster, for we knew that day-light would end our difficulties, and it was now past two o’clock.

The mill was continually at work; I usually took the first watch, and superintending the business until midnight; several of my neighbours and their families came to amuse themselves in conversation, and others came for the purpose of eating sugar-cane, of which every one who has tasted must be fond.

About this time a female slave died in child-bed who was generally regretted. She was a good servant, and an excellent wife and mother. The grief of her husband bore much the appearance of insanity; he would not eat until the following day, and then he only tasted food from the persuasion of one of his children. Until the time of my departure from Pernambuco, he had not recovered his former spirits, and he never spoke of his wife without tears in his eyes. Even some of the other slaves were, for a few days after her death, unsettled; the rude instruments, upon which they were in the habit of playing in the evening at their doors, were laid aside;—all merriment was discontinued for some time.

I was requested about this period to be bride’s-man at the marriage of a mulatto couple. I agreed, and on the day appointed, set forth for Paratibi, accompanied by a free servant and a slave on horseback. I arrived about ten o’clock, and found a large party of people of colour assembled; the priest soon arrived, and he too was of the same cast. Breakfast of meat and piram (a paste made of farinha) was placed upon the table; some part of the company sat down and ate, others stood, doing the same, and others again, as if they were afraid of losing a minute’s conversation, continued to talk loudly, and without ceasing. I have witnessed few such scenes of confusion. At last we proceeded to the church, to which I begged to be permitted to ride, for the distance was considerable, and I[234] was somewhat lame from an accident; as soon as the ceremony was over, we returned to the house. The bride was of a dark brown colour, for her father was a negro, and her mother of mixed blood; she was dressed in a rose-coloured silk gown, and a black veil was thrown over her head and shoulders; she wore white shoes and white stockings with open clocks. The bridegroom was also of dark colour; he wore a coat of brown cloth, a waistcoat of brocaded silk, and nankeen pantaloons; he had on shoes with large buckles, and a cocked hat. Both of these persons were young, and they seemed to be dreadfully hampered with the increased stock of apparel which they carried. The scene at dinner was a counterpart of the breakfast affair, with the addition of more noise and more confusion, which were caused by a larger assemblage of people, and more plentiful draughts of wine and rum. I escaped as soon as possible; but would not on any account have missed being present at this day’s work.

On the night of Christmas eve, I did not go to bed; for we were to hear the Missa do Gallo, or cock mass, as is customary. The priest arrived, and the night was spent merrily. This person did not at that time come regularly as a chaplain, but he was so engaged afterwards.

CHAPTER XII.

JOURNEY TO UNINHA.—CONTINUATION OF MY RESIDENCE AT JAGUARIBE.—NEGRO BROTHERHOOD OF OLINDA.—BLESSING THE SUGAR WORKS.—MANDINGUEIROS AND VALENTOENS.

ABOUT the middle of January, 1813, I went to stay for some days at the cottage of an acquaintance, who resided upon the plain of Barbalho, for the purpose of purchasing a few horses. This place is near to the village of Monteiro; but it is on the opposite side of the river. Barbalho is a plain of some extent, upon which cattle are turned out to feed; the soil of it is a stiff dark-coloured clay, and the grass which grows upon it is of a coarse species; this becomes quite dry during the summer months, and when in this state it is set on fire, that the tender shoots which again spring up may serve as food for the animals that are to graze upon it. The fire will run along the ground, urged by a fresh breeze; it will sometimes contract, and at others spread each way, presenting to the beholders a fiery wall. The sight is grand; it is upon a large scale, which gives to it a terrific appearance. The inhabitants of the skirts of this plain carefully preserve a circle around their houses and gardens, clear of vegetation; apprehensive of some inconsiderate traveller who may chance to light his pipe as he goes along, and throw away unextinguished the fire-stick of which he has made use.

The person with whom I was staying persuaded me to ride with him to the sugar plantation of Uninha, which is distant six leagues to the southward of Barbalho; he described the place as being very[236] beautiful, and I consented. This was the only opportunity which conveniently offered itself of seeing the country in this direction; but I much regret not having made greater exertions to visit the southern districts of Pernambuco. We passed through the hamlet and by the parish church of the Varzea. A considerable extent of country is known under this name, containing some of the finest cane lands of the province, which are owned by men of wealth, who know the value of what they possess, and consequently the plantations are in a flourishing condition. The Varzea is famous in Pernambucan history, as the site of a great deal of fighting. Camaragibe, which is in the vicinity, or rather a part of the Varzea, and is spoken of by the historian of that country, is now a flourishing sugar plantation.[94]

We reached the sugar plantation of Camasari, belonging to the Carmelite friars; it is in high order, that is, the slaves and cattle are in good condition, and every thing upon it appeared chearful; but it does not yield so much produce as it might, if the strength of the labourers was pushed to the utmost. I looked into the mill, which is turned by water, and saw some handsome mulatto girls feeding the mill with cane; they were dressed in petticoats of printed cotton, and smocks of cambric muslin, and they wore upon their necks and in their ears gold ornaments; they were singing in parts very tolerably. The difference between the plantations which belong to convents, and those which are possessed by individuals who reside upon them, and have a direct interest in every trifling increase or decrease of the gains, is very striking. The estates of friars are worked almost exclusively by negroes who have been born upon them; every thing[237] goes on easily and regularly. If much is made, the better satisfied is the chief for the time being; but if, on the contrary, little is obtained, still the affairs of the community go on. We proceeded, and at some distance beyond, descended from a high hill into a narrow valley, which was completely embosomed by the eminences around, and so enclosed that we appeared to intrude upon its inhabitants in crossing this spot of their retirement. The grass upon the hills was dry; but all below was yet in full health.

At length we arrived at the plantation of Uninha, which is situated upon an extensive field, composed of uneven ground and watered by several springs. The mill is turned by oxen, which is a late improvement; horses being usually employed where water cannot be obtained. We dined with the owner, and he returned with us to Barbalho in the afternoon. I was much delighted with the day’s amusement. This was the most beautiful part of the country which I visited taken as a whole. The hills and the vallies are not high or extensive, but they are decidedly marked. Here cultivation formed a considerable feature in the country, the cane lands were extensive, and the mills for its manufacture into sugar numerous.

On my return from Uninha, I wished still to remain at Barbalho for a few days, and therefore the owner of the cottage at which I was staying went on to Jaguaribe, to remain there until I could join him. I staid with Manoel and Simam. One morning Manoel had gone to cut a bundle of grass, and on his return met with an old acquaintance, a creole negro; they quarrelled by the way, and as they came near to where I was residing the matter became serious, and blows were given and received, both of the men being armed with long poles. Simam saw this, took up a drawn sword which was lying upon a chair, and ran out to assist his comrade. I went out to put a stop to the business, and discovered that Simam had cut an enormous gash in the fellow’s head; the man was brought into the cottage and his wound was dressed. An acquaintance of mine happened now to come in, and he took charge of the negro, and carried him home to his master. The negro was taking a load of grass for the governor’s[238] horses, who was residing at Monteiro, which is within half a mile of the site of these transactions. Notice would have been taken of the affair immediately, owing to the circumstance of the negro being employed? for the governor, if His Excellency had not been informed that the offending negroes (for such I consider mine to have been) belonged to an Englishman, upon which no more enquiry was made; and as it was discovered that the master had nothing to do with the affray, no cognizance was taken of the matter by the military power. If the owner of the wounded slave had chosen so to do, he might have put me to much expence and trouble, for he might have accused my negroes of assaulting his; but the law of itself seldom does any thing. Even in cases of murder the prosecutor, or accuser as he is called, has it at his option to bring the trial forwards or not; if he can be bribed or otherwise persuaded to give up the accusation, the matter drops to the ground. Thus the spirit of law is changed, from the principle of bringing an offender to justice for the general good of society, to that of prosecuting in revenge for the crime which he has committed against an individual.

Soon after my return to Jaguaribe, I was one evening surprised at the arrival of a white man, who was habited in uniform of blue and red, and accompanied by a great number of loaded horses, and of men, who were dressed in leather after the manner of the Sertam; he delivered to me a letter, which I discovered not to be for me, but for an Englishman who was occasionally with me; however, I of course requested him to stay, and gave directions for the accommodation of his followers. He was a commandant from the interior, distant 130 leagues, in the back settlements of the province of Paraiba, at the foot of the Serra do Teixiera. He had put on board of jangadas at Paraiba a considerable quantity of cotton, which he had brought down from his estate, and he was now travelling to Recife for the purpose of receiving it, and of purchasing necessaries or rather luxuries for his family; to which he appeared to be extremely attached. We soon became intimate, and when he proceeded to Recife at the close of a few days, he left some of his men and[239] horses at Jaguaribe. It is among the inhabitants of places so remote as the district from which he came, that clanship more particularly exists; he had with him ten persons, most of whom were his compadres, that is, the commandant was sponsor to one of the children of each. This relationship is accounted very sacred in Brazil, and I believe in all Roman Catholic countries; it is a bond of brotherhood, which permits the poor man to speak to his superior with a kind of endearing familiarity, and unites them in links of union, of which the non-observance would be sacrilegious. The commandant made me several visits from Recife, and after a delay of two months, he set off on his return homewards. He was a man of most determined spirit, whose name is respected all over the part of the country which he inhabits; and this respect was produced by his wealth and individual character, which brooks no insult; and yet there was a natural goodness in his nature, which broke forth very strongly when he shewed me the letters which he had received from his children, each of them, even to the youngest, having written to him. He had lately lost his wife; his manner of speaking of her was most affectionate. He told me, that he had some intention of taking orders as a secular priest.

Soon after the commandant left me the following occurrence took place hard by, which is characteristic of the state of the country, and similar to what frequently happens; although this of which I am about to speak, might have been avoided, if the actors in it had been a little older, and a little less hot-headed. A young man who resided in this neighbourhood had been lately appointed to hold a military situation in the district, of which he was proud, and owing to which he had assumed an additional degree of personal importance. He possessed a high-spirited horse, and would sometimes turn him loose, although he had no fenced field into which he could put him. The animal soon found out the cane land of an adjoining estate, and destroyed, considerably, the young plants; from hence he would open the gate of the field, (which from the manner that the gates[240] of plantations are usually made, it was very easy for him to do) and would come and offer battle to some of the hard worked horses. This was often repeated, notwithstanding that the animal had been caught each time, and sent home with a request that this might not again occur. However, at last one of the beasts of the estate was lamed by the horse, and rendered unfit for service, at least for some time. The owner was much vexed, and as one of his slaves was about to carry a message to some distance, he told him to ride the officer’s horse. He went,—and the owner was informed of this; he way-laid the slave, and took the horse from him. The planter heard the next day, that the officer had expressed to many persons a wish to meet him, however no notice was taken of this. As he rode on the following morning to see his workmen, he saw the captain in the path on horseback talking to a mulatto man. The planter spoke to him, saying that he wished to pass, which he could not do unless he moved, and mentioning at the same time that he was informed of his wish to see him. The captain spurred his horse towards his adversary, attempting at the same moment to draw his sword; but this he did not do with ease, from some entanglement of the belt. The other man drew his, which was inclosed in a walking-stick, and rode up to him, putting the point close to his breast, thus shewing him how easily he might by this unforeseen advantage have taken his life. The mulatto man had now recovered from his astonishment, and ran in between the horses, striking them and driving them asunder. They still remained for some minutes in high words; but the captain had not, as was afterwards well known, supposed that the other was armed, and therefore his ardour for the combat had now cooled considerably.

The Indians who were in my service, occasionally requested leave to dance in front of my dwelling; I usually complied, and was often much amused. A large fire was made, that we might the better see what was going on; and that the evening might be rendered more entertaining, I frequently invited some of my neighbours. The dance[241] commenced by two men stepping forwards, and walking round and round, taking a circuit of a few yards; one of them singing, or rather reciting in a low voice some ditty of his own language, and the other playing upon a shrill pipe; and as they went on, at intervals they gave a hop or a skip; soon, a woman joined them, and walked after them, and then another man came forwards, and so forth, until a large ring was formed and the pace was quickened. It was always expected that some liquor should be prepared for them, and each of these persons, as they felt inclined to take any of it, stepped out of the ring, and returned again as soon as they had drank. They continued dancing as long as any rum was produced, the women as well as the men relishing this, their means of inspiration; for as the quantities were increased, some new song was introduced, the tones became louder, and their articulation more rapid.

The free people of colour too would sometimes dance; but they only asked permission of me, and held their merry-making at the door of one of their own huts. Their dances were like those of the African negroes. A ring was formed; the guitar player sat down in a corner, and began a simple tune, which was accompanied by some favourite song, of which the burthen was often repeated, and frequently some of the verses were extempore, and contained indecent allusions. One man stepped out into the centre of the ring, and danced for some minutes, making use of lascivious attitudes, until he singled out a woman, who then came forwards, and took her turn in movements not less indecent, and thus the amusement continued sometimes until day-break. The slaves would also request to be permitted to dance; their musical instruments are extremely rude: one of them is a sort of drum, which is formed of a sheep skin, stretched over a piece of the hollowed trunk of a tree; and another is a large bow with one string, having half of a coco-nut shell or of a small gourd strung upon it. This is placed against the abdomen, and the string is struck with the finger, or with a small bit of wood. When two holidays followed each other uninterruptedly, the slaves would continue their noise until day-break.

[242]

I have now to enter upon an affair which gave me much trouble. The lands belonging to the negro brotherhood of Olinda were very conveniently situated for Jaguaribe, and for another plantation not far distant, which was owned by an old man of colour, who harboured around him a numerous clan of relations and dependants. It was arranged that we should rent these lands equally; but to prevent competition, one of us only was to apply for them, and then they were to be divided. The owner of the plantation in question was to make the application, and I rested satisfied; but I was surprised to discover, that I run much risk of remaining without any part of them; therefore I began to make arrangements for obtaining them for myself. Whilst the matter was yet in doubt, a person who was under the protection of the rival plantation, sent a number of negroes to work upon some land which lay very near to Jaguaribe. I sent a message to the owner of these men, purporting that the land was tenanted by a person of my acquaintance, who yearly rented it from the brotherhood, and therefore I requested him to direct that his slaves should retire. This he refused to do; consequently I collected a number of my free workmen, and rode towards the spot in question; the matter had become serious, and as he was aware that if a scuffle ensued, he might lose the service of a slave, whilst I who was accompanied by free men, would not sustain any loss, he gave the desired directions, and I returned home.

I gained my object of renting the lands through the interest of some persons who were intimately acquainted with the principal officers of the brotherhood. I attended at the council table of these black directors, and heard the arguments for and against the policy of placing the whole of the property in the hands of one person; however the matter was decided as soon as one of them rose up, and reminded the rest that the community was in debt, and that the new tenant was prepared with one year’s rent in advance. All objection was silenced by this speech, and the papers were signed without any farther remark. The black gentlemen came down to Jaguaribe[243] to put me in possession of the lands. I had invited several of my friends on this occasion, and blacks and whites all sat down and ate together; the health of our Lady of the Rosary was drank first; then that of the chief of the brotherhood and of the new tenant. These fellows amused us much; for their politeness to each other, and to the white persons who were present sat awkwardly upon them; but was displayed to shew the importance which they imagined themselves to possess. The Juiz or chief of the brotherhood was a shoemaker at Olinda, and the rest were of the same rank in life, more or less.

Possession was given to me, and every thing unpleasant seemed to have subsided; when one night late, a mulatto man who resided at Jaguaribe, knocked at my door, and told me that he had just arrived from a visit to a neighbouring cottage, and that on the way, three men had come out upon him, and had commanded him to stop; but on seeing him alone, they had retreated. I had had some intimation of what I was to expect, and immediately supposed by whom these persons must have been sent, and for whom the blow was intended. I called two Indians and my faithful slave Manoel, and accompanied by these, and the mulatto man who had given me the information, I set off towards the spot. They were gone,—but we pursued; however, before we reached the nearest plantation, we heard the heavy gate of its field shut to; therefore it was useless to proceed farther, for the persons, whosoever they were, had reached a place of safety. Upon this path resided the families of the neighbourhood with whom I was the most intimate, and it was well known that I sometimes returned home at a late hour. This was a turbulent district in which I had fixed my residence. Some of the owners of the plantations around were perpetually squabbling, and I had been led into the same way of proceeding; indeed, if I had not done so, I should have been trampled upon. The slaves of Paulistas and of Timbô were constantly at war; and the owners of the plantations of Timbô and Jenipapeiro were likewise with law-suits always pending, and their dependants never easy. Some districts are in a quieter state[244] than others, but very few are totally without disturbance; and there are few plantations in any part of the province about the boundaries of the lands of which more than one law-suit has not been entered into.[95]

[245]

I was often reminded by many of my new acquaintances, that every plantation ought to have a chaplain; and I was told, that without a doubt all those persons who attended to hear mass, would contribute towards the payment of the priest, as is customary. I spoke to a young man of this profession for the purpose, and he attended every Sunday and holiday; but when he was dismissed, at the time I was preparing to leave the place, I was left to pay him entirely myself; every one was poor and unable to assist when the day of payment came. This was only what I expected; but I thought it was right to follow the usual custom of having Mass said regularly, on account of the slaves.

In April I arranged with the tenant of the lands which lie to the eastward of Jaguaribe, and are called Maranguape, to allow me to turn loose upon them all my cattle during the rainy season; for the field of the plantation was not sufficiently large to support so great a number of animals, during the whole year, as the work which was performed upon it required. The lands upon which I intended the cattle to remain are about one league in length, and of about half the breadth. Part of them are under water in the rainy season, and in other places they were covered with woods; but these were, for the most part to be entered even on horseback, owing to the cattle feeding in them, and beating down the brushwood. It was astonishing to see in how short a period the cattle which had been accustomed to labour, became wild and comparatively fierce. I was in the habit of going occasionally with another person, both of us being on horseback, to collect the animals for the purpose of seeing that none were missing; we had many hard chaces after them, and got[246] many blows from the branches of the trees, &c. One of the oxen was in the habit of invariably going into a bog when we appeared, and after having proceeded to a certain distance, he would turn round and look at us with apparent unconcern, and as if he was conscious that we could not reach him. This circumstance makes me recollect another, which occurred with one of my pack-horses. The animal escaped from Jaguaribe, and was not for a long time heard of; but at last, I enquired of an old black man, who said that he saw him every day. The horse fed upon some lands which produced excellent grass, but the only water in the neighbourhood was to be obtained from a well or hole, of which the entrance was narrow, and the water considerably below the surface. The negro said, that one day he found the horse near to the well, but unable to reach the water; he gave him some, out of a half gourd, which the old man carried with him, for the purpose of throwing water over his own head, in default of a better bath. The following day the horse was there, and this continued for weeks; but although he had attempted to put his hand upon his neck, the horse never allowed him to seize his mane. He was caught at last by two men, mounted on very swift-going horses, whom I sent for the purpose.

A short time after the cattle had been at Maranguape, I agreed with an Indian to go and stay there, for the purpose of taking care of them. This man was in my debt for cloathing, and for a gold chain which he had given to his wife. He came to me a few days after his removal, asking leave to go to his former place of residence, which was at some distance, and to take his family with him. I understood what this meant; he would never have returned, and therefore I answered that he might go if he thought proper, but must leave some pledge for the payment of the debt. This he promised to do. Julio, who had been with me on my journey to Seara, was again in my service. He now displeased me exceedingly, for he too, led astray by this fellow, wished to leave me; Julio had been accused of some petty thefts, with which I now taxed him; he denied having committed them, and that he was innocent I verily believe.[247] However I did not think so then, consequently this circumstance, and his wish to leave me with a man whom I knew to be very unprincipled, for I had lately had information respecting him from other quarters; and above all, the suspicion that they had come at an hour when few persons were about me, under the impression that, being alone, I should be induced to accede to their demands, caused us to part on bad terms. They went their way towards Maranguape, and I had some hopes that all would have continued quiet. However in the afternoon, about half an hour before the close of day, the manager came to tell me that Francisco Joze, the Indian who was in my debt, had passed through the field, accompanied by his wife, Julio, and a number of other Indians. Thus he had determined to go in defiance of any right which I might have to his services, or to demand payment of what he owed me, and in breach of promise given to me only a few hours before. Several other labourers were also indebted to me, and if this man was, without remark, permitted to make his own terms, I knew not who might chuse to do likewise.

My horse was brought out; I beckoned to Manoel, my constant companion, and calling to some freemen, who had returned from their work, and were now talking together in a groupe; I said, “who follows me?” A black carpenter, a white brickmaker, a mulatto carrier, and a labourer of the same cast, and likewise another slave, stepped forwards. Thus accompanied by six able men, including Manoel, who were all on foot, I set off on horseback at a round pace, knowing that in ascending the hill, they would pass me. The hill being surmounted, I again pushed on, and when I arrived at the short, but steep declivity which overlooks the plantation of Inhaman, I saw three men below, and heard the shrill Indian pipe. I looked back and saw that the carpenter and brickmaker had alone kept pace with me, and I know not how they were able so to do. I cried out, “Yonder are some of the party.” At the same moment, Monte, the brickmaker, fairly leapt down the steep declivity, and passed my horse; we descended upon the men, but were disappointed in discovering[248] that although they were Indians, they were not those which we sought. Now we waited for the remainder of our party, who soon came up, and we returned quietly by another path towards home. On our arrival at the gate of Jaguaribe, I was informed that the party had quartered itself in a corner of the field, in and about the hut of another Indian; to this place we now directed our steps. Francisco Joze himself came out to speak to me, and soon several others placed themselves near to him. I sat on horseback, holding a parley, my men being on the other side of me, until Antonio, the mulatto carrier, (he who had been way-laid a long time before) came round and leaned against the horse’s neck, placing himself between me and the Indian. I afterwards found out, that he had observed that Francisco Joze held a drawn knife, and Antonio judged that this was intended against me or my horse, for the Indian well knew that if he wounded me it would probably enable him to escape. Several persons belonging to the plantation had now joined us, and the matter ended by the Indian allowing himself to be taken without resistance, and to be put into the stocks; a party of mulattos, or of creole negroes, would not have submitted thus quietly. Late at night he paid the debt, was released, and I saw no more of him for a considerable time.

I was now dismissing all those workmen who were not in debt to me, and at last only a few persons remained, whose services I required, and upon whose character I could depend. It was very seldom that I visited Recife, but when there was a necessity for so doing, I took advantage of moon-light nights in preference to travelling in the day-time, and was on these occasions accompanied by Manoel. The wood of Merrueira, through which we usually passed, is famous for the numerous stories of ghosts that wander, and of murders that have been committed in it. One night when the moon was not at a sufficient height to afford a tolerably clear view of the objects around, we were passing through this wood. I saw a figure before me in the middle of the path, which bore the appearance of a man standing still. I slackened my pace and called out,[249] as is customary, “Who comes there;” but before I could possibly have received an answer, Manoel brushed past me, saying, “Let me see;” however I desired him to be quiet, as no harm might be intended. On a nearer approach, we discovered that an old stump of a tree had caused this alarm. On another occasion I sent this same slave from Recife to Jaguaribe, on foot, early in the morning, telling him that I intended to follow him, leaving Recife about eight o’clock in the evening. I was to be accompanied by Zacharias, another slave, whose courage was somewhat doubtful. Manoel arrived at Jaguaribe and immediately prepared one of the pack-horses, saying to the manager that he was going to meet his master who was on the road alone, for he said, “Zacharias is nobody[96].” The manager could not persuade him to give up his intention, and therefore as he knew that the slave was much tired with his walk, he came himself. I mention these anecdotes for the purpose of shewing the kind of man, who usually followed me wherever I went.

Several months now succeeded each other without any disquietude. I had another attack of ague during the rainy season, which was however much less violent than that of the preceding year. I likewise met with an accident which had nearly proved fatal, occasioned by a blow from the fore feet of a high fed horse; he reared and struck me, but this was done more in playfulness than with the intent to do mischief.

I had had some intention of leaving Jaguaribe, owing to the turbulence of the neighbourhood, to my ill-health, and to some disagreeable occurrences which had taken place between my landlord and myself. However, as this would have been very inconvenient, I resolved to stay, notwithstanding all these and other disadvantages.

Preparations were made in the month of August for setting the mill to work; the cane had not attained this year its accustomed growth, in most parts of the country, and that which I possessed was particularly stinted in size, for I had not commenced planting until[250] it was almost too late. Every thing being ready towards the end of the month, I sent for a priest to bless the works. Unless this ceremony is performed, every person who is to be employed about the mill, both freeman and slave, would be afraid to proceed to his destined labour, and if any accident happened it would be ascribed to the wrath of heaven, for this breach of religious observance. The priest arrived and said mass, after which we breakfasted and then proceeded to the mill. The manager and several other freemen and the negroes stood around the works; a quantity of cane was placed ready to be thrust in between the rollers, and the four negroes whose part it was to feed the mill stood at their posts. Two lighted candles were placed close to the rollers, upon the platform which sustains the cane, and a small image of our Saviour upon the cross stood between them; the priest took his breviary and read several prayers, and at stated places, with a small bunch of weeds prepared for the occasion, which he dipped in a jug of holy water, he sprinkled the mill and the persons present. Some of the negroes sprang forwards to receive a good quantum of this sanctified water; and then the master of the sugar boiling-house led the way to the portion of the works of which he had the direction; and here there was another sprinkling. When we returned to the part of the mill in which the rollers stood, the priest took a large cane, and I did the same; then the signal being given the flood-gate was opened and the works were soon in motion, and according to rule the two canes which the priest and I held in our hands were the first to be ground. I had heard much of this ceremony from persons of the country, and I cannot avoid saying, that although something of the ridiculous may by many persons be attached to it, still I could not help feeling much respect for it. The excitement of devout feelings among the slaves, even of those feelings which are produced by the Roman Catholic religion, cannot fail to be serviceable, and if men are to exist as slaves this is doubtless the religion which is the best adapted to persons in a state of [251]subjection. Slavery and superstition are however two evils which when combined, are surely sufficient to cause the misery of any country.

The carts, the oxen, and their drivers had not received the priest’s benediction; they arrived some time afterwards, bringing loads of canes, and the carts were ornamented with the longest that could be picked out placed as flag staffs, and bearing upon them handkerchiefs and ribbons. Each cart in succession stood before the door of the dwelling-house, and the priest complied with the wishes of the drivers.

There was a tall, thin mulatto man of about fifty-five years of age, of the name of Vicente, who lived near to Jaguaribe; he was in the habit, when he saw me about my own place, of stopping, that we might have some conversation. I liked much to hear his stories. He said, that now the country was becoming quieter,—that disturbances were less frequent than formerly. That there were now no Valentoens, valiant ones, nor any contas verdes, green beads[97]. He explained to me the precise meaning of the former, and the species of beads which were intended to be described by the latter. These Valentoens were men of all casts, whose whole business consisted in seeking opportunities of quarrelling; they attended all festivals and fairs, and their desire was to become so famous for courage as to render the knowledge of their presence on these occasions sufficient to[252] keep in awe any other individuals who might wish to create disturbances, considering themselves privileged to revenge their own and their friends’ injuries; but they would not allow of any quarrel in which they were not concerned. Two roads cross each other at about the distance of one league from Jaguaribe, and at this spot, Vicente told me, that some of these men often stood, obliging all passers-by either to fight them or to dismount, take off their hats, and lead their horses whilst they were in their sight. These men wore round their necks strings of green beads, which had either come from the coast of Africa, bearing the wonderful property of conveying in safety their possessors through all descriptions of perils, or were charmed by Mandingueiros, African sorcerers, who had been brought over to Brazil as slaves, and in secret continued the prohibited practice of imparting this virtue to them. The men were accompanied by dogs of extraordinary size and activity, and possessing courage equal to that of their masters. These animals had been taught to drink rum, which they would do at their owner’s command, giving to all beholders an opinion of some supernatural qualities having been bestowed upon them. Vicente had been acquainted with some of these men, and was firmly persuaded of the virtues of the green beads, and that the dogs imbibed from their masters certain qualities, which made them superior to all the rest of their species. The expression of the man’s countenance changed entirely when he commenced the relation of these stories; it was at all times harsh; but now there was imparted to it a considerable degree of unpleasant wildness. When I expressed my doubts of the efficacy of the beads against a musket ball well-directed, his anger rose, but there was pity mingled with it, for one who had not seen those times of wonder. He seemed to be glad that they were over, and that all was now quiet; but yet he cherished a sort of regard for men whose lives had been passed in deeds of danger; for notwithstanding the charms, such he considered them to be, as the death of these men was generally violent, owing, as Vicente said, to some unfortunate removal of the beads from the[253] person of him whose destined hour was arrived. It was not, however, from this person alone that I heard accounts of the Valentoens.[98]

There was an old creole negro residing in the neighbourhood of Jaguaribe, whose disposition led him to explore all the woods for miles around in search of game; he preferred this manner of obtaining subsistence to that of daily labour with the hoe or bill hook. He was acquainted with the situations in which the best timber was to be found; and could, in many instances, name the exact spot upon which some particular tree stood, which was required for any given purpose. This man often came to Jaguaribe, and on these occasions I usually called him into the house to hear his stories, whilst I sat in my hammock smoking. He was fond of tales of ghosts and Mandingueiros. The latter are famous, among other feats, for handling poisonous snakes, and can, according to his account and that of many other persons, by peculiar noises or tunes, call these reptiles from their holes, and make them assemble around them. These sorcerers profess to render innoxious the bites of snakes, to persons who submit to their charms and ceremonies. One of the modes which is adopted for this purpose, is that of allowing a tame snake to crawl over the head, face, and shoulders of[254] the person who is to be curado de cobras, cured of snakes, as they term it. The owner of the snake repeats a number of words during the operation, of which the meaning, if they contain any, is only known to the initiated. The rattle-snake is said to be, above all other species, the most susceptible of attention to the tunes of the Mandingueiros. The above accounts I should not have related upon the authority of one or two persons. I have heard them repeated by several individuals, and even some men of education have spoken of the reputed efficacy of the tame snakes of the Mandingueiros, as if they were somewhat staggered in their disbelief of it; the reputation of the contas verdes is firmly established in the faith of those persons of the lower ranks who have heard of them. These men certainly do play strange tricks very dexterously.

I had not been so much inconvenienced by snakes as I had imagined I should; I had seen several different kinds in going through the woods, and particularly in that which leads from Jaguaribe to Paulistas. The path through it is not much frequented, and therefore the snakes have become bolder, crossing the road or running up a bank as I passed along. One afternoon I had a visit with which I could have well dispensed. I happened to look up whilst sitting in my hammock, and saw one of these reptiles, lying quite still upon the top of the wall of the room, in the opening which is formed by the supporters of the roof that rest upon it. I seized a pike and ran it into the snake, thus rivetting it to one of the beams of the roof, whilst I called to some person to assist me in killing it; but its writhing was so violent, that it soon liberated itself, and fell from the wall on the outside, where several persons waited for it. The people who were present did not know whether it was of the caninana or papa ovo (egg eater) species, as these are much like to each other. The former is accounted venomous, and the latter is by many persons supposed to be harmless. Both are of a grey colour above, and yellow underneath. The snake which we killed was about four feet in length.

The caninana is likewise sometimes called the flying-snake, as it[255] has the power of springing to a considerable distance. It usually lies entwining the branch of a tree, and from thence darts down upon those who may molest it. The cobra d’agua, or water snake, was often to be seen in the rivulet which runs just below the dwelling-house of Jaguaribe; it is sometimes eight or ten feet in length, and of the thickness of a man’s arm. The colour of the back is a bright black, and the belly is of a pale yellow. The lower ranks of people say that it is poisonous; but I have heard this contradicted. The jararàca snake is from six to nine feet in length; the back is of a dusky yellow, and the belly is white; the point of the tail is black, the mouth is red, and it has two black and white streaks upon the throat. The çurucucù snake is of nearly the same size as the jararàca; it is black and yellow. This reptile is attracted by fire, and on this account would be more dangerous to travellers than any other description of snake, if its attention was not so totally directed to the fire, as to give time and opportunity of killing it. It has, as I was informed by many persons of credibility, been known to spring off the ground at a person carrying a flambeau. The çurucucù and the jararàca are known to be poisonous. The cypô snake is so called from its likeness to the thin and flexible shoots of the plants which bear this name. It is said to be poisonous.

Charms are often supposed to destroy the venom of snakes, and to produce, consequently, the recovery of the person who has been bitten by one of these reptiles. Oil is sometimes used as a remedy, being given in considerable quantities, which are increased or diminished according to the quality of the oil. Rum is likewise administered so as to produce intoxication. I have also seen a small plant, which is known under the name of herva cobreira; wherever I have seen it, the plant has been carefully preserved in a pot. This would denote that it is not indigenous to the part of the country in which I was; and indeed I was told that it had been brought from Africa. I never saw its flower; the leaves of it are small and heart-shaped; the stem is of four or five inches in length, and of a deep red colour, which becomes greenish towards the points[256] of the branches: these are long, crooked, and spread horizontally. The leaves and the softer branches are bruised, and are applied to the wound, and the juice which is extracted from them, when mixed with rum or water, is drank by the patient. I do not vouch for its success; but its name must, I should imagine, have been acquired by its reputation.[99]

The mill was yet at work in September, when the owner of the place applied to me to leave it, as it was convenient to him to come down from another plantation of which he was the owner, and reside at Jaguaribe, from its vicinity to Recife. I agreed to this, but did not wish that he should remove until I was about to leave Jaguaribe. However, one morning, a young man who was related to and employed by him, came to my house, and told me, that by order from his kinsman he had (accompanied by a gang of negroes) taken possession during the night of the cottage, which was situated upon the shelf of the hill. I expressed my surprise at this conduct, and said a good deal upon the subject. He, of course, returned for answer, that he had only acted according to the orders which he had received.[257] The principal objection which I had to this premature removal arose from the general turbulent character of the slaves of this man, and from the frequency of quarrels between the dependants of those persons whose dwellings were so near to each other as ours had now become.

Several extremely disagreeable occurrences took place, as I had feared would be the case, before I could conveniently remove; but as these proceeded more particularly from the peculiarity of our situation I do not think that a minute account of them would be interesting. These anecdotes could not be given in illustration of the general state of manners in the country. Suffice it to say, that I made a visit to the owner of the plantation of Amparo, in the island of Itamaraca, upon whose lands I agreed to plant sugar-canes, and to share with him their produce, as is a usual practice upon sugar estates.

In the beginning of November, 1813, I sent my manager to prepare a residence for me, at the town of Conception in the island; and I removed to that place in the course of the following month.

CHAPTER XIII.

REMOVAL OF THE AUTHOR TO ITAMARACA.—THE ISLAND.—CONCEPTION AND PILLAR.—THE FESTIVAL OF OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY.—JOURNEY TO GOIANA.—THE TOQUE.—THE COW-POX.

A FEW days after I had sent the remainder of my people to Itamaraca, I gave up Jaguaribe to its owner, and rode to Recife, where I remained for some days.

I had been introduced several months before to the vicar of Itamaraca; and at the time that I crossed over to the island to agree with the owner of Amparo about my removal, I made a visit to this priest, and was received by him with the greatest cordiality. As the plantation of Amparo had no cottage unoccupied at that time, or indeed that was fit to be inhabited, I requested the vicar to obtain for me a house in the town, as it is called, of our Lady of the Conception, in which stands the parochial church of this extensive vicarage. He returned for answer, that excepting his own residence, of which he was willing to give up to me a portion, and the prison, no dwellings could be met with. However, he desired that I would send a person to speak to him; this I did, and on the man’s return, the offer of the prison was accepted.

As I had written to mention the day upon which it was my intention to arrive there, I was received by one of my people upon the shore of the main land; and the canoe which plies for the purpose of carrying passengers across, was ready to take me. The saddles were removed from the horses’ backs, we entered the canoe, and shoved off from the shore, the horses swimming by the side of it. The passage[259] across, is, at this its narrowest part, about half a mile. On landing upon the island, we saddled the horses, and rode for about one quarter of a mile along a sandy path, which is bordered to the left by the water of the channel that runs between the island and the main, and on the right by coco-trees, until we reached a narrow creek, which is not fordable at high water and in this state we now found it. I left the horses to the care of Manoel, until they could be passed conveniently, whilst I followed the man who had come to receive me. We proceeded over the bridge which was constructed of loose beams, and scarcely safe even for foot passengers; immediately beyond it we passed by several cottages with mango trees before them, and then ascended the steep hill, upon the summit of which stands the town, built in the form of a square. We entered it at one corner, and near to my new habitation, which was a large stone building, much dilapidated, with one story above the ground floor. In the prosperous days of this settlement, when its rank in the province was considerable, this edifice was raised as a town-hall above, and prison underneath; but now that the decay of the place had rendered it unworthy of its former distinction, the building was no longer kept in repair, and was now almost in ruins.

The island of Itamaraca, which is in length about three leagues, and in breadth about two, is situated at the distance of eight leagues to the northward of Recife, and is entirely separated from the main land by a channel of unequal width, varying from one league to half a mile. The island does not contain any stream of water, but in the neighbourhood of the town water gushes from the hill wherever it is dug for. That which is obtained from the springs in the neighbourhood of Pillar, is not however good. Itamaraca is, perhaps, the most populous part of the province of Pernambuco, taken as a whole, the immediate vicinity of Recife excepted. It contains three sugar mills, which are well stocked with negroes; and many free persons likewise reside upon the lands belonging to[260] them[100]. Besides the lands attached to these works, there are other considerable tracks which are subdivided among and owned by a great number of persons of small property. The shores of the island are planted with coco-trees, among which are thickly scattered the straw cottages of fishermen; and oftentimes are to be seen respectable white-washed dwellings, which are possessed by persons whose way of life is frugal, and yet easy. The salt-works upon the island are likewise one great source of its wealth; these are formed upon the sands which are overflowed by the tide at high water.

The long village of Pillar, situated upon the eastern side of the island, is at the present day the principal settlement, although that which is called the town of Conception, where I now resided, standing upon the S.E. side of the island, claims seniority, but its better times are gone by; its situation was considered inconvenient, others are at present preferred; and if the parish church did not stand here, and render necessary the presence of the vicar, the place would shortly be deserted. It has now a desolate neglected appearance, an unpleasant stillness, producing sensations of a very different description from those which are excited by the quietude of a place that has never witnessed busier scenes. Its site is the summit of the S.E. point of a high hill, which rises almost immediately from the water’s edge. The square, in which are situated the parish-church,—my new residence,—the vicarage, a low, long, white-washed building,—and about fifteen cottages, is very spacious; but large pieces of ground now remain unoccupied; the houses which stood upon them have been removed, or have been allowed to decay and fall, giving room to banana and tobacco gardens. The centre of the square was covered with brushwood, and a narrow path went along the four sides of it immediately in front of the houses, which afforded to the inhabitants the means of communicating with each other. There is one street branching from it and leading down towards the creek, over which I passed on my[261] arrival; it is formed of small low huts, and is closed at the end farthest from the square, by a church, which is dedicated to our Lady of the Rosary, the patroness of negroes.

The harbour is good, and the entrance to it is commanded by an old fort, which is much out of repair; the garrison is scanty, and without discipline. On one occasion I took a canoe, and went down to the bar. I wished to sound, but my canoe-man begged that I would not, as it might bring him into trouble; and indeed we were in sight of the fort, and the commandant is jealous, being an elderly man and an advocate for the old system of exclusion. The entrance to the port is formed by an opening in the recife or reef of rocks which runs along the whole of this part of the coast. This opening is of considerable width, and its depth will admit of large vessels; but I could not obtain exact information upon the subject. From the main land on one side, and from the island on the other, two long sand banks jut out on each side of the channel, which separates Itamaraca from the continent. These banks are dry at low water, and at neap tides are not completely covered. They shoot out so far that they nearly reach to the reef. The bar is easily discovered from the sea, as it is immediately opposite to the channel or river into which it leads, and as there are breakers to the northward and southward, but none are to be seen at the place which is to be entered. Having entered the bar, some small breakers will be seen a-head, or rather towards the south side of the channel, unless the tide is out, and then the water is quite still. These breakers are farther in than the outermost point of the south sand-bank. They are formed by some rocks which lie at a considerable depth below the water’s edge. I tried to reach them with a pole of two fathoms in length, at low water during spring tides, but did not succeed; and my canoe-man said that he doubted whether another fathom and a half would touch them. The passage for large vessels is between these rocks and the north sand-bank, for the passage between them and the south bank only admits of small craft. I could not learn that there were any other rocks or banks than these which I have mentioned. The anchorage ground is[262] opposite to the fort, and on the outside of it; but opposite to the town of Conception, which is farther in than the fort, there is considerable depth of water. Some parts of the ground are rocky, but others afford safe riding.

The magnificent prospect which may be enjoyed from the clumsy wooden balcony of the town-hall, compensates in some degree for the dismal state of the place in which it stands. In front is an extensive view of the sea, which is always enlivened by numerous jangadas and canoes sailing to and fro, and occasionally by the large craft that trade between Maranham and Recife, and by ships arriving from Europe or returning thither. To the right is the broad channel immediately below, and the bay which it forms on the opposite side, with the picturesque village of Camboa upon its shores, and the pointed hill of the Engenho Novo, covered with wood, rising behind it; but as this hill does not extend far, and rather rises in the form of a cone, the river Iguaraçu runs along the plain, and is now and then discovered, but oftentimes concealed, by the dark green mangroves; these however sufficiently point out its course, and lead the eye to the white specks which beautifully mark the site of the higher buildings of the town of Iguaraçu, peeping out among the vast expanse of wood of a lighter green, which reaches as far as the eye can compass. To the left is a narrow and deep dell, bounded on the opposite side by a ridge of rising ground of equal height with that upon which the town is situated. Behind is the flat plain, which runs along the hill to the distance of one league; it is in places much contracted and in others spreads widely.

The town of Conception was formerly fortified; the three sides upon which it is enclosed by the steep declivity to be ascended in reaching it, have been rendered still more precipitate, even than they would naturally have been, as they are cut perpendicularly to the height of twelve feet, presenting a wall of earth to those who ascend the hill, and as the soil is a stiff clay, and the passing and repassing not considerable, the paths which have been formed through the wall are still exceedingly steep. On the fourth side, entrenchments[263] were made across the plain upon the summit of the hill; these were shewn to me; for it was necessary that they should be pointed out, as they were almost concealed by the brushwood; and even large trees which were growing in them. Upon one spot, on the quarter nearest to the sea, and now the site of a cottage, is still plainly to be discovered the situation of a fort, and a short time ago a gun, which appeared to be of six pounds calibre, was dug up.

The distinctions attending the rank of a town were removed some years past from hence to Goiana, and the only mark which Conception still possesses of its former importance, is the obligation by which the magistrates of Goiana are bound to attend the yearly festival to the Virgin at the parish church.

Itamaraca is one of the oldest settlements of the Portugueze upon the coast of Brazil. It was given to Pero Lopes de Souza, who took possession of it in 1531.[101] The Dutch made an attack upon it in 1630, and although they did not succeed in taking Conception, they built a fort which they called Fort Orange[102], and this is the fortress which now exists upon the island. However, in 1633, the Dutch “dispatched such a force as rendered resistance hopeless; the town of Conception was yielded to them, and with it the whole island[103].” In 1637, the Dutch deliberated, “whether the seat of government should be removed to the island[104].” This did not take place; the opinion of those who proposed the plan being over-ruled, but I cannot avoid thinking that it possesses many advantages of which Recife cannot boast. The port of Itamaraca may not admit of vessels of so much burthen as the Poço harbour of Recife, but the former is much more safe even than the Mosqueiro port. If Brazil was to be at war with any naval power, Recife might be destroyed with ease, whereas if a town had been erected upon the main land, opposite to the island, or upon the inside of the island, it could not be molested by shipping, for it would be necessary that a vessel should enter the channel before she could bring her guns to bear. Besides[264] this advantage, Itamaraca and the neighbouring shores of the main land, enjoy those of wood and water in abundance, in the latter of which Recife is particularly deficient. In 1645, Joam Fernandes Vieira, the principal hero of the Pernambucan war, attacked the island, but did not succeed in dislodging the Dutch[105]. The Portugueze again attempted to regain possession of it in 1646; they crossed over at a place called Os Marcos[106], which is now a coco-tree plantation, and a large house is built upon it; the property belongs to a Portugueze cattle-dealer who resides chiefly at Iguaraçu. Opposite to Os Marcos is the shallowest part of the channel. The Portugueze did not gain their point entirely, “but the Dutch abandoned all their other posts to retire into the fort”[107], which was not surrendered to the Portugueze until the expulsion of the Dutch in 1654.[108]

I happened to arrive at Conception upon the day of the festival, the 8th of December, however as I had many matters to arrange, I did not see the ceremony in the church, but was invited to dine with the vicar. I went at two o’clock, and found a large party assembled, to which I was happy in being introduced, as it consisted of several priests who are the men of most information in the country, and of some of the first laymen of the island. The dinner was excellent and elegant, and the behaviour of the persons present was gentlemanly. I was placed at the head of the table, as being a stranger; and a friend of the vicar took the opposite end of it, whilst he himself sat on one side of me. I never met a pleasanter dinner-party, there was much rational conversation and much mirth, but no noise and confusion. The company continued together until a late hour, and indeed the major part of the priests were staying in the house.

The parish of Itamaraca has now for some years enjoyed the blessings which proceeded from the appointment of the present vicar, Pedro de Souza Tenorio. His merit was discovered by the governor, whom he served as chaplain, and by whose application to the Prince Regent was obtained for him his present situation. The zeal[265] of the vicar, for the improvement of the districts over which he has controul is unremitted; he takes pains to explain to the planters the utility of the introduction of new modes of agriculture, new machinery for their sugar-mills, and many alterations of the same description which are known to be practised with success in the colonies of other nations; but it is not every novelty which meets with his approbation. It is no easy task to loosen the deep-rooted prejudices of many of the planters. He is affable to the lower ranks of people, and I have had many opportunities of hearing persuasion and entreaty made use of to many of his parishioners, that they would reform their habits, if any impropriety of behaviour in the person to whom he was speaking had come to his knowledge. His occasional extempore discourses on subjects of morality when seated within the railings of the principal chapel, delivered in a distinct and deep-toned voice, by a man of commanding person, habited in the black gown which is usually worn by men of his profession, were very impressive. He has exerted himself greatly to increase the civilization of the higher orders of people in his parish; to prevent feuds among them;—to persuade them to give up those notions of the connection between the patron and the dependant, which are yet too general; he urges them to educate their children, to have their dwellings in a state of neatness, to dress well themselves, their wives, and their children. He is a good man; one who reflects upon his duties, and who studies to perform them in the best manner possible. He has had the necessity of displaying likewise the intrepidity of his character; his firmness as a priest, his courage as a man, and he has not been found wanting. He is a native of Pernambuco, and has not degenerated from the high character of his provincial countrymen; he was educated at the university of Coimbra in Portugal.

From the state of society and government in Brazil, the individual character of the person who holds any office of importance makes a most wonderful difference, and indeed in some districts a man of an active mind with some wealth, but without any appointment, has more weight than a person of a contrary disposition,[266] although the situation of the latter might give him great power, if he thought proper to exert himself.

I passed some portion of each day with the vicar and his party; the conversation never flagged, and I often thought how very superior the persons were with whom I associated, to any that my friends in England could suppose a country residence in Brazil to afford. I was myself agreably surprised at the change which I had made from Jaguaribe.

Among the visitors at the vicarage was Joam Ribeiro Pessoa de Mello Montenegro, professor of drawing to the seminary of Olinda, and the friend and disciple of Dr. Manoel Arruda da Camara. This priest, during his stay at Itamaraca, crossed over to the mainland to say mass at the village of Camboa every Sunday and holiday. I accompanied him on one of these occasions, and we were paddled over in a canoe. We entered the cottage of a man of colour, the chief person of the place; a hammock was hanging in the room, and into this my companion threw himself, and three or four children of the house quickly came to him, one or two of whom he took into the hammock to play with. The females made their appearance to greet him upon his arrival; he was a favourite seemingly with all parties, great and small. Indeed I never met with any one who possessed more pleasing manners. He is generally beloved wherever he is known, but by the lower orders of people more especially, he is quite adored. I was long acquainted with him, both before and after the time of which I speak, and I never heard him make use of a harsh word to any one; his manner and his tones of voice always indicated that goodness in him greatly predominated. A free mulatto man, of the name of Bertolomeu, once said to me in speaking of this priest, “If he sees a child fall, he runs and picks it up and cleans its face, and this he does not do, because any one is in sight to see him act in this manner, but because his heart so inclines him[109].” It is much to be lamented that his exertions have not been[267] directed to obtaining a situation in which his excellent qualities might have a wider field for display; but he is satisfied with what has been given to him.

I was much surprised at the manner in which even the people of colour dress themselves to go to mass in all the villages; if the family is in a respectable way of life, the younger females wear on these occasions gowns of printed cottons, English straw bonnets, stockings also of foreign manufacture, and neat shoes which are made by workmen of the country. The young men appear in nankeen pantaloons, and jackets of printed cottons, shirts of cambric muslin, hats of English make, stockings and shoes. Indeed, of late years, since articles of dress have been cheap, and have come into general use,—since a subject of emulation has arisen, and the means of shewing it has been afforded, every hamlet sends forth its rival belles and beaux.

I was disappointed with a near view of Camboa; but the country behind it is picturesque, being formed of uneven ground, which is for the most part covered with wood; and cottages and mandioc lands are interspersed. The village consists of one street, composed of small dwellings. The inhabitants are mostly related to each other, and the free persons are of mixed blood. The clan is large, but there does not reside here any wealthy white man; they are a quiet, inoffensive people. The old man at whose house we staid whilst the neighbours assembled to hear mass, was respected by all the rest; he had the management of all their weighty concerns, as being the richest person of the place, though even his property was small; and as he was connected in natural or religious relationship with the major part of the inhabitants. When the priest and I went into the house, we found a large party sitting round a table and playing at cards, which these persons continued to do until the church-bell rang, and the priest went out to prepare for saying mass. The majority of the people of all classes, excepting Indians, have a great propensity to gaming.

There lived at this village formerly a poor man who died of consumption, dragging on for some time a miserable existence. The[268] opinion is general in Pernambuco and other parts which I visited, that consumption is contagious; and from this notion, any person so afflicted is immediately separated from the rest of the family. A hovel is erected at a distance from any habitation, and the miserable patient is removed to it, and is shunned by every one, even receiving his food without the bearer approaching the hovel. I can conceive no situation more wretched than this,—to be in a weak and helpless state, and to be forsaken,—to be doomed to solitude, and to have, perhaps for years, no thoughts but those of death; nothing to relieve the mind, and to divert the attention. I know not, however, whether the opinion of contagion respecting this disorder is totally founded on prejudice, or whether there is some truth in it; for I have heard from persons who are not liable to hasty decisions, many stories which seem to indicate that there is some reason for the precautions which are taken. They are, doubtless, carried too far; they are insisted upon to a savage excess, which fails not to bring to the recollection the custom of some tribes of Indians, who forsake their aged, their infirm, and their dying kinsmen.

I frequently visited the plantation of Amparo, which is conducted in the manner which I had attempted at Jaguaribe; but here it was performed with more system. The owner of this place employed constantly great numbers of free workmen, of all casts; but the Indians formed the principal part of them, and as their master, I suppose, finds it impossible to keep them under due controul, (for the wish to do so he must of course have,) the disturbances which are raised upon the estate, and which are entered into at other places by his men are very numerous[110]. But this person would have done much service to the country in general, if he had managed to keep them in due order, for in that case he would have proved the possibility[269] of the introduction of free men as daily labourers, without the opinion of their unruliness being unavoidable, having been adopted by great numbers of the planters. The state of Amparo is often mentioned as an objection to hired labourers, from the want of reflecting that in the instance in question, the evil proceeds not from the plan itself, but from its execution. It is too true that the lower orders of people are unruly, and upon slight provocations, murders have been committed; but does not this proceed from the propensity which the higher ranks shew to protect those who reside upon their lands? Thus they display their influence with men in office, when they plead for the pardon of a criminal, and feel a considerable degree of gratification,—of self-importance in the idea that an individual should have been preserved from punishment by their means, even though he had only been treated according to his deserts if he had not been screened. Where government exists in a state similar to that of Brazil, wealth will meet with few obstacles in the accomplishment of its purposes, whatever these may be.[111]

In the month of January, 1814, the vicar summoned me to accompany him to Pillar, to which I agreed with much pleasure. The master of the grammar school, Ignacio de Almeida Fortuna, who is likewise a priest, was of the party; he is a man of considerable talent and information. His advantages have been very few, for he has resided almost entirely upon this island; and yet his knowledge is far from being limited, and his love of it is unbounded. We crossed the narrow creek which has been already mentioned, and proceeded along a path under the shade of the coco-trees, until we made for the[270] sands. The sea has made great encroachments for about two miles in this part of the island; we passed the mouths of two natural dikes, into which the tide enters with great rapidity, and is discharged again with increased velocity. After a ride of an hour and a quarter, we reached Pillar, which is distant from Conception, two leagues. This village is composed of several irregular streets, formed of small houses of various descriptions; they are constructed of brick, of mud, and of the coco-leaves. It is a place of some trade, and is likewise frequented by the small craft, which sail between Recife and Goiana. The inhabitants support themselves by their fisheries, by the hire of their jangadas and canoes, and lately, by the preparation of the outward husk of the coco-nut[112] for the manufactory of cordage, which has been recently established in the vicinity of Recife. The fishery of Pillar is of considerable importance. The largest portion of the fish which is caught upon this and the adjacent coast, is obtained by means of pens, that are generally constructed near to low water mark. Two spaces of greater or less magnitude are marked off, and stakes are driven into the sand at given distances in quadrangular form; to these stakes are fastened large mats (esteiras) of basket-work made of thick twigs. An aperture, constructed in a similar manner to that of a trap for catching mice, is left in the inclosure farthest from the shore, opening into the second or smaller inclosure, which has likewise an entrance on the land side, from which runs a fence of basket-work to high water mark. Thus the fish that come in contact with this fence naturally continue along it, in expectation of finding an opening by which to escape, until they unintentionally enter the pen. The jangadas also go out to sea, and fish with the hook and line, and many kinds of nets are used. Yet there is at times a great scarcity of fish, which is rendered by the ordinances of the Romish church an absolute necessary of life. I was introduced at Pillar to a Portugueze gentleman of great respectability, from whom I[271] received in the sequel much civility; the vicar also made me acquainted with a gentlemanly Brazilian priest, who was a young and well-educated man. The former of these persons had been the Juiz Ordinario or Mayor of Pillar, in the year 1812. He had seen how dreadfully the want of due attention to the duties of this office had been felt on former years, and now he was determined to act in the manner which his situation required. He said, that in building great cities, the first public edifice which was or ought to be raised, was the prison; and therefore as Pillar was becoming daily of more importance, it was fit that it should have this requisite edifice. He ordered a number of trees to be cut down, and in a few days a roof was built of small but adequate dimensions, and supported by some of of these trees; the remainder of the timber was to form the walls of the building after the manner of a stockade. A rude door was likewise made, and a pair of stocks was put into the place. “Now,” he said, “Pillar will thrive.” He apprehended some unruly fellows with his own hands; he is a large and powerful man, and the requisite though dangerous task of arresting the men who created disturbances was performed by him with apparent unconcern, and as if he was occupied in any common occurrence of his life. Notwithstanding the acknowledged benefit which was produced by the administration of this man, such is the state of government, that interest was made to prevent his re-appointment to the office on the following year; and this influence was successful. He was too upright a man to be liked by those who wished to have upon their estates a number of turbulent dependants.

The inhabitants of the island had entered into a subscription for building a bridge over the creek near to the town; this work was undertaken through the zeal of the priests who resided in Itamaraca, and was about to be executed under the direction of the master of the grammar-school.

I was much surprised in the beginning of the month of February, at the arrival of a mulatto slave, who had absconded in November; he came alone, and without the customary note from some person of [272]my acquaintance, requesting him to be forgiven. He ascended the steps of the place in which I resided, with perfect unconcern, and with his knife in view and a stick in his hand, begged to be pardoned. I desired that some food should be given to him, and he remained in the kitchen during the night. However, I could not help suspecting some evil intentions, for I knew he had been staying upon the estate of a man who bore me no good will. He went off, by my order, in the morning, to assist three free labourers in the work of cutting up some trees that had been felled. I followed him to the ground about ten o’clock, as was my usual custom. I called him to me, under the pretence of wishing to have the curb chain of my bridle loosened; he came, and then I put one hand upon his head, and with the other drew a pistol, at the same time desiring him to throw down his hatchet and his knife, which he did. Then I called to two of the freemen, that they might secure him. The mulatto’s hands were tied behind his back, and I followed him and his conductors to Amparo, from whence I wrote to my new friend at Pillar, forwarding the slave to that village. He was there placed in the stocks, until I could dispose of him, which I immediately entered into measures for effecting. I never saw him again. He was a bad fellow, and had twice attempted the life of the persons under whose orders he was placed. He had run away in November from having drawn his knife, and having threatened to stab the manager with it.

There is another road to Pillar, besides that by which the vicar had taken me; it is through a place called Engenho Velho (the old mill). Sugar works were formerly established here; but the lands are poor, and the large red ants upon them are so numerous, as to render their cultivation almost impossible; so much so, that scarcely any persons reside upon them. Many individuals of the lower classes, first obtaining leave from the proprietor, have attempted to rear crops of mandioc and maize upon them; but their exertions have seldom enabled any one to prevent the plantations from being destroyed by the ants. Huts are to be seen, out of which the inhabitants have been driven by these tormentors; the shelter which the roofs afford is convenient to the ants, and under them they like to form the chief[273] entrances to their cities. I never saw any other situation in which this pest of Pernambuco[113] had so completely taken possession of the land. The hillocks under which they had formed their nests were innumerable; some of these were four feet in height, and ten or twelve in circumference; others were of less dimensions, and some of them might be larger.

Some ruins of the mill are still to be seen at Engenho Velho, and there is a pond near to them of considerable depth, of which tradition says, that great riches lie concealed at the bottom. I also heard of an old African negro, who has been manumitted, and now practised the arts of a Mandingueiro, in this neighbourhood. Among the lower orders of people I have heard his powers discussed. It is said, that he can cause the death of any one who is pointed out to him; the unfortunate person will linger for a long time, but his destruction is inevitable. This old man is likewise a fortune-teller, and is applied to in cases of unrequited love.

In March took place the yearly festival of our Lady of the Rosary, which was directed by negroes; and at this period is chosen the King of the Congo nation, if the person who holds this situation has died in the course of the year, has from any cause resigned, or has been displaced by his subjects. The Congo negroes are permitted to elect a king and queen from among the individuals of their own nation; the personages who are fixed upon may either actually be slaves, or they may be manumitted negroes. These sovereigns exercise a species of mock jurisdiction over their subjects which is much laughed at by the whites; but their chief power and superiority over their countrymen is shown on the day of the festival. The negroes of their nation, however,[274] pay much respect to them. The man who had acted as their king in Itamaraca (for each district has its king) for several years, was about to resign from old age, and a new chief was to be chosen; he who had been fixed upon for this purpose was an old man and a slave, belonging to the plantation of Amparo. The former queen would not resign, but still continued at her post. The old negro who was this day to be crowned, came early in the morning to pay his respects to the vicar, who said to him in a jocular manner, “Well, sir, so to-day I am to wait upon you, and to be your chaplain.” About eleven o’clock I proceeded to the church with the vicar. We were standing at the door, when there appeared a number of male and female negroes, habited in cotton dresses of colours and of white, with flags flying and drums beating; and as they approached we discovered among them the king and queen, and the secretary of state. Each of the former wore upon their heads a crown, which was partly covered with gilt paper, and painted of various colours. The king was dressed in an old fashioned suit of divers tints, green, red, and yellow; coat, waistcoat, and breeches; his sceptre was in his hand, which was of wood, and finely gilt. The queen was in a blue silk gown, also of ancient make; and the wretched secretary had to boast of as many colours as his master, but his dress had evident appearances of each portion having been borrowed from a different quarter, for some parts were too tight and others too wide for him.

The expence of the church service was to be provided for by the negroes; and there stood in the body of the church a small table, at which sat the treasurer of this black fraternity, (irmandade) and some other officers, and upon it stood a box to receive the money. This was produced but slowly, much too slowly for the appetite of the vicar, who had not breakfasted, though it was now nearly mid-day, for he and his assistant priests were to chaunt high Mass. Therefore he approached the table, and began to expostulate with these directors, declaring that he would not go to the altar until every expence was paid. I was much amused to see him surrounded by the blacks, and abusing them for their want of punctuality[275] in their contributions. There was soon an uproar in the church among the negroes; the vicar had blamed some of them, and now when he left them to themselves, they called each other to an account, and the consequences were, that many high and angry words passed between them in the church. It was a most entertaining scene to me and a few other persons, who stood by and heard what was going on. However, at last Their Majesties knelt down at the railing of the principal chapel, and the service commenced. As soon as this was over, the new king was to be installed; but as the vicar was hungry, he dispatched the matter without much ceremony; he asked for the crown, then went to the church-door,—the new sovereign presented himself, and was requested or rather desired to kneel down; the insignia were given to him, and the vicar then said, “Now, sir king, go about thy business.”[114]

As the king belonged to Amparo, the eating, drinking, and dancing were to be at that place; consequently, in a short time our town remained quite quiet, and I little thought that I should so soon be disturbed. About four o’clock in the afternoon, Francisco, one of my negroes, came running from Amparo, and he said that the people at that place were killing Manoel, who was fighting against a number of persons, by whom he had been attacked. I mounted my horse, and proceeded to the plantation with all possible haste. I found Manoel tied to the middle of a long cord, of each end of which one man had hold, and these persons were standing in opposite directions for the purpose of keeping the negro at a distance from any one. His face was covered with blood, and his cloaths were much torn. I rode up to him, and spoke to him; he turned round, as if to strike me; but when he discovered who it was, he cried out, “It is my master, and now I care for no one;” and then he again proceeded in his abuse towards those who had maltreated him. Francisco soon arrived, and I sent Manoel home with him. The overseer of the plantation (for the owner was[276] not at home) chose to take umbrage at some of my people who now arrived, because they were armed. I told him that they were perfectly right in coming prepared for the worst, but that I felt quite confident that not one person present would think of insulting me or any other white man; and therefore I sent my people away; he said that I judged correctly of his feelings, and some others stepped forwards to confirm the words of the overseer. The negro who had acted improperly, had been provoked so to do by the behaviour of some of the free persons towards him; but the affair would not have occurred, if the overseer had done his duty, or if any man of weight and importance had been present.

About this time I agreed to take a cottage with a small piece of land attached to it, in the neighbourhood of Conception. It was situated upon a shelf of the hill, immediately below the town, and opposite to the village of Camboa. The break in the hill had only space sufficient to admit of the cottage in breadth, so that on either side it must be reached by an ascent or descent. The view from it differed little from that which was to be obtained from the town-hall; save that now to the left, the town and the church were to be seen half concealed among the banana plants and trees. All the lands in this neighbourhood were subdivided among persons of several casts. That which immediately joined mine on two sides belonged to the vicar, and on the third side it was inclosed by the channel, whilst on the fourth, a numerous family of free negroes possessed a small spot covered with coco-trees. These latter people had been much impoverished by the obstinacy of the chief of the family, now deceased, in maintaining a law-suit for many years, about the boundaries of his plot of land. As soon as I took possession, one of his sons wished to commence law proceedings with me, in spite of several awards which had been given against his father. I began to make a fence around the piece of land which I had taken, and he immediately did all in his power to prevent me from accomplishing my object; however, as he saw that whatever he said was of no avail, he set off to Goiana to seek redress by law. This I discovered accidentally in[277] the evening. In the morning at four o’clock I mounted on horseback, and followed him to Goiana, accompanied by Fideles, a creole negro, in the place of Manoel who was disabled for some time by the occurrence which has been related.

I proceeded through the plantation of Amparo, and reached the spot at which passengers embark in the canoe that plies between the island and the main land. The tide was out, and we entered among the mangroves, through which a path has been made in the mud; it is dangerous to allow the horse to step out of this, as the slime is deep on either side. We stood at the water’s edge, just beyond the mangroves, and hailed the ferryman, until he shoved off and came towards the island. The mosquitos persecuted us unmercifully, during this delay, and it was with difficulty we prevented our horses from treading out of the path. The channel is here much broader than near to Conception; but there is a bank near to the centre of it, upon which, when the tide is out, the horses regain their footing; but still the passage is distressing to the beasts; however we reached the opposite bank in safety[115]. Here stands the village of Itapisuma, which consists of a long street, situated near to the water’s edge, and running parallel with the channel; it is composed of small low houses. A narrow path took us to the village of Pasmado, a distance of two leagues, where we entered the great cattle road; we crossed the river of Araripe, passed through the village of Bû, and about mid-day stopped at the hamlet of Fontâìnhas. Here I put up at a cottage, and on enquiry found that there was some dried meat to be sold at a neighbouring hut; some of this was purchased, and was cooked for me by the good woman of the cottage.

The people of Pasmado are famous for their proficiency in the working of iron. The knives which are made at that place are in great request all over the country, and although these are a prohibited[278] article, as I have before mentioned, still they are made publicly at Pasmado, and indeed at many other places in the country.

Whilst I was at Fontâìnhas, three armed men came to the door with a fourth person whom they had taken into custody, under a suspicion of his being a horse-stealer. It was proved that he had been seen in company with a man of this description, but he made it appear that he had been hired by him to assist in conducting some horses, without his having any knowledge of their being obtained irregularly, and therefore they set him at liberty. During the whole of my stay in Pernambuco, I only heard of two or three instances of houses being broken open, and scarcely of any murders that were not occasioned by quarrels, or had been committed in revenge; but cattle-stealing is common. I was in the constant habit of hearing of thefts of this description[116]. In the afternoon I reached Goiana,[279] and on the following day presented my papers to the Juiz de Fora. As soon as I had accomplished the end for which I came, I returned to Itamaraca. Whilst I was at Goiana, an English merchant vessel, called the Elizabeth, had been on shore upon the south sand-bank of the harbour of Itamaraca. She had been chased by an English ship of war, under the supposition that she was an American, and the merchant vessel was also acting under the same idea regarding the pursuer. The master made for the harbour of Itamaraca and ran the vessel ashore; and the mistake under which both of them had been acting was not cleared up until the ship of war sent a boat on board. She floated at the height of the tide, and proceeded to Recife without much damage. Many of the people of Itamaraca put off in their jangadas, for the purpose of rendering every assistance in their power, and were very indignant at the crew refusing to admit any of them on board. This, I suppose, proceeded from the fear of being plundered, and of salvage being claimed, as occurs frequently upon the coast of Ireland in cases of distress. But far from any mischief being intended, I am confident that a mere trifle (a few gallons of rum for instance) would have satisfied those who went to offer to assist.

After my removal in April to the Toque, for so my new dwelling was called, I led a life of quietude; and to one who has not known other countries, and does not feel that a residence in Brazil is a species of banishment, it would be a life of great happiness. I went out young, and therefore had few unpleasant feelings of this kind to conquer, but when I reflect upon the line of life in which I had taken my station I am happy that I was removed. The[280] climate, in particular, fascinates every one; the heat is scarcely ever disagreeable, and the power of the sun is rendered less perceptible by the freshness of the sea breeze; the coolness of the night too removes all lassitude, if any should have been felt. I have often sat at my door when the moon has been so clear as to render reading by her light, though somewhat irksome, still not difficult. When the night has been dark, I have watched the lights which were to be seen upon the sand-banks, that proceed from the land on each side of the entrance of the harbour; they were frequented at low water by numbers of persons in search of shell-fish. The appearance was singular, for the lights seemed to float upon the water.

The house in which I now dwelt was a long low building, situated, as I have before observed, upon a narrow break in a steep hill; it was constructed of timber and mud, and the eaves of the cottage were on one side about five feet from the ground, and on the other they were only three feet. The door and window were in the gable-end, and fronted the sea. The principal apartment was furnished with a few chairs, and a table, a trunk containing my books, and also a large chest, in which were deposited the farinha and the beans for the weekly consumption of the establishment; in one corner likewise stood a large jar of water, and upon a peg immediately above the jar was hung the usual ladle of the country;—this is formed of the half of the inner shell of a coco-nut, and has a long wooden handle fixed to it; some rich persons make use of silver cocos, as these ladles are called. The room which I have attempted to describe, two cabins or very small bed-chambers, and a kitchen included the whole building. At one side were erected a stable and two apartments, which remained unfinished when I came away. Behind the cottage was the shed which covered the apparatus for making the farinha; and yet farther back, in the same direction, the negroes had formed their huts of mud and coco leaves. I was now still nearer to the channel, and so immediately above it as to see every canoe or raft which passed to and fro. The land about the house was covered with brushwood and tall coco-trees, and there were likewise a few Acaju trees. However[281] the small wood was soon cleared away, and the view on every side remained unobstructed.

The first business of the morning was to see that the people went out to work at the proper time; then the stable and other matters of the same kind were to be attended to; for in every thing which is to be done by slaves the master or his deputy must keep his eye as much upon what is going forwards as possible. After this I breakfasted, and then either read or wrote, or mounted my horse and rode to the spot upon which my people were at work. I dined about two o’clock, and afterwards sat in my hammock smoking; any of the secondary people, or of those in the lower ranks of life, would sometimes about three or four o’clock come to speak to me upon business, or to ask or communicate news, and so forth. Soon after four o’clock, I usually rode out again to see the work, and returned about five or half past. The remainder of the day-light was often expended in reading, and at times the vicar or some one else would come and sit with me until seven o’clock. Sun-set in retired situations usually produces melancholy feelings, and not less unpleasant was this period under the circumstances in which I was placed. The negroes were coming home straggling from their work, fatigued and dirty; the church-bell tolled dismally at intervals, that all Catholics should count their beads; the sea looked black, and the foliage of the trees became rapidly darker and darker as the sun sank behind the hills. There is scarcely any twilight in those regions; the light is in a few minutes changed into darkness, unless the moon has risen. Her light is not afforded gradually, but her power is perceived very shortly after the setting of the sun. In the evening I sat and smoked in the open air, and if it was at the time of spring tides, I had a fire made to windward, on account of the mosquitos, and of a very diminutive species of black fly, which is called maroìm, and of which the bite is as painful as that of the mosquito; this last species of insect is there called morisoca. The maroim is usually to be seen near to mangroves. If these tormentors were too[282] troublesome to be endured, or if I was so inclined, I would close my door and window, and read or write until ten or eleven o’clock, and then go to bed; but frequently I would lie down in my hammock, and rest in it unintentionally during the greater part of the night.

My time passed less pleasantly during the months of June and July, owing to the rain, and to the removal of the vicar to Recife during that period.

Through his persuasion, and from the gradual general disposition of the feelings of the people in favour of the measure, two boys, resident at Conception, were sent to Recife for the purpose of being inoculated with the cow-pox; as soon as they returned, the surgeon of Iguaraçu, a young man of considerable merit who had been educated at Lisbon, came over to the island to inoculate any persons who might be inclined to undergo the operation. Among the children it was almost general. Their parents and friends were told that the disorder was not infectious, and consequently no precautions were taken in separating those who were under its influence from the other inmates of the same cottage. Soon afterwards an elderly woman, the attendant of a child who had been inoculated, fell sick and died, and other persons were likewise afflicted with the same disorder. The infection spread, and ten or twelve persons died of it in the island. The evil indeed was only stopped by the inoculation of great numbers of the inhabitants. It was observed that none of the individuals who had been inoculated had been in danger, and therefore it was soon seen that the wisest plan was to undergo the operation. A few however were so much alarmed at the fate of some of their acquaintances, that they lived for many days in the woods, scarcely visiting any habitation of man in the dread of infection. It was proved that the small-pox did not exist at that time upon the island, for every enquiry was made,—much pains were taken by many persons of zeal and activity to certify that this was the case; and indeed when that dreadful malady appears in any neighbourhood[283] the whole country round is alarmed, and every precaution is taken to prevent communication. Now, it was generally said that either the boys who had been sent to Recife were inoculated with the small-pox instead of the cow-pox, or that the cow-pox degenerated and became an infectious disease. The boys received the matter from a newly-imported negro, who had, it is true, been inoculated with the cow-pox, but he might have had the small-pox upon him at the time, though it had not made its appearance. It is from the newly arrived Africans, that the small-pox is often spread abroad, after the country has had a long respite from this much dreaded disorder. One man who resided near to Conception caught the disease and died; he had only sat for a short time in an outward room of a house in the interior of which some children were confined who had been inoculated.

The unfortunate result of this trial of the new disorder rivetted many persons in their prejudices against it; and others who had strenuously recommended its adoption began to stagger, and to fear that they had been deceived; however, as none of those who were inoculated had been in danger, the people did not appear to have taken a thorough dislike to it. To me this was a most anxious time; my establishment of slaves and free people consisted of twenty-five persons, of whom scarcely any had had the small-pox. They were too many to inoculate at once, and therefore I cut off all communication with my neighbours. This was done without much difficulty; Manoel was armed, and was ready to prevent any one from approaching the place, and this I could do without injustice, for the path led only to the house. I had several fierce dogs, which were all let loose on this occasion, notice being given to the neighbourhood of such a measure having been adopted.

Considerable zeal has been shewn by the supreme government of Brazil in the introduction of the cow-pox into the country. An establishment has been formed at Recife, consisting of a physician and two surgeons for the inoculation, free of expence, of all persons[284] who apply for this purpose. The inoculation is expressly confined to the matter of the cow-pox. The establishment has not however, yet fixed upon any settled plan for having a constant supply of the matter, and therefore the medical men belonging to it are often obliged to remain inactive for several weeks at a time.

CHAPTER XIV.

ANTS.—SNAKES, AND OTHER REPTILES.—RIVER OF IGUARAÇU.—BUILDING A HOUSE.—SEVERAL SPECIES OF TIMBER TREES.—THE PINHAM, MUTAMBA, AND GAMELEIRA TREES.—THE WHALE.

I HAVE said that the lands of the Engenho Velho were much infested by the red ants; but indeed scarcely any part of the island of Itamaraca is free from these most noxious insects. They are of a dusky red colour, and vary from one quarter of an inch to one inch in length. Their bite is painful, and they will sometimes fix themselves so firmly with their antennæ, as to leave the points of them in the wound which they have made. Their food is entirely vegetable. I found them extremely troublesome during the continuance of the rains. They would often make their way between the bricks of the floor of my house, and pick up any particles of flour or any grains of maize which might chance to be strewed upon it. On one occasion, two large bags of maize of equal size were placed in the room at night; but in the morning one of them was considerably lower than the other; for this I could not account until, on a nearer examination, I saw one of the red ants coming out of a small hole which there was at one side of the bag, with its load upon its back, and soon another followed, and so forth. I now accidentally put my hand upon the bag, and it fell still lower; so that an arch must have been formed within, either by a very singular chance, or by the management of these most extraordinary insects.

Upon another evening, they made their appearance in such great[286] numbers as to darken the floor of the corner of the room from which they proceeded. I sent for some dried leaves of the coco-tree, and only got rid of the enemy by making in the house a bonfire upon the spot of which they had taken possession. I had some pomegranate trees at the back of the cottage, which I was preserving with great care; and I had one evening particularly admired the beauty of one of these plants, which was covered with red blossoms. In the morning the flowers were still upon the tree, but scarcely any leaves remained; these were upon the ground, and some of the destroyers were cutting off the few which still were left, whilst their companions were occupied below in conveying away the spoil. I could not avoid watching them for some minutes, and admiring their ingenuity and systematic manner of going to work; but soon I vowed vengeance upon these enemies, and immediately commenced operations. There was a steep bank a little below the cottage, which had every appearance of harbouring these insects, for the red earth which lies at some distance below the surface of the ground, was thrown up all around it. I placed four negroes below the bank, to cut it away perpendicularly. They had not worked long before the war commenced, for a war it was when some of the nests were laid open. The ants came out in great numbers, but torches of dried coco leaves were ready and a large fire, and with these weapons we had much the advantage of them. The bank contained a vast number of circular holes of about six inches diameter, which were placed at unequal distances from each other, and many of them were without subterraneous communications from one to the other. Every one had a passage to the surface of the ground, and some of them had more than one leading upwards. These nests or holes contained a substance of a grey colour, which bore the appearance of thick cobwebs pressed closely together; and on being squeezed in the hand it had a liquid feel, that is, the skin was moistened by it. When put into water it swam upon the top. We had placed a large brass basin upon the fire, and filled it with water for the purpose of putting this substance into it. In some of the circular holes there were no[287] ants, but others were crowded with them. Great numbers were destroyed; and the cottage and its neighbourhood enjoyed for a short time some respite, but another horde from a different quarter discovered that the place was untenanted, and we were again persecuted.

There is another method of destroying the ants, which has only of late years been introduced; but this is more particularly adapted to their destruction when they are undermining a building. A mixture of brimstone, and of any other substances which create a considerable degree of smoke, is burnt at the entrance of the ant-hill, a hole being in the first place dug around it, that the combustible matter may be laid rather lower than the surface of the ground immediately surrounding. Then a large pair of bellows is made use of to blow the smoke down the aperture; now it is necessary to observe, that all the crevices by which the smoke is again ejected, should be stopped up. If the operation is conducted with due attention it has been found successful. It is likewise a means of discovering the several communications of the same ant-hill, and thus being able with less uncertainty to judge of the situation of the chief pot (panella) or nest.

The red ant is particularly destructive to the mandioc plant, and in many parts it is almost impossible to preserve the plantations of it from them[117]. I recollect having planted a considerable quantity of it in some low marshy ground, upon hillocks, and the land was so moist that water remained in the furrows round the bottom of each hillock, after the manner of dykes. On this account, I thought it[288] superfluous to desire that any precautions should be taken against the ants; however, I rode one afternoon to see the field, and was surprised to find that the plants upon some of the hillocks were deprived of their leaves. I knew by whom this must have been done, but could not for some minutes discover how the insects had been able to reach the mandioc. I soon saw an ant-track and a few of the ants going along it; I followed the track, and observed that they had formed a bridge of leaves across one of the furrows, upon which they were going over. Some of them crossed to and from the hillock, as I stood watching them.

There were several other species of ants of less bulk, which were occasionally seen. The small red ant and the small black ant, both of which feed on animal substances, would sometimes crowd around a fly, a spider, a small lizard, or any other small animal or insect which might lie dead upon the floor; and by degrees, a number sufficient to move their prey would assemble, and they would convey it slowly along, even up a white-washed wall, if the load was not heavier than usual. It was a most unpleasant sight to watch these insects clinging to their burthen on all sides of it, and so closely packed as to appear to be one shapeless mass of moving substance. All species of ants have a disagreeable smell; but the carnivorous small red ant is that which is the most offensive. There is also another kind of small black ant; it makes its nest in trees, and not near to and among the timbers of houses. Though the size of this ant is very diminutive, being smaller than any other species, it is a dreadful enemy to the large red ant, owing to the numbers and determined courage of the black ant. These small insects are sought after, and encouraged to build upon orange and other fruit trees, which are liable to destruction from the large red ant; and they effectually defend their appointed posts from the dreaded invaders, if time has been given for their numbers to be equal to the task. I have sometimes seen the entrance to the nest of the red ants surrounded by the dead of both parties; but notwithstanding that the number of black ants which are engaged is always[289] much greater than that of the red ant, still I observed that the slain of the latter always out-numbered the former.[118]

The house in which I resided at Jaguaribe, had been in former times a barn in which the sugar was put into chests for exportation; and I had heard from the neighbours that the ants about it were numerous; and particularly a small black ant called the formiga douda, or foolish ant, owing to its not appearing to have any track, but to wander about the spot upon which the horde has appeared, running fast to and fro, and irregularly. These are distinguished from the black ant of the orange trees by this name of douda. One evening I had been asleep in my hammock, and was not a little surprised on waking, to see that part of the wall opposite to me, which was white-washed, appeared to be covered with a piece of black cloth; I got up, and approached it with the lamp in my hand. I soon saw what it was, and could not help shuddering, for the sight, I may say, was horrible; myriads of these ants were marching along the wall, and their numbers were rapidly increasing. I had scarcely recovered from the first surprise, when on looking round, I saw that the other side of the room was in the same state; I left the place quickly, and calling to some of the negroes, desired them to bring coco and palm-leaves in abundance; this was done, and operations being actively set on foot against them by applying lighted leaves to the walls, we soon got rid of the major part of the ants; however many of them escaped by retreating into the numerous cracks in the walls. The next morning the walls were again white-washed, and as many of the crevices filled up as possible. On another occasion, I was awakened in bed in the middle of the night, by a sensation in my feet as if they had been pricked gently by many pins. I jumped up, and as there was a light in the room, I soon perceived what had caused the uneasy sensations; several of these black ants were running about my legs, and upon the[290] bed and floor they were every moment becoming more and more numerous. I escaped, and as soon as the bed cloaths were removed the scene of burning the host of enemies was re-acted.

There yet exists another description of ants, called the tioca; these are black, and on the whole are even larger than the destructive red ant; but I never saw the tioca in great numbers; and when I have observed them, it has been near to where sugar is kept, running to and fro without any settled path and seemingly without any plan of operations. Their bite is still more painful than that of the red ant.

The ants were not my only persecutors at Itamaraca, for these were assisted by the copim, (termes arborum), who build their enormous nests, called in Brazil panellas (pots) among the rafters of houses, which they destroy in the course of time; and likewise they form their settlements upon trees. They oftentimes made their covered ways along the white-washed walls of my house, or up the door posts; but I took every precaution against them, which was more particularly necessary in this instance, as my dwelling was not built of the best kinds of timber. I was advised to besmear the places in which they persisted in attempting to build with treacle, and I found that this was successful in making them alter their proceedings. It is well known in that country by all those persons who have paid any attention to the subject, that there are certain kinds of timber which are more liable to be attacked by these insects than others. However, a person who was about to build a house, chose to think that the distinction which the carpenters made in the several kinds of timber which they recommended him to obtain, either proceeded from some sinister views in the men, or from prejudices which they had imbibed. Therefore, contrary to the advice of his workmen and of his friends, he purchased any kinds of timber which were presented to him for sale, not attending to the quality but to the price. The house was built, and he had already either removed to it or was upon the point of so doing, when it was discovered that the copim had attacked some of the principal timbers; and at last it was judged expedient to pull down a[291] considerable part of the building, without which the whole would have fallen a sacrifice to the insects. A solution of the substance of which the nest of the copim is formed, is used as an injection by the peasants in aguish disorders.[119]

I have not yet mentioned all the persecutors; for besides those which have been here named, and the famous chiguas, of which I have elsewhere spoken, there are the moribondos, a black insect, resembling somewhat the large red and the tioca ant in shape; the moribondo is supplied with wings, and has a most painful sting in the tail. It forms its nest upon the trunks and branches of trees; and in clearing lands, the negroes always proceed with much care, that they may not be taken unawares by these insects; for on a nest being disturbed, they fly out in great numbers; notwithstanding every precaution, this will occasionally happen; and I have known a negro to be unable to work for several days after he has been stung by them. The parts which are affected swell and become inflamed, and the sufferer experiences for a day or two the alternate sensations of violent cold and burning heat, similar to the symptoms of aguish disorders. When the negroes discover the nest without disturbing its inhabitants, dried palm leaves are lighted, and the nest is destroyed by fire. The insects are not often all killed, but those which escape appear to be stupified by the fire and smoke, and do not leave the nest. I have handled them when they have been in this state, for they become harmless; however, after a short time, their activity[292] returns. There are three species of moribondo; the black, of which I have treated; the white, which are so called, although they are only partially white; and the moribondo formiga, which are distinguished from the black moribondo, in bearing a still greater resemblance to the large black ant.

The bats also failed not here to annoy me, for they persecuted my horses. They fasten upon the ears of the beasts, or upon their backs, if there is any spot from which the skin has been rubbed. I have in travelling sometimes been made particularly uneasy at their attacks upon the horses; for unless we had some animals above the requisite complement, it was necessary to load them with the wound open. The skin of an owl is often hung up in a stable for the purpose of scaring the bats.

In laying open the ant-hill which I have above-mentioned, we discovered a couple of the cobras de duas cabeças, or two-headed snakes or worms; each of them was rolled up in one of the nests. These snakes are about eighteen inches in length, and about the thickness of the little finger of a child of four or five years of age. Both extremities of the snake appear to be exactly similar to each other; and when the reptile is touched, both of these are raised, and form a circle or hoop to strike that which has molested it. They appear to be perfectly blind, for they never alter their course to avoid any object until they come in contact with it, and then without turning about they crawl away in an opposite direction. The colour is grey inclining to white, and they are said to be venomous. This species of snake is often found in ant-hills, and I have likewise killed them in my house; they frequent dung-hills and places in which vegetable matter has been allowed to remain for a length of time unremoved.

The island of Itamaraca is said to be less infested with snakes than the main land, and perhaps this opinion is founded on experience; but some of those which are generally accounted venomous certainly exist upon it. A rattle-snake was killed at Amparo two years previous to the period of which I am speaking. A horse died one[293] night in my neighbourhood, and his death was attributed to the bite of a snake; there was a wound upon him, and his body was much swoln. Manoel killed a cobra de veado, or antelope snake (Boa Constrictor) which he brought home to shew me. It was a young one, of seven feet in length, and about the thickness of a man’s arm. The name which it bears of antelope snake proceeds from the destruction which it causes among these animals. The full-grown snake of this species lies in wait for the antelope and other animals of the same size; it entwines its tail around a tree, and patiently expects that its prey will pass within its reach; when this occurs, it encircles the unfortunate animal with its enormous body, thus securing it. I never could discover, after much enquiry, that it had ever been found in a torpid state, digesting its food. Men have sometimes been caught by them; but if the person so situated can draw his knife, his escape is very possible, though he will probably receive several wounds. The opinion is general in the country that the person who receives the bite of one of these snakes, has nothing farther to fear from that of any other snake of whatever description.

One of the negroes whom I had hired with the plantation of Jaguaribe, had one leg much thicker than the other. This was occasioned, as he told me, by the bite of a rattle-snake; he said, that he had been cured from the bites of snakes by a Curador de cobras or Mandingueiro, and had therefore not died; but that “as the moon was strong[120],” he had not escaped receiving some injury from the bite. He had frequently violent pains in his limbs, at the full and change of the moon particularly, and sometimes the wound opened, and remained in this state for weeks together; but if he was careful in not exposing it to the early dews of the morning, it would again heal without any medicinal applications being made use of.

The most beautiful reptile which I saw was the cobra de coral, or coral snake or worm. It is about two feet in length, and of the thickness[294] of a man’s thumb; it is marked with black, white and red stripes transversally. The general opinion is that it is venomous.[121]

But the snakes do not cause so much annoyance as the smaller species of vermin which I am about to mention; because the former seldom enter the houses, nor are they very frequently to be seen in the paths or roads. But the aranha caranguejeira, or crab-spider, (aranea avicularia); the lacraia or scorpion, and the piolho de cobra, or snake louse, (scolopendra morsitans), are to be met with in the houses and in all situations. They should be carefully avoided, for their bites are painful, and are said to cause inflammation. An instinctive recollection of the chance of meeting with these or other vermin of less importance became so habitual with me (and indeed is so with most persons) that when I was about to begin to read, I closed the book in the first place violently so as to crush any thing that might have crept in between the leaves; when my hat, or boots, or cloaths were put on, some precaution was taken, as a thing of course; this was not done from a direct idea of the likelihood of finding any thing unpleasant in that immediate instance; but the precaution was entered into from habit, unconsciously. I was one day bit by a lacraia; I had mounted my horse, and had taken my umbrella in my hand for the purpose of shading me from the sun when I had advanced farther upon my ride; when I was in the act of opening it, I felt suddenly a violent pain upon the fleshy part of the inside[295] of one of my hands; on looking down I soon saw what it was that had bitten me, upon which I turned back, and rode home. I applied the juice of lemons to the part, and in about half an hour, not finding any particularly disagreeable sensations, again mounted my horse. The only effect which I experienced from the bite was a numbness in my hand for the remainder of the day, and a redness about the point which was immediately affected; but on the following day the former was removed, and the latter did not last long. Labat mentions an instance in which the bite of a scorpion caused as little inconvenience as that which I have related. When I mentioned to some of my neighbours the slight consequences of the bite, they ascribed it to the state of the moon.

In the month of September, I went up the river in a canoe to Iguaraçu. The distance from my residence was two leagues. The river or creek has two mouths, which are situated in the bay of the village of Camboa, which is immediately opposite to Conception. In the river there are several islands which are covered with mangroves, and are too low to be cultivated; the banks of the river are likewise lined with the same description of plant, excepting at one point to the left in going up, where the bank is high and perpendicular, and projects considerably. At this place the forest trees come down to the edge of the bank. Near to the town of Iguaraçu the mangroves have been destroyed, and perhaps upon some particular spots they did not originally grow. When the tide is out, the quantity of water which remains in the river is trifling, and in some parts it is nearly dry; indeed, were it not for two places of inconsiderable breadth, where the water is always deep, a man on foot might walk along its bed from about one mile above Camboa to the town. I came down from Iguaraçu one day at the ebb of the tide in a small canoe, which held one man besides myself; it was with difficulty that he could find a channel in which there was sufficient water to float our vessel. It was to Conception that the Portugueze came down from Iguaraçu for provisions, during the siege of the latter place by the savages in 1548, as is related by Hans Stade. I also observed[296] one of the spots at which the savages attempted to sink the boat as it returned, by means of letting a large tree fall upon it[122]. The town of Iguaraçu was plundered, and the inhabitants slaughtered by the Dutch in 1632, under the direction of the dreadful mulatto Calabar.[123]

The mangroves entirely destroy the beauty which it is natural to suppose that the rivers of the country of which I am treating would possess. Until they are destroyed a dull sameness presents itself, for the eye cannot penetrate beyond them. Upon the banks of the Capibaribe they have given place to houses and gardens, and the alteration is most pleasing; upon the banks of the Maria Farinha, the mangroves are beginning to give way to cultivation at the settlements (sitios) of Jardim and Olaria; but the Iguaraçu is without any break, and the Goiana is, I understand, in the same state. There are plantations along these rivers, but the owners content themselves with merely cutting a path through the mangroves down to the water’s edge, so that to a stranger who goes up the rivers the country appears to be uninhabited, until he passes some of these small openings, at which a canoe or a jangada is moored; but the openings are very narrow, and are only to be seen on coming immediately opposite to them. The mangroves grow as far down as low water-mark, and when the tide is out their entangled roots and sprouts, and their stems covered with oysters and besmeared with mud, are left uncovered; but at the height of the tide these are concealed, and the water reaches up to the branches of the trees, so that those which bend downwards are partly wetted, presenting to the beholder the view of a forest growing in the water. This species of mangrove sometimes attains the diameter of fifteen or eighteen inches, and the height of twenty-five or thirty feet. There are two species with which I am acquainted, the mangue vermelho or red mangrove, of which I have been speaking, and the mangue bravo or wild mangrove.[297] The bark of the former is used for tanning, and the timber is much esteemed for beams and rafters in building, but it cannot be used as posts, for under ground it decays very quickly; nor as railings, for it does not bear exposure to the weather. A considerable trade is carried on from Itamaraca, and from some other parts to Recife, in the wood of these plants, which is used as fuel. The tree grows again as often as it is cut down if the root is not injured, and with such rapidity that the supply of the wood will, for a length of time—I mean unless the destruction of the plant becomes more extensive than it is at present—be fully adequate to the demand for it. The fish forsake those parts to which the trees are brought to be cut up for firewood. This may be judged to proceed from the properties of the bark. In a fish-pen, (cural de peixe) near to my place no fish was caught after the fuel-cutters had established themselves at the bridge hard by; of this I heard much, as there was some squabbling upon the subject. The ashes of the mangrove plants are used as temper in the sugar boiling houses.[124]

[298]

As I did not, in 1814, suppose that on the following year I should be recalled, I began to make some addition to my cottage, for it was too small for me; and besides it was old, and was constructed of bad timber, which caused it to be much infested by the ants and the copim. I had a considerable quantity of timber of excellent quality at Jaguaribe, which had been prepared by me for building there, and therefore I determined to send for it. Permission was also obtained from the owner of the Engenho Novo, to cut down some trees in his woods, for which he ultimately refused to be paid. The woods of his plantation came down nearly to the water’s edge near to Camboa, and were consequently very conveniently situated for my purpose. The building was to be constructed of wood and mud,—that is, of thick posts supporting the roof and smaller posts at fixed distances between the principal ones, and the openings between each of them were to be filled up with mud. I could not help regretting that such beautiful woods as those which were used should be employed in purposes so much beneath their worth. The pao ferro or iron wood, which is also called the coraçam de negro or the negro’s heart[125], was the most valuable of those which I employed. The outward coat of the wood of this tree is not particularly hard, but the heart destroys many hatchets. I have seen some of this timber taken out of the ground after standing for many years as a supporter to the roof of a house; and though the outward coat was crumbling into dust, the black heart seemed to be literally of iron, or to have increased rather than decreased in hardness[126]. This wood admits of considerable polish; but the black wood, which is most esteemed for furniture, is the jacaranda; this is also hard, but is much more penetrable than the[299] pao ferro, and the polish to which it may be brought is more complete.[127]

The pao d’arco is another valuable wood, and is so called, I imagine, from the use which the Indians made of it for their bows; it is much used in building, and is accounted almost as durable as the pao ferro. It admits of being cleft into splinters, which are flexible without breaking. The pao d’arco has the property of retaining fire for a long time without being stirred, and of yielding a bright light if the log be occasionally touched. The peasantry take advantage of this, and cleave the logs into several narrow splinters, of which they form a bunch; this being lighted, serves them as a flambeau. Formerly, likewise, when every thing was in a ruder state even than it is now in Brazil, the sugar-works were lighted with logs of pao d’arco instead of oil; indeed I have heard that some of the mills in the back settlements still continue this practice. The ashes of this tree are used as temper in the boiling houses of the mills. The number of fine species of timber in Brazil is very great, but I am myself acquainted only with a few of them.[128]

[300]

The louro is a large tree, and of it there are three species, all of which are used principally for the beams of houses, for the timber of them rots quickly under ground or if it be exposed to the weather. The most esteemed timber for doors, window-shutters, floors of houses, &c. is the pao amarello or yellow wood. This is a large tree, and the name which it has obtained, continues to be sufficiently appropriate for the first six months after it has been cut down; but the yellow colour is after this period lost, and the wood becomes of a dirty brown. The canoes are almost exclusively made of the pao amarello. The pao santo or holy-wood is scarce, and is much sought after for certain purposes, as it is not liable to split, bend, or break; it is particularly required for the teeth of the sugar-rollers. The wood is beautifully veined with yellow and brown, but becomes after some time of a dusky brown colour. There is likewise a tree which is called cedro, but whether it is the cedar or not I cannot determine; the wood is hard, and is much esteemed for building.[129]

I cut down all the mangroves which grew along the borders of my piece of land, and likewise some other kinds of trees which grew just beyond the reach of the salt-water; among these was the aroeira, a small irregular tree, of which the wood is soft, and not even fit for timber; the only use to which the plant is put, is, that as the leaves have an aromatic smell, they are used in curing fish, to which they impart a slight portion of their odour; they are placed upon the girau or boucan, and the fish is laid upon them; fish is likewise packed in the[301] leaves of the aroeira when about to be sent to a distance[130]. The tree only grows in situations near to the sea. Good fences might be made of it for the stakes take root; I used some of the trees for this purpose. The molungo and the pinham have likewise this last property; and as the former is supplied with strong sharp thorns, this advantage renders it preferable to the aroeira. The molungo grows spontaneously in moist situations, but the stakes take root even if the soil is dry, unless no rain falls for some time after it has been planted. Great numbers of the molungo grew near to my house, just below a spring of water which oozed from the side of the hill. The cow-itch was also found here in abundance; it is called by the peasants machonan.

The pinham requires less rain and grows quicker than the molungo, but it is without thorns, and the plant is not nearly so large. The seed of the pinham is used as an emetic by the peasants, and is violent in its operation, a very small quantity being sufficient even for an adult. The fruit incloses three seeds, and is about the size of the common hazel-nut. During the third attack of ague which I had whilst I was at Jaguaribe, I placed myself under the direction of an old mulatto woman, than whom I never saw any one more like a witch; and indeed poor old Antonia had the reputation of being somewhat of a mandingueira. However she gave me a dose of pinham, which, I think, consisted of four seeds, but they were picked out from a heap of others for their superior size. The dose acted most violently and effectually produced vomiting, and although excessive weakness followed the disorder was removed. I begged her to give me a quantity equal to what she had administered, that I might take it to Recife; this I shewed to a practitioner, who answered that he should have imagined that such a dose would have killed any one; but the old reputed sorceress knew full well, that a dangerous disease[302] requires to be severely attacked[131]. After the ague left me, my nurse would not be satisfied until she applied the bark of the mutamba tree to my stomach; or rather the application was made just below the ribs, which she said was to prevent dureza; this she described as a hardness immediately under the lower rib of each side, which sometimes was produced by the ague, and which, if precautions were not taken in time ended in dropsy. I did not suffer her to continue the mutamba for many days, for I found that I was well, and wanted no more nostrums. The mutamba is a small tree, having a straight stem; it grows to the height of eighteen or twenty feet, and to the diameter[303] of twelve or eighteen inches. The bark is easily torn off, and is extremely glutinous.

The Gameleira preta (black,) so called from the dark colour of its bark, is a large tree which grows in low marshy grounds; the stem contains a white juice, which is much sought for as a medicine in all eruptive complaints and in dropsy; it is likewise given inwardly. The juice is obtained by making an incision in the stem, and leaving a vessel into which the liquid may drop. There is another species of the same tree, which is distinguished by the name of white gameleira, and this is useless.

I was obliged in September to forsake my house for three days from a most unexpected cause. A whale was stranded upon one of the sand-banks at the mouth of the harbour; this being the third time that the inhabitants of Itamaraca had been favoured with visitors of this description. Jangadas were sent out to it, and when the tide came in, it floated, and was towed into the harbour, where the persons who were employed in the business landed it, as near as they could at high water mark, in front of and distant from my house about three hundred yards. Many of my neighbours were occupied in making oil; for any one who pleased was at liberty to take as much of the blubber as he could make use of; and one man fairly got into the whale, and ladled out the fat which was melted by the heat of the sun. When the people left the carcase, either at mid-day or at night, it was attacked by numerous flights of urubus, and was literally covered by them. The trees round about the spot were occupied by these enormous birds, which were waiting for an opportunity of satisfying their boundless appetites. The urubu is nearly twice the size of the common crow of England; it is quite black, excepting at the point of the beak, which is white, as I have been told, but this I did not observe. Wherever there happens to be the carcase of an animal, these birds assemble shortly after the death of the beast, and they seem to arrive in greater or less numbers according to the size of the carcase. The peasants tell many stories about the king of the urubus, who has a tuft of red feathers upon his head, but I never heard any coherent account of this sovereign.

[304]

The stench proceeding from the whale became in a few days so intolerable as to render a removal necessary, and therefore I applied to an old creole black, a carpenter, to allow me to reside in his cottage, which was neat and clean. To this he agreed; whilst he went to live with some of his friends.

CHAPTER XV.

RECRUITING.—IMAGES.—ANIMALS.—MARACAS.—APOLLINARIO, MANDINGA AND POULTRY.—HIEROGLYPHICS.—FESTIVAL OF OUR LADY OF CONCEPTION.—FANDANGOS.—THE FORT.—A CHRISTENING.—THE INTRUDO.—THE AUTHOR LEAVES BRAZIL.

IN the months of August and September, I was fully employed in planting cane. I hired a number of free labourers, and was under the necessity in a great measure of attending to the work myself. Of this I shall take another opportunity of speaking.

About this time were issued orders from the governor for recruiting the regiments of the line. The men who are required are pressed into the service. The orders were forwarded to the Capitaens-mores, who again distributed them to the captains. The directions were on this occasion, and indeed always are, that men of bad character between the ages of sixteen and sixty shall be apprehended, and sent to Recife for enlistment; and that every family containing two or more unmarried sons shall give one for the service of the country. But it is on these occasions that tyranny has its full sway, that caprice and pique have their full vent; that the most shameful partiality prevails, that the most intolerable oppression is experienced; in fact now it is, that the whole country is seen in arms against itself, and that every means of entrapping each other are used by the nearest neighbours. It is one of those impolitic arrangements which are sometimes practised by governments without perceiving their pernicious effects, and by which, as in the present case, the bad qualities of mankind[306] are drawn forth, instead of every thing being done for their correction. Revenge, violence, deceit, and breach of trust are excited, and instead of suppression, they meet with encouragement.

The mildness of the provincial government of Pernambuco, under the present Captain-general, is in none of its proceedings more apparent than in this. Although this nobleman has for so many years held the situation of chief of the province, now for the first time were issued the orders for recruiting; but not until they had become absolutely necessary from the state of the regiments. And even now, the directions of the governor to the officers who were to execute his commands were dictated in the spirit of gentleness;—if this word may be used when despotism sends forth such mandates as these. The official letter recommended impartiality, and threatened punishment, in case wounds were inflicted without the most evident necessity. But many were the instances of injustice which were committed, and could not reach his knowledge. Petitions were sometimes made to the governor, in particular instances of injustice, but these were often of no avail, for the custom is, that the recruits should be returned as being fit for service as soon as possible after their arrival at Recife, and their names placed upon the rolls, from which none can be removed without an order from the sovereign, although the provincial governor should be aware of the true state of the case.

A young man of respectability was carried before a certain capitam-mor, and the alternative was proposed to him either to marry a young woman, whom he had never seen, but who happened to be a burthen to those persons under whose care she was placed, or to become a soldier;—he of course preferred the latter, was sent to Recife and was obliged to enlist. I heard of many instances of young men being pressed into the service, upon whose exertions depended the support of their parents; and of others whose lives were spent in idleness, but to whom the protection of the captain was extended; and some of these were unlawfully employed in apprehending others. I was in the daily habit of seeing a young man who led an[307] idle life and who had no duties to perform, lying in wait for some of his former companions, that he might give notice to the captain of the place of their concealment.

For some weeks the whole country appeared to be afflicted with a civil war; parties of armed men were to be seen in all directions, in search of those who had concealed themselves. An individual who was not well known could not stir from his home without a pass from the captain of the district in which he resided, stating him to be a married man, or naming some other cause of exemption. Nor is a man who is liable to be pressed, safe in his own house, for the tropa or troop would surround the cottage in which any of these persons were suspected to have taken refuge, and they would demand admittance; and if this was denied, no scruple would be entertained of breaking down the door, and entering by force; this occurred to my knowledge in many cases, in several parts of the country. Married men ought to be exclusively employed in the apprehension of those who are liable to be pressed. Militia-men are free from acting as oppressors and from being hunted down; unless the governor applies to the colonels of the regiment to which they belong. It is among the Ordenanças that the recruiting of which I am treating is carried on. Negroes and Indians are excluded from the regiments of the line; the former on the score of colour, and the latter from their cast; white men and mulattos of all shades being alone admitted. The great repugnance which is generally felt towards the service is occasioned by the smallness of the pay, and by the want of proper cloathing, whilst the almost incessant duty precludes any hope of working at a trade, or of pursuing any employment that is not connected with the life of a soldier. Several elderly persons told me, that in former times the service was arranged in a manner totally different; that then no difficulty was found in obtaining the number of men required, but rather, that interest was made for the situation of a soldier of the line. Each of the forts upon the coast was garrisoned from the inhabitants of the neighbourhood to a certain number; these enlisted as soldiers of the line, were embodied,[308] and performed the duty of the forts, receiving the usual pay; but they were not liable to removal to any other post; and from their numbers the duty was easy, by which means they were enabled to have around them their wives and families, and to follow any trade to which they might have been brought up. Thus these men had something for which to fight, if the service required that they should act against any enemy of the State; they had homes to defend, they had comforts of which they might be deprived, they had ties which produced local attachments; but the regiments of the present day are filled up with vagabonds and unmarried men, who could not be expected to fight with the same ardour as those who had to provide for the safety of their families; and these unsettled men might perhaps follow him who gave the highest wages.

The soldier of South America ought to be a being of far different stamp from the professed soldier of Europe. Any war which it might be necessary for Brazil to wage against a foreign invader should (indeed must) be carried on with a direct view to the peculiar advantages of the country; it would be a guerilla war, a war under the cover of woods and hills. Therefore, although it may be as well to have a few disciplined soldiers who may be preserved, for the purpose of forming the basis of a large force, if circumstances should require it, still it is not by discipline that success will be ensured; it is through the affection which the soldiers feel for their government and for their country, that the result will be propitious or the contrary. But the limited population will not allow of considerable numbers of men (comparatively speaking) being cooped up uselessly in forts, without being of any service to the State, whilst the lands are covered with woods, and indeed whilst every branch of industry is requiring additional hands. Besides if you train a large force to military service, who by being so taught become superior to their countrymen, and yet form it of the worst of men; if you bring them up without any affection to the government, and without any hold upon the rest of the inhabitants, excepting that of being able to injure them; the likelihood is, that when you require their aid, they will be[309] found wanting, and perhaps for higher pay may act against those whom they were expected to defend. If the soldier and the peasant can be combined usefully in the same person, it is in Brazil that such a system should be followed.

The foundation of a church which was commenced at the expence of the pês de castello, as the fixed soldiers were called, are to be seen near to the town of Conception. The building was given up when the order arrived from the supreme government then at Lisbon, directing this change of system.

During the recruiting I went to Recife, and in going along by the sea shore, saw at several cottages parties of armed men, who were waiting to see if they could entrap any one who might be liable to be pressed. At the ferry of Maria Farinha there was a large company, which was stationed there. I happened to be obliged to wait during a shower of rain at a cottage in which some of these fellows were watching for their prey. They were talking in high glee of the stratagems which they had made use of to entrap several recruits, and of the blows which they had been obliged to give to make some of them surrender. The men who were stationed here received no pay, and yet they were poor. They would probably have been quietly at their work at home, without the thoughts of violence or barbarity which they now entertained, if the perverse institutions of their country did not bring them forward and teach them to be ruffians, at first lawfully; but bad habits are not easily conquered, and the chance is, or rather there is a certainty, that most of those who had been so employed were rendered worse subjects than they had been before. The track of coast between the main land opposite to Conception and the Rio Doce is within one district, and it was upon this part of the road that the chief disturbance seemed to be going on. The capitam-mor had taken it for granted that no one would give his children for the service, and therefore had, without asking, immediately commenced operations of violence, taking the people unawares, that as many recruits as possible might be obtained, and his zeal in the service made manifest. From the Doce to Olinda, the[310] coast is in the district of Olinda, and here all was quiet; the capitam-mor had followed the orders of the governor strictly, and things were as regularly conducted as the system would allow. These facts are mentioned to shew, that the performance even of the orders of the provincial governor who resides within a few leagues, depends upon the individual character of the person to whom they are forwarded. God grant that I may soon see such a system altered,—that the eyes of those who have the power of effecting this alteration may be opened, for their own good as well as for that of the people over whom they rule.

The river Maria Farinha is that which runs up to Jaguaribe; its mouth is wide, and the bar will admit of craft of some size; but the port cannot be considered as being worthy of attention. The horses swim across, but the passage is distressing to them, for the tide runs rapidly. In my way to Recife along the beach, I passed the fort of Pao Amarello, distant from that place four leagues. It is small and built of stone. The garrison is little more than nominal, but it affords a comfortable residence for a captain of the Olinda regiment. The port opposite to which the fort is situated, is nothing more than a slight curve which the coast makes at this spot, by which vessels at anchor can scarcely be said to receive any shelter; but the landing-place is good. Wardenburg, the commander of the Dutch forces which invaded Pernambuco in 1630, landed at Pao Amarello.[132]

I was in the habit of conversing with several of the people of colour who resided in my neighbourhood. One man particularly amused me much; he was a short and stout creole black, and a shoemaker by trade. I was greatly entertained with his pompous manner, exalting in terms of extravagant praise the advantages which Itamaraca enjoyed, and the excellencies of Conception which was his native spot, in particular. He lamented much the removal of the mayor and chamber to Goiana, giving me to understand that undue influence had been employed; forgetful of the insignificance[311] of one place and the importance of the other. He also told me with much vehemence of voice and action, that the late vicar had wished to remove the image of our Lady of Conception from the parish church to Pillar; but that the inhabitants assembled, and prevented the accomplishment of the plan. “No,” he said, “if that image was to leave us, we should consider ourselves unprotected, and then indeed would our town be utterly destroyed.” The vicar of whom the man spoke, might have gone to reside at Pillar if he pleased, but he too had his prejudices in favour of the image, and did not like to say Mass before any other in his own parish. Thus images cease to be regarded as the representations of those to whom prayer is to be addressed; a value is placed upon the wood itself, and religion degenerates into unveiled idolatry.[133]

Another instance of the same description of feeling occurred at Pillar. Our Lady under that invocation was represented by a small image, which from age had become very dirty. A priest who used to officiate at the chapel of the village in question, preferred purchasing a larger image in the place of directing that the old one should be painted afresh; he did so, and quietly removing the old image to a house in the neighbourhood, placed the new Lady upon the altar in its stead; but lo! many of the inhabitants would not hear mass when they perceived the change that had been made; however the priest went through the service, and then returned to his own residence, which was at some distance. The people discovered that the image still remained in their neighbourhood, and presently the house[312] in which it was concealed became known. The owner sent for the priest, being afraid that some disagreeable consequences to himself might ensue. The priest came, and without ceremony wrapped up Our Lady in a handkerchief, and rode off with her to his own house, from whence she was transferred to one of the side altars of the parish church. Even at the time of which I am treating, some of the inhabitants came to say their prayers before this image, unmindful of the inconvenience of the distance.[134]

The sexton of the parish church, who was a mulatto man, had much peculiarity of character. He had a great deal of penetration, but was extremely cautious in what he said; and when questions were asked relating to any affair in which he thought he might become implicated; he usually answered—“where white men are concerned, negroes must be silent[135].” This fellow was once holding a candle in the hand of a dying person, and repeating the word “Jesus,” as is customary; the patient began to move restlessly, but Gonsalo quietly went on with his dismal work, and added with perfect unconcern—“Come die, and have done with your nonsense.”[136]

The creole negro of whom I have above spoken, was fond of shooting the larger kinds of game, such as antelopes, which are called in the country veados, and pacas (cavia paca). This was done in the following manner. A platform of thick twigs was made among the branches of a tree, at the height of several feet from the ground, near to some one of those plants upon whose leaves or fruit these animals feed. At night two men placed themselves upon this platform, and when the footsteps of the animal were heard, one of the men[313] would light a small taper prepared for the occasion, and the other, with his gun ready, looked round for the game. The animal was allowed to come as near as it seemed inclined to do unmolested, and was then fired at. The men immediately descended, and oftentimes did not attempt to find their prey until the morning; returning to the spot for the purpose. This is the usual manner of obtaining these animals. The tatu verdadeiro or legitimate armadillo, was also sometimes caught by him. I requested him to obtain for me a tamanduà, which is a small species of ant-eater; he brought me one of which the body was about six inches in length, and the tail about twelve; and the hair of its skin was extremely soft; the animal was clinging closely to the bough of a tree, and its tail also was entwining the branch. My black friend, the shoemaker, told me that he had been ordered to eat the flesh of the tamanduà after having had an eruptive complaint, and that it was very beneficial for persons who were recovering from the bobas or yaws. He said that it had “a taste which was like unto the smell of the ants.” The sloth was to be seen here occasionally; also the cotia (cavia caudata). The porco da India, the guinea-pig, I have only seen in a tame state. At Jaguaribe, the capivara (cavia capybara) was often seen among the mangroves; the Indians sometimes eat it, but few of the negroes will. There is also another mangrove animal, which is called in that country guachinim; it feeds on crabs, and from what I could hear, has much resemblance to a cat, but the tail is much longer; however I never saw it. Neither did I see the lontra or sea-otter, but the skins of this animal are much valued for saddle cloths, bearing a higher price even than the skin of the jaguar.

I heard accidentally, in conversing with persons of the lower ranks in life, of an instance in which the Indians continued their heathenish customs. A family resided at a plantation in this neighbourhood, which had much intimacy with many Indians, but none of the members of it were of that cast. When the heads of the families were from home, the young females were in the habit of meeting to amuse themselves. On one of these occasions, an Indian[314] girl carried one of her companions into the hut in which she and her parents dwelt, and on this playmate questioning her, from girlish curiosity, about several gourds which were hanging up in the room, she appeared much alarmed and said, “You must not look that way, those are maracàs, which my father and mother generally put into their chest, but they have to-day forgotten them.” Notwithstanding her entreaties to the contrary, her companion took hold of one of the gourds, and moving it quickly discovered that there were pebbles within; they had handles to them, and tufts of hair upon the top, and they were cut and carved in divers unusual forms. Here this matter ended, but soon afterwards several of the mulatto women agreed to watch the Indians, for they knew that they often danced in their huts with closed doors; this was an uncommon practice and inconvenient too, for the open air is much pleasanter. They had soon an opportunity of witnessing one of these meetings. The huts are constructed of coco-leaves, and through these they managed to obtain a view of what was going forwards. There was a large earthen pot in the centre; and round this, both men and women were dancing. A pipe was handed occasionally from one to the other. Soon afterwards, one of the Indian girls told one of her companions of a different cast from her own, as a great secret, that she had been sent to sleep at a neighbour’s hut a few nights before, because her father and mother were going to drink jurema. This beverage is obtained from a common herb; but I never could persuade any of the Indians to point it out to me; though when they positively asserted that they were unacquainted with it, their countenances belied their words.

I had a visit in October from a strange old man, whose age was generally supposed to border upon ninety years. He was a creole black, and had been a slave upon the plantation of Santos Cosmo e Damiam in the Varzea to the southward of Recife; he had settled at Iguaraçu, after he obtained his manumission, having married when he was about seventy years of age, a young woman of his own colour; and he was now surrounded by a young family. This[315] man did not reckon his age by years, but by the governors; and as each of these, with few exceptions, remained at the head of the province only three years, something near the truth could be collected. This mode of computation is very common. I have often, on asking the age of any person, received for answer, that the individual concerning whom the enquiry was made, had been born in the first, second, or third year of such a governor. The dreadful famine of 1793 is also an era from which the peasants date many circumstances.

Old Apollinario was staying at Conception with a friend, and I requested him to come down to my place every evening for the purpose of teaching some of the young persons their prayers, a task of which I knew him to be fond, as he considered this to be a meritorious action; one by which he would have still further services to plead in his favour with the Virgin and St. Peter, as he himself told me. When he came to give his report to me of the progress of each negro, I liked much to keep him, that I might converse with him. He often spoke of the Jesuits, under the name of the Padres da Companhia; he was fond of them, but he added, “I must not speak well of them, for our prince does not like them; and yet they did a great deal of good too.” He said that they were true and saint-like padres, very different to those of the present day. He was much surprised at my knowing any thing about them; he said, “You were not alive at the time they were here, and even if you had been alive, you could not have been in Pernambuco; therefore how is it that you know of their existence at the time of which I speak.” I never could make him perfectly comprehend how I obtained my knowledge of them. But he was not the only person whose comprehension, thus taken by surprise, could not contain the new ideas which were imparted, by the knowledge of the existence of books spread all over the world, and of men who wrote for the instruction of others. Some of these people with whom I conversed were much puzzled, when I spoke of the variety of languages and countries in the world; “then,” they would say, “how is it that people understand[316] each other?” To this I answered, that these languages were to be acquired by study. “Yes, I understand you,” they would rejoin “you are all much cleverer than we are here[137]; we could not learn any language but our own.” These people were invariably humble, and always ready to receive instruction.

The peasantry of the sugar plantation districts near to the coast, and the fishermen are of characters nearly similar, but the former are more favourably spoken of than the latter, and I cannot avoid saying, that I should prefer as a servant a man who had been brought up as a planter of mandioc, to one whose life had been passed upon a jangada. These people are said to be less courageous, less sincere, and less hospitable than the Sertanejos; but they are likewise less vindictive, more obedient, more easily guided, and more religious; and though their knowledge is very confined, still their frequent communication with Recife and other towns renders them, of course, less unacquainted with what passes in the world, than the inhabitants of the interior. The free schools which are established in many places are of much service, and although reading for amusement is totally beyond the comprehension even of many persons of the secondary rank, still the acquirement of the rudiments of knowledge prepare them for improvement, when books begin to make their way. Some of my neighbours, both at Itamaraca and at Jaguaribe, chanced at times to come in whilst I was reading, and would be curious to know how it was that I could find amusement in being so employed. I remember one man saying to me, “You are not a priest, and therefore why do you read; is that a breviary in which you are reading?” On another occasion, I was told that I had got the character among the people of colour in the neighbourhood of being very holy[138], for that I was always reading. A person who can read, write, and keep accounts has attained the height of perfection, and is much respected;[317] or rather of late years, one who does not know how to do these things is looked down upon. The women particularly, pride themselves upon the superiority which they enjoy by this means; by which they are brought to an equality with their husbands. In the above general character of the free people, I do not include the planters of large property, for their acquirements are oftentimes considerable; and the Indians too are quite separate, owing to their degraded state; however, I include the white persons of small property: it is surprising, though extremely pleasing, to see how little difference is made between a white man, a mulatto, and a creole negro, if all are equally poor and if all have been born free. I say surprising, because in the English, French, and Dutch colonies, the distinction is so decidedly marked; and among the Spaniards, lines are even struck between the several shades of colour.

I recollect Apollinario telling me of his distress on one occasion, when he resided in the Varzea. He met the vicar of that parish on horseback with the sacrament, which he had been taking to some sick person. The rain poured in torrents, and the mud in the road was half way up to the knees; but yet it was necessary to pay the usual respect, consequently the old creole went down upon one knee, and as the priest passed, he cried out, “Pardon me, Sir vicar, for this one knee, but if I was to put both to the ground, I could not again rise.” He told me this with perfect gravity, and I perceived that he thought this circumstance would be recorded against him as one of his heaviest sins.

One day the old man came to me with a face of dismay, to shew me a ball of leaves tied up with cypô, which he had found under a couple of boards, upon which he slept in an out-house; for he had removed from the house of his friend in the town to my place. The ball of leaves was about the size of an apple. I could not imagine what had caused his alarm, until he said that it was mandinga, which had been set for the purpose of killing him; and he bitterly bewailed his fate, that at his age any one should wish to hasten his death, and to carry him from this world before our Lady[318] thought fit to send for him. I knew that two of the black women were at variance; and suspicion fell upon one of them who was acquainted with the old mandingueiro of Engenho Velho, therefore she was sent for. I judged that the mandinga was not set for Apollinario, but for the negress whose business it was to sweep the ouhouse. I threatened to confine the suspected woman at Pillar, and then to send her to Para, unless she discovered the whole affair; this she did, after she heard me tell the manager to prepare to take her to Pillar. She said that the mandinga was placed there to make one of the negroes dislike her fellow slave and prefer her to the other. The ball of mandinga was formed of five or six kinds of leaves of trees, among which was the pomegranate leaf; there were likewise two or three bits of rag, earth of a peculiar kind, ashes which were of the bones of some animal; and there might be other ingredients besides, but these were what I could recognise. The woman either could not from ignorance, or would not, give any information respecting the several things of which the ball was composed. I made this serious matter of the mandinga, from knowing the faith which not only many of the negroes have in it, but also some of the mulatto people; however I explained to every one that I was angry with her from the bad intention of the scheme, and not from any belief that it would have any effect. There is another name for this kind of charm; it is feitiço, and the initiated are called feitiçeiros; of these there was one formerly at the plantation of St. Joam, upon the island, who became so much dreaded that his master sold him to be sent to Maranham.

Old Apollinario was useful to me in taking care of my poultry. I had great quantities of the common fowl, and as I had cleared the land to a considerable distance around the house, the fowls had a good range without being molested by the foxes. I had ducks, turkeys, and pigeons; the young of these last were frequently destroyed by the timbu; this animal is about the size of a small cat, and has a long tail, which is scaly and whitish; the colour of the body is dark brown, with two white stripes from the nose to the tail down[319] the back; the head is long, and the snout is pointed; it has an abdominal pouch, which is large. When pursued, it soon surrenders, by coiling itself up in its tail. I give the description as I received it, for although we watched oftentimes for the purpose of catching one of these animals, we were not successful. I had some geese at Jaguaribe and at Itamaraca, but from what cause I know not, the young ones were scarcely ever reared. Many other persons had found equal difficulty in this respect with myself. Guinea-fowls are esteemed, but give much trouble, for their unaccommodating disposition renders it necessary to keep them separate from all other kinds of fowl. There is only one pair of peacocks in Pernambuco; they are in the garden of the widow of a merchant, in the neighbourhood of Recife. Snipes and wild ducks are to be found in low marshy grounds; and upon the island at certain times of the year there were great numbers of wild doves. The bees which I have seen at some of the farm-houses are preserved in a part of the trunk of the tree in which they had originally been found; the tree is cut down, and the portion containing the nest is brought home. The bees are black, and much smaller than those of Europe, nor is their bite nearly so painful; the log of wood in which they are preserved is sawed or cut in some particular manner, which I cannot exactly describe, by which means the honey can be taken out. The honey is always liquid. It is used as a medicine rather than as food, for the small quantities of it which are to be obtained, render the demand of it for the medical men fully equal to the supply.[139]

In the month of November there arrived a priest upon a visit to the vicar, whose exertions are incessant on every subject which relates to the improvement of his country. He had now been[320] staying with a friend in the province of Paraiba, and had made a drawing of a stone upon which were carved a great number of unknown characters and several figures, one of which had the appearance of being intended to represent a woman. The stone or rock is large, and stands in the middle of the bed of a river, which is quite dry in the summer. When the inhabitants of the neighbourhood saw him at work in taking this drawing, they said, that there were several others in different parts of the vicinity, and they gave him the names of the places. It was his intention to return again the following year, and seek them out. I should have brought with me a copy of this curious drawing, if my departure from Pernambuco had not been hastened from unavoidable circumstances.

I was invited about this period to attend the funeral of a young married woman of respectable family. I went about five o’clock to the house of the vicar, that I might go with him and three other priests. From hence we adjourned at dusk to the church, where the priests, all of whom were already in their black gowns, put on over these the short lace rochet, and the vicar took in his hands a large silver cross. We walked to the house in which the body was laid; this was habited in the coarse brown cloth of the Franciscan order, for the deceased had belonged to the lay sisterhood of the Third Order of St. Francis; the face was uncovered, and the body was laid upon a bier, the room being lighted with many torches. The habits in which the bodies of the deceased lay brothers and sisters of the Third Order are dressed, are obtained from the convents of St. Francis, and are said to be the habits of deceased friars; but probably the worn-out dresses of those who still live are likewise sold, and thus arises a considerable source of revenue to the convent. There were assembled in the room several of her male relations and others who had been invited. After a good deal of chaunting, a wax taper was given to each person present, and these being lighted, we proceeded to the church which was hard by, walking in pairs; the bier followed, carried by four persons, and there was chaunting as we went along. In the middle of the body of the church, a scaffolding[321] was erected of about four feet from the ground, and upon this the bier was placed, the attendants standing round whilst the priests chaunted. The body was soon put into the grave which was in the church, and there was lime in it. The friends of persons deceased aim at having as many priests at the funeral as they can collect and afford to pay; though on the occasion of which I speak, the priests served without any remuneration, for the young woman was the near relative of a priest with whom the others were intimate. Likewise all the neighbours who are of an equal rank with the deceased, are invited to attend, that the ceremony may be as splendid as possible. Notwithstanding the manifest inconvenience, and the mischief which the unwholesomeness of the custom might, and perhaps does cause, all bodies are buried within the churches. Indeed the prejudice against being buried in the open air is so great, that even the priests would not dare to alter this mode of proceeding, supposing that they wished so to do.

Towards the end of the same month (November) it is customary for the vicar to determine upon those persons who are to sustain the expences of the nine evenings previous to the festival of Our Lady of Conception,—that is to supply the bon-fires, gunpowder, oil, &c. Each evening is provided for on all these occasions, by one or more persons of the immediate neighbourhood, and a greater or less expence is incurred, according to the means and the inclination of the individuals who have been named. It was my general practice to accompany the vicar to church on Sundays and holidays, returning with him to his house to breakfast. I was in the church when he read over the list of the names of those who were to provide for the nine evenings, and was somewhat surprised to hear my own in conjunction with that of a neighbour, for the ninth night. I had however, some suspicion that this would be the case, for I had heard some whisperings upon the subject among the secondary people; the custom is, thus to keep the individuals who are to be concerned ignorant of what is intended. We began on the following morning to make preparations for the occasion, and sent to Recife for the colours of[322] several ships, some gunpowder, fireworks, and a few of the musicians of the band of the Olinda regiment, applying through a friend for the consent of their colonel. We likewise sent for Nicolau, a creole black, and a tailor by trade; but whose merry tongue and feet made him like dancing and singing better than the needle: and we agreed with him to bring over from the village of Pasmado, a set of fandango performers. The colours were raised upon long staffs, very early in the morning of our day, in two rows along the area of the town; and as the sun rose, several guns were fired,—of those which are usually made use of at festivals; they are composed of a small and short iron tube, which has a touch-hole of disproportionate dimensions; they are placed upright upon the ground, and the match is then applied. In the course of the day the band played, and in the evening were kindled about twenty bon-fires in the square of the village. The houses were illuminated with lamps, which were made of the half of the rind of an orange, each containing a small quantity of oil and cotton. There were likewise great numbers of large crosses, lighted up in the same manner in several parts of the square. The church was crowded, and the noise of the people was great; the guns were fired at intervals; the musicians of the festival, with violins and violoncellos played within the church, and the Olinda men on the outside; and rockets were let off occasionally; indeed the confusion was extreme. Some of the numerous horses which stood in all quarters, tied to railings or to door posts or held by little children, whilst their masters were amusing themselves, took fright and broke loose adding not a little to the noise and bustle. All the affairs in and about the church ended at so late an hour, that the fandangos were deferred until the following evening. The band had been playing close to the door of the vicar’s residence, which was much crowded with several of the first families of the island; and in the front of the house a great concourse of people was assembled. At the moment that the music ceased, an improvisatori or glozador, as these persons are there called, set up his voice, and delivered a few verses in praise of the vicar; he then praised Our Lady in a strange[323] style, giving her every fine epithet whether appropriate or not, which came to his recollection. Then he rung changes upon every body he could think of, and I heard the name of Henrique da Costa, to which mine was metamorphosed, thrown in every now and then among the rest. I was praised for my superior piety, in giving so splendid a night in honour of Our Lady. On the following morning every arrangement was made for the fandangos. A spacious platform was erected, in the middle of the area of the town, and in front of the vicar’s dwelling, raised about three feet from the ground. In the evening four bon-fires were lighted, two being on each side of the stage, and soon afterwards the performers made their appearance. The story which forms the basis of this amusement is invariably the same; the parts however, are not written, and are to be supplied by the actors; but these, from practice, know more or less what they are to say. The scene is a ship at sea, which, during part of the time is sailing regularly and gently along; but in the latter part of the voyage she is in distress. The cause of the badness of the weather remains for a long time unknown; but at last the persons who are on board discover that it has arisen from the devil, who is in the ship, under the disguise of the mizen-topmast-man. The persons represented, are

The Captain,
The Master,
The Chaplain,
The Pilot or Mate,
The Boatswain,

The Gageiro da Gata, or mizen-topmast-man, alias the Devil.

Twelve men and boys, who are dancers and singers, stand on the stage, six of them being on each side of it; and the leader of the chorus sits at the back of the stage with a guitar, with which he keeps the time, and this person is sometimes assisted by a second guitar player. A ship is made for the occasion; and when the performers stepped on to the platform, the vessel appeared at a distance under full sail, coming towards us upon wheels, which were concealed. As[324] soon as the ship arrived near to the stage it stopped, and the performance commenced. The men and boys who were to sing and to dance, were dressed in white jackets and trowsers; they had ribbons tied round their ankles and arms, and upon their heads they wore long paper caps, painted of various colours. The guitar player commenced with one of the favourite airs of the country, and the chorus followed him, dancing at the same time. The number of voices being considerable, and the evening extremely calm, the open air was rather advantageous than the contrary. The scene was striking, for the bon-fires threw sufficient light to allow of our seeing the persons of the performers distinctly; but all beyond was dark, and they seemed to be inclosed by a spacious dome; the crowd of persons who were near to the stage was great, and as the fires were stirred and the flame became brighter, more persons were seen beyond on every side; and at intervals the horses which were standing still farther off, waiting for their masters.

When the chorus retired, the captain and other superior officers came forwards, and a long and serious conversation ensued upon the state of the ship and the weather. These actors were dressed in old uniforms of the irregular troops of the country. They were succeeded by the boatswain and the two clowns; the former gave his orders, to which the two latter made so many objections that the officer was provoked to strike one of them, and much coarse wit passed between the three. Soon afterwards came the chaplain in his gown, and his breviary in his hand; and he was as much the butt of the clowns, as they were of the rest of the performers. The most scurrilous language was used by them to him; he was abused, and was taxed with almost every irregularity possible. The jokes became at last so very indecent, as to make the vicar order his doors to be shut. The dancers came on at each change of scene, if I may so say. I went home soon after the vicar’s doors were closed, and did not see the conclusion; but the matter ended by throwing the devil overboard, and reaching the port in safety. The performers do not expect payment, but rather consider themselves complimented in being[325] sent for. They were tradesmen of several descriptions residing at Pasmado, and they attend on these occasions to act the fandangos, if requested so to do; but if not, many of them would most probably go to enjoy any other sport which the festival might afford. We paid their expences, and gave them their food during their stay; they were accompanied by their families, which were all treated in the same manner, to the number of about forty persons.

I here take the opportunity of mentioning another common amusement at festivals, which is known under the name of comedias; but this I did not chance to see. A stage of the same kind is erected, and regular farces are performed; but I believe that women do not ever appear upon these stages, though they do upon the stage of the theatre at Recife.

I slept one night at Pillar, and in the morning following accompanied the chaplain to the fort, who was going to say Mass at his chapel, as it was a holiday. The fort is situated upon a projecting sand-bank, and was formerly quite surrounded by water; but the channel for small craft which ran between the fort and the island, is now nearly closed by the accumulation of sand at its mouth[140]. When we dismounted at the gate, our horses were taken into the fort, and were put into the commandant’s stable. The sentinel desired me to take off my spurs, and we then passed through the gate, and along the covered way until we entered the area in the centre, with the chapel and other buildings along two sides of it. The commandant is a captain of the Olinda regiment, an elderly and most formal man, full of etiquette; and all the other officers are of the same standing. I was introduced to the chief, and we then proceeded to the chapel. Forgetful of necessary forms, I had placed myself next to the wall on the right hand side of the chapel; but the commandant would not give up his right, and therefore reminded me to move, that he might take that place. As soon as the Mass was[326] ended we took our leave. Some idea of the state of the works may be formed from the following anecdote. A former chaplain was dismissed from his situation owing to the non-observance on his part of established regulations. The gate was opened for his admission, and that of any other person who might wish to hear Mass on Sundays and holidays; but on one occasion, he unfortunately espied the commandant standing in the area of the fort, through a breach in the walls, upon which, instead of going round to the gate, he rode unceremoniously through the breach in his anxiety to greet the commandant, who was much disconcerted at the occurrence. At the time I was there, the garrison consisted of militia-men; and an idea of the discipline of these may be formed from the following circumstance, which took place only a short time before my visit to the fort. The adjutant, who was between seventy and eighty years of age, threatened to strike or gently touched with his cane one of the men who had refused to hear Mass; the fellow way-laid the old officer one evening, and gave him several blows of which he died. The soldier absconded, and was not again heard of. The guns were in a very bad state, and the usual supply of powder was merely sufficient for the salutes on days of gala; there were indeed some heaps of balls, upon which the rust surpassed the quantity of sound iron.

In the course of this year some of my friends from Recife came to see me; I had been often at Amparo, and at the houses of several other planters; but I do not particularly mention any of these visits, for they did not discover any thing new. I went to Recife three or four times. After the commencement of the rains in 1815, I left Itamaraca with Manoel about four o’clock one afternoon, having been detained thus late by unforeseen occurrences. The weather was fine, and as the moon would rise early, I thought that the evening would be pleasant; but when we were about three leagues from the island, the rain began to pour, and when we reached the plantation of Inhaman, which is half a league farther, we were completely wet through. Immediately beyond this place, the road is on one side bordered by a steep hill, from which the water ran down in such[327] great quantities, that the horses were nearly up to their knees in it; however we gained the great cattle track, and stopped at a liquor shop by the road-side. I bought a considerable quantity of rum, which I threw over my head and shoulders and into my boots, and Manoel did the same; each of us likewise drank a good dose of it. This practice is very general; I had for some time followed it, and although I had been much exposed to the rain in the course of the preceding year, had not suffered from it, not having experienced another attack of ague; but perhaps this is not attributable to precaution, but to being seasoned to the climate.

When we arrived at the village of Paratibi, night had nearly closed in. I met with Antonio, (the man who was way-laid when I resided at Jaguaribe) and he wished me to stay at his cottage, but I preferred going on, now that we were completely wet through. As we were ascending the hill beyond Paratibi, I was in hopes of a fine night, for the moon was clear, but she did not afford us light for many minutes. In the valley of Merueira the rain again came on, with vivid lightning; and in going through the wood beyond the valley, the darkness was so great, as to prevent me from seeing Manoel’s horse, excepting now and then during the flashes of lightning; although the animal upon which he rode was of a grey colour, approaching to white, and mine was sometimes touching his, for he rode in front. When we arrived near to the hill which descends on the side nearest to Recife, I reminded him to keep to the left, for the precipice is dangerous on the right hand side; but he did not understand me or his horse was restive, and was going too much to the right, when he slipped and fell on one side within a few yards of the place which he was to avoid. I dismounted to assist Manoel, but only saw his situation by the flashes of lightning. I asked him after himself, his horse, and his pistol, and to each question received for answer that all was well. I then said to him “Where is the road;” for I had turned round in different ways so frequently in assisting him, that I had no notion of the direction which we ought to take to find the road; and indeed at one moment I had formed the idea of remaining where we were[328] until the break of day. But on again asking Manoel if he was certain respecting the right direction, his answer was in an angry voice, for he was wet and bruised, “I see the road, don’t be afraid Sir.” He led, and I followed him, each leading his horse; we descended side-ways, for the ground was too slippery owing to the rain to allow us to advance in any other manner. My horse struck me with his head several times, and he too every now and then narrowly escaped falling. The width of the road is about six feet; there is on one side a precipice of great height, which has been formed by the torrents in the rainy season; these have caused the ground to fall in, and have now worn it quite away; on the other side, the declivity is less perpendicular, but it is covered with the short stumps of trees, among which there is no possibility of treading safely without a sufficient light. We reached the bottom without accident, and when we entered the village of Beberibi, the rain nearly ceased, and the night likewise was clearer, but the moon had set. We crossed the hill beyond Beberibi very slowly, and arrived at Agua Fria, the residence of one of my friends distant from Recife two leagues, between one and two o’clock in the morning. If the weather had been fine, we should have arrived between eight and nine o’clock in the evening preceding. The instinct (if I may so call it) which is possessed by the Indians, by a great number of the negroes, and indeed by many individuals of mixed casts in finding out the right roads, often surprised me, but never more than on this occasion. I could not see any thing, but Manoel certainly did feel that he was quite sure of being in the right path, else he would not have spoken so positively; he had a considerable stock of courage; but was always cool and collected.

At Agua Fria I passed some of the pleasantest hours of my residence in Brazil. The owner of the place is an English gentleman, to whom I owe many obligations; we were on most intimate terms, indeed I felt as much at home at Agua Fria as at Itamaraca. The spot was in the rudest state when he took possession of it; but although the soil was not propitious, the sitio (settlement) was[329] advancing; he had built a good house, and was erecting out-houses, making fences, and planting useful and ornamental trees. The place had been infested by red ants, but with much labour they had been destroyed, by digging into the ground for the nests. Behind the house there was a lake of considerable extent, which had been formed by the course of a rivulet having been stopped through the accumulation of loose white sand in the part which is now the road; so that the road is higher than the lake on one side, and the land along which the river formerly ran on the other side. When the waters rise in the winter the lake overflows and runs across the road, but during the greatest part of the year the road is dry, or nearly so. If the lake was drained, the settlement of Agua Fria would be worth ten times its present value, for the boundaries of it are the channel of the rivulet. This lake is covered over with reeds, rushes and coarse grass, and the roots of these plants have formed a thick coating over the water, which would not support the weight of a man, but much labour is required to cut through it.

There were numbers of jacarès or alligators[141] in this lake, which rendered it dangerous to work in cutting away the rushes, which it was necessary to do, for the purpose of forming an open space in which the horses could be watered and washed, and indeed the grass was eaten by them when other kinds failed in the dry season. I may here mention some others of the lizard tribe. The camaleam (lacerta Iguana) is often to be met with; also the tijuaçu, which is, I believe, the lacerta teguixin; this is very common. There is likewise the calango, which is smaller than the other two; these three species are all of them eaten by the lower orders of people. The vibra and the[330] lagartixa are two small species of lizard, which are continually to be seen in all situations; in and upon the houses, in the gardens and in the woods; they do good rather than harm, for they eat flies, spiders, &c. and they are to my eyes very pretty creatures; their activity, and at the same time their tameness, made me fond of them.

In my rides to Recife through the Merueira wood I always heard the hoarse croaking of the sapo cururu (rana ventricosa), and also of the sapo boi or ox-toad, both of which made a most disagreeable and dismal noise; they were particularly active on the rainy night which I have above described. The constant noise which the crickets make as soon as the sun sets, fails not to annoy those persons who have recently arrived in the country; and I recollect that on the first evening which I spent in the country on my arrival at Pernambuco, I stopped several times when conversing, as if waiting to let the noise cease before I proceeded; but this wore off (as it does with every one), and latterly I did not hear the noise even when it was spoken of in my presence. However if one of them gets into a house, there is no resting until it be dislodged, owing to the shrillness of its whistle. The body of the insect is about one inch or one inch and a half in length, and the legs are long; the whole of the insect is green. There is another species which is distinguished by the name of gryllo branco, or the white cricket; it has likewise a sharp whistle; may not this be the same insect as the former, in a different state? There is likewise the gryllo de feijam or bean cricket, which is so called from the destruction which it makes in the plantations of the French bean; it is of a dusky brown colour, approaching to black.

I was invited in January 1815 to attend a christening at the sugar plantation of Macaxeira, which is the largest and the most valuable in every respect of the three in the island. The vicar, another priest, a captain of the ordenanças, and myself, set off early on the morning of the day appointed. We rode through the plantation of St. Joam, and spoke to the owner, who was preparing to follow us with all his family. He is a Portugueze who has accumulated a large fortune in Brazil, and has married one of the daughters of the[331] owner of the place to which we were going. This person and his immediate relatives will in the course of a short time probably possess one half of the island of Itamaraca. We were received at Macaxeira by the father and uncles of the child; and afterwards the grandmother, who is a widow lady and the owner of the estate, made her appearance, and by degrees we saw the younger ladies of many of the neighbouring families. As soon as the christening was over, the day was devoted to eating and drinking and playing at cards. When the men had left the table after dinner, the cloth was again laid, and the ladies sat down to dine; but one of the priests declared that this separation was barbarous, and seating himself again, was followed by several other men, and thus they dined a second time. The evening ended rather boisterously, but good humouredly; the wine was poured out into tumblers, and these being as frequently emptied as if they had been smaller, only a few of the guests returned home the same night; but those who remained crept off early and quietly on the following morning.

I accompanied the vicar to Pillar to pass the intrudo at that place. We set off on the Saturday afternoon, and on our arrival found that the whole clan from Macaxeira and St. Joam had taken up their quarters close to the house which we were to inhabit. In the evening a tight rope dancer was to exhibit in the open air, and at the appointed hour he took his station, and went through several of the common feats of activity with considerable neatness. He was paid in a singular manner. Before he began to dance, the clown cried out, “Here goes to the health of the vicar,” then, after the performer had danced for a few minutes, he stopped, and the clown came to our party, and with many jokes and much pretended ignorance of the vicar’s person, he found him out and asked for a donation, as is the custom; this being acceded to, and the vicar having given what he thought proper, the clown returned to the rope-dancer, upon which a shout was set up by those who were round about him, which was intended as an acknowledgment for his generosity. Then the clown mentioned the name of some other person, and so forth. After the dancer had[332] exhibited to the health of several persons, a slack rope was hung between two coco trees and at a great height from the ground: to this the man removed, where he continued dancing until a late hour to the health of every one whose name his clown could think of.

On the following day, after the service of the church was over, the intrudo jokes and tricks began, and before the conclusion of the sport in the evening, each person had been obliged to change his cloaths several times. The ladies joined with heart and soul, and particularly the good old lady of Macaxeira, who was wet through and through, and yet carried on the war. The priests were as riotous as the rest, but their superiority of manner even here was perceivable; their jokes were well timed, and were not accompanied by any brutality of behaviour; there was a seeming deference in their manner, when they were drenching the person upon whom they made an attack, and they took care that what they threw was clean, which with others did not always happen.

On Monday morning every one rose fresh for action, and to work we went until three o’clock in the afternoon, scarcely affording time for eating. We then adjourned to the sea-shore, for the purpose of witnessing the christening of the king of the Moors. On this day all the jangadas and canoes were put in requisition; the owners of them and others of the inhabitants of the neighbourhood were divided into two parties, Christians and Moors. A stage was erected at low water mark upon high poles, and this was intended to represent a Moorish fortress; the affair was so timed that the tide should be at the height at the commencement of the sport, by which means the stage was surrounded by the water. Upon the sea-shore were two high thrones, with canopies made of counterpanes, &c. These were at the distance of about three hundred yards from each other, and were placed immediately above high water mark. The Christian king sat upon one of them, and the Moorish king upon the other, both of them being habited in fine flowing robes. The affair began by the former dispatching one of his officers on horseback to the latter, requiring him to undergo[333] the ceremony of baptism, which he refused to do. Several other couriers passed from each side, all of whom were on horseback, and fantastically dressed in loose garments. War being declared the numerous jangadas and canoes of each party were soon in motion, making towards the fortress in the water; some were going to assist in protecting it, and others to obtain possession of it. The persons who were in the fort were now seen preparing for its defence; there was much firing, and at last, after many struggles on both sides, it was taken by the Christians. The Moorish vessels however escaped and landed their crews, the opposite party doing the same. The armies met on shore and fought hand to hand for a considerable time, but in the end the Moorish king was taken prisoner, hurled from his throne, and forcibly baptised. The whole affair was very gay, for the sands were crowded with people who were all in their best cloaths, finery of many kinds being displayed—silks, satins, muslins, and printed cottons; ornaments of gold and of precious stones; bonnets of straw, and of silks, and ribbons of all colours in great quantities; shoes, white, black, and of various tints; then there were coats that had not for many a day seen the light; cotton and cloth jackets made for the occasion, embroidered waistcoats, and others more general of less costly materials; pantaloons of nankeen and of various other light materials; cocked hats, a few of beaver and of straw, and round ones many; half boots, and shoes and buckles.

There appeared at Pillar one of the Valentoens, who had often created great disturbances in many parts, and although his apprehension was much desired, he trod the soil of Pillar with great confidence, as if he was aware that his person was secure owing to his great reputation for intrepidity; but his safety proceeded from my friend of the stockade prison not being the chief magistrate of the place for the year. On the morrow all parties were preparing to return home; we saw the ladies set off on horseback, and according to a strange custom, a number of metal pans were collected, and as they went away from the door the persons who remained beat the[334] pans against each other, so as to make a gingling noise. This is practised as a joke, and on this occasion, as is usual, created much laughter.

Shortly after this period I received advices from England, which rendered necessary my return home. I gave up my plan of residing in Brazil with reluctance; but I am now much rejoiced that it so happened. Yet at that time it required some resolution to leave the people, the place, and the things in which I had taken deep interest,—my negroes and free people,—my horses and my dogs, and even my cats and fowls;—the house and the garden which I had been improving and forming,—and the fields which I had cleared, and was cultivating. All this, believe me, cost much pain in leaving; but thanks to those who desired that it should be so. I should have soon become a Brazil planter; the state in which a man who rules over slaves is placed, is not likely to make him a better creature than he would under other circumstances have been. I should perhaps shortly have been totally unfit to become a member of any other society; my inclinations led me to like the life which I was leading:—I was young, and was independent and had power. Although I am fully aware of the evils which attend a feudal state of society, I liked to have dependants. I might have become so arbitrary, so much a lover of a half savage life; I might have contracted so great a relish for rambling, have become so unsettled, as to have been dissatisfied with what is rational and to be desired in this world. Until lately I cherished the hope of being able to return to that country, with the means of crossing the continent of South America; but I have now given this up from unavoidable circumstances, and even my wishes have taken another bias; but God only knows whether it may not yet be my fate to enter into the scheme; accident, and inclinations over which I have no controul, may so direct. England is my country, but my native soil is Portugal; I belong to both, and whether in the company of Englishmen, of Portugueze, or of Brazilians, I feel equally among my countrymen. My[335] constant and fervent prayers are offered up for their prosperity, and for a continuance of that friendship which has borne the test of so many years. Fresh causes have lately occurred for rivetting the links which bind the two united nations; their people have fought together, and neither have been found wanting.

CHAPTER XVI.

AGRICULTURE.—SUGAR PLANTATIONS.

AGRICULTURE in Brazil[142] had not for many years, until very lately, received any improvement; and even now it is only slowly and with much difficulty that innovations are made. It is quite hopeless to expect a rapid change of system among men who had not even heard that there existed other agriculturists besides themselves; who were astonished to learn that Brazil was not the only country in which sugar was made; who know not, or at least did not know until very lately, that there was any other nation than their own; who imagined that Portugal had possession of every thing worth having in this world; in fact, whose ignorance was extreme. Most of the planters of the inland country, and even most of those near to the coast who reside entirely upon their estates, were, and many still are, in this state. They continue year after year the system which was followed by their fathers, without any wish to improve, and indeed without the knowledge that any improvement could be made. But the freedom of commercial intercourse with other nations has here, as in every thing else, had its effect, and the benefits which are derived from this policy are increasing most rapidly. One of these is to be perceived in the wish which many of the planters display to obtain information respecting the management of the British and French plantations in the Columbian islands. The persons who thus in enriching themselves, are likewise doing the greatest good to their country, are the proprietors of sugar-mills, who reside in Recife altogether or who make frequent visits to it; these men enter into company, hear what is going on in the world, read the few books which are to be obtained, and soon assent to new ideas. Many of the merchants now possess this kind of property, which has fallen into their hands, either in payment of debts or by purchase; and these men have no prejudices to conquer respecting any particular plan of operations. Some of the improvements which are proposed are of such self-evident utility, as to carry with them conviction as soon as they are mentioned.

A Sugar Mill.

[337]

PLANTING THE SUGAR-CANE.

The lands in Brazil are never grubbed up[143], either for planting the sugar-cane, or for any other agricultural purposes. The inconveniences[338] of this custom are perceivable more particularly in high lands; because all of these that are of any value are naturally covered with thick woods. The cane is planted among the numerous stumps of trees, by which means much ground is lost, and as the sprouts from these stumps almost immediately spring forth, (such is the rapidity of vegetation,) the cleanings are rendered very laborious. These shoots require to be cut down, sometimes even before the cane has forced its way to the surface of the ground. The labour likewise is great every time a piece of land is to be put under cultivation, for the wood must be cut down afresh; and although it cannot have reached the same size which the original timber had attained, still, as several years are allowed to pass between each period at which the ground is planted, the trees are generally of considerable thickness[144]. The wood is suffered to remain upon the land until the leaves become dry; then it is set on fire, and these are destroyed with the brushwood and the smaller branches of the trees. Heaps are now made of the remaining timber, which is likewise burnt. This process is universally practised in preparing land for the cultivation of any plant. I have often heard the method much censured as being injurious in the main to the soil, though the crop immediately succeeding the operation may be rendered more luxuriant by it. I have observed that the canes which grew upon the[339] spots where the heaps of timber and large branches of trees had been burnt, were of a darker and richer green than those around them, and that they likewise over-topped them. After the plant-canes or those of the first year’s growth are taken from the lands, the field-trash, that is the dried leaves and stems of the canes which remain upon the ground, are set fire to, with the idea that the ratoons, that is the sprouts from the old roots of the canes, spring forth with more luxuriance, and attain a greater size by means of this practice[145]. The ratoons of the first year are called in Brazil socas; those of the second year, resocas; those of the third year, terceiras socas, and so forth. After the roots are left unencumbered by burning the field-trash, the mould is raised round about them; indeed if this was neglected, many of these roots would remain too much exposed to the heat of the sun, and would not continue to vegetate. Some lands will continue to give ratoons for five or even seven years; but an average may be made at one crop of good ratoons fit for grinding, another of inferior ratoons for planting or for making molasses to be used in the still-house, and a third which affords but a trifling profit, in return for the trouble which the cleanings give.[146]

I have above spoken more particularly of high lands; the low and[340] marshy grounds, called in Brazil varzeas, are however those which are the best adapted to the cane, and indeed upon the plantations that do not possess some portion of this description of soil, the crops are very unequal, and sometimes almost entirely fail, according to the greater or less quantity of rain which may chance to fall in the course of the year. The varzeas are usually covered with short and close brushwood, and as these admit, from their rank nature, of frequent cultivation, they soon become easy to work. The soil of these, when it is new, receives the name of pàûl; it trembles under the pressure of the feet, and easily admits of a pointed stick being thrust into it; and though dry to appearance, it requires draining. The maçapé marle is often to be met with in all situations; it is of a greenish white colour, and if at all wet, it sticks very much to the hoe; it becomes soon dry at the surface, but the canes which have been planted upon it seldom fail to revive after rain, even though a want of it should have been much felt. The white marle, barro branco, is less frequently found; it is accounted extremely productive. This clay is used in making bricks and coarse earthen ware, and also for claying the sugar. Red earth is occasionally met with upon the sides of hills near to the coast; but this description of soil belongs properly to the cotton districts. Black mould is common; and likewise a loose and brownish soil, in which a less or greater proportion of sand is intermixed. It is, I believe, generally acknowledged that no land can be too rich for the growth of the sugar cane. One disadvantage, however, attends soil that is low and quite new, which is, that the canes run up to a great height without sufficient thickness, and are thus often lodged before the season for cutting them arrives. I have seen rice planted upon lands of this kind on the first year, to decrease their rankness and render them better adapted to the cane on the succeeding season.[147][341] Some attempts have been made to plant cane upon the lands which reach down to the edge of the mangroves, and in a few instances[342] pieces of land, heretofore covered by the salt water at the flow of the tide, have been laid dry by means of draining for the same purpose; but the desired success has not attended the plan, for the canes have been found to be unfit for making sugar; the syrup does not coagulate, or at least does not attain that consistence which is requisite, and therefore it can only be used for the distilleries.[148]

The general mode of preparing the land for the cane is by holing it with hoes. The negroes stand in a row, and each man strikes his hoe into the ground immediately before him, and forms a trench of five or six inches in depth; he then falls back, the whole row doing the same, and they continue this operation from one side of the cleared land to the other, or from the top of a hill to the bottom. The earth which is thrown out of the trench remains on the lower side of it. In the British colonies this work is done in a manner nearly similar, but more systematically[149]. The lands in Brazil are not measured, and every thing is done by the eye. The quantity of cane which a piece of land will require for planting is estimated by so many cart loads; and nothing can be more vague than this mode of computation, for the load which a cart can carry depends upon the condition of the oxen, upon the nature of the road, and upon the length of the cane. Such is the awkward make of these vehicles that much nicety is necessary in packing them, and if two canes will [343]about fit into a cart lengthways, much more will be conveyed than if the canes are longer and they double over each other.

The plough is sometimes used in low lands, upon which draining has not been found necessary; but such is the clumsy construction of the machine of which they make use, that six oxen are yoked to it[150]. Upon high lands the stumps of the trees almost preclude the possibility of thus relieving the labourers.

The trenches being prepared, the cuttings are laid longitudinally in the bottom of them, and are covered with the greatest part of the mould which had been taken out of the trench. The shoots begin to rise above the surface of the ground in the course of twelve or fourteen days. The canes undergo three cleanings from the weeds and the sprouts proceeding from the stumps of the trees; and when the land is poor, and produces a greater quantity of the former and contains fewer of the latter, the canes require to be cleaned a fourth time. The cuttings are usually from twelve to eighteen inches in length, but it is judged that the shorter they are, the better. If they are short, and one piece of cane rots, the space which remains vacant is not so large as when the cuttings are long, and they by any accident fail. The canes which are used for planting are generally ratoons, if any exist upon the plantation, but if there are none of these, the inferior plant canes supply their places. It is accounted more economical to make use of the ratoons for this purpose, and many persons say that they are less liable to rot than the plant canes. In the British sugar islands the cuttings for planting “are commonly the tops of the canes which have been ground for sugar[151].” But in Brazil the tops of the canes are all thrown to the cattle, for there is usually a want of grass during the season that the mills are at[344] work[152]. In the British colonies, the canes are at first covered with only a small portion of mould; and yet they are as long in forcing their way to the surface as in Brazil, though in the latter a more considerable quantity of earth is laid upon them. I suppose that the superior fatness of the Brazilian soil accounts for this. Upon rich soils the cuttings are laid at a greater distance, and the trenches are dug farther from each other, than upon those which have undergone more frequent cultivation, or which are known to possess less power from their natural composition. The canes which are planted upon the former throw out great numbers of sprouts, which spread each way; and although when they are young the land may appear to promise but a scanty crop, they soon close, and no opening is to be seen. It is often judged proper to thin the canes, by removing some of the suckers at the time that the last cleaning is given, and some persons recommend that a portion of the dry leaves should also be stripped off at the same period, but on other plantations this is not practised.

The proper season for planting is from the middle of July to the middle of September, upon high lands, and from September to the middle of November in low lands. Occasionally the great moisture of the soil induces the planter to continue his work until the beginning of December, if his people are sufficiently numerous to answer all the necessary purposes. The first of the canes are ready to be cut for the mill in September of the following year, and the crop is finished usually in January or February. In the British sugar[345] islands the canes are planted from August to November and are “ripe for the mill in the beginning of the second year.” Thus this plant in Brazil requires from thirteen to fifteen months to attain its proper state for the mill; and in the Columbian islands it remains standing sixteen or seventeen months.[153]

I did not discover, nor hear it mentioned, that the cane is liable to destruction from the blast, which is spoken of by Mr. Edwards, as doing much injury to the plantations in the British colonies. The cane is subject certainly to several pests, but they are of a nature which may be remedied. The rats destroy great quantities[154], and the fox is no less fond of it; and when he gets among it he makes dreadful havock, for he is only satisfied by cutting down great numbers of canes, taking only a small portion of each. There is also a strange custom among the lower orders of people; they scruple not in passing a field, to cut down and make a bundle of ten or a dozen canes, from which they suck the juice as they go along, or preserve some of them to carry home. The devastation which is committed in this manner is incalculable, in the fields that border upon much[346] frequented paths. It is a custom; and many persons think that the owner has scarcely a right to prevent these attacks upon his property.

The planters of Brazil have not yet arrived at the period (which is not however far distant) of being under the necessity of manuring their lands. I heard of very few instances in which this is the practice. The cane-trash, that is, the rind of the cane from which the juice has been extracted, is thus entirely lost, with the exception of the small part of it which is eaten by the cattle. The manure of cattle is likewise of no use. Lands are not yet of sufficient value to oblige each planter to confine himself to certain pieces of ground for certain purposes, with any sort of regularity. The population of the country is yet too scanty to make every man husband what he possesses, or to oblige him to draw in and give room for others, as, imperceptibly, these others require that he should do so. For the present, the planter finds that it is more convenient to change from one piece of land to another, as each becomes unfit to be cultivated; he allows the wood to grow up again as soon as the ratoons no longer spring forth and yield him a sufficient profit to compensate for the trouble of cleaning them.

The Otaheitan or the Bourbon cane has been brought from Cayenne to Pernambuco, since the Portugueze obtained possession of that settlement. I believe the two species of cane are much alike, and I have not been able to discover which of them it is. Its advantages are so apparent, that after one trial on each estate, it has superseded the small cane which was in general use. The Cayenne cane, as it is called in Pernambuco, is of a much larger size than the common cane; it branches so very greatly, that the labour in planting a piece of land is much decreased, and the returns from it are at the same time much more considerable. It is not planted in trenches, but holes are dug at equal distances from each other, in which the cuttings are laid. This cane bears the dry weather better than the small cane; and when the leaves of the latter begin to turn brown, those of the former still preserve their natural colour. A planter in[347] the Varzea told me that he had obtained four crops from one piece of land in three years, and that the soil in question had been considered by him as nearly worn out, before he planted the Cayenne cane upon it. Its rind is likewise so hard that the fox cannot make any impression upon it. The business of the boiling-houses is in general so slovenly performed, that I could not obtain any exact information respecting the returns in the manufacturing of it; but most persons were of opinion that here too some advantage was to be perceived.

THE MILL.

A sugar-plantation is doubtless one of the most difficult species of property to manage in a proper manner. The numerous persons employed upon it, their divers avocations, and the continual change of occupation, give to the owner or his manager constant motives for exertion, innumerable opportunities of displaying his activity. A plantation ought to possess within itself all the tradesmen which are required for the proper furtherance of its concerns; a carpenter, a blacksmith, a mason, a potter, and others which it is needless to name in this place. It is a manufactory as well as a farm, and both these united must act in unison with each other, and with the seasons of the year.

The mill ought, properly, to commence grinding the cane in September, but few of them begin until the middle of October; for the planting scarcely allows that they should set to work before the latter period. This is the time of merriment and of willing exertion, and for some weeks the negroes are all life and spirit; but the continuance of constant work for the whole of the day and part of the night at last fatigues them, and they become heavy and fall asleep wherever they chance to lay their heads.[155]

[348]

The mills for grinding the canes are formed of three upright rollers, which are made of solid timber, entirely cased or rather hooped in iron, and the hoops are driven on to the wood before they become quite cool[156]. The improvement of the “circular piece of frame-work called in Jamaica the dumb-returner” has not been introduced. Two men and two women are employed in feeding the mill with cane; a bundle of it is thrust in between the middle roller and one of the side rollers, and being received by one of the women, she passes it to the man who stands-close to her, for the purpose of being by him thrust between the other side roller and that of the centre. This operation is continued five or six times until the juice has been extracted. There appears to be some mismanagement in this part of the work; for in the British colonies a second compression “squeezes them completely dry, and sometimes even reduces them to powder;” and the same occurred in Labat’s time in the French islands. The dumb-returner tends very greatly to prevent accidents, which occasionally occur in Brazil through the carelessness or drowsiness of the slaves. The negroes who thrust the cane in between the rollers have sometimes allowed their hands to go too far, and one or both of them having been caught, in some instances, before assistance could be given, the whole limb and even the body has been crushed to pieces. In the mills belonging to owners who pay attention to the safety of their negroes, and whose wish it is to have every thing in proper order, a bar of iron and a hammer are placed close to the rollers upon the table (meza) which supports the cane. The bar is intended to be violently inserted between the rollers in case of accident, so as to open them, and thus set at liberty the unfortunate negro. In some instances I have seen lying by the side of the bar and hammer, a well-tempered hatchet, for the purpose[349] of severing the limb from the body, if judged necessary[157]. On these unfortunate occasions the screams of the negro have the effect of urging the horses which draw the mill, to run with increased velocity. I am acquainted with two or three individuals who now work their mills with oxen; and they gave as the principal reason for this change, the decrease of danger to the negroes who feed the mill; because such is the slowness of these animals, that an accident of the above description can scarcely happen, and indeed they are stopped rather than urged to proceed by noise. Some of the mills are turned by water, but many more would admit of this improvement than take advantage of it. Most of the mills are worked by horses. There are no windmills in Pernambuco or in the other provinces which I visited[158]. The expence which is incurred in making dams and in other alterations, is doubtless considerable, and few persons can afford to lay out the money which these works require; but the conveniences of working by means of water are various; the number of animals required upon a plantation is reduced to less than one half; less pasture land is necessary, and fewer persons need to be employed. The animals likewise which are thus rendered superfluous are those which are of the most cost, the most liable to disease, and the most difficult to feed. Great care and attention is requisite in preserving the horses, or rather the mares (for these are mostly employed in this description of work) in a condition to go through with [350]the crop; and quantities of cane are cut up and given to them, as well as molasses. Oxen are usually employed in drawing the carts, and it is seldom thought necessary to afford any expensive food to these animals. They pick up as much as they please of the cane-trash which is thrown out of the mill, and the cane tops are likewise given to them.

THE BOILING-HOUSE.

In the boiling-house the manufactory of sugar in Brazil requires great alteration. The work is done in a slovenly manner, very little attention being paid to the minutiæ of the business. The ovens over which the boilers are placed, are rudely made, and they answer the purpose for which they are intended in an imperfect manner; enormous quantities of fuel are consumed, and the negroes who attend to the ovens are soon worn out. The juice runs from the cane as it is squeezed between the rollers, into a wooden trough below, and is from thence conveyed into a cistern made of the same material, standing in the boiling house. It is received from this cistern into the great caldron, as it is called, which is a large iron or copper vessel. The caldron has previously been heated, and when nearly full, the temper is thrown into it, and the liquor is suffered to boil. It is now scummed with considerable labour. The work of scumming is usually performed by free persons, which is owing to two causes; it demands considerable skill, to which slaves seldom attain; and the exertion which it requires induces the planter to pay a free man rather than injure one of his own people.

From this first caldron or clarifier, if I may so call it, the liquor is ladled out into a long trough or cistern, which is generally made of the trunk of one tree; and in this it remains until it becomes tepid[159]. The labour which the operation of ladling requires is excessive, the[351] heat and smoke of a boiling-house in a tropical climate increasing greatly the violence of the exertion. From this trough which holds the whole of the contents of the great caldron, the liquor when sufficiently cool is suffered to run into the first copper, and from this it is removed into a second and a third copper, and some boiling-houses contain a fourth. From this it is ladled into large jars, called formas, when the master of the boiling-house judges from the touch that the syrup has arrived at a proper consistence. The jars are afterwards taken into the adjoining building, in which the sugar is to undergo the process of claying. The sugar, after being clayed, is invariably dried in the sun[160]. The management of the boiling-houses in the British sugar islands is arranged in such a manner as to render the labour much less violent, and much greater nicety has been introduced in the preparation of the juice.

The boilers are fixed at a considerable height over the large ovens within which the fire is made. Each boiling-house has two ovens, one for heating the caldron and the other for the three or four coppers. The mouths of these are about half as broad as the ovens themselves. Enormous rolls of timber and the branches of trees are prepared for the purpose of supplying these ovens with fuel. The negroes sometimes find it almost impossible to approach them, owing to the excessive heat which they throw out[161]. The manner of conducting the manufacture of sugar was, from what I can collect, very similar on the whole, in the Columbian islands about the beginning of the last century, to that which is practised at present in the parts of Brazil which I visited.

[352]

The temper which is usually made use of is the ashes of wood calcinated, of which there are certain species preferred for this purpose[162]. Lime is commonly used in the Columbian islands, and[353] few planters of Pernambuco have lately introduced this alkali into their boiling houses, but there exists a general prejudice against lime, under the idea that the sugar with which it has been made is unwholesome; and this has prevented many persons from adopting it. No difficulty would be found in introducing it, among the planters themselves, because the ease with which it is obtained, would soon urge them to give it a fair trial. Some plantations sell a great portion of their sugar and rum upon the spot, and several of the lesser ones grind all their canes for the purpose of making melasses, which they distil themselves, or sell to the distillers of small capital, who are very numerous; therefore to the owners of these plantations in particular, the opinion of the people of the country is of considerable moment.

The planters of Brazil invariably follow the system of claying their sugars, but the process is too generally known to require any account of it in this place.

THE STILL-HOUSE.

The Brazil planters are more backward in the management of their still-houses than in any other department of their business. The stills are earthen jars with small necks, and likewise small at the bottom, widening upwards considerably, but again straightening on approaching the neck. The foundation of a circular oven is formed, and two of these jars are placed within it, one on each side of it, in a slanting position, with the bottom within the oven and the neck on the outside, and being thus secured the walls of the oven are built up against them, and the top is closed in. These stills have round caps, carapuças, which fit on to the mouths of the jars, and are rendered perfectly tight by a coat of clay being daubed round the edges, after the wash has been put into the still and the fire has been lighted underneath. These caps have on one side a pipe of six inches in length attached to each of them, and into this is inserted the end of a brass tube of four feet in length. This tube is placed in a broad and deep earthen pot or jar containing cold water, and the opposite end of it reaches beyond the pot. The tube is fixed with a sufficient[354] slant to allow of the liquor running freely through it. The liquor which is obtained from the first distillation is usually sold, without undergoing any further process. A second distillation is only practised in preparing a small quantity for the use of the planter’s house.

The wash ripens for distillation in earthen jars similar to those which are used for claying sugar, but they are closed at the bottom instead of being perforated, as must necessarily occur with the latter. No exact rules are followed in the quantities of each ingredient for making the wash, because the distillers, who are usually freemen, differ much in the proportions of each ingredient. Until lately, only a small number of the planters had any apparatus for distilling, for it was their practice to sell all the melasses which were produced to the small distillers. Many of the persons in the lower ranks of life possess one or two of these rude stills, by which they derive a small profit without much trouble; fuel is to be had for the pains of fetching it, and scarcely any man is without a horse. The women often attend to the still whilst the men are otherwise employed. However, since the opening of the ports of Brazil to foreign trade, a considerable quantity of rum has been exported to North America, and likewise the demand of it for Lisbon has been greater than it was formerly; the price has consequently risen, and has induced many of the planters to distil their own melasses. But although this plan has been adopted, the stills are so totally inadequate to the distillation of large quantities of rum, that few persons erect a sufficient number of them to consume the whole of the melasses with which the sugar furnishes them.[163]

[355]

LANDS.

A sugar plantation of Pernambuco or Paraiba does not require the enormous capital which is necessary in purchasing and establishing an estate of the same description in the Columbian islands; but a certain degree of capital is requisite, otherwise continual distress will be the consequence of entering into such a concern. The instances of persons having purchased sugar plantations without any advance of money are however by no means rare, and even the slaves, or at least the major part of them, have sometimes been obtained on long credit at exorbitant prices. This plan was of more frequent occurrence at the time that the exclusive trading company existed at Pernambuco; its directors found that it was for the interest of those concerned to advance every thing which the agriculturist required, receiving in payment a certain portion of his produce yearly. Although the company has for many years been abolished, its accounts have not yet been wound up, and it is astonishing to learn how considerable a number of plantations are yet indebted to it. The reputed owners of many of those which are so circumstanced have oftentimes given to their predecessors only half the purchase-money; paying interest to the accountant of the company for the other half. If they can raise a sufficient sum of money for the purpose, they may strike off the principal of the debt, but if this is not practicable, they remain in perfect confidence that they will never be molested for it, provided the interest is paid.

There are a few morgados or entailed estates in Pernambuco, and I believe in Paraiba likewise; and I have heard that in Bahia there are a great many. There are also capellados or chapel lands; these estates cannot be sold, and from this cause are sometimes suffered to decay, or at any rate they yield much less profit to the State than they would under other circumstances. The capellado is formed in this manner: the owner bequeaths a certain part of the produce or rent of the estate to some particular church, for the purpose of having masses said for his own soul, or for pious uses of a less selfish[356] nature. On this account the estate cannot, according to law, be sold, so that if the next heir is not rich enough to work the mill himself, he lets it to some one who possesses a sufficient number of negroes. The portion which is due to the favoured church being paid, the owner then remains with the residue of the rent as his share of the profit. Now, lands even with buildings upon them, are let at so low a rate, that after the church is paid, and the tenant has deducted what he has expended in repairing the edifices of the plantation, but a poor pittance remains for the owner. The engenho of Catû near to Goiana is placed in these circumstances; the owner lives in the neighbourhood of the Great House or principal residence, and the only advantage which he derives from the possession of this most excellent and extensive estate, is that of residing rent free upon one corner of it and now and then receiving a trifling sum of money. Whereas if it could be sold, he would immediately receive a sufficient sum to place him in easy circumstances; and the estate would undergo improvement, for the occupier would then have a direct interest in its advancement. I might mention several other plantations which are situated in a like manner.

The property of sugar planters, which is directly applied to the improvement, or to the usual work of their plantations, is not subject to be seized for debt; this privilege was granted for the encouragement of the formation of such establishments, but it may have a contrary effect. The planter is allowed many means of evading the demands of his creditors, and every thing is permitted to act in his favour. But thus it is that the government legislates; the revenue is thought of, instead of equity being regarded as the primary consideration. Nor does the plan act in the manner which the establishers of it imagine that it will, for the estates which are labouring under the disadvantage of being held by men who require such a law as this to enable them to keep possession of the property would doubtless, nine times out of ten, yield a greater profit if they passed into other hands; they could not be in worse, and they might fall into better. The government need not fear that good estates will, in the[357] present state of Brazil, remain long untenanted. Besides, the rulers of that kingdom may be very sure that the merchants will be more careful how they lend their money; and this may sometimes prevent an honest man from obtaining what he requires for the due advancement of his labours.[164]

Most of the plantations of the first class are however in the hands of wealthy persons, and this is becoming more and more the case every day. The estates which may be said to constitute this class are those which are situated near to the sea coast, that is, from two to sixteen miles from it; which possess a considerable portion of low land adapted to the planting of the sugar-cane,—another of virgin wood,—good pasture land, (for nature must do every thing) and the possibility of being worked by water. The rains are more regular near to the coast than at a distance from it, and the facility of conveying the produce of the estate down some of the small streams or creeks to a market, are the particular advantages which are derived[358] from the vicinity of the sea. The slaves are fed with more ease, and less expence, and the quantity of food which they themselves have the means of obtaining from the sea and from the rivulets, enables them to be less dependent upon the rations of the master than the slaves of the Mata or districts between the coast and the Sertam. In a country that is without roads, upon which a wheeled carriage can be drawn with any degree of regularity of pace or of safety, the difficulty of removing the large chests in which the sugar is packed, is a most serious consideration, and this inconvenience alone decreases the value of lands, however productive they may be, which are so situated. If a person wishes to purchase property of this description, he will discover that the plantations which are conveniently placed, are only to be obtained at high comparative prices, and by a considerable advance of money; but many of those in the Mata may be purchased even without any advance, and under the agreement of small yearly payments of eight to ten per cent. upon the price.

The lands of sugar plantations are appropriated to five purposes. These are; the woods,—the lands for planting canes,—those which are cleared for pasturage,—the provision grounds for the negroes,—and the lands which are occupied by free people.

The woods occupy a very considerable portion of the lands belonging to a plantation; in most cases much more than half the estate is yet covered with wood, but still I do not think, from what I saw and heard, that these forests contain so much fine timber as has been imagined. A tree of any species of valuable timber must now be purchased. Very little consideration is given to the quantity of wood that is destroyed in the work of a plantation, in many cases very unnecessarily. The fences are made of stakes, which are formed of the trunks of trees, driven into the ground, and to these are fastened horizontally the stems of younger plants. The best timber, rather than that of inferior quality, is selected for this purpose, that it may last the longer under exposure to the heat of the sun and to the rains. The fuel, likewise, is another most enormous source of destruction;[359] and although for this purpose some selection might be made of the qualities of timber which are less valuable, no thought is given to the matter. The havock which is committed in bringing out of the woods a tree that has been felled for any particular purpose is likewise immense; for many trees are cut down to make a path from the usual road to the spot upon which the tree which is to be brought out is laying, that the oxen may enter to convey it away. It will be said, that the great object is to get rid of the superabundant quantities of wood, and this is no doubt the case; but according to the present system, very little land is radically cleared of wood, and yet the large and valuable timber is undergoing rapid destruction. Virgin woods however certainly do yet exist to a great extent. It is said that those of Apepucos, which is near to Recife, are connected with the woods in the neighbourhood of Goiana, a distance of fifteen leagues.

Of the lands for planting canes I have already treated.

Each sugar plantation has one large field in which the buildings are placed. It is very rarely that estates are supplied with a second inclosure, consequently the cattle, or at least that part of it which is required after and before crop time for the work which is necessary to be done during the whole of the year, always remains upon the spot. These fields are sometimes of considerable extent; I have seen some of three miles in circumference, or even of more. Few owners of estates can manage to preserve the field free from brushwood. The horses which work the mill are usually removed from the plantation as soon as the crop is finished, and are often sent to the Sertam to pass the winter, and they return again just before crop-time on the following year. Indeed such is the importance of having good pasturage for these animals between the crops, and the advantage of allowing some of them to rest two years, that every plantation should have a cattle estate in the interior of the country, as a necessary appendage. The oxen are often driven to the sea shore after the crop is over, if the estate is conveniently situated for this purpose, and are left to graze under the coco-trees until the following[360] season. But they are fond of the young coco-plants, and therefore it is not in every situation that this can be done.

As the planters commonly feed their slaves, instead of allowing them a certain portion of each week for the purpose of supplying themselves, the lands which are set apart for raising their provisions are of great importance, for it does not answer to the planter to purchase the vegetable part of the food. The root of the mandioc and the kidney-bean are the two plants which are chiefly cultivated; of the first of these I shall soon treat more at large. Maize is not much used in this part of the country.

An estate contains in general much more land than its owner can manage or in any way employ, even under the present extravagant system of changing from one piece of ground to another. I call it extravagant, because it requires so much space for its operations, and performs these with more labour than is necessary. This overplus of land gives room for the habitations of free people in the lower ranks of life, who live upon the produce which they raise by their own labour. The tenures by which these persons hold the lands which they occupy, are most insecure, and this insecurity constitutes one of the great engines of that power which the landholder enjoys over his tenants. No agreements are drawn out; but the proprietor of the land verbally permits the peasant who applies to him for a place of residence, to inhabit a cottage upon his lands, under the condition of paying him a trifling rent (from four to eight mil reis, one to two guineas or rather more;) and he is allowed to cultivate as much ground as he possibly can by himself, but the rent is increased if he calls in any one to assist him. Sometimes the verbal arrangement which is entered into, is that the tenant shall perform some service in lieu of making his payment in money. The service required is, for instance, that of going upon errands, or of seeing that the woods are not destroyed by persons who have not obtained permission from the owner to cut down timber, and other offices of the same description.

[361]

THE BUILDINGS.

The buildings which are usually to be seen upon the plantations are the following:

The mill; which is either turned by water or by cattle; some of the plantations possess both of these, owing to the failure of the water in the dry season; and indeed there are a few estates upon which the crops are so large as to require that there should be both.

The boiling-house; which is usually attached to the mill, and is the most costly part of the apparatus, for the coppers, &c. must be obtained from Europe.

The claying-house or caza de purgar; which is oftentimes connected with the boiling-house. It is also generally made use of as the still-house or distillery.

The chapel; which is usually of considerable dimensions. This building and all the foregoing are almost universally constructed of brick.

The dwelling-house for the owner or manager; to this is usually attached a stable for the saddle-horses; the dwelling-houses are frequently made of timber and mud.

The row of negro dwellings; which I have described in another place as looking like neglected alms-houses in England, and is made of the same materials as the house of the owner. From the appearance of the negro huts an idea may usually be formed of the disposition of the owner of a plantation. All these buildings are covered with tiles.

The estates have no regular hospital for the sick negroes; but one of the houses of the row is oftentimes set apart for this purpose. The stocks in which disorderly slaves are placed, stand in the claying-house.

STOCK.

Of those estates which I have seen, I think that the average number of negroes sent to daily labour in the field does not reach[362] forty for each; for although there may be upon a plantation this number of males and females of a proper age for working, still some of them will always be sick or employed upon errands, not directly conducive to the advancement of the regular work. An estate which possesses forty able negroes, males and females, an equal number of oxen[165], and the same of horses, can be very well worked; and if the lands are good, that is, if there is a fair proportion of low and high lands fit for the culture of the sugar-cane, such an estate ought to produce a number of chests of sugar of fifteen hundred weight each, equal to that of the able slaves. I speak of forty slaves being sufficient, because some descriptions of work are oftentimes performed by freemen; thus, for instance, the sugar boilers, the person who clays the sugar, the distiller, the cartmen, and even some others are very frequently free. Only a very small proportion of the sugar will be muscavado, if the business is conducted with any degree of management. I have heard it said by many planters that the melasses will pay almost every expence; and that if rum is made, the proceeds of the melasses are rendered fully equal to the usual yearly expenditure.

The negroes may be valued at 32l. each; oxen at 3l. each; and horses at the same; but by management the two last may be obtained at lower prices. A sugar plantation of the first class, with suitable buildings, may be reckoned as being worth from 7000l. to 8000l. and some few are valued as high as 10,000l.; but an advance of one-sixth of the price would probably be accepted, the[363] remainder to be paid by yearly instalments. The inland plantations may be reckoned at from 3000l. to 5000l. and a few are rather higher; but a smaller advance would be required than upon the purchase of prime plantations, and the instalments would be more moderate. Plantations of the first class ought to have eighty negroes at least, and an increased number of animals, owing to their capability of employing more hands.[166]

The only carts which are used upon the plantations are very clumsily made; a flat surface or table (meza) made of thick and heavy timber, of about two feet and a half broad, and six feet in length, is fixed upon two wheels of solid timber, with a moveable axle-tree; a pole is likewise fixed to the cart. These vehicles are always drawn by four oxen or more, and as they are narrow, and the roads upon which they must travel are bad, they are continually overturning. The negroes who drive the carts have generally some indulgencies, with which their fellow-slaves are not favoured, from the greater labour which this business requires, and from the continual difficulty and danger to which they are exposed, owing to the overturning of the carts and the unruliness of the oxen. In the whole management of the concerns of a plantation, the want of mechanical assistance to decrease the labour of the workmen must strike every person who is in the habit of seeing them, and of paying any attention to the subject. I will mention one instance; when bricks or tiles are to be removed from one place to another, the whole gang of[364] negroes belonging to the estate is employed in carrying them; each man takes three or perhaps four bricks or tiles upon his head, and marches off gently and quietly; he lays them down where he is desired so to do, and again returns for three or four more. Thus thirty persons sometimes pass the whole day in doing the same quantity of work that two men with wheel-barrows would have performed with equal ease in the same space of time.

CHAPTER XVII.

AGRICULTURE.—COTTON.

THIS most valuable plant has now become of more importance to Pernambuco even than the sugar-cane, owing to the great demand for the cotton of that province, and of those adjoining to it, in the British markets. New establishments are forming yearly for the cultivation of the cotton plant, notwithstanding the great inconveniences which must often be experienced in accomplishing this object. The districts which are chosen for the purpose, and universally allowed to be the best adapted to its growth, are far removed from the sea coast, arid and oftentimes very scantily supplied with fresh water. Absolute distress is felt from a want of water in some of these situations, at the time that other parts of the country are enjoying perfect ease in this respect. The opinion is very general that the cotton plant will not thrive in the neighbourhood of the coast[167], and that frequent changes of weather are injurrious[366] to it. The dry and wet seasons are doubtless more regularly marked at a distance from the sea, and if any variation is felt in such situations, it is from a want of rain, and not from a superabundance of it. The cotton plant requires that a great portion of the year should be dry; for if much rain falls when the pod is open, the wool is lost; it becomes yellow, decays, and is rendered completely unfit for use. The soil which is preferred for its culture is a deep red earth, with veins of yellow occasionally running through it; this becomes extremely hard, after a long interval without rain. The cotton plantations are yearly receding farther into the interior, where-ever the Sertam plains do not prevent this recession. The plantations of this description which were formerly established nearer to the coast, are now employed in the rearing of other plants. The constant supply of new lands which the cotton plant requires, for it is judged necessary to allow the land to rest for several years before it undergoes cultivation a second time, may in some degree account for this. Perhaps too, the rapid increase of the population upon the coast may have had some effect in forcing back those who plant an article of trade, to give place to others who cultivate the necessary food for the inhabitants of the country. The cotton is often sold by the planter in caroço, that is, before it has been separated from the seed, to other persons whose livelihood is obtained in preparing it for the export market; but as the labour of conveyance is, of course, considerably increased whilst it is in this state, the dealers establish themselves near to the plantations; they recede as the planters recede. Some years ago a number of the machines for separating the cotton from the seed were to be seen within two leagues of Recife; a few years after they were removed to Goiana, and now the principal resorts of the dealers are Limoeiro and Bom Jardim; places, as will have been seen, which are several leagues distant from the coast.

The lands are cleared for planting cotton in the usual manner,—by cutting down the trees and burning them; and the holes for the seeds are dug in quadrangular form at the distance of six feet from each other. Three seeds are usually put into each hole; in the[367] British colonies, it is found necessary to make use of eight or ten seeds. The time for planting is in January, after the primeiras aguas or first waters; or at any rate as soon in the year as any rain has fallen. Maize is usually planted among the cotton shrubs. Three crops and sometimes four are obtained from the same plants; but the second crop is that which generally produces the finest wool. The shrub has a pleasing appearance whilst it is in full leaf, and is covered with its most beautiful yellow blossoms; but when the pods begin to open and the leaves to wither, its thin and straggling branches are left uncovered, and the plant much resembles a large black currant bush, that has been left unpruned for a length of time. The cotton is gathered in nine or ten months. The machine for detaching it from the seed is simple, and might be rendered still more so. Two small rollers are placed horizontally in a frame, and nearly touching each other. At each end of these rollers there are grooves through which a cord runs, which is connected at the distance of a few yards with a large wheel, to which handles are fixed, and this is turned by two persons. The rollers are so formed as to turn in opposite directions, so that as the cotton is thrust against them with the hand, it is carried to the other side, but the seeds remain, for the opening between the rollers is not sufficiently broad to allow them to pass[168]. The machine which is used in the British colonies seems to be of the same construction in the main, but it is still more simple, for the rollers are made to turn by means of the feet of the person who holds the cotton to them[169]. After it has undergone the above process, some particles of seeds which have been accidentally broken still remain, and of other substances which must be removed. For this purpose a heap of cotton is made, and is beaten with large sticks; this is a most injurious operation, by which the fibre is broken; but[368] as the value of the commodity to the manufacturer chiefly depends upon the length of the fibre, no trouble ought to be grudged to avoid this practice.

The seeds adhere “firmly to each other in the pod.” Mr. Edwards speaks of this species in the British colonies, and gives to it the name of kidney cotton, saying that he believes it to be “the true cotton of Brazil[170].” The yellow or nankeen cotton is likewise to be found at Pernambuco; but it does not form an article of cultivation, being regarded rather as a curiosity. I have seen some species of wild cotton, of which however as I have neither note nor specimen, I cannot pretend to give a description.

The profits which are obtained in favourable years by the planters of cotton, are enormous; but frequently disappointments are experienced. Oftentimes a whole crop is totally lost, and instead of large returns, the year proves entirely unproductive; or after a fair promise, the grub, the caterpillar, the rain or the excessive drought destroys all hope until the following season. The other great agricultural object,—the sugar-cane, is not subject to these numerous and ruinous reverses; for even if the year is unfavourable, at least enough to pay the expences may be expected. I have heard it urged that the market is very little affected by the supposed failure of a crop; but it must be remembered that in a country of such vast extent, one quarter may escape all mishap, whilst another is unfortunate.[171]

The quality of the cotton which is produced in South America, either to the north or south of Pernambuco, is inferior to that of the province of which I am treating. The cotton of Seara is not so[369] good, and the cotton of Maranham is still coarser. Cotton is the staple commodity of both these ports. Proceeding from Pernambuco to the south, the cotton of Bahia is not so fine, and the small quantity which is produced at Rio de Janeiro is not so good as that of Bahia.

In treating of sugar and cotton, I have stated the chief points in which the planters in the Columbian islands and those of Brazil principally differ. Those of my readers to whom this subject is particularly interesting may be referred to the well known work which I have consulted.[172]

THE MANDIOC PLANTS.

The mandioc requires good land, and the same spot will not produce two crops successively; it must be allowed to rest for one or two years or more. The operation of planting it is simple, and differs in no respect from that which was practised formerly by the Indians[173]. The flour which is made from this root is called farinha de pao, or stick flour[174]. There are several species of the mandioc[370] plant, of which some are adapted to high lands, and others to low and moist situations; but when the plant is cultivated upon the latter, hillocks must be raised, else the root would decay. Cattle are fed upon the root and stalk: these are first prepared by being cut into small pieces and exposed to the sun for several hours; if this was not done, the food would be injurious to them. I have however seen some of the draught oxen that have become so habituated to it as to eat the root quite fresh, without receiving any apparent injury;—in the manner that the human body becomes callous to the most violent medicines by long custom.

I had in my possession, whilst I resided at Jaguaribe, one of these animals, who generally once in the course of every week at least contrived to get out of the inclosure, and pass part of the night in some neighbouring mandioc ground. He was so dexterous in tearing up the stalk with the root attached to it, that the marks of his footsteps alone made us quite confident of the nature of the thief. Whilst I was at Itamaraca, I lost a sheep, which had drank of the juice of the mandioc. The negroes and other persons were making farinha, and a trough stood under the press for the purpose of receiving the juice. The sheep were attempting to come under the shed for the purpose of reaching some of the roots, of which they are extremely fond; one of them approached the trough, which was filled with the juice, and although it was almost immediately perceived and driven away, still the effect of the small quantity which had been taken began to shew itself in a very few minutes;—the animal tottered and fell, rising again, and again falling. Oil was poured down its throat in considerable quantities, but to no purpose.[371] The body swelled to an enormous size, and the animal was dead in about ten minutes after it had drank of the juice.[175]

The insect which is mentioned by Piso (quoted by Mr. Southey) under the name of tapuru, and is said to be generated by the juice of the mandioc, after it has become putrid, I have often seen. It is still known under the same name, which however is not peculiar to this worm, but it is likewise applied to maggots of every kind. The juice is not kept for any purpose, but it remains in the trough occasionally for some days, owing to the carelessness of the person under whose care these things are placed[176]. Of the deadly nature of this worm I never heard any mention. The species of mandioc which is called manipeba is prohibited, owing to the greater activity of its poisonous juice, and it is now almost extirpated; it had the advantage of greater durability under ground. Those kinds which are usually planted decay if the stalk is broken off, but the stalks of the manipeba may[372] be cut away, and the root will still continue sound until, on the following year a new stalk springs up. I have heard it said, that in the dry soils of the Mata a few of the other varieties of this plant will allow of the same treatment. Although the mandioc plant requires a dry situation, still when the rains fail in January the crops fall short, for it is in this month, immediately after the first waters, that the principal plantations of it are made. The Brazilians have a peculiar name for each part of this plant; the root is called mandioca, the stalk maniva, the leaves manisoba, and the juice manipueira. There is one species of the plant, of which the juice is harmless; it bears the name of macaxeira. Its root never grows to a great size, and it is therefore rather planted as an article of luxury than as regular food. From this species less juice is extracted than from the roots of equal dimensions of any of the other kinds of mandioc[177]. The rind of those species of mandioc which are in general use is of a dark brown colour, but there is one kind of which the rind is white.

The most expensive part of the process of making the flour of the mandioc, consists in disengaging the rind from the root; this is done with difficulty, by means of a piece of a broken blunt knife, a sharp pebble, or a small shell, with one of which each person is supplied; in this work a considerable number of persons must be occupied, to furnish employment to the wheel which grinds the root. This wheel is placed in a frame, and a handle is fixed to it on each side, by which it may be turned by two men, one of them working at[373] each of the handles. A trough stands under the wheel, and the wheel is cased in copper, which is made rough by means of holes punched in it, the sides of the holes are not filed smooth. The mandioc is thrust against the wheel whilst it is turned with great velocity, and being by this means ground it falls into the trough underneath. From hence the ground pulp is put into a press, that the juice may be extracted; and after it has undergone sufficient pressure this pulp or paste (maça) is removed on to a hot hearth, upon which a person is employed to keep it in continual motion, that it may not be burnt; when quite crisp it is taken off the hearth, and on being suffered to cool is in a state to be made use of.[178]

There is another mode of preparing the mandioc for food; it is put[374] into water in a pannier or closed basket, and is allowed to remain there for some days, until the root becomes soft, from which the mandioc, when in this state, is called mandioca molle. It is prepared in this manner for the purpose of making cakes, &c. but not generally, for food. I tried to introduce the farinha, made from steeped mandioc, among the slaves whilst I resided at Jaguaribe; the flour which was made from it, was much finer than that which is obtained in the usual manner, but the negroes did not like it so well, and I did not think it wholesome for them on consideration, and therefore the old way was continued. The mandioc must have made a certain advance towards putrefaction before it becomes sufficiently soft to be bruised, and this cannot fail I should suppose to be injurious. The smell from the mandioca molle is extremely offensive, and is one of the annoyances in walking the streets of Recife, in which it is sold. The smell is however entirely removed after the farinha has been for some minutes upon the oven.[179]

THE COCO-TREE.

The sandy soils of the coast in which this plant seems to delight would, if they were not cultivated with it, remain almost useless; but from the produce which the coco-tree yields, they are rendered very valuable. The lands which are occupied by this plant alone yield a settled income to the owners of them without much labour; whilst[375] the cultivation of any other requires considerable toil; however the long period, of from five to seven years, which the tree requires before it bears fruit, cannot fail to be considered as a drawback upon the profits which it ultimately affords, and upon the great age to which it arrives. However perhaps there are few trees of equal size that yield fruit in so short a period. It is a most valuable production, of which every part is appropriated to some useful purpose. The Brazilians say, that it affords to them both food and shelter; of the trunk and of the leaves their huts are built; of its fibrous roots baskets are made, and cordage of the outward husk. Its fruit renders to them meat and drink, and an excellent oil is likewise to be obtained by skimming the juice which may be pressed from the pulp. The coco is in general use in cookery among all ranks of people, and it forms one of the chief articles of internal trade[180]. When a plantation of this tree is about to be established, the ripe cocos from which the plants are to be reared, are placed in the ground, about twelve inches below the surface, in long and almost united rows, for the convenience of being watered. They are frequently placed in this manner, under the eaves of houses, which saves much trouble, for by the accumulation of water from the house top, each shower of rain produces sufficient moisture, and the owner is relieved from any farther trouble in this respect. At the expiration of five months the shoots begin to make their appearance above ground, and at the end of twelve months from the time that the cocos were first put into the [376]earth, the young plants may be removed[181]. They are then placed at the distance of eight or ten yards from each other, upon the land that has been cleared for the purpose of receiving them. As soon as they have once taken root, and by far the major part of them fail not so to do, very little care is necessary. They must however be preserved tolerably free from brushwood, at least during the first years; and indeed at all times the fruitfulness of the tree will be increased, if it is allowed its due space.[182]

THE CARRAPATO OR CASTOR TREE.

This plant may be, as well as the coco, reared in sandy soils, but it will flourish with more luxuriance, upon those that are of a richer kind. The oil, which is extracted from the seed, is in general use for lamps and other purposes, but neither is it eaten, nor known as a medicine; but it is administered as an outward application. It is given to animals that have drank the juice of the mandioc, and is sometimes successful in forcing the poison back from the stomach. The plant is much cultivated, but it is frequently to be seen growing spontaneously.[183]

BRAZIL WOOD.

The wood from which is extracted the beautiful red dye, which is so much esteemed in Europe, is, I believe, generally supposed to be peculiar[184] to the country to which it has given a name[185]. It is often called in Pernambuco (from whence, I imagine, that it is[377] exclusively exported) pao da Rainha or Queen’s wood, owing to the circumstance of the trade in it being a government monopoly; and it is exported to Europe on account of the Crown. No care has been taken to prevent a scarcity of the wood, and indeed its ultimate extirpation; it is cut down unmercifully wherever it is met with by the officers who are appointed for this purpose, without any regard being paid to the size of the tree. No plantations have been formed of it, and consequently it is now rarely to be seen, within many leagues of the coast. The labour which is required in obtaining it is now considerable, for the weight of the wood renders its conveyance very difficult upon the backs of horses, and this is the only manner in which it can be carried. The pay which is given by the government to the carriers is below the usual rate for work equally laborious, and therefore a wide source of oppression is afforded. The carrier receives with his load a slip of paper, declaring the weight of the wood which he is conveying; this is to be presented by him at the Intendencia da Marinha, or dock-yard at Recife, and he must wait until the wood is again weighed and the paper countersigned, before he can return home. These men are delayed sometimes for several days, before they are permitted to return; and they find that it is their interest to make many presents to the inferior officers, that they may be quickly dispatched. Here the old system of indifference to what is just, still most glaringly continues. This account of the treatment of the men who convey the wood, I received from several who had been employed in the business.

If the trade in the wood was to be laid open, it would only tend to its scarcity still more speedily than under the existing system; but as soon as it became scarce it would be rendered an object worthy of cultivation: however, as long as it is to be obtained in its wild state, and enormous profits can be made, the government will probably continue to supply the market on their own account. Every sugar plantation might cultivate a great number of these[378] trees, without any additional land being required to be cleared for the purpose of planting them. The fences of the Cercados, or fields, might be strengthened by the addition of the Brazil inserted at intervals; instead of other trees being used in this way.

I never saw the plant, but I have heard it described in the following manner. It is not a lofty tree; and at a short distance from the ground, innumerable branches spring forth and extend in every direction in a straggling, irregular, and unpleasing manner. Practice is requisite to obtain a knowledge of the tree, for the valuable portion of it is the heart, and the outward coat of wood has not any peculiarity. The leaves are small, and never cover the branches luxuriantly.[186]

The Tatajuba, or Fustic.—This is a species of wood producing a yellow dye, which is well known in England. It is of spontaneous growth. A demand has lately been made for it, and destruction has followed wherever the plant can be met with.

The Feijam or Kidney Bean is planted in April and May with the mandioc. It is much used in the neighbourhood of the coast by the free part of the population, but is not produced in sufficient quantities to form a common food for the negroes. When it is cooked with the juice of the pulp of the coco-nut it makes a most excellent dish. In the cotton districts it forms one of the chief articles of the negroes’ food.

Milho, or Maize, is planted with mandioc, and sometimes in the cane fields; but as the best crop is obtained by planting it with the mandioc in January, few persons sow it at any other time. In the inland districts it is sown with the cotton, and in such situations yields more plentifully than in the lands which border upon the[379] coast. Boiled maize is a common breakfast for the slaves in the cotton districts; the dish resembles thick peas’ soup, and is far from being unpalatable if sugar or treacle is added. The people call it angu de milho.

The Banana Plant is too well known to take up much space here. There are in Pernambuco three species of it; the banana curta or short banana; this is a small fruit, not exceeding two inches in length;—the banana comprida or long banana, which is the plantain;—and lately the third species has been introduced, and has obtained the strange name of the banana de quatro vintems or four vintems banana, because the clusters of the fruit are so large that each cluster may be sold for four vintems,—rather more than 5d. I do not think that as much utility is derived from the plant as it is capable of affording; it is not so generally used as a food by the negroes, as it ought to be. The banana curta, with dry farinha, is a common breakfast among people of colour.[187]

[380]

The Batatas.—Of these there are several species; but that which I had the most opportunities of seeing was the batata roxa or purple potatoe, which is so called from the purple tinge of the pulp after it has been boiled; this is the best of the tribe. The taste is pleasant, and would be still more so if it was not rather sweet. The batata is a creeping plant, and is re-produced from the roots, or from the sprouts of the branches. If the branches of roots that have been pulled up remain upon the ground, and a shower of rain falls soon after they have been broken off, their vegetation will recommence. The batatas are at present planted more as a luxury for the planter’s house than as food for the negroes; but I do not think that there is any plant which is more capable, or even so capable, of affording assistance to the mandioc as this; and perhaps it might supply its place. The mandioc should be supplanted, if any thing else could be discovered to answer the purpose of a staple article of food; for it is uncertain in yielding its crops, and requires the best land. To neither of these disadvantages would, I rather think, the batata be found subject. The European potatoe has been planted, in several instances, at Pernambuco; the first crop is as well tasted as the roots from which it was produced, but the potatoes were small; a second crop, being obtained from the same family of roots, has been sweetish, and on advancing, the potatoes become still more similar to the batata of the country[188]. Yet the plants appear to be totally different from each other, for the Brazil batata or potatoe is produced from a creeper.

Tobacco is planted upon almost all the sugar-plantations, and by a majority of persons of the lower classes, for their own use. A considerable quantity is imported from the southern provinces of Brazil into Pernambuco. The ants do not molest the plant, but in[381] the parts of the country which are much infested by these insects, the peasants mix the seed of the tobacco with wood ashes before they strew with it the ground which they are about to sow. The ants have an antipathy to the ashes, and thus the seed is preserved.

Rice is very little cultivated in Pernambuco; but at Maranham it forms the second object of trade. The use of it in Pernambuco is inconsiderable, from the idea that it is unwholesome for the negroes; and indeed I never met with any of the Africans who preferred it to other kinds of food.

Coffee and Cacao are yet planted as experiments, for their introduction into Pernambuco is recent.[189]

Ipecacuanha.—Although this is at present only to be found in a wild state, I have inserted it here, for it must shortly take its place among cultivated plants. The small quantity exported is procured by the Indians and other persons of the same rank and habits of life, in the thickest woods. It thrives most in the shade. The plant is destroyed also by many of the larger kinds of game, to which it serves as food. There are two species of it which are distinguished by the names of white and black Ipecacuanha; the latter is that which is used for medicinal purposes in Europe[190]. The white is used by the Brazilians in colds and coughs, and is taken to purify the blood after a fever.

[382]

Ginger is indigenous, but is now rarely to be found in a wild state[191]. The white ginger is that which is in general use.

Malagueta Pepper is a small shrub which is to be seen under the eaves of almost every cottage. The pods are of a bright scarlet colour, of about one inch in length, and one quarter in breadth. It is a hardy plant; for although it droops under excessive drought, it is seldom destroyed by it. Often are to be seen at the same time, and upon the same bush, the blossoms, and the green and the ripe scarlet pods. Wherever this shrub springs up care is taken of it; for the people of all ranks are from habit almost unable to eat their food without the malagueta. The pods are bruised when about to be used, and either form an ingredient in every dish, or they are served up in all the sauces[192]. The pimenta de cheiro, or scented pepper, is likewise common, but it requires more care in rearing, and is a smaller shrub than the malagueta. The pods are of a bright red in general, but sometimes they are, naturally, of a pale yellow colour; they are round, and about the size of a crab apple.

Tea is stated to be indigenous in Brazil[193]. A priest of considerable[383] reputation as a botanist, told me that he had discovered this plant in the neighbourhood of Olinda; but afterwards again he informed me that he was afraid he had been too sanguine.[194]

Horticulture has of late years been rapidly improving, and the markets of Recife are now well supplied with vegetables and roots. The gardeners are chiefly Portugueze, from the provinces of the mother country, or from the Azores. Peas[195], cabbages, and several other kinds of European vegetables and roots are to be purchased, besides others which are peculiar to the country, such as mandubims and yams. The European onion produces a small root of an oblong form[196], which is known in Pernambuco under the name of cebolinho, as the diminutive of cebola, an onion. The vine is to be seen in many of the gardens in the neighbourhood of Recife and of Olinda; and formerly there were a great many at Conception upon the island of Itamaraca, but few now remain. No wine is made. The fruit trees are some of those which are common to the southern parts of Europe, such as the orange[197], the fig, and others, but no olives; besides these, there are the manga, the jack, and a numerous list, some of which have been mentioned incidentally in the course of this volume; but I have tarried already too long upon this branch of my subject, and must now proceed to something else.

i415

A Planter and his Wife on a Journey.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE FREE POPULATION.

THE insufficiency of the population of Portugal to the almost unbounded plans of the rulers of that kingdom, has, in all probability, saved her South American possessions from the dreadful contests which are to be apprehended in the neighbouring Spanish colonies, between the Creole white inhabitants and those of colour. The struggle yet rages with exterminating violence between the descendants of Europeans, born in South America, and the natives of Old Spain; but when this is at an end, another equally, if not more destructive, is to be looked for between the former and their countrymen of mixed casts. The appeal which the creole whites have made to the people, and the declarations which they have publicly set forth, of directing their proceedings by their voice; the exposure of those abstract principles of government which are so delightful in theory, but so difficult of execution, will, most probably, bring down upon their heads the destruction which has thus been courted. In the Portugueze South American dominions, circumstances have directed that there should be no division of casts, and very few of those degrading and most galling distinctions which have been made by all other nations in the management of their colonies. That this was not intended by the mother country, but was rather submitted to from necessity, is to be discovered in some few regulations, which plainly shew, that if Portugal could have preserved[385] the superiority of the whites, she would, as well as her neighbours, have established laws for this purpose. The rulers of Portugal wished to colonize to an unlimited extent; but their country did not possess a population sufficiently numerous for their magnificent plans. Adventurers left their own country to settle in the New World, who were literally adventurers; for they had not any settled plans of life, and they were without families. Persons of established habits, who had the wish to follow any of the ordinary means of gaining a livelihood, found employment at home; neither could Portugal spare them, nor did they wish to leave their native soil. There was no superabundance of population, and therefore every man might find occupation at home, if he had steadiness to look for it; there was no division in political or religious opinion; there was no necessity for emigration, save that which was urged by crimes. Thus the generality of the men who embarked in the expeditions which were fitted out for Brazil, were unaccompanied by females, and therefore, naturally, on their arrival in that country, they married, or irregularly connected themselves with Indian women, and subsequently with those of Africa. It is true that orphan girls were sent out by the government of Portugal[198], but these were necessarily few in number. In the course of another generation, the colonists married the women of mixed casts, owing to the impossibility of obtaining those of their own colour; and the frequency of the custom, and the silence of the laws upon the subject, removed all idea of degradation, in thus connecting themselves. Still the European notions of superiority were not entirely laid aside, and these caused the passing of some regulations, by which white persons were to enjoy certain privileges. Thus, although the form of trial for all casts is the same, in certain places only can capital punishments be inflicted upon the favoured race; the people of colour are not eligible to[386] some of the chief offices of government, nor can they become members of the priesthood.

From the mildness of the laws, however, the mixed casts have gained ground considerably; the regulations which exist against them are evaded, or rather they have become obsolete. Perhaps the heroic conduct of Camaram and Henrique Dias, the Indian and negro chieftains, in the famous and most interesting contest between the Pernambucans and the Dutch, and the honours subsequently granted by the crown of Portugal to both of them, may have led to the exaltation of the general character of the much-injured varieties of the human species of which they were members. Familiarity between the chieftains of the several corps must be the consequence of their embarkation in the same cause, when the war is one of skirmishes, of ambuscades, of continual alarm, of assistance constantly afforded to each other; a patriotic war, against a foreign invader, in which difference of religion exists, and each party mortally hates the other. On these occasions all men are equal, or he only is superior whose strength and whose activity surpasses that of others. The amalgamation of casts which is caused by this consciousness of equality could not have had a fairer field for its full accomplishment, than the war to which I have alluded; and the friendships which were formed under these circumstances would not easily be broken off. Although the parties who had been so united might have been, in their situations in life very far removed from each other, still the participation of equal danger must render dear the companions in peril, and make the feelings which had been roused on these occasions of long duration; they would continue to act, long after the cessation of the series of occurrences which had called them forth.

The free population of Brazil at the present time consists of Europeans; Brazilians, that is, white persons born in Brazil; mulattos, that is, the mixed cast between the whites and blacks, and all the varieties into which it can branch; mamalucos, that is, the mixed cast between the whites and Indians, and all its varieties;[387] Indians in a domesticated state, who are called generally Caboclos; and those who still remain in a savage state, and are called generally Tapuyas; negroes born in Brazil, and manumitted Africans; lastly, Mestizos, that is, the mixed cast between the Indians and negroes. Of slaves, I shall speak by and by more at large; these are Africans, creole negroes, mulattos, and mestizos. The maxim of the civil law, partus sequitur ventrem, is in force here as well as in the colonies of other nations.[199]

These several mixtures of the human race have their shades of difference of character as well as of colour. First we must treat of the whites. The Europeans who are not in office, or who are not military men, are, generally speaking, adventurers who have arrived in that country with little or no capital. These men commence their career in low situations of life, but by parsimony and continual exertion directed to one end, that of amassing money, they often attain their object, and pass the evening of their lives in opulence. These habits fail not, oftentimes, to give a bias to their dispositions, which is unallied to generosity and liberality. They look down upon the Brazilians, or rather they wish to consider themselves superior to them; and until lately the government took no pains to remove the jealousy which existed between the two descriptions of white persons; and even now, not so much attention is paid to the subject as its great importance seems to require.[200]

[388]

The Brazilian white man of large property, who draws his descent from the first Donatory of a province, or whose family has for some generations enjoyed distinction, entertains a high opinion of his own importance, which may sometimes appear ridiculous; but which much oftener leads him to acts of generosity,—to the adoption of liberal ideas,—to honourable conduct. If he has been well educated, and has had the good fortune to have been instructed by a priest whose ideas are enlightened, who gives a proper latitude for difference of opinion, who tolerates as he is tolerated, then the character of a young Brazilian exhibits much to admire. Surrounded by numerous relatives, and by his immediate dependants, living in a vast and half-civilized country, he is endued with much independence of language and behaviour, which are softened by the subordination which has been imbibed during his course of education. That this is general, I pretend not to say; few persons are instructed in a proper manner, and again, few are those who profit by the education which they have received; but more numerous are the individuals who now undergo necessary tuition, for powerful motives have arisen to urge the attainment of knowledge.

I have heard it often observed, and I cannot help saying that I think some truth is to be attached to the remark, in the country of which I am treating, that women are usually less lenient to their slaves than men, but this doubtless proceeds from the ignorant state in which they are brought up; they scarcely receive any education, and have not the advantages of obtaining instruction from communication with persons who are unconnected with their own way of life; of imbibing new ideas from general conversation. They are born, bred, and continue surrounded by slaves without receiving any check, with high notions of superiority, without any thought that what they do is wrong. Bring these women forwards, educate them, treat them as rational, as equal beings, and they will be in no respect inferior to their countrymen; the fault is not with the sex, but in the state of the human being. As soon as a child begins to crawl, a slave of about its own age and of the same sex is given to it as a[389] playfellow, or rather as a plaything; they grow up together, and the slave is made the stock upon which the young owner gives vent to passion; the slave is sent upon all errands, and receives the blame of all unfortunate accidents;—in fact, the white child is thus encouraged to be overbearing, owing to the false fondness of its parents. Upon the boys the effect is less visible in after-life, because the world curbs and checks them, but the girls do not stir from home, and therefore have no opportunities of wearing off these pernicious habits. It is only surprising that so many excellent women should be found among them, and by no means strange that the disposition of some of them should be injured by this unfortunate direction of their infant years.

As vegetation rapidly advances in such climates, so the animal sooner arrives at maturity than in those of less genial warmth; and here again education is rendered doubly necessary to lead the mind to new ideas, to curb the passions, to give a sense of honour, and to instil feelings of that species of pride which is so necessary to a becoming line of conduct. The state of society, the climate, and the celibacy of the numerous priesthood, cause the number of illegitimate children to be very great; but here the roda dos engeitados, and a custom which shews the natural goodness of the people, prevent the frequent occurrence of infanticide, or rather render it almost unknown. An infant is frequently during the night laid at the door of a rich person, and on being discovered in the morning is taken in, and is almost invariably allowed to remain; it is brought up with the children of the house (if its colour is not too dark to admit of this,) certainly as a dependant, but not as a servant; however a considerable tinge of colour will not prevent it from being reared with the white children. These engeitados or rejected ones, as individuals who are so circumstanced are called, are frequently to be met with, and I heard of few exceptions to the general kindness with which they are treated. Public feeling is much against the refusing to accept and rear an engeitado; the owner of a house, who is in easy circumstances, and yet sends the infant from his own door to the public[390] institution which is provided for its reception, is generally spoken of in terms of indignation. Sometimes a poor man will find one of these presents at his door, and he will generally place it at the landholder’s threshold on the following night; this is accounted excusable and even meritorious, for at the Great House the child has nearly a certainty of being well taken care of.

I have observed that, generally speaking, Europeans are less indulgent to their slaves than Brazilians; the former feed them well, but they require from the poor wretches more labour than they can perform, whilst the latter allow the affairs of their estates to continue in the way in which it has been accustomed to be directed. This difference between the two descriptions of owners is easily accounted for; the European has probably purchased part of his slaves on credit, and has during the whole course of his life made the accumulation of riches his chief object. The Brazilian inherits his estate, and as nothing urges him to the necessity of obtaining large profits, he continues the course that has been pointed out to him by the former possessors. His habits of quietude and indolence have led him to be easy and indifferent, and although he may not provide for the maintenance of his slaves with so much care as the European, still they find more time to seek for food themselves. That avaricious spirit which deliberately works a man or a brute animal[201] until it is unfit for farther service, without any regard to the well-being of the creature, which is thus treated as a mere machine, as if it was formed of wood or iron, is however seldom to be met with in those parts of the country which I visited. Instances of cruelty occur (as has been, and will yet be seen,) but these proceed from individual depravity, and not from systematic, cold-blooded, calculating indifference to the means by which a desired end is to be compassed.

Notwithstanding the relationship of the mulattos on one side to the black race, they consider themselves superior to the mamalucos; they lean to the whites, and from the light in which the Indians are[391] held, pride themselves upon being totally unconnected with them. Still the mulattos are conscious of their connection with men who are in a state of slavery, and that many persons even of their own colour are under these degraded circumstances; they have therefore always a feeling of inferiority in the company of white men, if these white men are wealthy and powerful. This inferiority of rank is not so much felt by white persons in the lower walks of life, and these are more easily led to become familiar with individuals of their own colour who are in wealthy circumstances. Still the inferiority which the mulatto feels is more that which is produced by poverty than that which his colour has caused, for he will be equally respectful to a person of his own cast, who may happen to be rich[202]. The degraded state of the people of colour in the British colonies is most lamentable[203]. In Brazil, even the trifling regulations which exist against them remain unattended to. A mulatto enters into holy orders or is appointed a magistrate, his papers stating him to be a white man, but his appearance plainly denoting the contrary. In conversing on one occasion with a man of colour who was in my service, I asked him if a certain Capitam-mor was not a mulatto man; he answered, “he was, but is not now[204].” I begged him to explain, when he added, “Can a Capitam-mor be a mulatto man[205]?” I was intimately acquainted with a priest, whose complexion and hair plainly denoted from whence he drew his origin; I liked him much, he was a well educated and intelligent man. Besides this individual instance, I met with several others of the same description.

The regiments of militia which are called mulatto regiments, are so named from all the officers and men being of mixed casts; nor[392] can white persons be admitted into them. The principal officers are men of property, and the colonel, like the commander of any other regiment, is only amenable to the governor of the province. In the white militia regiments, the officers ought to be by law white men; but in practice they are rather reputed white men, for very little pains are taken to prove that there is no mixture of blood. Great numbers of the soldiers belonging to the regiments which are officered by white men, are mulattos, and other persons of colour. The regiments of the line, likewise, (as I have elsewhere said) admit into the ranks all persons excepting negroes and Indians; but the officers of these must prove nobility of birth; however, as certain degrees of nobility have been conferred upon persons in whose families there is much mixture of blood, this proof cannot be regarded as being required against the mulatto or mamaluco part of the population. Thus an European adventurer could not obtain a commission in these regiments, whilst a Brazilian, whose family has distinguished itself in the province in former times, will prove his eligibility without regard to the blood which runs in his veins. He is noble, let that flow from whence it may.[206]

The late colonel of the mulatto regiment of Recife, by name Nogueira, went to Lisbon, and returned to Pernambuco with the Order of Christ, which the Queen had conferred upon him[207]. A chief person of one of the provinces is the son of a white man and a woman of colour; he has received an excellent education, is of a generous disposition, and entertains most liberal views upon all subjects. He has been made a colonel, and a degree of[393] nobility has been conferred upon him; likewise the Regent is sponsor to one of his children. Many other instances might be mentioned. Thus has Portugal, of late years from policy, continued that system into which she was led by her peculiar circumstances in former times. Some of the wealthy planters of Pernambuco, and of the rich inhabitants of Recife are men of colour. The major part of the best mechanics are also of mixed blood.

It is said that mulattos make bad masters; and this holds good oftentimes with persons of this description, who have been in a state of slavery, and become possessed of slaves of their own, or are employed as managers upon estates. The change of situation would lead to the same consequences in any race of human beings, and cannot be accounted peculiar to the mixed casts. I have seen mulattos of free birth as kind, as lenient, and as forbearing to their slaves and other dependants as any white man.

Marriages between white men and women of colour are by no means rare, though they are sufficiently so to cause the circumstance to be mentioned when speaking of an individual who has connected himself in this manner; but this is not said with the intent of lowering him in the estimation of others. Indeed the remark is only made if the person is a planter of any importance, and the woman is decidedly of dark colour, for even a considerable tinge will pass for white; if the white man belongs to the lower orders, the woman is not accounted as being unequal to him in rank, unless she is nearly black. The European adventurers often marry in this manner, which generally occurs when the woman has a dower. The rich mulatto families are often glad to dispose of their daughters to these men, although the person who has been fixed upon may be in indifferent circumstances; for the colour of the children of their daughters is bettered, and from the well-known prudence and regularity of this set of men, a large fortune may be hoped for even from very small beginnings. Whilst I was at Jaguaribe, I was in the frequent habit of seeing a handsome young man, who was a native of the island of St. Michael’s. This person happened to be with[394] me on one occasion when the commandant from the Sertam was staying at my house. The commandant asked him if he could read and write, and being answered in the negative, said, “then you will not do,” and turning to me, added, “I have a commission from a friend of mine to take with me back to the Sertam a good-looking young Portugueze of regular habits, who can read and write, for the purpose of marrying him to his daughter.” These kind of commissions (encommendas) are not unusual.

Still the Brazilians of high birth and large property do not like to intermarry with persons whose mixture of blood is very apparent, and hence arise peculiar circumstances. A man of this description becomes attached to a woman of colour, connects himself with her, and takes her to his home, where she is in a short time even visited by married women; she governs his household affairs, acts and considers herself as his wife, and frequently after the birth of several children, when they are neither of them young, he marries her. In connections of this nature, the parties are more truly attached than in marriages between persons who belong to two families of the first rank; for the latter are entered into from convenience rather than from affection; indeed the parties, on some occasions, do not see each other until a few days before the ceremony takes place. It often occurs, that inclination, necessity, or convenience induce or oblige a man to separate from the person with whom he has thus been connected; in this case, he gives her a portion, and she marries a man of her own rank, who regards her rather as a widow than as one whose conduct has been incorrect. Instances of infidelity in these women are rare; they become attached to the men with whom they cohabit, and they direct the affairs of the houses over which they are placed with the same zeal that they would display if they had the right of command over them. It is greatly to the credit of the people of that country that so much fidelity should be shewn on one side, and that this should so frequently as it is, be rewarded by the other party, in the advancement of those who have behaved thus faithfully, to a respectable and acknowledged situation[395] in society. It should be recollected too that the merit of moral feelings must be judged of by the standard of the country, and not by our own institutions. I have only spoken above of what occurs among the planters; for in large towns man is pretty much the same every where.

The Mamalucos are more frequently to be seen in the Sertam than upon the coast. They are handsomer than the mulattos; and the women of this cast particularly surpass in beauty all others of the country; they have the brown tint of mulattos, but their features are less blunt, and their hair is not curled. I do not think that the men can be said to possess more courage than the mulattos; but whether from the knowledge which they have of being of free birth on both sides, or from residing in the interior of the country where government is more loose, they appear to have more independence of character, and to pay less deference to a white man than the mulattos. When women relate any deed of danger that has been surmounted or undertaken, they generally state that the chief actor in it was a large mamaluco, mamalucam; as if they thought this description of men to be superior to all others. Mamalucos may enter into the mulatto regiments, and are pressed into the regiments of the line as being men of colour, without any regard to the sources from which their blood proceeds.

Of the domesticated Indians I have already elsewhere given what accounts I could collect, and what I had opportunities of observing. The wild Indians are now only to be met with at a great distance from the coast of Pernambuco; and although they are very near to Maranham, and are dreaded neighbours, I had no means of seeing any of them.

I now proceed to mention that numerous and valuable race of men, the creole negroes; a tree of African growth, which has thus been transplanted, cultivated, and much improved by its removal to the New World. The Creole negroes stand alone and unconnected with every other race of men, and this circumstance alone would be sufficient, and indeed contributes much to the effect of uniting them[396] to each other. The mulattos, and all other persons of mixed blood wish to lean towards the whites, if they can possibly lay any claim to relationship. Even the mestizo tries to pass for a mulatto, and to persuade himself and others that his veins contain some portion of white blood, although that with which they are filled proceeds from Indian and negro sources. Those only who can have no pretensions to a mixture of blood, call themselves negroes, which renders the individuals who do pass under this denomination, much attached to each other, from the impossibility of being mistaken for members of any other cast. They are of handsome persons, brave and hardy, obedient to the whites, and willing to please; but they are easily affronted, and the least allusion to their colour being made by a person of a lighter tint, enrages them to a great degree; though they will sometimes say, “a negro I am, but always upright”[208]. They are again distinct from their brethren in slavery, owing to their superior situation as free men.

The free creole negroes have their exclusive regiments, as well as the mulattos, of which every officer and soldier must be perfectly black. There are two of these regiments for the province of Pernambuco, which consist of indefinite numbers of men, who are dispersed all over the country. These regiments are distinguished from each other by the names of Old Henriques and New Henriques[209]. The name of Henriques is derived from the famous chieftain, Henrique Diaz, in the time of the Dutch war. I have heard some of the most intelligent of those with whom I have conversed, speak in enthusiastic terms of the aid which he gave to the whites in that struggle. I have seen some portion of one of these regiments, in Recife, accompanying the procession of our Lady of the Rosary, the patroness of negroes. They were dressed in white cloth uniforms turned up with scarlet, and they looked very soldier-like.[397] They were in tolerable discipline, and seemed to wish to go through the duty of the day in the best manner that they were able; they acted with an appearance of zeal and the desire of excelling. Those of which I speak formed a finer body of men than any other soldiers which I had an opportunity of seeing in that country. On gala days the superior black officers in their white uniforms, pay their respects to the governor, exactly in the same manner that the persons of any other cast, holding commissions of equal rank are expected to go through this form. These men receive no pay, so that their neat appearance on such occasions bespeaks a certain degree of wealth among them; neither are the privates nor any other persons belonging to these regiments paid for their services. Some of the whites rather ridicule the black officers, but not in their presence; and the laugh which is raised against them is caused perhaps by a lurking wish to prevent this insulted race from the display of those distinctions which the government has wisely conceded to them, but which hurt the European ideas of superiority. The old regiment of Henriques was, at the time that I resided in Pernambuco, without a colonel, and I heard much discussion on several occasions among the Creole negroes, about the fittest person to be appointed to the vacant situation.[210]

The creole negroes of Recife are, generally speaking, mechanics of all descriptions; but they have not yet reached the higher ranks of life, as gentlemen, as planters, and as merchants. Some of them have accumulated considerable sums of money, and possess many slaves, to whom they teach their own trade, or these slaves are taught other mechanical employments by which they may become useful.[398] They work for their owners, and render to them great profits, for every description of labour is high, and that which requires any degree of skill bears even a higher comparative value than the departments of which a knowledge is more easily attained. The best church and image painter of Pernambuco is a black man, who has good manners, and quite the air of a man of some importance, though he does not by any means assume too much. The negroes are excluded from the priesthood[211]; and from the offices which the mulattos may obtain through their evasion of the law, but which the decided and unequivocal colour of the negro entirely precludes him from aspiring to. In law all persons who are not white, and are born free, class equally; manumitted slaves are placed upon the same footing as persons born free. However, although the few exclusions which exist against the negroes are degrading, still in some instances they are befriended by them. They are unable, owing to their colour, to serve in the regiments of the line, or in any regiments excepting those which are exclusively their own; but by means of this regulation they escape the persecutions under which the other casts suffer during the time of recruiting. The officers and men of the Henrique regiments are so united to each other, that the privates and subalterns are less liable to be oppressed by any white man in office even than the soldiers of the mulatto regiments. Of these latter the officers, having a considerable tinge of white, sometimes[399] lean towards the wishes of the capitam-mor, or some other rich white officer, instead of protecting his soldiers.

The men whose occupation it is to apprehend runaway negroes are, almost without exception, creole blacks; they are called capitaens-do-campo, captains of the field; and are subject to a capitam-mor do campo who resides in Recife, and they receive their commissions either from the governor or from this officer. By these they are authorised to apprehend and take to their owners any slaves who may be found absent from their homes without their master’s consent. Several of these men are to be found in every district, employing themselves in such pursuits as they think fit, when their services are not required in that calling which forms their particular duty. They are men of undaunted courage, and are usually followed by two or three dogs, which are trained to seek out, and if necessary to attack and bring to the ground those persons whose apprehension their masters are desirous of effecting. The men who bear these commissions can oblige any unauthorised person to give up to them an apprehended negro, for the purpose of being by them returned to his owner.

It is scarcely necessary to name the mestizos, for they usually class with the mulattos; nor are they to be easily distinguished from some of the darker varieties of this cast. A dark coloured man of a disagreeable countenance and badly formed person is commonly called a mestizo, without any reference to his origin.

Yet one race of human beings remain to be spoken of; but the individuals who compose it are not sufficiently numerous to permit them to take their place among the several great divisions of the human family which form the population of Brazil, and therefore I did not rank this among the others which are of more importance. Still the çiganos[212], for thus they are called, must not be forgotten. I frequently heard of these people, but never had an opportunity of seeing any of them. Parties of çiganos were in the habit of appearing formerly[400] once every year at the village of Pasmado, and other places in that part of the country; but the late governor of the province was inimical to them, and some attempts having been made to apprehend some of them, their visits were discontinued. They are represented as being a people of a brownish cast, with features which resemble those of white persons, and as being tall and handsome. They wander from place to place in parties of men, women, and children; exchanging, buying, and selling horses, and gold and silver trinkets. The women travel on horseback, sitting between the panniers of the loaded horses, and the young ones are placed within the panniers among the baggage. The men are excellent horsemen, and although the pack-horses may be overburthened, these fellows will only accommodate matters by riding slowly upon their own horses, and never think of dividing the loads more equally; but they preserve themselves and the animals upon which they ride quite unencumbered. They are said to be unmindful of all religious observances; and never to hear Mass or confess their sins. It is likewise said that they never marry out of their own nation.

There are now several British merchants established at Recife, and a consul likewise resides at that place; but at the time of my coming away, there was no protestant chapel, no clergyman, nor even a burial ground for our countrymen. An Act of Parliament has, I believe, provided for the establishment of these things, but no steps have been taken towards the accomplishment of the directions of the legislature. Without any outward appearance of religion, how are we to expect that the people of Brazil are to regard us as any thing better than what we were represented to them as being in former times?—as pagans, animals, and horses—pagoens, bichos, and cavallos, this is literally true; and although they are now aware that at any rate we have the forms of human beings, that we have the power of speech, and that we have our share of intellect in all the common transactions of the world, still how are we to look for respect from them towards a set of men, who have no appearance at least, of possessing any religious feelings? It should be recollected that we are[401] living among a people who are deeply rivetted to their own forms and ceremonies of worship, whose devotedness to their church establishment surpasses every other feeling. It is not thus that the British nation is to become respectable; we may have relations of trade with these people, but we must be content to be merely regarded according to our utility; there can be no respect for our general character as a body of men, none of that regard which would make us listened to in any great question, which would make our opinions and our assertions depended upon as coming from men of steadiness,—of religious habits. Nor can we be accounted as more than residents for a time, we cannot be considered as an established community, who are thus without any common bond of union, who have not any general place of meeting, who have not any one point to which all are directed; we have no appearance of belonging to one nation, as if we were brethren meeting in a foreign land. To these political reasons for the establishment of a place of worship are to be added those which are of far greater importance, those to which no Christian ought to be indifferent. I well know that it is not with the merchants that the evil arises;—but enough, I will go no farther, although I could tarry long upon this subject. I wish however that I could have avoided the mention of it altogether. I might have done so, if I had not felt that I was passing by unnoticed a subject upon which I have often spoken whilst I was upon the spot; and there my sentiments are well known to most of those persons with whom I associated.

CHAPTER XIX.

SLAVERY.

THE general equity of the laws regarding free persons of colour in the Portugueze South American possessions, has been to a certain degree extended to that portion of the population which is in a state of slavery; and the lives of the slaves of Brazil have been rendered less hard and less intolerable than those of the degraded beings who drag on their cheerless existence under the dominion of other nations. The Brazilian slave is taught the religion of his master, and hopes are held out of manumission from his own exertions; but still he is a slave, and must be guided by another man’s will; and this feeling alone takes away much of the pleasure which would be felt from the faithful discharge of his duty, if it was voluntarily performed. The consciousness that if the directions were not willingly attended to, the arbitrary will of the master would enforce their performance, removes much of the desire to please; obedience to a command is not required with any idea that refusal can possibly ensue, and therefore no merit is attached to its accomplishment by him whose orders are obeyed; nor does the slave feel that he is doing in any degree more than would be enforced if he had made any doubts. The world has heard so much, and from so many quarters, of the enormities which have been committed by slave-owners in the colonies with which England has had any communication; both from her own possessions, and from those of other[403] nations, that no doubts can be entertained of their existence. That such evil deeds are of frequent occurrence, I would not wish to suppose, though that they are dreadfully too frequent is well known; I had rather not be persuaded that man in so depraved a state is often to be met with;—that many civilized beings should have made such rapid returns to barbarism. I have to say, that in Brazil too, such instances of barbarity are spoken of—that they do exist; they are, however, of rare occurrence, they are seldom heard of, and are always mentioned with abhorrence; but it is enough that instances should be recorded, of the abuse of this absolute power of one man over another; it is enough that this absolute power itself should be allowed to continue, to render the system upon which it is founded an evil of such great importance, as to sanction all exertions for its removal, as to make any government overlook many inconveniences rather than increase the numbers of those human beings who suffer this dreadful degradation.

The Indian slavery has been for many years abolished in Brazil, and the individuals who are now in bondage in that country are Africans, and their descendants on both sides, or individuals whose mothers are of African origin; and no line is drawn at which the near approach to the colour and blood of the whites entitles the child, whose mother is a slave, to freedom. I have seen several persons who were to all appearance of white origin, still doomed to slavery.

Slaves, however, in Brazil, have many advantages over their brethren in the British colonies. The numerous holidays of which the Catholic religion enjoins the observance[213], give to the slave many days of rest or time to work for his own profit; thirty-five of these, and the Sundays besides, allow him to employ much of his time as he pleases. Few masters are inclined to restrain the right of their[404] slaves to dispose of these days as they think fit, or at any rate few dare, whatever their inclinations may be, to brave public opinion in depriving them of the intervals from work which the law has set apart as their own, that their lives may be rendered less irksome. The time which is thus afforded enables the slave, who is so inclined, to accumulate a sum of money; however this is by law his master’s property, from the incapability under which a slave labours of possessing any thing which he can by right call his own. But I believe there is no instance on record in which a master attempted to deprive his slave of these hard-earned gains. The slave can oblige his master to manumit him, on tendering to him the sum for which he was first purchased, or the price for which he might be sold, if that price is higher than what the slave was worth at the time he was first bought[214]. This regulation, like every one that is framed in favour of slaves, is liable to be evaded, and the master sometimes does refuse to manumit a valuable slave; and no appeal is made by the sufferer, owing to the state of law in that country, which renders it almost impossible for the slave to gain a hearing; and likewise this acquiescence in the injustice of the master proceeds from the dread, that if he was not to succeed he would be punished, and that his[405] life might be rendered more miserable than it was before[215]. Consequently a great deal depends upon the inclinations of the master, who will however be very careful in refusing to manumit, owing to the well-known opinion of every priest in favour of this regulation, to the feelings of the individuals of his own class in society, and to those of the lower orders of people, and likewise he will be afraid of losing his slave; he may escape with his money, and the master will then run much risk of never seeing him again, particularly if the individual is a creole slave[216]. In general therefore no doubts are urged, when application is made for manumission by a slave to his master; who is indeed oftentimes prepared for it by the habits[406] of industry and regularity of his slave, and by common report among the other slaves and free persons upon the estate, that the individual in question is scraping together a sum of money for this purpose. The master might indeed deprive the slave of the fruits of his own labour, but this is never thought of, because the slave preserves his money in a secret place, or has entrusted it to some person upon whom he can depend, and would suffer any punishment rather than disclose the spot in which his wealth lies concealed. A still more forcible reason than any other, for the forbearance of the master, is to be found in the dread of acting against public opinion; in the shame which would follow the commission of such an act; and perhaps the natural goodness which exists in almost every human being, would make him shun such gross injustice, would make him avoid such a deed of baseness.

A slave is often permitted by his owner to seek a master more to his liking; for this purpose a note is given, declaring that the bearer has leave to enter into the service of any one, upon the price which the master demands being paid by the purchaser. With this the slave applies to any individual of property whom he may wish to serve; owing to having heard a good report of his character towards his slaves, or from any other cause. This is a frequent practice, and at least admits the possibility of escape from a severe state of bondage to one that is less irksome.

A considerable number of slaves are manumitted at the death of their masters, and indeed some persons of large property fail not to set at liberty a few of them during their own life-time. A deed of manumission, however simply it may be drawn out, cannot be set aside; a register of these papers is preserved at the office of every notary-public, by which any distress which might be occasioned by the loss of the originals is provided against, for the copy of course holds good in law. A slave who has brought into the world, and has reared ten children, ought to be free, for so the law ordains; but this regulation is generally evaded; and besides, the number of children[407] is too great for many women to be enabled to be benefited by it[217]. The price of a new-born child is 5l. (20,000 mil-reis,) and the master is obliged to manumit the infant at the baptismal font, on the sum being presented. In this manner a considerable number of persons are set at liberty, for the smallness of the price enables many freemen who have had connections with female slaves to manumit their offspring; and instances occur of the sponsors performing this most laudable act. Not unfrequently female slaves apply to persons of consideration to become sponsors to their children, in the hopes that the pride of these will be too great to allow of their god-child remaining in slavery[218]. Thus by their own exertions, by the favour of their masters, and by other means, the individuals who gain their freedom annually are very numerous.

The comforts of slaves in different situations are widely disproportionate; whilst some are doomed to an existence of excessive toil and misery, from the nature of their occupations and the characters of their masters, others lead a comparatively easy life. It[408] is true, that in countries of which the workmen are free, the daily labour is unequally divided, but their wages are proportioned accordingly, and as each man is a free agent he seeks that employment to which his bodily and mental powers are befitted. The slave is purchased for a certain purpose, and is to follow the line of life which his master has chalked out for him; he is not to be occupied in that which he would himself prefer, or at any rate his wishes are not consulted upon the subject. The price for which a slave is to be obtained, and the convenience of the purchaser are oftener consulted than the fitness of his bodily strength to the labour which it is his lot to be ordered to perform. Besides the obligation of following an unsuitable trade, or at any rate of following one which he has not chosen, he has to endure the still incomparably greater grievance of bearing with a tyrannical, an inconsiderate, or a peevish master, whose commands are not to be called in question, whose will is absolute, and from whom the possibility of appeal is far removed, and that of redress placed at a still greater distance. Masters are punished by the payment of fines, for cruelty to their slaves, if any account of such behaviour should reach the ear of the Ouvidor of the province; but I never heard of punishment having been carried farther than this trifling manner of correction. The emoluments which proceed from this mode of chastising the offenders weigh heavily in its favour; the injury which the slave has received is not, I am afraid, the only cause which urges the exaction of the stipulated penalty; of this the slave does not receive any part.

All slaves in Brazil follow the religion of their masters[219]; and notwithstanding[409] the impure state in which the Christian church exists in that country, still such are the beneficent effects of the Christian religion, that these, its adopted children, are improved by it to an infinite degree; and the slave who attends to the strict observance of religious ceremonies invariably proves to be a good servant. The Africans who are imported from Angola are baptized in lots before they leave their own shores, and on their arrival in Brazil they are to learn the doctrines of the church, and the duties of the religion into which they have entered. These bear the mark of the royal crown upon their breasts, which denotes that they have undergone the ceremony of baptism, and likewise that the king’s duty has been paid upon them[220]. The slaves which are imported from other parts of the coast of Africa, arrive in Brazil unbaptized, and before the ceremony of making them Christians can be performed upon them, they must be taught certain prayers, for the acquirement of which one year is allowed to the master, before he is obliged to present the slave at the parish church. This law is not always strictly adhered to as to time, but it is never evaded altogether.[410] The religion of the master teaches him that it would be extremely sinful to allow his slave to remain a heathen; and indeed the Portugueze and Brazilians have too much religious feeling to let them neglect any of the ordinances of their church. The slave himself likewise wishes to be made a Christian, for his fellow-bondmen will in every squabble or trifling disagreement with him, close their string of opprobrious epithets with the name of pagam (pagan.) The unbaptized negro feels that he is considered as an inferior being, and although he may not be aware of the value which the whites place upon baptism, still he knows that the stigma for which he is upbraided will be removed by it; and therefore he is desirous of being made equal to his companions. The Africans who have been long imported, imbibe a Catholic feeling, and appear to forget that they were once in the same situation themselves. The slaves are not asked whether they will be baptized or not; their entrance into the Catholic church is treated as a thing of course; and indeed they are not considered as members of society, but rather as brute animals, until they can lawfully go to mass, confess their sins, and receive the sacrament.

The slaves have their religious brotherhoods as well as the free persons; and the ambition of a slave very generally aims at being admitted into one of these, and at being made one of the officers and directors of the concerns of the brotherhood; even some of the money which the industrious slave is collecting for the purpose of purchasing his freedom will oftentimes be brought out of its concealment for the decoration of a saint, that the donor may become of importance in the society to which he belongs. The negroes have one invocation of the Virgin, (or I might almost say one virgin) which is peculiarly their own. Our Lady of the Rosary is even sometimes painted with a black face and hands. It is in this manner that the slaves are led to place their attention upon an object in which they soon take an interest, but from which no injury can proceed towards themselves, nor can any through its means be by them inflicted upon their masters. Their ideas are removed from any[411] thought of the customs of their own country, and are guided into a channel of a totally different nature, and completely unconnected with what is practised there. The election of a King of Congo (which I have mentioned in chapter 13,) by the individuals who come from that part of Africa, seems indeed as if it would give them a bias towards the customs of their native soil; but the Brazilian Kings of Congo worship Our Lady of the Rosary, and are dressed in the dress of white men; they and their subjects dance, it is true, after the manner of their country; but to these festivals are admitted African negroes of other nations, creole blacks, and mulattos, all of whom dance after the same manner; and these dances are now as much the national dances of Brazil as they are of Africa. The Portugueze language is spoken by all the slaves, and their own dialects are allowed to lay dormant until they are by many of them quite forgotten. No compulsion is resorted to to make them embrace the habits of their masters, but their ideas are insensibly led to imitate and adopt them. The masters at the same time imbibe some of the customs of their slaves, and thus the superior and his dependant are brought nearer to each other. I doubt not that the system of baptizing the newly-imported negroes, proceeded rather from the bigotry of the Portugueze in former times than from any political plan; but it has had the most beneficial effects. The slaves are rendered more tractable; besides being better men and women, they become more obedient servants; they are brought under the controul of the priesthood, and even if this was the only additional hold which was gained by their entrance into the church, it is a great engine of power which is thus brought into action.

But in no circumstance has the introduction of the Christian religion among the slaves been of more service than in the change which it has wrought in the men regarding the treatment of their women, and in the conduct of the females themselves. A writer of great reputation on West-Indian affairs, states that the introduction of the marriage ceremony among the slaves of the colonies of which he treats “would be utterly impracticable to any good purpose;” and[412] again, that he who conceives that a remedy may be found for polygamy “by introducing among them the laws of marriage, as established in Europe, is utterly ignorant of their manners, propensities, and superstitions[221].” Is it not that by the masters these things are considered to be of little importance, and therefore unworthy of much trouble? As long as the work is done, little else is thought of. Where the interest of the master is concerned, the “manners, propensities, and superstitions” will soon be overcome. I hope that at the present day such opinions do not generally exist. All men in the same state of barbarism treat their women in the same manner; the evil lies not with the race of beings, but in the dreadful situation to which this one is reduced. Why, therefore, not attempt to improve and to benefit the individuals of which it is composed?

The slaves of Brazil are regularly married according to the forms of the Catholic church; the banns are published in the same manner as those of free persons; and I have seen many happy couples (as happy at least as slaves can be) with large families of children rising around them. The masters encourage marriages among their slaves, for it is from these lawful connections that they can expect to increase the number of their creoles. A slave cannot marry without the consent of his master, for the vicar will not publish the banns of marriage without this sanction. It is likewise permitted that slaves should marry free persons; if the woman is in bondage, the children remain in the same state, but if the man is a slave, and she is free, their offspring is also free. A slave cannot be married until the requisite prayers have been learnt, the nature of confession be understood, and the Sacrament can be received. Upon the estates the master or manager is soon made acquainted with the predilections of the slaves for each other, and these being discovered, marriage is forthwith determined upon, and the irregular proceedings are made lawful. In towns there is more licentiousness among[413] the negroes, as there is among all other classes of men[222]. The passion of love is supposed only to exist in a certain state of civilization, and this may be granted without at the same time declaring that negroes are incapable of lasting attachment, without supposing that the regard of each sex is mere animal desire, unconnected with predilection. That species of affection which is heightened until personal possession is almost forgotten, doubtless is not felt by human beings who are in a state of barbarism; but still a negro may be attached, he may fix upon one object in preference to all others. That this is the case, I can vouch; I have known and have heard of many instances in which punishments and other dangers have been braved to visit a chosen one; in which journies by night have been made after a day of fatigue; in which great constancy has been shewn, and a determination that the feelings of the heart shall not be controuled.[223]

The great proportion of men upon many of the estates, produces, of necessity, most mischievous consequences. A supply is requisite to keep up the number of labourers. The women are more[414] liable to misconduct[224], and the men imbibe unsettled habits; but if an adequate number of females are placed upon the estate, and the slaves are trained and taught in the manner which is practised upon well-regulated plantations, the negroes will be as correct in their behaviour, as any other body of men; and perhaps their conduct may be less faulty than that of other descriptions of persons, who have less to occupy their time, though their education may be infinitely superior. That many men and many women will be licentious, has been and is still the lot of human nature, and not the peculiar fault of the much injured race of which I speak.

I shall now state the manner in which the Africans are transported from their own country to Brazil, and the disposal of them on their arrival in South America; the characters of the several African nations with which the ships are loaded; the condition of those who are employed in Recife,—upon the sugar plantations,—in the Mata or cotton estates,—and in the Sertam or cattle districts.

As the voyage from the coast of Africa to the opposite shores of South America is usually short, for the winds are subject to little variation and the weather is fine, the vessels which are employed in this traffic are generally speaking small, and are not of the best construction. The situation of captain or master of a slave ship is considered of secondary rank in the Portugueze merchant-service, and the persons who are usually so occupied are vastly inferior to the generality of the individuals who command the large and regular[415] trading vessels between Europe and Brazil. The slave ships[225] were formerly crowded to a most shocking degree, nor was there any means of preventing this; but a law has been passed for the purpose of restricting the number of persons for each vessel. However, I more than suspect, that no attention is paid to this regulation,—that means are made use of to evade the law. On the arrival at Recife of a cargo of slaves, the rules of the port direct that these persons shall be disembarked and taken to St. Amaro, which is an airy spot, and sufficiently distant from the town to prevent the admittance of any infectious disorder, if any such should exist among the newly-imported negroes; and yet the place is at a convenient distance for the purchasers, St. Amaro being situated immediately opposite to Recife, upon the inland bank of the expanse of waters which is formed by the tide on the land side of the town. However, like many others, this excellent arrangement is not attended to, and even if the slaves are removed for a few days to St. Amaro, they are soon conveyed back to the town. Here they are placed in the streets before the doors of their owners, regardless of decency, of humanity, and of due attention to the general health of the town. The small pox, the yaws, and other complaints have thus frequent opportunities of spreading. It is probable, that if the climate was not so very excellent as it is, this practice would be[416] discontinued, but if it was not put a stop to, and the country was subject to pestilential complaints, the town would not be habitable.

In the day-time some of the streets of Recife are in part lined with these miserable beings, who are lying or sitting promiscuously upon the foot-path, sometimes to the number of two or three hundred. The males wear a small piece of blue cloth round their waists, which is drawn between the legs and fastened behind; the females are allowed a larger piece of cloth, which is worn as a petticoat; and sometimes a second portion is given to them, for the purpose of covering the upper parts of the body. The stench which is created by these assemblages is almost intolerable to one who is unaccustomed to their vicinity; and the sight of them, good God, is horrid beyond any thing. These people do not however seem to feel their situation, any farther than that it is uncomfortable. Their food consists of salt meat, the flour of the mandioc, beans, and plantains occasionally; the victuals for each day are cooked in the middle of the street in an enormous caldron. At night they are driven into one or more warehouses, and a driver stands to count them as they pass; they are locked in, and the door is again opened at day-break on the following morning. The wish of these wretched creatures to escape from this state of inaction and discomfort is manifested upon the appearance of a purchaser; they start up willingly, to be placed in the row for the purpose of being viewed and handled like cattle, and on being chosen they give signs of much pleasure. I have had many opportunities of seeing slaves bought, for my particular friends at Recife lived opposite to slave-dealers. I never saw any demonstrations of grief at parting from each other; but I attribute this to the dread of punishment if there had been any flow of feeling, and to a resigned or rather despairing sensation which checks any shew of grief, and which has prepared them for the worst, by making them indifferent to whatever may occur; besides, it is not often that a family is brought over together,—the separation of relatives and friends has taken place in Africa. It is among the younger part of the assemblage of persons who are exposed for sale that pleasure is particularly[417] visible at the change of situation, in being removed from the streets of the town; the negroes of more advanced age do whatever the driver desires, usually with an unchanged countenance. I am afraid that very little care is taken to prevent the separation of relations who may chance to come over in the same ship; and any consideration on this point lies entirely with the owner of the cargo[226]. A species of relationship exists between the individuals who have been imported in the same ship; they call each other malungos, and this term is much regarded among them. The purchaser gives to each of his newly-bought slaves a large piece of baize and a straw hat, and as soon as possible marches them off to his estate. I have often in travelling met with many parties going up to their new homes, and have observed that they were usually cheerful;—any thing is better than to sit at the door of the slave merchant in Recife. The new master too does every thing in his power to keep them[418] in good humour at first, whatever his conduct may afterwards be towards them.

The slaves which are usually brought to Pernambuco are known under the names of Angola, Congo, Rebolo, Anjico, Gabam, and Mosambique. These last have only been imported of late years, owing, I rather imagine, to the difficulty with which slaves have been obtained on the western coast of Africa, caused by the vigilance of the British cruisers in that quarter, and the vexations to which some of the slave ships have been liable from detention, although they were ultimately suffered to proceed on their voyages.

The Angola negroes make the best slaves; many of them have been in bondage in their own country, and therefore to these the change is for the better. Some of them have even served the whites in the city of Loanda, which is the principal Portugueze settlement upon the coast of Africa. But others were free in Angola, and consequently to these is allotted a life of disappointment and vexation, whenever they remember their own country. The negroes from Angola are however usually tractable, and may be taught to perform the menial services of a house or stable without much pains being taken with them; and they often shew great attachment[227], fidelity,[419] and honesty. The Angola negroes are those who most commonly exert themselves to purchase their own freedom. The Congo negroes partake much of the character of the Angolans, being equally tractable; but they are steadier, and are particularly adapted to the regular routine of field labour. They are less quick in their movements than the Angolans, and do not seem to be so spirited and courageous; they obtain in a short period a knowledge of the Portugueze language. The Rebolos can scarcely in person be distinguished from the two former, being stoutly made, and not tall; they have a black skin, but it is not shining, and the features are flat. They seem to be a branch of the Angolans and Congos, but they are more obstinate, and more subject to despond than the others. These three tribes appear to have belonged originally to the same nation, for many parts of their characters are similar, their persons are of the same mould, and the dialects of each sufficiently resemble each other to be understood by all the three.

The Anjico negroes shew many marks of being of another nation; they make good slaves if they are well treated, and are yet preserved under due controul. They are difficult to train, and bear a heavy yoke impatiently; there is in them much independence of character, if they dared to shew it; there is also much cunning, and the desire and capability of over-reaching. Their persons are tall and well formed, their skins are of a glossy black, their eyes are expressive, and their countenances plainly denote that it is not by their own will that they continue in slavery. They are not however numerous. Great neatness is shown by them in their household arrangements, and they often exert themselves to obtain money; but they are less careful and prudent than the nations of which I have already treated. All the Anjico negroes have three gashes on each cheek, which are cut in a circular form from the ear to the mouth.[228]

[420]

The Gabam or Gaboon negroes have not been very long introduced, and from the well known general character of the nation they are sold at a reduced price. I have heard many persons state that they are cannibals[229]. They appear to be in a still more savage state than any of the former-mentioned nations, and are much given to despondency and consequent suicide; indeed ten and even twenty that have been purchased together have, in some instances, in the course of a short period, all died from despair, or have put an end to their lives in a more summary manner. It is with difficulty that the Gaboons can be taught to perform any labour above that of the simplest description; and sometimes they remain for years unbaptized, from the great trouble which is required in making them articulate any sounds to which they have not been accustomed. Yet it is rather that they will not be taught, than that they cannot learn, for I have heard many planters say, that if a Gabam negro can be made cheerful, and is induced to take an interest in those persons who are around him and in his occupations, he becomes a most useful and intelligent slave. The Gabam negroes are tall and handsome, and their skins are very black and shining; the features of many of them are good, being much less flat and blunt than those of their countrymen in general.

The Mosambique negroes are a poor and ugly race of beings, languid and inactive, and subject to despondency. Their colour inclines to brown, but still they have completely the negro features. As the price of these slaves is much below that of any other description of negroes, some of the planters have taken them on trial, but they are said to have many of the bad qualities of the Gaboons without their hardiness.

A negro will sometimes tell his master that he is determined to[421] die, and too often the effects of his resolve begin shortly afterwards to be perceived; he becomes thin, loses his appetite, and dies almost a skeleton. One of the means which it is very generally said that these miserable beings employ for the purpose of destroying themselves, is that of eating considerable quantities of lime and earth, which either produces emaciation or dropsy. But it is strange that a habit of eating lime and earth should be contracted in some instances by African and likewise by creole children, and as frequently by free children as by those who are in slavery. This practice is not treated as if it were a disorder, but it is accounted a habit, which, by attention from those who have the charge of the children—in watching and punishing them, may be conquered without the aid of medicine. I know of some instances in which no medical treatment was deemed necessary, but the individuals recovered by means of chastisement and constant vigilance. It is a subject upon which I was often led to converse, and I discovered that most of the free-born families were acquainted with the practice from experience among their own children or those of their neighbours, and that they always considered it as a habit and not as a disease. Among adults, however, slaves are infinitely more subject to it than free persons.[230]

Pernambuco has never experienced any serious revolt among the slaves; but at Bahia there have been several commotions[231]. I believe that Bahia contains fewer free people than Pernambuco in proportion to the number of slaves; but I cannot avoid attributing the quietude of the latter in some measure to the circumstance of few of the Gold Coast negroes being imported to it, whilst at Bahia the principal stock of slaves is from that part of Africa. It is by the[422] Mina negroes in Bahia that the revolts have been made, and by the Koromanties in Jamaica, in 1760[232]. These are, I believe, the same people under different names, and they are represented as possessing great firmness of mind and body, and ferociousness of disposition.

The Obeah-men of the Columbian islands and the Mandingueiros of Brazil[233], are evidently, from their practices, the same description of persons. The religion which the Brazilian slaves are taught, has likewise a salutary effect upon this point, for it tends to lessen or entirely removes the faith which was previously entertained by the Africans respecting the incantations of their countrymen; the superstitions of their native land are replaced by others of a more harmless nature. The dreadful effects of faith in the Obeah-men which sometimes occur in the British colonies, are not experienced in Brazil from the Mandingueiros: belief in their powers is certainly not extinguished, and indeed even some of the creoles imbibe a notion of the efficacy of their spells, but the effects of these are not generally felt.

The slaves who are employed in Recife may be divided into two classes; household slaves, and those which pay a weekly stipend to their owners proceeding from the earnings of some employment which does not oblige them to be under the immediate eye of the master. The first class have little chance of gaining their freedom by their own exertions, and are subject to the caprice and whims of their superiors; but some few are manumitted by the kindness of those whom they have served, and the clothing and food which is afforded[423] to them is generally better than that which the other class obtains. This second class consists of joiners, shoemakers, &c. canoe-men, porters, &c. and these men may acquire a sufficient sum of money to purchase their own freedom, if they have the requisite prudence and steadiness to allow their earnings to accumulate; but too often, the inducements to expend them foolishly are sufficiently powerful to make these people swerve from their purpose. They generally earn more each day than the master exacts, and have besides the Sundays and holidays as their own; and if the slave feeds and cloaths himself, to these are added the Saturday of every week[234]. I think that allowing largely for him to supply every thing requisite for his support and decent appearance, and yet something for what to a person in such a rank in life may be accounted luxury, a slave so circumstanced may in ten years purchase his freedom. If his value is great, it is because his trade is lucrative, so that these things keep pace with each other. The women have likewise some employments by which they may be enabled to gain their liberty; they make sweetmeats and cakes, and are sent out as cooks, nurses, housekeepers, &c.

Creole negroes and mulattos are generally accounted quicker in learning any trade than the Africans. This superior aptitude to profit by instruction is doubtless produced by their acquaintance from infancy with the manners, customs, and language of their masters. From the little experience, however, which I have had, and from the general remarks which I have gathered from others, who might be judged better acquainted than myself with slaves, I think that an[424] African who has become chearful, and seems to have forgotten his former state, is a more valuable slave than a creole negro or mulatto. He will be generally more fit to be trusted. Far from the latter submitting quietly to the situation in which they have been born, they bear the yoke of slavery with impatience; the daily sight of so many individuals of their own casts, who are in a state of freedom, makes them wish to be raised to an equality with them, and they feel at every moment their unfortunate doom. The consideration with which the free persons of mixed casts are treated, tends to increase the discontent of their brothers who are in slavery. The Africans do not feel this, for they are considered by their creole brethren in colour, as being so completely inferior, that the line which by public opinion has been drawn between them, makes the imported slave feel towards the creoles as if they had not been originally of the same stock.

Miserable objects are at times to be seen in Recife, asking alms in various quarters of the town, aged and diseased; some of these persons have been slaves, and when, from infirmity they have been rendered useless, their masters have manumitted them; and thus being turned away to starve in their old age, or in a crippled state, their only resource is to beg in the public streets. These instances of gross injustice and depravity in masters, are not many, but that they should occur, is sufficient to cause the aid of law to be called in, that the existence of them should be prevented.

The sugar-plantations which belong to the Benedictine monks and Carmelite friars, are those upon which the labour is conducted with the greatest attention to system, and with the greatest regard to the comfort and ease of the slaves. I can more particularly speak of the estates of the Benedictine monks, because my residence at Jaguaribe gave me daily opportunities of hearing of the management of one of their establishments; and although sugar-works were not erected upon the estate in question, still the number of negroes which were upon it, was fully adequate to this purpose. Besides, in some years canes were planted upon it, which were to be ground at[425] some neighbouring mill. The frequent communication, likewise, which there was between the slaves of this plantation and those of the other estates, belonging to the same convent, upon which sugar is made, enabled me to ascertain that all the establishments which are owned by the Benedictines, are conducted in the same manner.

The slaves of the Jaguaribe St. Bento estate are all creoles, and are in number about one hundred. The children are carefully taught their prayers by some of the elder negroes, and the hymn to the Virgin is sung by all the slaves, male and female, who can possibly attend, at seven o’clock every evening; at this hour it is required that every person shall be at home. The young children are allowed to amuse themselves as they please during the greatest part of the day; and their only occupation for certain hours is to pick cotton for lamps, and to separate the beans which are fit for seed from those which are rotten, and other work of the same description. When they arrive at the age of ten and twelve years, the girls spin thread for making the coarse cotton cloth of the country, and the boys attend to the horses and oxen, driving them to pasture, &c. If a child evinces peculiar fitness for any trade, care is taken that his talents should be applied in the manner which he would himself prefer. A few of them are taught music, and assist in the church festivals of the convent. Marriages are encouraged; as early as the age of seventeen and eighteen years for the men, and at fourteen and fifteen for the girls, many of these unions take place. Immediately after their entrance into this state, the people begin to labour regularly in the field for their owners; oftentimes both boys and girls request the manager to allow them to commence their life of daily toil, before the age which is pointed out by the regulations of the convent; and this occurs because they are not permitted to possess provision grounds of their own until they labour for their masters. Almost every description of labour is done by piece-work; and the task is usually accomplished by three o’clock in the afternoon, which gives to those who are industrious an opportunity of working daily upon their own grounds. The slaves are allowed the Saturday of every[426] week to provide for their own subsistence, besides the Sundays and holidays. Those who are diligent fail not to obtain their freedom by purchase. The provision grounds are never interfered with by the monks, and when a negro dies or obtains his freedom, he is permitted to bequeath his plot of land to any of his companions whom he may please to favour in this manner. The superannuated slaves are carefully provided with food and cloathing.[235]

None of the monks reside upon the Jaguaribe estate, but one of them comes from Olinda almost every Sunday and holiday to say Mass. Upon the other Benedictine estates there are resident monks. The slaves treat their masters with great familiarity; they only pay respect to the abbot, whom they regard as the representative of the Saint. The conduct of the younger members of the communities of regular clergy, is well known not to be by any means correct; the vows of celibacy are not strictly adhered to. This circumstance decreases the respect with which these men might otherwise be treated upon their own estates, and increases much the licentiousness of the women. I have seen upon these plantations many light-coloured mulatto slaves; but when the approximation to white blood becomes considerable, a marriage is projected for the individual with a person of a darker tint. No compulsion is made use of to oblige any one to marry, and therefore many of the slaves, contrary to the wishes of their masters, remain single. The monks allow their female slaves to marry free men, but the male slaves are not permitted to marry free women. Many reasons are alleged in favour of this regulation. One is that they do not wish that a slave should be useless in the way of increasing the stock of the plantation;[427] likewise the monks do not wish to have a free family residing among their slaves (for obvious reasons), which must be the case if a man marries a free woman; they have less objection to a man, because he is during the whole of the day away from their people, or is perhaps employed by the community, and thus in part dependant upon it, and he merely comes to sleep in one of the huts; besides, a stranger is contributing to the increase of the stock.

The Jaguaribe estate is managed by a mulatto slave, who married a person of his own colour, and she likewise belonged to the convent. Her husband has purchased her freedom and that of her children; he possesses two African slaves, the profits of whose labour are entirely his own; but he is himself obliged to attend to the business of the plantation, and to see that the work of his masters is properly executed. This man has offered his two Africans in exchange for himself to the monks; but they tell him that the Jaguaribe estate could not be properly managed without his assistance; and, though much against his inclination, he continues in slavery. This is one of the strongest instances of man’s desire to act for himself; Nicolau enjoys the entire direction of the estate, and every comfort which a man of his description can possibly wish for; when he moves from home, he is as well mounted as the generality of the rich planters; he is permitted to be seated in the presence of his masters, and indeed is allowed all the privileges of free men; and yet the consciousness of being under the controul of another always occupies his mind, and leads him to desire the possession of those privileges as a right, which he at present only enjoys by sufferance.[236]

[428]

Slavery, however, in this less intolerable state exists in only a few instances; and although a great many of the planters certainly do treat their slaves with considerable regard and attention to their comforts, still, upon none of the estates, excepting those of the religious communities which have been mentioned, is the complete system of rendering unnecessary a constant supply of new labourers, made the primary object;—the end to which all other considerations must give place.

Next to the plantations which belong to the convents, stand some of those of the rich Brazilian owners, who go on quietly, if not systematically. Here the labour is not in general done by piece-work, nor do the labourers provide for their own subsistence; and the slaves are sent to the field at an earlier age than they ought, and earlier than is practised upon the convent estates. Some of the plantations, however, which are owned by individuals, do give the Saturday of each week for the slave to support himself[237]. Corporal punishments are resorted to contrary to the custom of the St. Bento and Carmo estates, and though great cruelties are not often committed[238], still the mode of punishment produces much[429] suffering, much misery, much degradation. Confinement and privations, would, I rather imagine, be more efficacious. The pride of the slave, who is obliged to appear abroad with his back covered with scars, is at first much hurt; but the shame of being seen in this state soon wears off, and then all hopes of reform may be given up; he will continue in his faults, and be indifferent to the stripes which he must occasionally undergo for committing them. I have been requested by slaves, who had been often so treated, to punish them with the whip, and not to make them endure the misery of sitting in the stocks in solitary confinement. But the punishment is suffered in private; no exposure is occasioned by it. It would appear strange that the slave should prefer corporal punishment; and this would seem to denote that this class of men possesses none of those feelings of shame of which I have spoken; but I am convinced, that these are as deeply implanted in the negro, as in any other race of human beings. The case is this, where a slave has been often punished with the whip, and is seeing many of his companions and acquaintance undergoing the same punishment frequently, the knowledge that it is what he himself has before borne, and that so many are thus treated, takes away the horror which he would otherwise feel at the kind of chastisement. This proves the debased state,—the very low ebb to which human nature may be brought. The additional rigour which thus the slave seems to consider confinement to be, would be a recommendation to some persons, and perhaps the feeling is in the main right; for if the crime is great, the punishment should be adequate, and by this means of confinement[430] no degradation of the human being is occasioned. Hopes may be entertained that the time which is given for reflection, and the depression of spirits which is produced by the loneliness of the situation, may bring about a correction of error; but by the whip, angry and vindictive feelings are excited, or despair is the consequence, and in either case the owner will be injured; in the former, by a determination to continue in fault, and in the latter by the death or inaction of the sufferer. The objection which is principally to be urged against the mode of chastisement, which I have accounted the least prejudicial to the slave, considered as a rational being, is to be met with in the loss of time which is incurred by confinement a due length; but I think, that this would be much more than compensated by the loss of health and of character which the negro suffers in undergoing punishment by the whip, and even of time during the period that the slave is recovering from the stripes. Iron collars, chains, and other punishments of the same description are likewise made use of, and are liable to the objection of rendering callous the sense of shame. I have observed, and have often heard it remarked, that scarcely any of the slaves who receive frequent correction, ever gain their freedom through their own exertions. The bad dispositions and inclinations of many, and the indifference which is produced in others by severe punishments, sufficiently account for this fact.[239]

The creole slaves are usually employed as tradesmen and household servants; even upon the sugar plantations this is the case where they are not more numerous than what are necessary to fill these departments; to the Africans the field labour is chiefly allotted. The negroes are sent to work as the sun rises, and far from being more capable of exertion in the early part of the morning than under the mid-day heat, the Africans are inactive and[431] languid, until the increasing power of the sun removes the chill which they receive from the cool morning air. They frequently leave their huts wrapped up in their coverlids of baize, seemingly much distressed by the cold. The negroes breakfast about eight o’clock, and for this meal half an hour or less is allowed; and some masters expect that their slaves shall breakfast before they commence their work in the morning;—that is, before sunrise. The time which is allowed for dinner, is from twelve o’clock till two, when the labourers again continue their labour until half past five o’clock. They are now, generally speaking, expected to pick a small bundle of grass for the master’s saddle-horses, in some of the neighbouring provision grounds; but if this is not requisite, the work continues until sunset, about six o’clock. On the arrival of the people at home in the evening, they are sometimes required to scrape the rind from the mandioc for about one or two hours; but as none of the principal estates make a practice of selling the flour of the mandioc, and only prepare the quantity which is necessary for the subsistence of the slaves, this labour only occurs about once in each week, or less frequently. In crop time, the work is only discontinued on Sundays and holidays; and, as is practised on board vessels at sea, the negroes relieve each other at stated hours.

The field negroes are attended by a feitor or driver, who is sometimes a white man; but more frequently a free mulatto is employed for the purpose. It is the practice likewise of some of the planters to appoint a Creole, or even an African slave to the situation. Upon a feitor who is a slave, more reliance is to be placed than upon a free person of colour, for the slave feitor becomes responsible to his master for the work which is to be executed, and is therefore careful that every one should do his duty. It is a remark which is generally made; that the slave feitores require to be watched, that they may be prevented from being too rigorous towards those whom they are appointed to command; their behaviour is usually more overbearing than that of free men; and next to the slaves the European feitores are the most tyrannical. It is likewise frequently observed[432] that even manumitted Africans who become possessed of slaves, which occasionally occurs, treat them in a severe and unfeeling manner, that is nothing softened, but rather rendered more violent, by a remembrance of their own sufferings. Experience in trouble too often leads those who have suffered to the infliction of equal or greater hardships, when opportunities for so doing are afforded; the human being becomes callous; it is tormented, and torments with the same indifference.

Medical attendance is not so well provided for as it ought, which proceeds rather from the small number of practitioners in the country, than from the negligence of the planters; indeed due attention in this respect is so much and so evidently their interest, that this alone, independent of any feelings of humanity, would make them seek every means of obtaining proper advice for their slaves[240]. I do not think that the food which the slaves receive is in sufficient quantities, or of a quality sufficiently nourishing for the labour which they are required to perform; and it would be undoubtedly much too scanty, if the days of intended rest did not supply them with an addition to the stock of provisions which the master affords. I have in another place stated, that the vegetable part of the food of the sugar plantation negroes is chiefly the flour of the mandioc; the animal food is generally the carne do Searà, salt meat which comes from Rio Grande do Sul; and sometimes salt fish supplies its place. The cloathing which is given to the slaves by the master consists of a shirt and drawers of the cotton cloth of the country, and a straw hat; a piece of baize and a mat are likewise afforded to them; but these things are not renewed as often as a due consideration to their comforts would demand. Although the negroes are fed by their masters, still as lands are to be had in abundance, the[433] slaves are permitted to plant whatever they think fit, and to sell the produce to whom they please. Many of them rear pigs and poultry, and occasionally a horse is kept, from the hire of which money may be obtained.[241]

The newly-imported negroes are usually sent to work too soon after their arrival upon the estates; if proper care is taken of them, they may indeed be employed in almost any description of labour at the end of eight or ten months, but not much before this period. Damp situations should be avoided, and they ought not to be sent out in the morning earlier than eight o’clock, and they should breakfast before they leave home: by these precautions the loss of many slaves might be prevented; and they should be followed without any deviation, at least until the new negroes have been for a twelvemonth in the country to which they have been transported.[242]

I have represented slavery in what I conceive to be the state in which it usually exists upon the plantations; but any comforts which the human beings who are so circumstanced enjoy, and any respite from severe labour is so entirely at the will of the master, that the instances in which the fate of the slave is hard almost beyond endurance, are dreadfully too frequent. Some planters follow the system[434] of performing certain kinds of work during the early part of the night, besides making the negroes labour for the full usual time during the day;—for instance, the whole of the labour of making the mandioc flour, preparing with the feet the clay for making bricks and earthenware, also building mud walls; besides removing bricks, fire wood, and so forth from one place to another. This extra work is called quingingoo. I even knew of one instance in which the field labour was continued until twelve o’clock at night, by the light of large fires which had been kindled in several parts of the ground. For this manner of proceeding there was no reason, excepting that it was the master’s pleasure so to act, for the season was favourable, and not too far advanced to have continued the work in the usual manner and yet have accomplished the planting of the field in proper time. Of cruelty I could say much, but I have gone far enough, and must not enter into farther details upon this part of my subject. The relation of such misdeeds do more harm than good, they serve as examples for those who have unprincipled minds and unfeeling hearts; and who may consider them as paths in which they may tread, because others have trodden in them, rather than as precipices which ought to be avoided. The power which is entrusted to an individual is too great, abuses must arise, the system is radically bad, and every possible means should be put into action for its extirpation.

I am acquainted with the owners of a few estates who profess to purchase any slaves however bad their characters may be, if they can obtain them below the usual price. The persons of secondary rank who possess only a few slaves, and have not the same means of punishing them if they misbehave which exist upon the great estates, dispose of those of their negroes who act improperly to the rich men who will purchase them. There is an estate in the Mata, of which the owner is known to buy any slave, however ill disposed he may be, provided he can obtain him at a low price. This man manages to keep his estate in the best order possible; every thing goes on regularly upon it. He even prefers purchasing creole slaves to Africans, although the former are invariably more difficult to manage.[435] He is a man of determined character; on the arrival of one of these new slaves, he takes him to the prison of the estate and shews him the stocks, the chains, the whips, &c. saying “this is what you are to expect if you continue in your evil practices;” then a hut is given to the slave; and also cloaths and other articles of comfort, all of which are in a state of greater neatness, and are afforded in larger quantities than are usually bestowed upon the slaves of other plantations. On one occasion a negro struck the feitor, for which he was immediately confined, until the matter could be investigated; the freeman was found to be in fault, and was turned away. The negro suffered a certain degree of punishment for striking a superior, but he was ultimately appointed to the situation of feitor, having before held that of second driver. If this planter did not rule his people with great severity when guilty, his estate would soon become a den of thieves and murderers, for it is well known of what bad materials his gang of slaves is composed. This man is of mixed blood, but is nearly related to some of the first families of the province. It is well that a man should appear, who is willing, for the sake of a trifling difference in the price for which he may obtain his labourers, to take the trouble, and undergo the risk of person and of property in controuling a set of uneducated men, who cannot consequently have any principle of action, and whose habits are of the worst description. According to present circumstances he is of service to the country, for these fellows are kept quiet; but what a dreadful state it is, that the institutions of a country should be so framed that there should possibly exist in its centre, a body of human beings of which many of the individuals are criminals; men, who certainly never will be punished by the laws of the country, though punishment may or may not be inflicted by the person to whom they are subservient.

The slaves of the cotton estates undergo, as may be supposed, the same kind of punishments, and are subject to the same species of treatment as those which have already been spoken of; their management, as in other parts, is conducted on the whole in a more lenient[436] or more rigorous manner, according to the dispositions of the owners. They are however liable to greater privations from the nature of the country in which they reside, and they do not enjoy the benefit of crop time, which is so favourable to the negroes of the sugar plantations. Food is not so easily obtained in parts which are so distant from great towns and from the sea-coast; and greater difficulty is experienced in the sale of the mandioc, the beans and the maize which the slaves raise upon their own provision grounds. Still the negroes of the cotton districts sometimes gain their freedom by their own exertions, for as cotton is a most lucrative plant, and yet may be cultivated and brought to market with little or no out-lay of money, those of the slaves who plant regularly and gather their trifling quantities, frequently in the end meet with the reward of their labours. This is not the case with the sugar-cane, for in cultivating this plant assistance is necessary, much work being required to be done within a given time, owing to the seasons in planting it, and to the nature of the cane when it ripens; and there is likewise the difficulty of having it ground, and of receiving the proceeds, &c. In the manufactory the slave has not his property under his own eye; it passes through the hands of many other individuals, and as there is no personal respect for the owner of the property, nor any means of redress in case of injustice, the slave has only a poor chance of being properly dealt with; the above circumstances being those to which the culture of the sugar-cane is subject, it is scarcely ever planted by slaves on their own account.

The cattle districts employ few slaves, and these are occupied at home, for scarcely any of them, unless they are Creoles, are deemed capable of undertaking the more arduous employments of pursuing the cattle, breaking in horses, &c. The slaves remain in the huts to attend to the less enterprising occupations. The climate of the Sertam is accounted well adapted to the constitutions of the Africans; sickly negroes are often purchased at reduced prices by persons who reside in the interior, under the idea that the climate will soon re-establish their health. The circumstance of the non-existence[437] of the chigua or bicho[243], in the plains of the Sertam is of much importance; for this insect is extremely injurious to some of the negroes;—notwithstanding every precaution, the feet have in some instances been destroyed by them. The chigua has more effect upon the flesh of some persons than upon that of others; and the subjects who are violently attacked by this insect, are sometimes only preserved from being crippled by their removal to a part of the country in which it does not exist. The dryness of the air and soil of the Sertam generally removes agues of long standing, and likewise the complaint which frequently proceeds from the ague, and is called amarellidam, or yellowness. The Africans are seldom attacked by the ague, but they have often the amarellidam.

In the back settlements, beyond the plains of the Sertam, bordering upon the mountains where cotton is planted, and from which the plains are in part supplied with food, the number of negroes is becoming considerable. I have had opportunities of conversing with negroes from the Sertam, and have invariably found that they preferred their residence in the cattle districts even to a removal into the country bordering upon the sea. The diet of the Sertam negro is preferable to that of the plantation slave, so that this circumstance, independently of all others, would make the former be well aware of the superiority of his situation. Fresh beef and mutton are the usual food of the Sertam slaves, but upon the plantations these are rarely served out.

The most dreadful complaint to which negroes are subject more than other descriptions of men, is that which, in the Columbian islands is known under the name of yaws, and in Brazil by that of bobas. I had opportunities of seeing it, and most loathsome is the sight of the individuals who are afflicted with it. The body becomes covered with large ulcers, the patient is reduced to a mere skeleton,[438] and is rendered generally for a time quite helpless. The facility with which it is communicated to others increases the distress of the patient; for every precaution must be taken in separating the sufferer to some distance from the other slaves. The adult who recovers from it seldom enjoys as perfect health as before. The negroes say that it gets into the bone; every change of weather is felt by those who have had the disorder, although they are again accounted in health, and in some cases the use of one or other of the limbs is occasionally lost for a time. A certain diet must be observed for many months after the disorder has apparently left the person who has had it, for the purpose of preventing a relapse; and sometimes a deviation from this, even some years after, will cause violent pains in the joints. The following circumstances occurred under my own eyes. A child belonging to one of my neighbours, whilst I resided at Jaguaribe, was in the practice of coming to amuse itself with some of the children of the plantation. He had this disorder upon him; and soon afterwards the son of a labourer caught it; all this was not made known to me, until a slave of eight years of age was reported to me to have the bobas; and shortly afterwards an old man, the father of this child, likewise fell sick. In the course of a short time, notwithstanding every care was taken, other persons were afflicted with the disease. A surgeon was applied to, and he prescribed mercury to all the patients. An infant of a few months old, which afterwards caught the disease, underwent the same treatment. The children who had arrived at a certain age all recovered, and until the period of my departure, they had never experienced any return, nor had felt any bad effects from it. The old man still laboured under it, but was recovering. The growth of the infant was stopped by the disease, and very little hopes were entertained of saving its life.

This horrible disorder is contracted by inhabiting the same room with the patient, and by inoculation; this is effected by means of a small fly, from which every precaution is oftentimes of no avail. Great numbers of the insects of this species appear early in the[439] morning; but they are not so much seen when the sun is powerful. If one of them chances to settle upon the corner of the eye or mouth, or upon the most trifling scratch, it is enough to inoculate the bobas, if the insect comes from a person who labours under the disease. The same person can only have the bobas once. The scars which it leaves upon the bodies of the negroes have a most disgusting appearance; for the wounds have in some cases been of such long standing, and have penetrated so deep as to have changed the colour of the skin, which becomes of a most loathsome white colour.[244] However, deep wounds of any description have the same effect upon the negro skin.

There are considerable numbers of white persons and of colour who possess two or three slaves, and share with them the daily labour, even of the field. These slaves are, generally speaking, creoles, who have been reared in the family, or they are Africans who have been purchased very young for a trifling sum of money; they are frequently considered as part of the family, and share with the master the food for which both are working. These slaves appear on gala days well-dressed, and they have a certain air of independence, which shews that they think themselves to be something more in the world than mere drudges. The difference of the feeling of one of these men towards his master, and that of the[440] generality of the slaves which are owned by great proprietors, is very striking. The former will not suffer in his presence a word to be spoken against his master, whilst the latter cares not if he hears every injurious epithet made use of. The slaves of small proprietors are not so liable to imbibe many of the faults to which those of wealthy men are subject, and they possess more pride,—a greater wish to act honourably,—a greater dread of being upbraided for a fault. Upon large estates the assemblage of so many persons tends to depravation, and the wide distance which there is between the slave and the master tends to produce a greater feeling of inferiority; but among the small proprietors the difference of rank is infinitely less, owing, among other causes, to the assistance which they receive from each other, in their daily occupations.[245]

From the vastness of the country, it might be supposed that if a slave escapes from his master, the chances would be against his return, but this is not the case. The Africans particularly are generally brought back; they are soon distinguished by their manner of speaking the Portugueze language; and if any one of them cannot give a good account of himself, he will not be allowed to remain long unmolested, for the profit arising from the apprehension of a runaway slave is considerable. Besides, the manumitted African generally continues to reside in the neighbourhood of the estate upon which he has served as a slave; so that when a man of this description, that is, an African, comes without being known, to settle in a district, suspicion immediately arises that he is not free. The manumitted creoles remove to where they are not known, because they do not wish that the state in which they were born should reach their new place of residence. An African must have been brought to Brazil as a slave, and therefore his situation of a freeman proves that his character is good, or he could not have obtained his liberty; but a creole may have been born free, and consequently his former state as a slave he wishes to conceal. Creole slaves, and[441] more especially mulattos, often do escape, and are never afterwards heard of by their masters; but even these are sometimes brought back.

A case of great hardship occurred at Recife a short time before I left that place. A negro and his wife had escaped, and as their master had not received any tidings of them for sixteen or seventeen years, he supposed that both of them had died. However, one day there arrived at his door in Recife, a number of capitaens-do-campo with several persons in custody. He soon recognized his negro and negress, and was told that the five young persons who were with them were their children, and consequently his slaves. These poor creatures had been brought up until this period of their lives with the idea that they were free; and thus a young man of sixteen, and his sister of fourteen years of age, were at the season of joy and gladness to commence a life of misery. The master confined them all, until he could dispose of them to some slave-dealer, which he soon accomplished, and they were shipped from Recife for Maranham. I never heard how the discovery had been made, that these people were not free. Oh! system accursed, which thus damps the hopes and prospects of a whole life.

Some of the negroes who escape determine to shun the haunts of man, they conceal themselves in the woods, instead of attempting to be received into some distant village as free persons. They form huts, which are called mocambos, in the most unfrequented spots, and live upon the game and fruit which their places of retreat afford. These persons sometimes assemble to the number of ten or twelve, and then their dislodgement is difficult; for their acquaintance with the woods around gives them the advantage over any party which may be sent to attack them[246]. Sometimes a whole neighbourhood is[442] disturbed by one of these communities, who rob the provision grounds, steal calves[247], lambs and poultry; and stories are told of the Gabam negroes stealing children.

The slaves of Maranham are in a less favourable state than those of Pernambuco, on the whole; but the system which is followed respecting them is radically the same. Their food is usually rice, which is said to disagree with most of the nations which come from[443] Africa; and the treatment which they receive upon the estates in that part of the country, is said to be more rigorous; but of this I cannot myself speak, for I had no opportunities of judging.

Negroes who are decidedly of incorrigible character, are shipped from Pernambucco to Maranham, and though the cause for which these transportations are made, is well known, they are often sold to great advantage. Nothing tends so much to keep a slave in awe, as the threat of sending him to Maranham or to Parà.

That the general character of persons who are in a state of slavery should be amiable, and that goodness should predominate, is not to be expected; but we ought rather to be surprised at the existence of that degree of virtue which is to be found among those who are reduced to a situation of so much misery. Slaves are much inclined to pilfer, and particularly towards their masters this is very frequent; indeed many of them scarcely think that they are acting improperly in so doing[248]. Drunkenness is common among them[249]. A direct answer is not easily obtained from a slave, but the information which is required is learnt by means of four or five questions put in various ways. The necessity for this is frequently caused by stupidity, or from ignorance of the language in which the slave is addressed, rather than from any wish to deceive. It is in their behaviour to their families and companions, that the good part of the human being is displayed, and natural enough it is that it should be so. The negroes shew much attachment to their wives and children, to their other relations if they should chance to have any, and to their malungos or fellow passengers from Africa. The respect which is paid to old age, it is extremely pleasing to witness. Superannuated Africans, upon the estates, are never suffered to want any comforts[444] with which it is in the power of their fellow slaves to supply them. The old negroes are addressed by the term of pai and mai, father and mother. The masters likewise add this term to the name of their older slaves, when speaking to them. That the generality of the slaves should shew great attachment to their masters, is not to be expected; why should they? The connection between the two descriptions of persons, is not one of love and harmony, of good producing gratitude, of esteem and respect; it is one of hatred and discord, of distrust, and of continual suspicion; one of which the evil is so enormous, that if any proper feelings exist in those who are supposed to benefit from it, and in those who suffer under it, they proceed from our nature, and not from the system.

It will be seen from the above statement, that the slaves of those parts of Brazil which I have had opportunities of seeing, are more favourably situated than those of the Columbian islands; but still they are slaves, and in this word is included, great misery, great degradation, great misfortune.

CHAPTER XX.

IMPOLICY OF THE SLAVE TRADE.

FEW persons in Great Britain have now any doubts of the inhumanity of the slave trade, and none would presume to come forwards as its defenders. It is a great moral evil, perhaps the greatest in the world, from which England has at last been delivered. But her work is not yet done, other nations continue to transport the natives of Africa from their own shores to those of South America; and even when her efforts have succeeded in persuading them to forbid this trade, the plan of abolition must be followed up in her own colonies; she must atone for the crimes which she has committed, and prove to other countries her sincerity in the cause, by her zeal in rooting out a most execrable system with all prudent and possible expedition.

In Brazil there are several excellent men who still entertain the idea that the Africans are saved from death by the slave-dealers, and that if they were not purchased by Europeans, their countrymen would murder them; this was the opinion in England a few years ago, and therefore we cannot be surprised that the Brazilians should still consider it as being founded upon truth. It is their interest so to think, (or at any rate, they imagine that it is their interest) and they have no books or other means by which they might be undeceived. To the planters I fear that scarcely any arguments would be of any avail; they imagine that without slaves their estates must[446] decay, and therefore they fortify themselves under the notion of the humanity of the trade by which they obtain their supplies. If the chief body of the priests could be convinced of its cruelty,—of the effect which this trade has to render still more prominent than they would otherwise be, the bad qualities of the natives of Africa in their own country, and to check every thing that is good;—of its direct tendency to increase the manifold evils of the state of society existing in the parts of that continent which are subject to the resort of slave-dealers;—if the clergy could be made to believe that by their voice they were sanctioning one of the most shocking systems under which the world ever laboured, I know that their aid would be given to the abolition. I am aware likewise of the weight which their opinions carry with them among all other descriptions of persons. One of the chief arguments with the priesthood is the advantages which the Africans receive from their entrance into the Catholic church;—how much better would it be to teach them the Christian religion upon their native soil, without all the miseries to which they are subjected by their transportation!

Another opinion has also been adopted, which induces the Brazilians to suspect the motives of Great Britain in urging their government to abolish the trade. They say it was from policy alone that she abolished the slave trade, because her colonies were fully stocked; and that now she wishes to accomplish the abolition among all other nations who are not so well provided with labourers, that they may not rival her transatlantic possessions, and ultimately surpass them by the increased number of workmen[250]. It[447] is clear that those who hold out that upon such principles as these the abolition was effected in England, know nothing of its history;—for if they did, they would soon see from what pure motives the zeal for the prohibition of the slave-trade proceeded; they would read of the exertions and perseverance of Clarkson, the great apostle in this cause, and they would be convinced that the eloquence of Wilberforce could only emanate from the most disinterested sources. It would be perceived that these two individuals whose names will for ever be connected with the famous law to the passing of which they contributed so materially, were followed by a train of advocates in this glorious struggle, whose aid was afforded under circumstances which were as little liable to suspicion as the conduct of their great leaders. The proofs of the unstained principles upon which this act was carried through Parliament are so decisive, that a plain statement of facts would convince all those who were not previously determined to believe the contrary.

The government of Brazil has a difficult part to act; it rules a numerous body of slave-owners, who are scattered over a very extensive country, in which the authority of the sovereign will only of necessity be loosely recognized; the possibility of resisting his commands does exist, and though his mandates are issued in the style of despotism, still he must be careful not to go too far; for he has not the means of enforcing obedience to his edicts in the chief provinces, if any one of them chose to withdraw its allegiance. The government would be, I rather think, inclined to follow the example of the chief powers of Europe; but it must not be precipitate, the people must be prepared for the change, and have time given[448] them to think upon a subject, which, under their present impressions, is supposed to injure them so materially. It is at Bahia that the slave-dealers and planters have shewn themselves most violent in favour of the slave-trade; it is from that place that the most extensive traffic is carried on to the coast of Africa. In the province of Bahia there are great estates, possessing two, three, and four hundred slaves; the owners of these are consequently rich, and they possess power over the free population as well as over their own immediate dependents. It is in that quarter that the greatest inclination to resist whatever its people does not relish, has been experienced. Petitions containing forcible language have been made to the government at Rio de Janeiro, against the abolition and against the proceedings of the British cruisers stationed upon the coast of Africa, by which several slave ships have been captured[251]. The government of Brazil may, and ought to be persuaded by all peaceable and friendly means which independent States possess of urging each other, to do its utmost in accomplishing the much to be desired end; but still whatever our wishes may be, and however much the inclinations of the Portugueze ministry may coincide with them, they must consult the state of the country over which they rule.

A Brazilian writer who has published several pamphlets at Rio de Janeiro with the permission of the Regent, has spoken against the trade, as far as it is possible under present circumstances. Slavery he styles “a terrible cancer in the body politic, which[449] tends to impede the increase of the white race,” and as he rather quaintly expresses himself “to Africanize the New World[252].” This is not the only place in which the same writer speaks of slavery, and of the trade in these terms. A Portugueze writer of much reputation among his countrymen, says, “if we have never feared the power of the government, neither ought we to hesitate in combating the erroneous opinions of the people; confident that although he who opposes himself to the prejudices of a nation, renders his name odious, still he may be quite certain that posterity will do him justice[253].” Another Journal of equal reputation states, that “it is a great evil for the chief strength of an empire to consist in the number of its slaves; and if Brazil had once reflected, that each negro which she exports from Africa, is necessarily an enemy whom she is nurturing, she would perhaps not have dared to employ them at all; or at any rate she would have made use of them in smaller numbers[254].” I hope that other individuals of the same nation will see the subject in the same light, and will give their assistance in leading their countrymen to a knowledge of the equity, humanity, and good policy of abolishing this detestable traffic.

The ruin of Brazil is predicted, the decay of its agriculture and of its commerce are supposed to be inevitable from the want of labourers if the trade is prohibited. This is generally asserted wherever I have been, without the least consideration, without a thought being given to the possibility of employing the free population of the country in daily labour. It is said, that if Africans are not to be obtained, every thing must be at a stand, and the country can make no progress. This argument against the abolition, the Brazilians bring forwards even with much less plausibility than the [450]planters of the Columbian islands. In these the number of free persons of colour, is comparatively very small, whereas in Brazil, a great proportion of the population consists of free persons in the lower ranks of life. In some parts of the country which I have visited, the free people preponderate considerably, and in none of those districts which I saw, do I conceive that the slaves outnumber the free people in a greater proportion than three to one. It will have been seen from foregoing chapters, that the sugar plantations are not largely stocked with slaves, and that no estate is without some portion of its lands which are occupied by families who are in a state of freedom. The villages too contain free persons almost exclusively, and even in the large towns, the major part of the mechanics are free.

The slave trade is impolitic with regard to Brazil on the broad principle, that a man in a state of bondage will not be so serviceable to the community as one who acts for himself, and whose whole exertions are directed to the advancement of his own fortune, the increase of which, by regular means, adds to the general prosperity of the society to which he belongs. This is an undoubted and indisputable fact, to which every person assents, owing to the self-evidence of its truth; and which must be still more strongly imprinted on the mind of every one who has been in the habit of seeing the manner in which slaves perform their daily labour. Their indifference, and the extreme slowness of every movement, plainly point out the trifling interest which they have in the advancement of the work. I have watched two parties labouring in the same field, one of free persons, and the other of slaves, which occasionally, though very seldom, occurs. The former are singing, joking, and laughing, and are always actively moving hand and foot; whilst the latter are silent, and if they are viewed from a little distance, their movements are scarcely to be perceived.

Even if Brazil had only to depend upon its slaves for the increase of its agriculture and population, it would still be better for that country in the main, to put a stop to the introduction of Africans; but in that case, although its advancement would necessarily be[451] progressive, it would be slow. Every African who enters the country is an enemy of which the State is sanctioning the introduction. Besides Brazil is not in want of them, and even if that country made the greatest possible use of every individual whom it at present possesses, (which it does not,) and yet urgently and necessarily required an additional number of hands to continue the cultivation of the lands, the transportation of Africans is the worst manner of obtaining them, even in a political point of view. If, however, upon Africans alone its advancement was to depend, many years must pass before any great change would be seen in its riches and power, and consequently in its progress to the rank of a great nation. Brazil is, however, in a far different situation; her free population is numerous, and the time seems to have almost arrived, when this part of the community would take its proper place in society in spite of existing regulations[255]. So much do I imagine this to[452] be the case, that I think the abolition of the slave trade would scarcely be felt at Pernambuco after the first moment; and even any sensation which might be caused, would rather be produced artificially than necessarily. The rich slave owners would immediately rival each other in the purchase of the Africans who might happen to be on sale, and thus an increase of price would be produced; but the number of free persons is quite adequate to fill up any vacuum which it is supposed would be caused in the country by a stop being put to the supply of the imported part of the population.

Constituted as society is in civilized states, the poor must depend upon those who are sufficiently wealthy to give them employment; and again, the latter must depend upon the former for the execution of their projects. But the situation of Brazil excludes the lower ranks from the aid of those who are above them, and deprives the rich of the assistance which they might receive from the labour of the poor. The peasant is under the necessity of planting for his own subsistence, without possessing the capital which is requisite for the undertaking. If the crop fails he remains totally destitute. The exertions of a number of individuals each occupied singly in clearing and cultivating separate plots of land, cannot accomplish so easily, or with so much perfection, the work which might be done by the united efforts of the same number of persons. Even if the slave trade was to continue for a considerable length of time, the natural order of things would probably have their course, and free labourers would be employed upon every well regulated estate conjointly with the slaves. The lower ranks of people would become too numerous for each family to be able to possess a sufficient quantity of land for its own support, and this would oblige them to hire themselves to those who could afford to pay them; the planters would see the advantages of hiring their workmen, and thus, without any care or attention to this most important subject by the government of the country, would the labour of freemen be admitted. By the separation of labour into small spots of cultivated ground, (if cultivated it can be called) as is practised at present, great portions of land are wasted, and only a few families can possibly exist[453] upon the extent of surface, (each working for itself) which would give bread to a much greater number of persons, if they were employed conjointly;—if the labour was paid for by one who wished to obtain a good crop from the land, could pay for the work which was requisite, and gave the necessary attention to its culture; this would bring together and render useful to each other, the first class of people who enjoy considerable wealth, and the third class who do not possess any thing. The second class consisting of small planters, who live comfortably, have a decent house, three or four slaves, a horse or two and some other trifling property, would not be affected in the least by this change in the application of the labour of the class which is immediately below them. The secondary people, who cannot afford to increase their number of slaves, and yet are not able to accomplish their projects in planting with those which they possess, frequently hire free labourers.

Under the present system, the labour of free persons is not placed to the greatest advantage; their time is misemployed in performing alone with great difficulty, what would be done easily if several persons were occupied together. This is particularly apparent in a new country, where the obstacles which are to be surmounted in preparing lands for culture are so numerous and of such magnitude. If a man is aware that the obtaining of his daily bread depends directly upon the exertions of each day, it is probable that he will be careful in making use of the present moment, and not put off until the morrow what will so materially benefit him; and as he knows that his comforts depend upon his regular exertions, he will be more inclined to go through his daily occupations with punctuality. But if his gains do not correspond with the work which he does daily, the probability is that some carelessness will be perceived; and he will, from trifling causes, delay the performance of a task until a future moment. The hire which a labourer in the service of another man receives, is only rendered to him if he has performed his allotted work, otherwise the time is lost; no good fortune, no lucky season can reclaim it; but if his profits are expected to be meted to him[454] rather from the richness of the land which he has cultivated, from a favourable season, from the excellence of the seed, or from these causes combined, or from others which are not under his controul, he will more willingly stay idling at home, or accept an invitation to a merriment-making. Labour is not pleasant; men in general work from necessity, and therefore some stimulant is requisite to urge them to exertion; this occurs in any climate, and holds good still more frequently in one which naturally inclines to the indulgence of indolent propensities.[256]

If all men were free, the capital which is required in the establishment of a plantation, or the great exertions which, under existing circumstances, must be used to answer the payments which are to be made for the property obtained on credit would not be so necessary; or at any rate the experiment of entering into schemes for planting would not be so dangerous as it is at present, if the chief expenditure was not incurred in property which is so precarious and at the same time so valuable as slaves. In the purchase of any other description of live stock (to speak in creole language), the risk lies in diseases of the body only, and in those alone to which bodies that are inured to the climate are subject; but you transplant the negro from his native soil, which to him is the best in the world; and you have his wounded and desponding mind to heal. The vexations and privations which he must undergo are to be combated; his mind as well as his body must be kept in health, or little service will his master receive from him. The loss which is occasioned by untimely deaths would not, if free men were employed, thus fall directly upon the planter. The time which is passed by the runaway-slave in the woods, or residing in temporary freedom at some distant village, would not be so much property unemployed. The expences attendant upon sickness, and the loss of time proceeding[455] from the same cause, would be incurred by the patient, and the place of one individual would be occupied by another. The constant anxiety of the planter which is caused by the bad habits of his slaves, and from other reasons inseparably connected with the system by which one man rules a body of his fellow-creatures who are at the same time his property, would be removed. The owner of an estate might have some rest; his attention need not be entirely given up to the management of his affairs, which must now be the case, if he has a wish to advance his fortune, and a due regard for the preservation in an able state, of the beings through whose means this is to be accomplished. Too true it is that men become callous to the constant round of intelligence which is communicated by the manager; of slaves sick, lamed by accident, making their escape, &c. and the accounts of their recovery and return are received with the same unconcern. Punishment is ordered for crimes and misdemeanors with the same insensibility; all these are things of course, and as such are endured quietly.

In a country which is afflicted with the dreadful disease of slavery cruelty is frequent, and whilst the punishment of misdemeanors which have been committed against the master are generally immediate and proportioned to their bearing upon the interests of the superior, it is difficult to compass the chastisement of great crimes against the community. It is the interest of the master to conceal from the superior authorities those actions of their slaves which might subject them to the loss of their services. Instances have occurred in which the law itself has swerved from its direct line of justice, that the owner might not be injured by the execution or transportation of the slave. It is for the benefit of the wealthy man, who ought to be the dispenser of justice, to act contrary to what it is his duty to do; to counteract the principles of rectitude, to screen from their deserts the evil deeds of a great portion of the population of the country in which he resides. He is silent concerning his neighbours’ property, that like forbearance may be practised towards himself, if he should require it. But the crimes which slaves commit without the knowledge[456] of their masters, or those which, although they may be afterwards known to the owners, have been committed without their concurrence, are not the only evil actions into which this class of men may be led. The owner himself who has not courage to revenge his own quarrels, may command that his purpose shall be accomplished by one of the wretched individuals over whom he rules. This has absolutely happened.

The general tendency which is produced by slavery, taken in every point of view, is to rouse all the bad qualities of him who rules and of him who endures; by this system, a government permits the demoralization of its people, and that the property of its subjects be laid out in a most disadvantageous manner; a great number of individuals must be supported whose benefit to the state is much decreased by the situation in which they are placed, and another class in society is prevented from taking its due share in the general advancement of the country.

CHAPTER XXI.

THE TREATIES OF FRIENDSHIP AND ALLIANCE, AND OF COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION, BETWEEN THE CROWNS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND PORTUGAL, SIGNED AT RIO DE JANEIRO, ON THE 19th OF FEBRUARY 1810.

I HAVE heard many discussions both in England and in Brazil, upon the merits and demerits of these Treaties; in such disputations Englishmen have appeared to suppose that their interests had not been sufficiently consulted; and the contrary opinion was maintained by the Portugueze, for they considered their nation to be aggrieved by them, and that great partiality had been shown to British subjects. I cannot avoid thinking that the Treaties are as impartial as possible, and that due regard has been paid to both parties. If British subjects have gained some advantages, one of considerable importance which they possessed before, has been given up; and the commercial intercourse between both parties has been placed in very favourable circumstances. Even the innovations which by these Treaties have been made in the laws of Brazil in favour of Englishmen, tend to the general advancement of that country,—to forward its progress towards a higher pitch of civilization. In the discussions which I have heard, Englishmen, by the arguments which they used, appeared to think that Brazil should have been treated overbearingly, as a country which had been humbled by misfortune, and that of this circumstance advantage should have been taken by Great Britain. The idea which is entertained of the weakness of Brazil, must proceed from the trifling defensive preparations which[458] are to be seen upon her coasts. Her sea-ports might no doubt be much injured by attacks from a maritime enemy; but the country is impregnable, it possesses far stronger fortresses than any which can be raised by man; in its extent, in its woods, and in a hardy population, who are accustomed to live on very little food, and that of a poor kind. However, any ideas of conquest in South America by Europeans, against the wishes of the people, experience has proved to be fallacious; the Dutch war with Pernambuco, and our own errors at Buenos Ayres bear witness to this fact.

The Portugueze on the other hand seem to have imbibed the idea that Great Britain has taken undue advantage of the state of the Portugueze monarchy, and has imposed heavy terms, such as suited her own purposes. Many of the arguments which are made use of by the Portugueze, are brought forwards by them without any consideration of the state of Brazil;—of the relative situation of the two high contracting parties. The following plea for complaint, although it does not relate to the Treaties, may be mentioned in this place, for it is a favourite one with many persons. It is said, that the Regent of Brazil has made grants of land to British subjects, but that the Portugueze are not permitted to possess landed property in the dominions of His Britannic Majesty. A complaint of this kind would appear to denote that the two countries were in the same state with regard to population; that Brazil did not require an enormous increase of people, and that Great Britain possessed a superabundance of territory. Far from the grants of land to foreigners being urged as a breach of the declared reciprocity between the two nations, the government of Brazil ought to invite foreigners to purchase lands and establish themselves there; it ought to allow them to follow their own religion; it should naturalize them and fix them to the soil by the protection which the laws ought to afford them; and by the permission which should be given to them of having some share in the concerns of the society into which they had been adopted.

The Portugueze are continually pointing to the rapid advancement of the United States of America, and holding up that country as an[459] example which ought to be followed in the introduction of minor improvements in Brazil; but they do not seek high enough for the sources of the prosperity of North America; the statesmen of that country receive every one who pleases to establish himself under their protection, and the laws of the republic tolerate all religions; these are the great fountains from which the increase of her power has been drawn. An impartial distribution of justice, and a mildness of government have acted in unison with the views of her rulers. Brazil however is totally unfit for a republican form of government; her people have been guided in a far different track from that of the inhabitants of the United States. The first settlers in North America left their native shores, because their ideas were too democratic for the mother country, and because their religious opinions did not coincide with those of their countrymen; therefore the minds of the descendants of parents like these were prepared for the declaration of republican principles. But the colonists of Brazil were regularly invited to settle under the direction of officers who had been appointed by the government of Portugal, and who were entrusted with despotic power; they were Roman Catholics too. Consequently the habits of their descendants lead them to quiet acquiescence in the mandates of those who govern them; to follow rather than to direct, to be guided rather than to be obliged all at once without any previous instruction, to think for themselves. Still, although a government which is established on principles of democracy is not suited to Brazil, that country would bear many degrees of advancement towards a state of freedom,—in religion, in personal security, and in legislative authority; this last might certainly be granted to a certain degree.[257]

However to return; I shall attempt to prove that the Treaties in question have been fairly drawn out, and that they exist for the benefit of both nations; that each has conceded in some points much to[460] the well-being of both. Neither party should desire to have every thing, from whence, says a Brazilian writer, “arise conflicts, hatreds, and the pretences upon which complaints and wars are founded.”[258]

The Portugueze canvass the Treaties as if they were jealous of what had been granted to British subjects, without considering whether the advantages which had been conceded were or were not for the benefit of Brazil. They should consider what is for their own good, and not what Great Britain grants to them, or what their government grants to Great Britain.

I shall only mention those articles of the Treaties which are particularly interesting, and which may be liable to discussion, wishing to be as observant of conciseness as possible.

THE TREATY OF FRIENDSHIP AND ALLIANCE.

I pass over the primary articles as being unimportant, or from the interest of the subjects to which they relate having already subsided.

Article 6th. “His Britannic Majesty is allowed the privilege of causing timber, for the purpose of building ships of war, to be purchased and cut down in the woods of Brazil.”

This was supposed to afford to Great Britain an inexhaustible and inexpensive source of supplying her navy with timber; but I have understood that the expence which must be incurred in felling the trees, and bringing the timber to the water’s edge, would be too great to render the project feasible; and that the woods of Brazil were discovered to contain a less proportion of valuable timber than had been imagined. If the British government had thought proper to act upon this article,—if the plan had been judged worthy of being executed, the advantages which Brazil must have derived from it would have been considerable. The increased traffic which would have been experienced by the ports in which dock-yards would have[461] been established, and the number of mechanics who would have gone over, many of whom would in all probability have remained ultimately in that country, must have been beneficial to it. The ship carpenters and caulkers of Brazil are fully as good as those of England, and if encouragement was given to the most necessary art of ship-building, no external aid would be requisite. But due encouragement is what is wanting.

Article 7th. “Any squadron that may be sent by either of the High Contracting Parties to the succour of the other, shall be supplied with fresh provisions by that power for whose assistance it is fitted out.” This plainly alludes to the British squadron stationed at Rio de Janeiro for the protection of the coast of Brazil; and it is only fair that the party which is assisted should feed those who have undertaken its defence.

Article 8th. “Any number of ships of war are permitted to enter the ports of either of the High Contracting Parties.” This is connected with the foregoing article, and was necessary for its execution.

Article 9th. “The Inquisition or Tribunal of the Holy Office not having been hitherto established or recognized in Brazil, H.R.H. the Prince Regent of Portugal, guided by an enlightened and liberal policy, takes the opportunity afforded by the present treaty, to declare spontaneously in his own name, and in that of his heirs and successors, that the Inquisition shall never hereafter be established in the South American dominions of the Crown of Portugal.”

A hint is thrown out towards the conclusion of the same article of some intention to abolish the Inquisition in Portugal, and in all other parts of the Portugueze dominions. I imagine that Great Britain would scarcely have stipulated for this change of policy in the government of Brazil, if some intimation had not been made that the ministry of that country wished in this manner to get rid of the abominable tribunal. Great Britain indeed cannot be said to have stipulated for it; the Prince declares his purpose spontaneously. Be this as it may, this most horrible Court does not exercise its power[462] in Brazil, and thus has been removed, almost irrevocably, one of the most intolerable burthens under which any nation ever laboured. The late Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, D. Rodrigo de Souza Coutinho, was a man of a liberal mind; and Brazil has in his death sustained a great loss; but this misfortune is alleviated by the means which it has afforded of placing at the head of affairs the Chevalier Araujo[259]. This nobleman seems to have adopted Brazil as his country, to direct his attention entirely to the concerns of that kingdom, and to wish to increase the importance of the State over which he has been most judiciously placed. He appears also to be aware of the means by which progressive prosperity is to be obtained,—liberality, toleration, mildness, reformation. The solemn manner in which the rulers of Brazil have declared their intentions in this respect, is a triumph of liberality over bigotry which was scarcely to be expected; and still less was the public avowal of principles like these to be looked for from the quarter in which they appeared. The misfortunes of Portugal have produced incalculable benefit to the transatlantic territories which she held under subjection; and although the mother country has suffered much, still some advantages cannot fail to proceed from the change in her situation; at any rate her internal affairs may meet with some alterations which may better the condition of the people. Portugal no longer enjoys the exclusive trade with Brazil, but I know not whether in the end she will not be happier in depending upon her own resources;—upon a moderate trade with other nations suited to her political importance, instead of the gigantic commercial intercourse which was carried on through her ports. The government will probably undergo some reform, and Portugal will in all[463] likelihood soon see the Inquisition abolished, and may perhaps witness the re-establishment of the Cortes.

Article 10th. “A gradual abolition of the slave trade on the part of the Regent of Portugal is promised, and the limits of the same traffic along the coast of Africa are determined.” Of this subject I have already in another place treated.

THE TREATY OF COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION.

Article 2d. “There shall be reciprocal liberty of commerce and navigation between the subjects of the two High Contracting Parties, and they are allowed to trade, travel, sojourn, and establish themselves in the ports &c. of the dominions of each, excepting in those from which all foreigners are excluded.”

The ease with which leave to travel in Brazil may be obtained, I have myself experienced, and even without a passport an Englishman might travel in some of the provinces. Great complaint has been made by the Portugueze of the strictness with which the British Alien Laws have been enforced; and here a breach of reciprocity is stated to exist,—not by the Treaty, but in the non-accomplishment of this article. The extreme difficulty with which one foreigner is distinguished from another, by persons who do not understand the language of any, and the vicinity of Great Britain to the Continent of Europe,—to her greatest enemy, and the immense number of foreign prisoners which she held in confinement during the war, placed her in a far different situation from Brazil, in which the only foreigners excepting Spaniards, who could possibly have found their way into the country, must have arrived there in British or Portugueze vessels, consequently little doubt could be entertained of the propriety of allowing any foreigner to receive a passport to travel in the interior or along the coast of that country[260]. Difficulties were doubtless experienced, and vexations[464] submitted to on some occasions, and these cases have been brought forwards. It must be recollected that the number of Portugueze subjects travelling in Great Britain was, and is, much greater than that of British subjects travelling in Brazil; and that the number of magistrates to whom each of these travellers must shew his pass is much greater in the former country than in the latter, owing to the more numerous population of Great Britain. Therefore a very few cases of hardship in Brazil would only average a much greater number of like instances of severity in Great Britain.[261]

With respect to naturalization in the dominions of either of the two crowns, the Portugueze are much more favourably situated than British subjects, because, according to existing laws, a British subject can only be naturalized in the kingdom of Portugal and Brazil, if he professes the Roman Catholic Religion.

Articles 3d, 4th, and 5th. These relate to custom-house duties, port-charges, &c., which are to be paid with perfect reciprocity by the vessels of both nations. If the same duties, at the custom-houses in Brazil, were not paid for goods which were imported in British as in Portugueze vessels, the consequences would be, that every English merchant must resort to smuggling, or be obliged to give up all idea of competition with the Portugueze. The duty on cotton, the chief article which is exported from Brazil to England, is equal in vessels of either nation. This duty is not however of such importance to the commodity as to render the importer[465] of it in a ship which pays a higher impost unable to vie with him who pays a lower one. But in the case of manufactured goods shipped from hence to Brazil, the duty is of primary consequence, because there is very frequently, I may say generally, a loss upon such shipments, and an increase of 10 per cent. upon a concern which has independently of these 10 per cent. undergone a loss, would often be ruinous. I have not a doubt in saying that the government of Brazil is a gainer by lowering the duties upon goods which are imported in British vessels to the standard of those which are imported in vessels that are owned by its subjects. Under existing regulations all parties come into the market upon an equal footing, and although some persons will attempt to evade the payment of any duty, still it is not necessary that a whole body of men should resort to smuggling for the purpose of bringing their commodities into the market with any prospect of a successful sale. I own that I think a higher duty than 15 per cent. might be raised by government, but if any advance was made it should be done generally upon all classes of traders, whether subjects of Brazil or foreigners, to be done to any advantage. The reciprocity which is established by these articles has been followed by most advantageous consequences to both parties. Great Britain is materially benefited in a commercial point of view by the importation of the cotton of Brazil, direct from that country; and the improvement which has been caused, and continues to act in Brazil by the introduction of British manufactured goods is incalculable, in point of wealth and civilization, and in producing incentives for exertion.

The latter part of the 5th Article determines which are the vessels that shall be accounted British, and which shall be accounted Portugueze, for the purpose of ascertaining those of both nations which may enjoy the favourable stipulations. The Portugueze here again complain that the English have the advantage over them from the great numbers of vessels which they build, and from the numerous prizes which they take from their enemies, whilst the Portugueze[466] construct very few vessels, and take no prizes[262]. The Portugueze have lately been in the habit of purchasing vessels that have been built in the United States. As soon as these are owned by Portugueze subjects, the national colours of the new owners may be hoisted, and they enjoy all the privileges of vessels of Portugueze build. It is urged that the British government should have suffered these vessels to enter the ports of Great Britain enjoying the same advantages as are granted to such vessels by the Portugueze government. If the subject is considered it will be perceived that this would be equally against the interest of both nations. Great Britain would by this means afford a considerable market for the shipping of one of her maritime rivals. By the low prices at which such vessels may be obtained, and the small number of hands which they require, the Portugueze navigation would likewise be materially injured. Instead of any encouragement being given to ship-building in Brazil, the subjects of that country would resort to North America for vessels, and a bar would be placed against the advancement of this complicated art, in a country possessing many advantages which adapt it for the formation of a numerous navy.

The latter part of the 8th Article stands thus:—“But it is to be distinctly understood that the present Article is not to be interpreted as invalidating or affecting the exclusive right possessed by the crown of Portugal within its own dominions to the farm for the sale of ivory, brazil-wood, urzela, diamonds, gold dust, gunpowder, and tobacco, in the form of snuff.” I hope that ere long the system of gradual reform will reach these monopolies, and that the trade in the Articles which they comprise will be thrown open.

Article 10th. “British subjects resident in the Portugueze dominions shall be permitted to nominate special magistrates to act for them as judges-conservator.” This privilege is not conceded to the[467] Portugueze residing in Great Britain, and has therefore been complained of. Every Portugueze well knows the dreadful state of the courts of justice in all the dominions of his sovereign, and how extremely difficult it is to obtain redress under any grievance. He must be aware of the advantages which may be obtained by being personally acquainted with the magistrate before whom a cause is to be agitated. If this is the case (and that it is, speaking generally, no one will deny) in causes among themselves, how much more necessary is it that some protection should be afforded to foreigners, who cannot have opportunities of using undue influence; and besides, where the decision depends entirely upon one man, he will probably be inclined to favour his own countrymen. “The acknowledged equity of British jurisprudence, and the singular excellence of the British Constitution,” as the same article of the Treaty observes, render unnecessary any special magistrate to manage the concerns of foreigners residing in Great Britain. The state of the British courts of law is the pride of every Englishman; a doubt of the impartiality of their decisions never strikes the mind of any reasonable man. Although one party in the State constantly opposes the measures of government, and seeks out any abuses which may have crept into its proceedings, still the courts of law continue to act, year after year, without any suspicion of misconduct,—without any idea of unfairness in their determinations being entertained. I speak in this manner of Portugueze courts of law, in the first place, from the radical badness of the system by which the determination of a cause depends upon one man; and in the second place, from the practice of one court, which I have had opportunities of witnessing, and the general complaints of almost every Portugueze who has had any thing to do with proceedings of this description. Doubtless there must be some men who do their duty; but a system of government should be founded upon the basis of as near an approach as can be formed to the impossibility of misconduct, and upon responsibility.

It is in the courts of law that a thorough change should be effected in the Portugueze dominions; their corrupt state calls most loudly[468] for reformation, and it is from this source that the existing government has one heavy weight hanging over it, which may lead to most serious consequences. There are two evils which cannot be long endured when they have arrived at a certain height. Heavy and injudicious taxation, and injustice;—these reach every man; in his own hut he feels them, and they follow him every where, subjecting him to privations, and to many mortifications; his temper is soured and his anger will at last break loose.

Article 12th. “British subjects, and all other foreigners resident in the dominions of Portugal shall have perfect liberty of conscience, and shall be permitted to build churches and chapels under certain restrictions as to their outward appearance; and any person who should attempt to make converts from, or should declaim against the Catholic religion publicly, is to be sent out of the country in which the offence has been committed.” It is disgraceful that such an article as this should be necessary in any Treaty between two civilized states; but every step towards liberality should be greeted with great joy, proceeding from those countries in which the Catholic religion predominates. That part of the article which concedes liberty of conscience, not only to British subjects, but to every foreigner, is another indication of the spirit of liberality having found its way into the Council of Rio de Janeiro, for, I should imagine that the British statesman would only have required this stipulation for his countrymen, without mentioning the subjects of other powers. I have heard this article much complained of by men who were afterwards surprised to hear that the Portugueze were allowed to have their chapels in England; and here these gentlemen would have been desirous of preventing perfect reciprocity.

Article 17th. “It is agreed and covenanted that articles of military and naval stores brought into the ports of H. R. H. the Prince Regent of Portugal, which the Portugueze government may be desirous of taking for its own use shall be paid for without delay at the prices appointed by the proprietors, who shall not be compelled to sell such articles on any other terms. And it is farther stipulated,[469] that if the Portugueze government shall take into its own care and custody any cargo or part of a cargo, with a view to purchase or otherwise, the said Portugueze government shall be responsible for any damage or injury that such cargo or part of a cargo may receive while in the care and custody of the officers of the said Portugueze government.”

I have transcribed this article at full length. What must be the reputed state of a government from which common equity must be stipulated for? But I trust that the time for such abuses has gone by, and that the era of reformation has commenced.

Article 18th. “The privilege is granted to British subjects of being assignantes for the duties to be paid at the custom-houses.” The inability of being assignantes was of considerable inconvenience to English merchants, and obliged them to pay a per centage to a Portugueze for the use of his name in this capacity. The assignantes are bondsmen for the duties to be paid at the end of three and six months; and no reason could be urged against Englishmen being allowed to serve as assignantes, excepting that of leaving the country without waiting to answer their bonds.

Article 19th. “All goods, merchandises, and articles whatsoever of the produce, manufacture, industry, or invention of the dominions or subjects of either of the High Contracting Parties, shall be received into the ports of the other, upon the terms of the most favoured nation.”

Article 20th. “Certain articles of the growth and produce of Brazil, which are subject to prohibitory duties in Great Britain, as they are similar to the produce of the British colonies, are permitted to be warehoused in Great Britain for exportation.” The non-admission of these commodities, which are principally sugar and coffee, for the consumption of the British empire, has been subject to discussion. It was not to be expected that Great Britain would sacrifice her own possessions by this alteration in her policy; and particularly towards a country in which the articles in question can be produced at a smaller expence than in the British colonies.

[470]

Article 21st. “British East Indian goods and West Indian produce may be subjected to prohibitory duties in the dominions of Portugal.” British merchants might complain of this article with as much reason as the Portugueze do of the former. The relative situations of the two empires require both of them.

Article 23d. “His R. H. the Prince Regent of Portugal being desirous to place the system of commerce announced by the present Treaty upon the most extensive basis, is pleased to take the opportunity afforded by it, of publishing the determination pre-conceived in His Royal Highness’ mind of rendering Goa a free port, and of permitting the free toleration of all religious sects whatever in that city and its dependencies.” Here is another most pleasant symptom of change of policy.

Article 25th. “Great Britain gives up the right which she enjoyed of creating factories or incorporated bodies of British merchants in the Portugueze dominions.” This was a privilege of considerable importance, from the union which it produced among the merchants of that nation residing in the same place. They were better able as a body to urge any petition to the Portugueze government, and to transact the affairs which interested them generally. However their protection is sufficiently provided for in other articles of the Treaty, and therefore it is well that this privilege was given up: it was an odious one, and not necessary; and certainly was not consistent with the basis of reciprocity upon which the Treaty was formed.

Article 26th. This declares that the stipulations existing concerning the admission of the wines of Portugal into Great Britain, and the woollen cloths of Great Britain into Portugal, shall remain unaltered[263]. The article continues thus; “in the same manner it[471] is agreed, that the favours, privileges, and immunities, granted by either contracting party to the subjects of the other, whether by Treaty, Decree or Alvará, shall remain unaltered.[264]”

Article 32d. “It is agreed and stipulated by the High Contracting[472] Parties, that the present Treaty shall be unlimited in point of duration, that the obligations and conditions expressed or implied in it shall be perpetual and immutable, and that they shall not be changed or affected in any manner, in case H. R. H. the Prince Regent of Portugal, his heirs or successors, should again establish the seat of the Portugueze monarchy within the European dominions of that crown.”

Brazil is thus laid open for ever. However, even if the government was so inclined, it would be impossible to close the ports of that kingdom to foreign trade; the benefits which have resulted from the direct intercourse with Great Britain have been too generally felt for the people to be made to return to the ancient colonial system.

The British North American colonies first shewed the example of throwing off the yoke of the mother country, and this was to be expected from the principles of many of the first settlers. The attempt succeeded, but a doubt still remains whether it would not have been more to their advantage to have remained subject to Great Britain for some time longer;—whether they were at the time of emancipation of a competent age to rely upon their own resources. However the spirit of their government and of their people, may have made amends for any prematurity of freedom; and the United States have advanced with most surprising (I may almost say unnatural) rapidity, in power and wealth, and consequent importance in the scale of nations. Their change of situation was not however obtained without years of bloodshed and desolation.

The Spanish colonies are now making the same experiment; they are experiencing great misery, and the contest is far from being decided.

Brazil has obtained a government of its own, under most peculiar circumstances, and these have probably saved that country from the misery of revolution. If the rulers of that extensive kingdom perform their duty, if they act with common prudence, their own downfall may be prevented, and the unhappiness of a whole people for the space of one generation, may be rendered unnecessary. The government[473] has much to do before the people will or ought to be satisfied; and the people have been too much accustomed to submission, to be excited to a change of government, unless the grievances under which they suffer are of such magnitude as to be too considerable to be borne.

The reformation which would, I think, reconcile the people is not of very difficult execution. Judicious taxation, instead of the system which exists, is requisite in the first place; the articles of primary necessity are heavily taxed, such as provisions of all descriptions, and the same occurs with respect to the most important articles of trade. An impartial administration of justice ought in the second place to be provided for. The abolition of all monopolies, and of the system of farming the taxes. A decrease in the power of civil and military magistrates: a change in the manner of recruiting: a suppression of great numbers of the civil and military officers of government,—by the existence of these taxation is rendered much heavier than it otherwise would be, fees are augmented, and the redress of grievances becomes more difficult because responsibility is more divided. The misconduct of each person is not of sufficient moment to be taken notice of, and mal-practices are too widely diffused to be punished.

The change of policy which would lead to the general advancement of the country, consists in the abolition of the slave trade, in the toleration of all religions, in the naturalization of foreigners, and perhaps ultimately in the establishment of legislative assemblies, and of a general Cortes.

If my limits would allow, and this was a proper place for the purpose, I think I could shew that the reformation which is proposed is perfectly within the power of the Court, and is absolutely necessary for the security of the present dynasty. The change of policy must be entered into gradually. The government will not go so far at present;—neither are the people fit for the reception of the whole of these innovations, nor would they accord with their ideas. They are steps to which all countries which are in a state of improvement must advance; and if those persons who are placed at the head of their[474] affairs are aware of what is due to them revolutions may be prevented, by keeping pace with the ideas of the people, and attending to their progressive state.

I look forwards with hope to a continuance of peace in Brazil; I trust that the devastations of revolution, that the misfortunes which political convulsions produce may be averted; that the natural quietude and goodness of the people of that kingdom, and the wisdom and prudence of the government will unite in the far preferable plan of continuing in the path which all those persons who desire their welfare will pray for;—in conceding to each other, and in agreeing to establish a lasting empire upon the true basis of perfect confidence.

APPENDIX.

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I HAVE in a former part of this volume mentioned Dr. Manoel Arruda da Camara, as having published two pamphlets at Rio de Janeiro, in 1810. One of these is entitled “A Dissertation upon the Plants of Brazil from which fibrous substances may be obtained, adapted to various uses in society, and which may supply the place of hemp; the enquiry being made by order of the Prince Regent.” The other pamphlet is called “An Essay on the utility of establishing gardens in the principal provinces of Brazil for the cultivation of new plants.”

I shall only give those parts of the works which may be interesting to English readers.—Transl.

A DISSERTATION, &c.
Section 1st.
Of Plants which afford Fibres, properly so called.

Caroa, Bromelia variegata:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.—The description is taken from my Centuria of the genera and species of new plants of Pernambuco.

Class, Hexandria:—Order, Monogynia:—Division, Flowers complete.

Gen. Char. Calyx superior and trifid. Corolla tripetalous, with nectariferous scales at the base of each petal. Fruit an umbellate, trilocular berry.

Section 1st. With flowers discrete or separated.

Spec. Char. Leaves ciliate, spiny, stained with transverse green and whitish marks.

[476]

Nat. Char. No stem.

Leaves radical and few, (from 3 to 7) from three to six feet long, channelled, revolute and spiny, green in the interior or concave surface, and stained with transverse whitish marks on the exterior or convex surface.

Flowers, The stalk two feet long, flexuose and almost spiral, with alternate scales without thorns; the spike simple, the peduncle or flower stalk short. Bracteæ small, the floral leaves simple, and at the foot of each flower stalk. Calyx monophyllous, with obtuse indentations, trifid, tubular, permanent and erect. Corolla tripetalous, tubular, of a bluish purple colour, oblong, obtuse, erect, with nectariferous scales at the bases; from the middle of each petal to the bottom is a channel which sheaths a single filament of the stamina. Stamina consist of six filaments inserted in the receptacle; of these, three are alternate with, and three are opposite to the petals; of the last the bases run down the grooves in the petals, and fix themselves in the receptacle. Pistil consists of one filiform style, with a single stigma. Pericarp, an oval, pointed berry, somewhat angular and umbellate, nearly of the size of an olive.

The plant is to be found in the Sertoens of Pernambuco, Paraiba, Searà, and principally in the Sertam of Cariri de Fora, and Pajaù, and upon the banks of the river St. Francisco. It blossoms in the months of July, August, and September.

USES.

The leaves of this plant are composed of two segments, one exterior and convex, and the other interior and concave; the former is more compact and hard, the latter is thinner; between them is to be found a quantity of longitudinal fibres, of the same length as the leaves, fixed in a juicy pulp. These fibres are strong, and from them cordage may be made, and even coarse cloth, if care is taken in preparing the thread. This may the more easily be done, from the enormous quantities which nature affords without the aid of cultivation. The inhabitants of the banks of the river St. Francisco weave their fishing nets of these fibres.

There are two methods of obtaining the fibres of the caroà. 1st. Having taken the leaf from the plant (which is easily done) the convex side of it should be clipped at the bottom with a knife, and with the other hand, the fibres pulled out, some force being necessary. They will bring with them a quantity of vegetable liquid, with which the pulp is soaked. For this reason[477] the above manner of obtaining the thread is called ensuar o caroà, to sweat the caroà. The fibre which is thus extracted is green, and it is necessary to wash it, for the purpose of cleaning it. 2d. The leaves being taken from the plant, and being tied up in bundles, should be thrown into water, where they must be allowed to remain for four or five days; then they should be taken out to be beaten in bunches, that the hammers or mallets may not cut the fibres. This operation will not be sufficient to separate it from the pulp, but it will be necessary to tie it up again in bundles, and to steep it for two days or more, at the close of which the beating should be renewed; it must be yet a third time put into water, and beat. After this the fibres are usually obtained clean; and they should be wound up and braided that they may not be entangled.

I have observed, that by beating the leaves, and thus bruising them before they are in the first instance put into water, the labour is much diminished; and that maceration in stagnant waters produces the desired effect in much less time than in a cold running stream. If the fibres which are obtained by each process above-mentioned, are examined, it will be found that those which have undergone the first, are stronger than those of the second, but more labour is necessary; the difference, however, will not be experienced if the fibre is bruised before it is steeped, because this operation accelerates the maceration. The fibre of this, like that of all other plants, is subject to rot, if it is allowed to remain under water for any considerable time.

The expence of obtaining the thread which is extracted by the first process, cannot be calculated with exactitude, because it entirely depends upon the expertness of the persons who perform the work; and this again depends upon habit and practice. I have purchased it at 1200 reis per arroba of 32 lbs. or at 2½d. per lb. The fibre which is obtained by the second process, is sold at a cheaper rate, because the labour is less; I have purchased this at 1000 reis per arroba, rather more than 2d. per lb.

It is not necessary to cultivate the plant; many leagues of land are covered with it; and there are situations which are so completely overspread with it, that the ground cannot be passed over. This occurs in many parts of Curimataû, and of Cariri de Fora; both these places are in the captaincy of Paraiba. It is in these that I recommend the establishment of manufactories, for the purpose of extracting the fibre, for they are the nearest to the coast, and there are good roads to them by which the produce may be carried in carts and waggons. Although the caroà is long lived, still many[478] leagues of the lands which were covered with it have been laid waste by the fires which mischievous persons, sportsmen, and even the owners of estates annually let loose (such is Arruda’s expression). It is probable that even the remaining caroà grounds will be destroyed, if government does not take some measures to prevent a continuance of such practices, fulminating penalties against the incendiaries of so useful a plant.[265]

Crauata de Rede, Bromelia Sagenaria:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern. The description is taken from my Centuria of the genera and species of new plants of Pernambuco.

Class, Hexandria:—Order, Monogynia:—Division, Flowers complete.

Gen. Char. Calyx superior, and trifid. Corolla tripetalous, with nectariferous scales at the base of each petal. Fruit an umbellate trilocular berry.

Section 2d. With the flowers united by the receptacles or berries united in one.

Spec. Char. Leaves radical, ciliate serrated; the berries are united into one pyramidal fruit; the bracteæ long, imbricate, covering the fruit.

Nat. Char. No stem.

Leaves radical and many, (from 3 to 9 feet long) one inch and a half wide, channelled; the edges ciliate spiny, ash-coloured on the convex, and green on the concave surface.

Flowers, The stalk, a foot and a half long, with alternate leaves, the flowers of a bluish purple colour, with the receptacles united. Calyx monophyllous, with obtuse indentations, trifid, erect. Corolla tripetalous, tubular, erect, obtuse, blue, each petal has at the base nectariferous scales. Stamina consist of six filiform filaments, three alternate and three opposite, fixed to the receptacle; and of oblong, bilocular anthers. Pistil consists of one filiform style with a single stigma. Pericarp, a trilocular berry, united by the sides to the other berries, which altogether form one pyramidal fruit,[479] covered, having long imbricate bracteæ. The seeds are of the size of a grain of maize, fasciated.

The plant is to be found upon the coast of Pernambuco, Paraiba, and Rio Grande, it does not extend into the interior more than ten or twelve leagues. It is commonly called crauatà de rede, or net crauatà, because the inhabitants of the parts in which it grows, make their fishing nets of its fibres. It blossoms in July and August.

This species of bromelia is new; the fruit of it is similar to that of the bromelia ananas, being however smaller; the berries are less juicy, and of a disagreeable taste; the bracteæ are three inches in length, erect, and placed one over the other after the manner of tiles, so as to cover all the superficies of the fruit. I took its specific name of Sagenaria, from the circumstance of its fibres being used by fishermen for making their nets.

The fibre of the plant varies in length from three to eight feet, according to the greater or less fertility of the land; in dry land it is short, fine, and soft; in good land, it is longer but likewise thicker and rough; the strength of it is great, the following fact proving that this is the case. Upon the wharf of the city of Paraiba, there is a rope made of this fibre, which has been in use during many years, for the purpose of embarking the bales (of manufactured goods, I suppose) and chests of sugar: with the same rope the anchors of a line of battle ship were embarked, which had been left at Paraiba by the (charrua) ship Aguia; they were intended for Bahia, and could not be raised by hempen cables of greater diameter.

It is with difficulty that this kind of fibre becomes white by the common manner of bleaching, which proceeds from a certain natural varnish (if I may be allowed so to call it) with which the surface is covered; it does not rot so easily as other kinds of fibre, when soaked in water. From this property the fishermen prefer it for their nets; but notwithstanding the natural varnish of its coloured parts, the fishermen increase its power to resist the water, by carbonising (if I may be allowed so to say) the threads of their nets with astringents which they obtain from various plants; such as the bark of the aroeira and of the coipuna, and for this purpose the nets are steeped for some time in a decoction or infusion of these barks, as is practised in tanning.

From the qualities which it possesses, and which I have just mentioned, I am persuaded that the fibre is well adapted to the manufacture of cables, and cordage; and the specimens of cloth, and one pair of stockings which by this opportunity I forward to the ministry, made of it, indicate the[480] possibility of manufacturing sail-cloth from it, and even finer cloths, if improvements were made in its preparation; but these are at present entirely disregarded.

The leaf of the plant is composed of two ligneous plates, one convex and the other concave; and also of a quantity of longitudinal fibres inserted between them, and united to each other by juicy fecula, but sufficiently attached to prevent them from being disengaged by the hand; therefore they can only be extracted by maceration. The plant is rooted up, which is done by means of a forked stick, and is called desbancar. The leaves must then be taken from the stem, and thirdly the thorns must be taken off, which is done easily by separating the spiny edges with a knife. The leaves being thus prepared are steeped in water for about a fortnight. The maceration is known to be complete when the outward rind and ligneous bark of the leaves are sufficiently soft to be pierced by the nail; the leaves are then taken out of the water one by one, and the base of each of them is opened until the fibres appear; the rind of each surface must be secured with one hand, that with the other the fibres may be pulled out; even so they will be removed with other substances attached to them. For the purpose of being cleaned, they must be braided and again steeped for one day, and then beaten with mallets upon a bench, and the maceration and beating must be repeated until the fibres become clean. I have paid for each arroba of it 1920 reis, or 4d. per lb. But the usual price at which it is sold is from 120 to 160 reis, or 8d. to 10½d. per lb.

Ananas Manso, Bromelia Ananas.

Class, Hexandria:—Order, Monogynia:—Division, Flowers complete.

The use which is made of the ananas at our tables is so common that in this respect it is unnecessary that any thing should be said; therefore I shall only mention the purposes to which the fibrous property of its leaves may be applied. This I discovered in 1801, when I was directed by a Royal Order to make enquiry into the fibrous qualities of indigenous plants. I found, on comparing the fibre of this with that of all others, that it is the strongest and the finest, and that it is adapted to the manufacture of cloth even of superior quality. I took the leaves of two of these plants which weighed 14 lbs. I beat them with mallets, washing those portions which had been beat; they yielded rather more than one quarter of a pound of thread. The operation lasted nine hours, being performed by one man. It is bleached with great ease. The ananas may be produced in almost all kinds of land; it will grow[481] in a sandy soil, and still more does it flourish in that which is argillaceous; the sun does not destroy it, nor is it injured by rain; no insect attacks it. Each shoot multiplies so largely, that in a short time the space which has been at first left between each plant, is soon filled up. After a bed of ananas has once been planted, very little care is required to keep it in order. I have known some which have existed sixteen years without requiring to be replanted. An excellent beverage may be obtained from it by fermentation.[266]

Ananas de Agulha, Bromelia muricata:—Arrud. Cent. Plant.

I have given the description of this plant in my first centuria; and do not describe it in this place because I have not made any experiments with it, but I suspect that it possesses fibrous qualities. Its fruit is of the same make as that of the ananas manso and of the crauata de rede, from which it principally differs, in having, instead of bracteæ, thorns of three inches and a half in length, raised in the direction of the fruit, so that being covered with these sharp thorns, it cannot be taken hold of without much care; from this peculiarity it is that I took the specific name of the species.

Caroata, Bromelia Karatas:—Lin.

The little importance which the fibre of this species can claim, renders it unnecessary for me to give a minute description of it. The leaves are from 8 to 10 feet long, and afford a great quantity of fibre, but it is not strong, and can only be applied to very ordinary purposes.

Caroata-açu, ou Piteira, Agave vivipara:—Lin. Syst. Veg.

[482]

Class, Hexandria:—Order, Monogynia.

The only uses to which at the present time this plant is put, are the following. Its spungy pith possesses the property of burning gently without extinguishing; the peasants therefore are in the habit of putting some of it into their fires when they wish to prevent them from going out for a considerable time. Hedges are made of it, by planting the bulbs or tender shoots; these easily take root and grow. Piso says, “ex foliis hujus plantæ optimus pannus conficitur, qui si rite præparetur, panno lineo excedit; folia stupam quoque et filosam materiam suppeditant, ex qua fila et retia sua contexunt piscatores.” From hence it may be inferred that the Dutch knew better than we do how to take advantage of the natural productions of the country. At the present time even the fishermen do not make use of its fibre for their lines and nets, substituting in place of it the crauata de rede. The only use to which the Portugueze apply the fibre of the agave, is in making the cords, which the friars of the Third Order of St. Francis, commonly called of Jesus, wear round their waists.

The fibre is to be obtained by maceration, but the leaves must in the first instance be bruised, and afterwards steeped.[267]

Coqueiro, Cocos Nucifera—Lin. Syst. Veget.

The oil which is obtained from the pulp of the fruit is easily separated from the mucilage by means of fire; thirty-two cocos rendered me 17 lbs. of oily pulp, and these gave me three pounds of pure oil. It is fitted to other purposes besides that of food, for it serves to give light; and mixed with soda[483] it yields good soap, white and hard. One hundred cocos give one canada of oil of the canadas of Pernambuco. So that each coco costing 10 reis, a canada may be obtained for 1280 reis, or 7s. 1¼d.

From the fibre of the outward rind of the coco, which is called cairo, may be made all kinds of cordage; even cables are manufactured from it.

The only means by which the fibre of the coco rind can be obtained, are by beating and maceration; before the rind is put into water to steep, it ought to be beaten for the purpose of loosening its texture, principally that of the outward surface, which is hard and compact; and this should be done that the water may penetrate with more ease. After the first operation, it must be left to steep for two or three days, and then should be beaten; and this should be continued until the separation is accomplished; great care, however, should be taken that the rind of the coco be not allowed to dry. Because I have observed, that if this occurs, the ligneous fecula or spongy pulp, which is found intermixed with the fibres, adheres still more strongly to them. I have likewise remarked, that from the rind which has been recently taken from the coco, the fibre is much more easily extracted than from that which has been along time separated from it.[268]

The rind of 40 cocos rendered me 6lbs. of cairo. The annual produce of the coco groves of Itamaraca is 360,000 cocos, more or less; and according to calculation these are capable of yielding 1680 arrobas of prepared cairo. The island of Itamaraca is three leagues in length, and the coast is alone planted with coco trees, and if these are thus productive what might not the coco groves yield, which extend along the coast from the river St. Francisco to the bar of Mamanguape, a distance of 94 leagues all cultivated with coco trees?[269]

Aninga, Arum liniferum:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.

Class, Monoecia. Order, Polyandria.[270]

Gen. Char. Spathe monophyllous, cucullate, large. Spadix shorter than[484] the spathe, simple, clubbed at the naked end; at the base are the female flowers, and in the middle the male.

Spec. Char. Stem arboraceous, leaves sagittate, about one foot long, petioles of two feet.

Nat. Char. Stem from 6 to 8 feet long, two to three inches in diameter, straight, cylindrical, of an ashy-green colour, marked with scars of the fallen leaves; the substance spongy, juicy, soft; and in this substance are numerous longitudinal fibres, of the thickness of the hairs of horses’ tails, long.

Branches are uncommon.

Leaves are rather more than one foot long and of the same breadth at the base, sagittate, simple, coriaceous. Petioles, amplexicaul, two feet long, channelled from the base to the middle, where the channel ends in an appendix of 23 inches, the remainder is cylindrical.

Flowers, axillary, solitary. Calyx a spathe longer than the spadix. The spadix is almost one foot long. Stamina numerous. Pericarp, many berries at the base of the spadix.

The plant is to be found in Pernambuco, and it grows so plentifully in marshes that many are covered with it.

The substance of the stem of the plant is spongy, and full of an acid juice which acts upon metals; some of the peasants use this in cleaning their knives, firelocks, &c. This is the only use to which the plant has, as yet, been applied; but from the experiments which I have made upon it, I am persuaded that it may be rendered serviceable in the manufacture of cordage of great strength.

As the fibres are placed in the pulp longitudinally, and are slightly fixed to it, the operations of beating and washing will separate them entirely. I have not made any experiments as to the durability of the cordage.

Tucum. This is the name which is given to a species of palm tree, but I have not yet been able to acquaint myself with what genus it belongs to. Piso speaks of it, giving a bad print of it and a worse description. Manoel Ferreira da Camara in his Descrip. fisica da Comarca dos Ilheos, exaggerates the utility of the fibre of the plant. I tried to obtain the fibre from the leaves in a dry state, or, as the peasants term it, suado (sweated.) I held with the left hand the point of the leaf, and with the right rather lower down, I doubled it as if I was going to break it, at the same time pulling it. After it was broken, there remained in my left hand some fibres, which had been loosened from the inner surface of the leaf. I soon saw that this would not[485] do, for one person would not be able to extract more than one eighth of a lb. of fibre in the course of the day; therefore I had recourse to maceration, but this did not succeed, for at the close of eight days I found that both the leaves and the fibre had rotted. Other species of palms grow in great numbers, forming groves of many leagues, such as the Carnâùba, the palmeira, properly so called, the uricuri, and the catolé, &c. but the tucum and another kind called Maiarà grow in the shade of the woods, where they are much scattered, each tree being at some distance from the other; the tucum has few leaves; it is a thin palm tree of 5 to 6 inches in diameter and of 12 to 16 feet in length.

Macaiba or Macauba, Cocos ventricosa:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern. The description is taken from my centuria of the genera and species of new plants of Pernambuco.

Class, Monoecia. Order, Hexandria.

Gen. Char. Spathe simple; spadix ramose.

Male Flower; calyx, a trifid perianth. Corolla, tripetalous; six stamina; germen barren. Female Flower; calyx trifid; stigmata three; fruit a drupe.

Spec. Char. Stem aculeate, ventricose; leaves pinnate; small leaves ensiform replicate.

Nat. Char. Stem 30 feet long, ventricose, armed with sharp thorns circularly arranged.

Flowers. Spathe monophyllous, lanceolate, concave, large. Spadix divided into many spikes. The female flowers below, the male flowers above; close to which the bases are fixed in cups hollowed in the common peduncle. Calyx, a perianth of three linear pieces, very small, alternate with the petals of the corolla. Corolla, tripetalous, oblong, concave, pointed, yellowish. Stamina consist of six filiform filaments of the length of the corolla and of incumbent anthers, oblong. Pistil, style thick, without a stigma, barren. Female Flowers. Calyx small, whitish, monophyllous, trifid, irregular, permanent. Corolla tripetalous, rounded, the sides imbricate and united in the middle with the nectary. Nectary, a monophyllous corolla which lines and reunites within the bases of the petals. Stamina, none. Pistil consists of a rounded germen, a very short style and three stigmata, simple. Pericarp, a round drupe, of the size of a large jambo or rose apple, or of a small common apple, yellowish: it consists of a ligneous exterior bark which is weak; of a bony nut, an oily almond, and a layer of oily, yellow pulp.

[486]

The plant is to be found in Pernambuco, and in some other parts of Brazil.

The oily pulp of the fruit and the almond of the inner stone is eaten, and is sold in the markets. The ventricose or middle part of the stem contains a fecula which is extracted in times of want, and is eaten being prepared in various manners. The leaf contains a fibre fine and strong, like the leaf of the tucum; but like that it is difficult to obtain when dry or suado, and impossible to get it by maceration, for the same happened with this as with the tucum in the experiments which I made. This is a new species, and owing to the middle of the stem being much thicker than the extremities, I have given to it the specific name of cocos ventricosa. For some time I was in doubt whether I should place it in this genus or not, on account of its monopetalous nectary, which lines and unites the petals of the corolla within. The female as well as the male flowers are fixed in cups hollowed in the spike or common peduncle. The female flowers are solitary, that is, each in its cup; the male flowers are two and two.[271]

These are the fibrous plants of Brazil which are of the most importance. It is evident that of all that have been mentioned there are only four which can be made use of advantageously for cordage. The caroa (bromelia variegata); the crauatà de rede, (bromelia sagenaria); the caroata-açu (agave vivipara); and the fibre of the rind of the coco da praia (cocos nucifera); their cheapness, the ease with which they may be prepared, their abundance, and the possibility of obtaining them still cheaper, render these the fibres of chief importance.[487] The fibre of the leaf of the tucum, which has been so much extolled, and that of the macaiba, and of the dendezeiro (another palm) cannot become of general service to society, and much less can they be rendered applicable to the use of shipping, from the difficulty with which they are to be obtained, and from many other circumstances.

Section 2d.

Carrapixo, Urena Sinuata:—Lin. Syst. Veget. edit. 14.

Class, Monadelphia:—Order, Polyandria.

The bark of this plant is with ease separated by means of maceration for a fortnight; and from it cords are made for many purposes, and although they are not very strong, they are much esteemed for slinging hammocks; when the operation of macerating is made in clean water, the fibre becomes pretty well whitened. The plant is not cultivated; and in the neighbourhood of Paratibi it grows spontaneously, in such quantities that the inhabitants of that village gather it for sale. I have heard that it grows in abundance at Rio de Janeiro, and is known there by the name of guaxuma. The name of carrapixo is likewise given in Pernambuco to some other plants, of which the seeds stick to whatever chances to touch them, by means of small ears which are thorny; for this reason the plant of which we are treating is sometimes called carrapixinho, for the purpose of distinguishing it.

Guaxuma do Mangue, Hibiscus Pernambucensis:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.

Class, Monadelphia:—Order, Polyandria.

Gen. Char. Calyx double, the outside divided into many segments, the inside into five segments, campanulate. Capsule quinque-locular; many seeds.

Spec. Char. Leaves cordate, entire; stem fruit-bearing, with the exterior calyx monophyllous, having eight notches.

Nat. Char. Stem of six feet and more; bark black, few branches.

Leaves cordate, rounded, acuminated, entire; the petioles cylindrical. Stipules deciduous, acute.

Flowers, Large, yellow, like those of the cotton plant, axillary and terminal; each peduncle of one, two, and three flowers. Calyx double, permanent, the exterior monophyllous, with eight notches, acute; the interior monophyllous, campanulate, divided into five segments, acute and long. Corolla pentapetalous, yellow, and the petals hold the stameniferous column[488] upon their bases. Stamina numerous, fixed to the stameniferous column by subulate filaments; anthers rounded. Pistil consists of one oval germen acuminate; one style, which is longer than the column of the stamina, erect, and it has four or five separate stigmata. Pericarp a capsule of almost one inch long, pentangular and quinque-locular, inclosed in the calyx, which is much enlarged after fecundation.

The plant is to be found in Pernambuco in places near to the sea, or where salt water reaches, and principally upon the banks of the rivers Goiana and Paraiba. I have found it in flower and fruit in the months of February and March.

The persons who catch crabs tie them to each other with the bark of the plant; and this is the only use to which it is applied. Cordage might be made of its inner rind, as is practised in some parts of America with the hibiscus populneus; also the hibiscus tiliaceus, from which at Cayenne cords for common use are made.

Embira Branca or Jangadeira, Apeiba Cimbalaria:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.

Class, Poliandria:—Order, Monogynia.

Gen. Char. Calyx, monophyllous, trifid; pericarp a decem-locular capsule, covered with thorns or spines, depressed, opening only on the lower side.

Spec. Char. Stem of 20 to 30 feet long, and of one foot and a half in diameter.

Leaves ovate, lanceolate, cordate, reticulate, green and smooth above, covered with hairs, which are of a copper colour underneath. Stamina monadelphic. The plant is to be found in Pernambuco, abounding in the virgin woods. It blossoms from August to October.

The timber of this tree is not compact, and its specific gravity is much less than that of water, with which it does not easily become saturated. The inhabitants of the coast make use of it for the purpose of constructing rafts; three or four of these trees are put together, and are well fastened to each other[272]. The bark of the tree is fibrous, and from it a great quantity of cordage is made for the common purposes of the country.

Marcgraff calls it Apeiba; and Aublet adopted the same name when he fixed the genus of the three species which he describes in Guiana, and he supposes that the species tibourbu is the same as that which Marcgraff speaks[489] of in Pernambuco; they are certainly alike, but I imagine that it must be a variety, from the size of the tree, which only grows there to the height of eight feet, and here it exceeds 20 feet. There is less hair upon the leaves, the silky work of the edges is not so deep; and there is even some difference in the shape; the stamina are manifestly monadelphic. This last circumstance inclined me to call it apeiba monadelpha, but the use to which the tree is applied in the construction of rafts decided me in calling it cimbalaria.

Embira Vermelha, Unona carminativa:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.

This plant has a red fibrous bark, of which as much use is made in manufacturing cordage as of the embira branca; but the bark ought not be permitted to be gathered, for the tree produces seeds, of which the capsules have the taste and the pungency of black pepper. Many persons make use of them as a spice in cooking, and some even prefer them to pepper; they are carminative. If the bark is taken off, the tree dies; the seeds are worthy of becoming an article of trade as a spice.[273]

I have omitted a great number of plants which possess fibrous properties, that this Dissertation might not be made too long; some of them are not much in use, and others are not applied to any purpose. I shall mention some, such as the guaxuma branca da mata (helicteras baruensis) of which the inner bark is white and strong, but on being wetted, it becomes rotten and breaks. However, I think it might be applied to the manufacture of paper. The barriguda or sumàûma (bombax ventricosa:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.) and the Sertam plant, called the embiratanha, which I have named bombax mediterranea, also afford fibre from the bark, but they are not much used. All the species anona (called commonly areticum) afford fibre, and of these the plant which gives the strongest and the most durable fibre is the areticum a pé. The cord with which the flag of Fort Cabedello at Paraiba is hoisted, is made of the rind of this plant, and it has been there for many years. Finally all the plants of the genera hibiscus, sidas, altheas, and in general all the mallows afford fibre of greater or less strength. The embiriba (lecythis) gives tow, and although it cannot be applied to the manufacture of cordage, its use is great for caulkers.

[490]

An Essay on the Utility of establishing Gardens in the principal Provinces of Brazil.

The first part of this pamphlet treats of the advantages which Brazil would obtain by the establishment of Royal Botanic Gardens. The second part contains a list of those plants which it would be expedient to transplant from other quarters of the globe to Brazil, and from one part of Brazil to the other. I shall only translate that portion of the second part which relates to the plants of Brazil.—Transl.

Plants of Parà and Maranham.

Cravo do Maranham, Myrtus caryophylata.

Pixuri.

Abacati., Laurus Persea:—The fruit of this tree contains a butterous substance, which is very pleasant; there are two kinds or varieties, one of which is distinguished by the name of Cayenne.

Bacuri, Moronobea esculenta:—This tree grows to a great height; and the stem is entirely without branches, forming at the top a large cope. The fruit is nearly of the size of an orange, but it is oval and contains 23 stones covered with a white pulp, which have a pleasant taste, being sweet, and somewhat acid. In Pernambuco is to be found another species of the same genus, growing in marshes, which is commonly called gulandim; on cutting into the stem a white juice oozes out, which appears to me to be resinous, and perhaps might be applied to some use. Both these species are described in my Centuria of the new genera and species of the plants of Pernambuco.

Bacaba, Areca Bacaba:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern. This palm tree is a species of areca oleracea, producing however larger fruit; the nut is covered with a mucilaginous pulp, from which the inhabitants of the places in which it grows make an excellent beverage, called bacabada or ticuara de bacabas.

Abacaxi, Bromelia:—There are three varieties of ananas at Maranham, called abacaxi; of one the fruit is white, and the leaves are not serrated; of another the fruit is of a purple colour, and the leaves spiny; the third I have not seen. I brought the two first varieties to Pernambuco, where they have been planted, and are already becoming common, and they have been forwarded by some patriotic persons to other provinces. Their flavour is much superior to that of the species which has been long well known.

Maracuja Mamam, Passiflora Alata.

[491]

Plants of Seara.

Piqui, Acantacaryx Pinguis:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern. This plant produces most abundantly a fruit of the size of an orange, of which the pulp is oily, feculous, and very nourishing. It is the delight of the inhabitants of Searà and Piauhi. The tree grows to the height of fifty feet, and is of proportionate thickness. The timber of it is of as good quality as that of the cicopira, for ship-building. It grows well in the sandy plains which are in Pernambuco called taboleiros, and in Piauhi chapadas, therefore its cultivation would be very advantageous in the taboleiros bordering the coast, which are at present of no service. It has afforded great assistance to the people in times of drought and famine.

Buriti, An Borassus?—This species of palm is one of the highest and most beautiful of trees; it grows only in bogs and marshes; the fruit is of the size of a hen’s egg, and of the same form; it is of a red colour at the time of maturation, and is covered with scales spirally arranged. Under the scales is found a layer of oily pulp of the same red colour, from which the inhabitants of Piauhi obtain an emulsion; when this is mixed with sugar, it becomes a substantial drink, which is by no means unpleasant. However, if it is used to excess, the colour of the fruit is communicated to the surface of the skin, and to the white of the eyes, producing the appearance of jaundice, but without any injury to the health.

Maracuja Suspiro, Passiflora:—This is the finest flavoured fruit of the genus; it is called suspiro, because one of them may be swallowed at once, leaving upon the palate a most exquisite taste and a sweet smell. It is to be found in the Serra de Beruoca, upon the borders of Acaracù.[274]

Mandapuca, Myrtus Scabra:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.

Coco Naia, a large palm tree, which is to be found abundantly in Cariri Novo and Piauhi; the nut contains three or four seeds, from which oil is extracted, and this is applied to the same purposes as that of the cocos nucifera. The nut is covered with a feculous substantial flour, which has afforded much relief in times of need. From this fecula is made a soup or angù, as it is called, which is seasoned with the emulsion or oil obtained from the almond[492] of the same fruit. The pith of the tops of these palms is a white substance, tender, juicy, sweetish, and pleasant to the taste, and it is harmless even if eaten raw. If it be boiled with meat, the taste is not unlike the cabbage, but it is more solid. After having taken from it the saccharine parts by means of one boiling, it becomes capable of being seasoned, and many excellent dishes are made from them, after the manner of the areca oleracea. For the knowledge of these last uses the inhabitants of those parts are indebted to my example. The same may be practised with the palmeira pindoba (cocos butiroza, Lin.) which is very common at Pernambuco. For these purposes the larger trees should not be cut down, but rather only those which have attained the height of ten or fifteen feet.[275]

Marangaba, Psidium Pigmeum:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.

This is a species of goiaba plant which does not attain more than two or three feet in height; it abounds in the chapada of the Serra Araripe of Cariri Novo.[276]

In front of my house at Itamaraca, there was a dendezeiro which stood alone, and I know that there was no other tree of the same species anywhere within sight. The tree bore fruit.—Transl.

[493]

Plants of Pernambuco.

Carapitaia, Carlotea formosissima:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.

Bilros, Carlotea Speciosa:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.

Two beautiful species of a new genus, which I have dedicated to H. R. H. the Princess of Brazil; the roots of these plants are tuberous, abounding with soft and nutritive fecula, which has afforded assistance to the people of the Sertam of Pajaù in times of drought. These plants are worthy of being cultivated not only from their utility but for the purpose of ornamenting gardens, their flowers being umbellate, crimson, and very beautiful.

Canella do Mato, Linharia aromatica:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.

Catinga Branca, Linharea tinctoria:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.

Of the first of these plants the leaves and bark have a pleasant smell, which is like that of cloves. It is not as yet used, being unknown. I have made use of the leaves and bark of this plant in distilling rum, and have obtained a pleasant liqueur. I have learnt by experience that the extract of the leaves is not only pleasant to the taste and smell, but that it likewise strengthens the stomach. It is to be found in the greatest abundance upon the taboleiros, which bound the captaincies of Paraiba and Searà, upon the borders of Pinhancò, and I have likewise seen it in Piauhi.[277]

The second of these plants is a shrub which grows abundantly upon the skirts of the mountains, and upon the banks of the rivulets of the Sertoens of Pernambuco, Paraiba, and Seara. It yields by boiling a yellow dye, which is sufficiently durable upon skins. It is probable that some means might be found of fixing the colour upon cotton cloth, as is the case with the tatajuba (morus tinctoria). Besides this use, it is applied to that of curing sarnas, an eruptive complaint; the patient being washed in a decoction of the leaves. As I could not arrange these plants in any of the known genera, I have formed one for them to which I have given the name of Linharea, in memory[494] of D. Rodrigo de Souza Coutinho, Conde de Linhares, the cultivator and protector of letters.

Carnauba or Carnaiba, Corypha cerifera:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern. This palm is one of the most useful plants of the Sertoens; it rises to the height of thirty feet and more; the varzeas or low lands upon the borders of the rivers and rivulets of Pernambuco, Paraiba do Norte, Searà, and Piauhi, and principally the banks of the rivers Jaguaribe, Apodi, Mossorò, and Açu, are covered with these trees. When the fruit of it has attained the size of a small olive (which when green it resembles in form), it should be boiled several times in different water to take off its astringent properties; and then a sufficient boiling being given it becomes soft and has the taste of boiled maize. In this state it is eaten with milk, and is a wholesome food. The pith of the stem of the young plants, being bruised in water, affords a nutritive fecula, as white as that of mandioc. The plant should not much exceed the height of a man when used for this purpose. It is of great service to the inhabitants of those parts in times of drought and famine. The leaves of the young plant are of two feet in length, and are doubled after the manner of a fan, whilst they are yet young; afterwards they open, and become of little less than two feet in breadth. If they are cut in this state, and are allowed to dry in the shade, a considerable quantity of small light coloured scales will be loosened from the surface. These will melt by the heat of a fire into white wax, of which it possesses the properties; it is however more brittle, but this may be remedied by mixing it with the common wax, which is more oily. In 1797 I made known this discovery to the R. P. M. Fr. Joze Marianno da Conceiçam Vellozo, who published the account of it in the Paladio Portuguez; but at that time I was not so well aware as I am now of the importance of the wax.

The fruit of this tree when ripe is black and shining, and of the size of eggs of tame pigeons. The kernel is covered with a layer of sweet pulp, which is eaten by cattle, as are also the dry leaves which fall, when other food fails. The leaves are used for covering houses, and although thus exposed to the weather, they last for twenty years without requiring to be renewed. The stem is made use of for building houses, for fences, pens, &c.[278]

[495]

Anil de Pernambuco, Koanophyllon tinctoria:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.

This is a shrub which grows to the height of twelve feet or more. It is of the class syngenesia; the leaves are from two to three inches in length, and[496] of proportionate breadth; it is enough to soak a piece of cotton cloth in its juice for it to become green, and from this colour it is changed to blue by the absorption of the oxigen of atmospheric air. The colour becomes so fixed, that it resists the action of soap and the lye of potash, and it rather brightens than fades after it has undergone these experiments. It is probable that by fermentation and beating, it may yield blue fecula, like the common indigo (indigofera tinctoria). I know that it may be cultivated with ease, for I have sown the seeds which are like those of the lettuce; they come up in a few days. The land which is adapted to it is varzea fresca, or marshy land composed of maçape, or stiff clay.

Anil trepador, Cissus tinctorius:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.

If the leaves of this plant are rubbed upon a white cloth, they impart to it a green colour like that of any other herb. By exposure to atmospheric air it changes this colour for a fixed blue, which resists the lye of potash and soap. It is found in the mountains and low lands of the Sertoens.

Herva Lombrigueira or Arapabaca, Spigelia anthelmia:—Lin. Syst. Veget.

This plant has anthelminthic properties, and is sold in our towns. It grows abundantly in argillaceous low lands.

Urucu, Bixa Orellana. Lin.

This is a shrub, and is worthy of cultivation from the dye which the leaves afford; but it is not cultivated by any one in Pernambuco, not even as a curiosity.

Pitombeira, Meleagrinex Pernambucana:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.

This tree grows to the height of 30 or 40 feet; the timber of it is compact and may be applied to some purposes. It produces its fruit in large rounded bunches, in capsules which do not open. It has a solid kernel of two cotyledons, covered with a sweetish acid pulp, which is not unpleasant. If turkeys eat of these kernels they die immediately; from this circumstance I took the name of the genus, of which I have only found two species.

Imbuzeiro, Spondia tuberosa:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.

This is a tree which grows plentifully in the Sertoens of Pernambuco and Paraiba. It produces a fruit which is rather smaller than pullets eggs, obovate, with five points at the lower part, being the indications of the five stigmata. Its colour is yellow, and below the coriaceous epidermis, it retains a juicy pulp, of a pleasant sweetish acid taste. With this juice, and milk, curds, and sugar, a much esteemed mess is made, called imbuzada.[497] This tree throws out long horizontal roots, which penetrate very little, and upon these are seen at short distances round tubers of eight inches (hum palmo) in diameter, full of water, like unto water-melons; these supply the vegetation of the tree in seasons of drought, and sometimes refresh the sportsman who has penetrated into the woods. The re-production of the tree is very easy by means of shoots.

Piranga, Bignonia tinctoria:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.

This is a fruit-bearing and sarmentose plant; its leaves yield, by boiling, a red dye, which can be made a fixed dye upon cotton cloth, by means of preparations analogous to those which are made for madder.

Umari, Geoffroya spinosa:—Jacq. Stirp. Americ.

This plant, which Jacquim found at Carthagena in the sandy lands near to the coast, grows at Pernambuco upon argillaceous low lands, upon which it arrives at 30 or 40 feet in height; in Carthagena, according to the same author, it does not reach more than twelve feet. The flowers are yellow, and have a smell which is similar to that of the coco-oil; those of Carthagena have a disagreeable smell. May they not be two separate species? From the almond of this plant is extracted a white and nutritive fecula, of which the inhabitants of the Rio do Peixe, and of the Sertam of Paraiba do Norte make much use. The plant grows very plentifully in the low lands of those parts, and it is also to be met with in the province of Rio Grande do Norte.

Ipecacuanha preta, Ipecacuanha officinalis:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.

Until the present time the botanists of Europe have not known to what genus this plant belongs. Some of them thought it was the euphorbia Ipecacuanha, others, that it was the psoralia glandulosa, others, the spiræa trifoliata, others the viola ipecacuanha, finally others suspected that it was the psychotria emetica; but I have observed the ipecacuanha preta very frequently when in flower, and I think that it has more affinity to the tapagomea of Aublet. However, I have given it the name of ipecacuanha, for although both are barbarous, still the latter has been used for a century and a half. The Ipecacuanha is easily cultivated, for I have made the experiment, but it requires shade, or at any rate it must not be completely exposed to the heat of the sun.

Ipecacuanha branca, Viola Ipecacuanha:—Lin. Pombalia Ipecacuanha: Vandel.

Although the root of this plant was formerly mistaken for that of the ipecacuanha preta, it is well known now to be of another description. It is[498] much used in medicine in Pernambuco, as a gentle purgative, &c. It is easily cultivated, and delights in a moist atmosphere and a sandy soil. In the neighbourhood of the Campina Grande (of Paraiba) I have seen large pieces of ground covered with the plant. Of this species of ipecacuanha our druggists might make their syrup of viola, and our physicians might without scruple apply the flowers and calyx in place of the flowers of the viola odorata, for it promotes expectoration, and possesses stimulant qualities which strengthen the nerves.

Contra-herva, Dorstenia rotundifolia:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.

Contra-herva de folha longana, Dorstenia Pernambucana:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.

These two species of contra-herva are new, and are peculiar to Pernambuco; besides these two I have not met with any other species. But they have the same virtue as the true contra-herva of Mexico (dorstenia contra-herva), and the physicians of Pernambuco do not use any other. They are to be found in great quantities in some parts.

Angelim, Skolemora Pernambucensis:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.

The fruit of this tree possesses the strongest vegetable anthelminthic properties with which I am acquainted. It is necessary to be careful in the use of it, for if the dose is too large, the medicine will attack the nervous system, and produce convulsions. The common dose is one-fourth part of a seed for an adult. I know of three species of this plant.

Batata de purga, Convolvulus mechoacan.

The root of this species of convolvulus is tuberose; and a dose of two drachms of the fecula is sufficient as a purgative. The root is cut into small slices that it may be dried with more ease; a thread is then passed through the middle of each slice, for the purpose of exposing them for sale. It is a gentle purgative, and is now much in use, therefore it is worthy of being cultivated. It may be observed as being remarkable, that quantities of the root are sometimes sold by the peasants which have little effect. This ought to be attributed to its being gathered out of season. All plants should be gathered after their maturation. Thus the batata de purga should be gathered after the fruit and leaves have dried, but before the rains come on. I have observed in Pernambuco two species of convolvulus, of tuberose roots, both of which are purgative, and the prepared root of both is commonly known under the name of purga de batata; one of these is the true convolvulus[499] mechoacan, and is different from the other in leaf, branch, and fruit; of this I have given the description in my Centuria of new plants.[279]

Papo de Peru, Aristolochia grandiflora:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.

This beautiful species of aristolochia, which I first met with in the torrents of Cariri Novo, is medicinal, and is worthy of being cultivated in gardens, not only for its utility, but likewise on account of the beauty and size of its flower. Besides this, I am acquainted with five species of aristolochia, some of which may be made useful. The plant is commonly called angelicò.

Mangabeira, Ribeirea sorbilis. This tree grows well in the sandy lands of the taboleiros; the fruit varies from the size of a pigeon’s egg to that of a pullet’s; the colour is a greenish yellow, spotted with red; it is almost of the consistence of the service; and is well known in the markets of Pernambuco and Bahia. Considerable numbers of these trees are now cultivated in the neighbourhood of Olinda; and the attention which is paid to the tree has improved the fruit. If this is pounded spirituous fermentation takes place with great ease, and from this passes to acetosity; thus the juice forms most excellent vinegar, in a very short period, which I found to be stronger than that of the grape, of the sugar cane, of bananas or of cambuins. I have described this new genus in my Cent. Plant. Pern. dedicating it to my disciple P. Joam Ribeiro Pessoa de Mello Montenegro, professor of drawing in the seminary of Olinda. He is worthy of this honour, not only from having attempted to introduce into this captaincy the cultivation of some useful exotic plants, but from the curious and philosophical examination which he has made respecting the wonderful phenomenon of the manner of the fructification of the mangabeira plant, which will be found in my Centuria Plant. Pern.

Oiti Coroia, Pleragina rufa:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.

Oiti da Praia, Pleragina odorata:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.

Oiticica or Catingueira, Pleragina umbrosissima.

The first species of this genus (oiti coroia) produces an irregular drupe, of which the kernel is covered with a sweet fecula, somewhat aromatic, pleasant, nutritive. It is large enough to satisfy one person. It is sold in the markets, and by some individuals it is now cultivated.

[500]

The second species (oiti da praia) produces an oval or oblong drupe, very little smaller than a hen’s egg; it is yellow at the period of maturation; the kernel is covered with a sweet, aromatic, and nutritive pulp.

The third species (oiticica) is peculiar to the Sertoens, where it grows upon the borders of rivers and rivulets. It rises to the height of 50 or 60 feet; its branches are so diffuse, and double so much, that they nearly reach the ground, forming a spacious cope. The fruit is an oblong drupe of two inches or more in length, and of half an inch in thickness; it always retains its green colour, even when ripe. The kernel is not hard like the kernels of the two preceding species, but it is ligneous and flexible, and can easily be broken; it is covered with a layer of astringent pulp. The almond is a seed composed of two oily cotyledons of a disagreeable taste, but abounding with an oil, of which some use is now made.

Gendiroba or Andiroba, Feuillea cordifolia;—Lin.

This is of the natural order of cucurbitaceous plants; the seeds are very oily, and from them oil is easily extracted, which, as well as that of the cocos nucifera, has the property of coagulating. I have made good soap from it even with potash, depriving it of carbonic acid by means of virgin lime.

Caroba, Kordelestris symphilitica;—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern. Bignonia copaia; Aublet. Guien.

Caroba miuda, or casco de cavallo, Kordelestris undulata;—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.

These two species possess antivenereal properties, and are particularly serviceable against the infection which is called bobas, yaws.

Barbatimam, Mimosa virginalis;—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.

This tree is not very large; its bark is one of the strongest astringents, and is at the same time somewhat stimulating, which renders it applicable to some disorders. The peasants use it to heal their own wounds, as well as those of animals. Women use it after child-bearing, bathing themselves in a decoction of the leaves. I am persuaded that the extract of it, if it did not exceed would at least equal in medicinal virtue the mimoza catechu.

Almecega, Amyris Pernambucensis;—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.

This is a tree which sometimes attains a great height; from its bark oozes a resinous juice which is indissoluble in water, but it is completely dissolvible in spirit of wine. The woods of Goiana and of Alhandra abound with these trees, and the Indians of the latter place gather the gum in considerable quantities, and sell it at from 20 to 40 reis per lb. It has almost the same[501] medicinal virtues as turpentine; when applied in the form of a plaister to the forehead, it affords relief, and it usually removes the tooth-ach. Our apothecaries use it in making up some kinds of ointments. It is mixed by our people with the yellow wax of the country for the purpose of making candles for common use. A fourth part of tallow is added to it, for caulking canoes, water wheels of sugar mills, &c.

The gum is known under two forms; that which is white and clean is called almecega cozida or boiled; for the Indians who gather it, boil it for the purpose of separating the impurities, and they make loaves of it of 16 and 20 lbs. weight. The almecega crua, or raw, when dissolved in spirits of wine, might be used in the composition of some kinds of varnish; and being burnt, it might serve instead of incense, as is practised with the balsam of the Sertam, and as the resin of the amyris ambrosiaca or icica heptafylla of Aublet is used in some parts of America.

THE END.

Printed by A. Strahan,
New-Street-Square, London.

[502]

ERRATA.

Page 52, line 32, for Pernaiba read Parnaiba.
——...99, —— ...1, for he read the animal.
—— 123, ——... 4, for we read was.
—— 182, —— 28, for dress read dressed.
—— 189, —— 27, for sand read land.
—— 196, —— 19, for Utringa read Utinga.
—— 233, ——... 2, for Mamanguape read Maranguape.
—— 233, ——... 8, for superintending read superintended.
—— 352, —— 25, for ou read on.

FOOTNOTES: