[209]Manumitted creole blacks are, I am nearly certain, admitted into these regiments.[210]There was a rumour of the appointment of a white man as colonel of this regiment, and also of a white colonel for the Recife mulatto regiment; and I was asked by several individuals of these casts whether there was any truth in the report. I cannot believe any thing of this kind; the liberal policy which seems to pervade the Council of Rio de Janeiro forbids that such a report should be believed; but if this should be true, most pernicious will be the consequences, which from such a determination may be expected to proceed.[211]The priests of the island of St. Thomé, upon the coast of Africa, are negroes. I have seen some of these men at Recife, who have come over for a short time. I have heard that they are prohibited from saying Mass any where excepting upon the island for which they are ordained; but I can scarcely think that this can be correct. In theVoyage du Chevalier des Marchais en Guinée, isles voisines et a Cayenne, I find that men of mixed blood were ordained in the islands of St. Thomé and Principe, and the editor of the work says, “presque tout le clergé de la cathedrale(of St. Thome)étoit de cette couleur.” Vol. iii. p. 4. “L’Eglise de S. Antoine qui est la Paroisse(of Prince’s Island)est déservie par des prêtres noirs ou presque noirs, c’est à dire mulâtres.” p. 30.I have, as is stated in the text, heard from good authority, that the law forbids the ordination of mulattos; what the practice is I am quite certain, and I hope the law may be favourable also.[212]This word is without doubt derived fromEgypçianos; I am told that the wordgitanosis also used as a name for these people.[213]A Portugueze writer says, “When permission was given in Portugal to work upon several of the holidays, the same was not extended to Brazil from a principle of humanity, that the slaves might not be deprived of any of their days of rest.”—Correio Braziliense, for December, 1815, p. 738.[214]In the island of Grenada “every manumission is by an act of the island, charged with a fine of one hundred pounds currency;” it is said that this law has neither operated as a productive fund nor as a prohibition.—Edwards’ History of the West-Indies, vol. i. p. 380.At Surinam, says another writer, “Si un maître voulait affranchir son esclave, outre la perte qu’il fesait de son negre, il étoit encore obligé d’acheter fort cher des lettres de franchise, sans lesquelles aucun noir ne pouvait être instruit dans la religion Chrétienne, ni baptisé.”—Voyage a la Guiane et a Cayenne en 1789, et années suivantes, p. 224.Bolingbroke says, “It is by no means an uncommon thing in these colonies for negroes when they have accumulated a sufficiency, to purchase their freedom; and I have known many instances of negroes who paid their owners a proportion of the purchase-money, and were allowed after emancipation to workout the balance.”—Voyage to the Demerary, &c. p. 65.I give this statement, and should be happy to transcribe any other, with which I might meet in the course of reading, of the same tenor; but it must be recollected that the “Voyage to the Demerary” is decidedly written in favour of the slave trade and of slavery.[215]The owner of a sugar plantation, with whose sons I was well acquainted, possessed a slave, who had the management of the sugar boiling house during crop time, and who was accounted by all who knew him and understood the business, to be a most excellent workman.—This man accumulated a sum of money, which he offered to his master for his freedom, but it was not accepted; and although the slave made great interest with persons of consideration in the country, he could not accomplish his end. His master loaded him with irons, and he was made to work in this state. He did not obtain his liberty till after his master’s death, when the widow received his money, and manumitted him. His trade of sugar-boiler renders him large profits yearly, and this injured man now lives in ease and comfort. This instance of refusal, and some others of which I have heard, would make me doubtful of the foundation upon which the custom of manumitting is placed, if I did not know how easily the laws relating to many other important points are evaded through the influence of wealth and power. I did not see a copy of the law or regulation on the subject, but I never met with any one who made a doubt of its existence. I never met with any one who doubted that the slave had a right to appeal, if he thought proper; whether he would be heard or not was another question.[216]The major part of the slaves that abscond, are brought back to their owners, but some do escape, and are never afterwards heard of. They remove to some distant district and there reside as free men. Those who have once tasted of the sweets of free agency, for any length of time, even if they are brought back to their masters, scarcely ever remain longer than is requisite to seek an opportunity of eluding the vigilance of those whose business it is to watch them; they soon brave the risk of another detection. A young and handsome mulatto man of these unsettled habits once applied to me to purchase him. He had by mere accident been discovered only a short time before, by a friend of his master in the Sertam, where he had married a free woman, and had been considered as free himself. He was brought back to his master, was sold to another person, escaped, returned, and again fled, and had not, when I left the country, been heard of for a twelvemonth.[217]The following circumstances occurred under my own observation:—A negress had brought into the world ten children, and had reared nine of them. These remained to work for their owners; the woman claimed her freedom, for the tenth child did not die until it had arrived at an age when it did not require any farther care from her; but it was refused. She was hired to a gentleman as a nurse for one of his children. This person did all in his power to obtain her freedom, but did not succeed; he purchased her, and immediately had a deed of manumission made out by a notary-public. When he returned home to dinner, he desired his wife to tell the woman that she was his slave, and in the course of the day the deed was given to her. When I left the country, her only fear was, that as she was free, her master and mistress might turn her away; thus proving, by her anxiety, how happy she was.[218]Du Tertre says, speaking of negro baptismal festivals—“les parrains et les marraines qui sont ordinairement de François amis de leurs maitres, ne laissent pas de contribuer à la bonne chere.”—Histoire des Antilles, tom. ii. p. 528.Fellow slaves, or free persons of colour, are usually the sponsors in Brazil; but it is better, I think, that fellow-slaves, that is, belonging to the same master, should be sponsors, for they take a considerable interest in their god-children. The god-child, indeed, in any of the ranks of life, never approaches either of its sponsors without begging for their blessing. Labat, in speaking of a negro whom he had maderenoncer tous ses pactes implicites et explicites qu’il pouvoit avoir fait avec le diable, says,—“Je chargeai sont maitre, qui étoit aussi son parrain de vieller soigneusement sur sa conduite.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. ii. p.54.I never heard of the master in Brazil being likewise the god-father, nor do I think that this ever happens; for such is the connection between two persons which this is supposed to produce, that the master would never think of ordering the slave to be chastised.[219]The same occurs in the Spanish and French colonies. Du Tertre, who seems from the general tenor of his work, to have been a much better man than friars usually are, speaks of the difficulty of converting the Caribs, and of their indifference to religion, and then adds, “Mais les négres sont certainement touchez de Dieu, puis qu’ils conservent, jusqu’à la mort, la religion qu’ils ont embrassée; qu’ils en pratiquent les vertus et en exercent les œuvres, et je puis dire avec verité qu’ils y vivent bien plus Chrestiennement dans leur condition, que beaucoup de François.”—Histoire des Antilles, tom. ii. p. 502.[220]Labat says that the inhabitants of St. Domingo were in the habit of marking the negroes which they bought by burning the skin, and he adds, in his Dominican way, “De sorte qu’un esclave qui auroit été vendu et revendu plusieurs fois paroîtroit à la fin aussi chargé de caracters, que ces obelisques d’Egypt.” This was not practised, as he tells us, in the islands (Martinique and Guadaloupe) and he adds that their negroes, and principally the creole slavesseroient au desespoir qu’on les marquât comme on fait les bœufs et les chevaux. The small islands did not require this practice, but St. Domingoun pais aussi vaste, could not do without it, because the slaves ran away to the mountains.—Nouveau Voyage, &c., tom. vii. p. 260.The St. Domingo planters have paid severely for all their misdeeds, and therefore of them nothing need to be said in the present day. The vastness, however, of Brazil, which is a little morevastethan St. Domingo, does not require that the slaves should be marked like cattle.[221]Edwards’ History of the West-Indies, vol. ii. p. 82, and 147.[222]The base, the most abominable practice of some masters and mistresses,and of the latter oftener than the former, increases the bias which these miserable, these uneducated beings must be expected to have towards licentiousness. Females have been punished because they have not increased the number of their owners’ slaves. This is a fact; but it is almost too much to believe. On which side does the extreme of depravity lie?[223]The following circumstances occurred within my own observation. A negro woman applied to a planter to be purchased, for which purpose she had brought a note from her master. She was accepted, and a bargain was concluded between the two persons; however, the day after she had taken up her abode upon the estate of her new master, she came to him, and falling down upon her knees, said that she had had a fellow-slave who wished likewise to serve him, and she begged him to purchase her companion. The new master spoke to the owner of the slave in question on the subject, but he refused to sell him, and the matter rested in this manner; but on the third day, he received a visit from the owner, offering the slave for sale, adding that the man had refused to work, and had threatened to hang himself; and as he was aGabamnegro, he much feared that he might put his threat in execution. The price was soon fixed, and on the following morning the man made his appearance. He proved to be a most excellent slave.[224]The following occurrences took place upon the estate of a wealthy planter to the South of Recife, and the anecdote was related by the owner of the plantation himself. A negro complained to his master of the infidelity of his wife; she was immediately questioned; and other enquiries being made, and the truth of the statement respecting her conduct being proved, she was tied to a post to be flogged. Her husband was present, and at first he rather received pleasure from the sight of her sufferings; but he soon stopped the driver’s hand, and going to his master, begged him to order her to be unbound, and that he would pardon her, for he added, “If there are to be so many men, and so small a number of women upon the estate, how is it to be expected that the latter are to be faithful.” “Para que Senhor tem tantos negros et tam poucas negras.”[225]The ships which are employed in this trade oftentimes fill some of their water casks with salt water, when they leave Brazil, that they may serve as ballast; and on taking their live cargo on board upon the coast of Africa, the salt water is replaced by that which is for the use of the additional number of persons. On one occasion a vessel had proceeded for some days on her voyage from Africa towards Brazil with a full cargo, when the discovery was made that the casks had not been filled with fresh water. The coast of either continent was too distant to enable the vessel to reach one or the other, before the greatest distress must be experienced, and therefore a most shocking expedient was resorted to,—a great number of the negroes were thrown overboard. This misfortune was accidental and occurred unintentionally, and a man must have been in a similar situation before he can declare that he would not act as the Portugueze did on this occasion; but the circumstances arose from the nature of this execrable trade.[226]I was present on one occasion at the purchase of some slaves. The person who was chusing those which suited his purpose, singled out among others a handsome woman, and a beautiful boy of about six years old. The woman had been a slave at Loanda upon the coast of Africa, and she spoke a little Portugueze. Whilst the selection was going on, the slave-dealer had happened to leave the room; but after it was concluded he returned, and seeing the persons who had been set apart to be purchased, said, he was sorry the woman and child could not be sold, for they formed part of a lot which could not be separated. The purchaser enquired the reason of the formation of a lot in this instance, and was answered that it consisted of a family, the husband, wife, and three children. The dealer was then requested to point out the individuals which composed it, and they were all bought together. How few slave-merchants would have acted in this manner! The whole family was present during the greatest part of the time, but there was no change of countenance in either the husband or the wife,—both of them understood the Portugueze language; the children were almost too young to know what was about to happen, and besides we spoke in a language whichtheydid not understand. That their parents did feel deeply the separation which they must have apprehended as being upon the point of taking place, I have not the slightest doubt, because I frequently saw these slaves afterwards, and knew how much they were attached to each other and to their children. But whether it proceeded from resignation, from despair, from fear, or from being ashamed to shew what they felt before so many strangers, there was no demonstration of feeling. Negroes may have feelings, and yet not allow the standers-by to know what they feel.[227]An instance occurred at Liverpool of the attachment of some of these people to their master. At the commencement of the direct trade from Brazil to Great Britain, some small vessels came to Liverpool manned in part with slaves, owing to their masters being ignorant that their arrival upon British ground would make them free. However the men themselves were soon made acquainted with this circumstance, and many of them availed themselves of the advantages which were to be thus obtained. One of the men belonging to a small bark left his vessel, and having entered himself as a seaman on board some other ship, returned to persuade three of his companions to do the same; but he was answered, that they were well treated where they were, had always been used kindly, and therefore had no wish to try any other way of life. These three men returned to Brazil in the bark, and I have heard that they were set at liberty by their master on their arrival there. I hope it was so. When the advocates of slavery relate such stories as these, they give them as tending to prove that slaves in general are happy. Anecdotes of this kind demonstrate individual goodness in the master and individual gratitude in the slave, but they prove nothing generally; they do not affect the great question;thatis rested upon grounds which are too deeply fixed to be moved by single instances of evil or of good.[228]Mr. Edwards mentions some of the Gold coast negroes, or those of the adjacent countries, and gives as an instance thechambanegroes, who follow this custom.[229]Whilst I resided at Jaguaribe, I heard that two negroes of this nation had murdered a child of three or four years of age, the son or daughter of their master, and that they had been caught in the act of preparing to cook part of the body. The men were carried down to Recife, but the person who informed me of these circumstances did not know what punishment had been inflicted upon them.[230]I merely state what is the general idea upon the subject in that country, without giving an opinion upon the general question.—Mr. Edwards says that it is a disease and not a habit.—History of the West-Indies, vol. ii. p. 141.Labat is of opinion, that it is a habit and not a disease.—Nouveau Voyage &c. tom. ii. p. 11.[231]There was one in 1814, and another in February of the present year, 1816.[232]Edwards’ History of the West-Indies, vol. ii. p. 64.[233]The negroes who are obtained in the province of Senegambia, “are known to the West-Indian planters by the general name ofMandingoes.”—History of the West-Indies, vol. ii. p. 50.“There is a sort of people who travel about in the country, called Mandingo-men; (these are Mahommedans) they do not like to work; they go from place to place; and when they find any chiefs or people whom they think they can make any thing of, they take up their abode for a time with them, and makegreegrees, and sometimes cast sand from them, for which they make them pay.”—Correspondence of Mr. John Kizell in the Sixth Report of the Directors of the African Institution, p. 136.[234]Mr. Edwards says, “In Jamaica the negroes are allowed one day in a fortnight, except in time of crop, besides Sundays and holidays, for cultivating their grounds, and carrying their provisions to market.” The Protestant church enjoins the observance of three or four holidays, and the Catholic church of above thirty.Du Tertre says that the custom of giving a certain portion of time to the slave for the purpose of providing for his own maintenance, was introduced into the Columbian islands by “les Holandois chassez du Recif,” and he adds that they “gouvernent leurs esclaves à la façon du Bresil.”—Histoire des Antilles, vol. ii. p. 515.[235]One of these old men, who was yet however sufficiently hearty to be often in a state of intoxication, and would walk to a considerable distance to obtain liquor, made a practice of coming to see me for this purpose. He would tell me, that he and his companions were not slaves to the monks but to St. Bento himself, and that consequently, the monks were only the representatives of their master for the due administration of the Saint’s property in this world. I enquired of some others of the slaves, and found that this was the general opinion among them.[236]An old slave, who had been invariably well treated, for he had never deserved punishment, was asked by his master if he wished to be free; he smiled, but said nothing; the question being repeated, he answered that of course he wished to be free; the master then told him that his deed of manumission should be drawn out that same day; upon this being said, the slave shook his head, saying, “Why do you say such things to laugh at your old black man.” However, as soon as he was persuaded that it was true, he began to dance about like one who was mad, and for some minutes could answer no questions, nor could any directions be given to him.[237]The Saturday of each week is not sufficient for the slave to provide for his own subsistence, unless the labour of his master, is done by task work, in which case, he may manage to finish this in due time, and to work a little each day upon his own provision grounds. He may indeed be able to live, by assisting the Saturdays, through the labour of his Sundays and holidays, even if the labour of his master is not done by piece-work; but this is not just, for to the Sundays and holidays he has a right as his own, even if his master supports him; but slavery and justice seldom go hand in hand.[238]A planter with whom I was acquainted, was once seen by a person who happened to call upon him, occupied with three of his companions in flogging four negroes; the men were tied at a short distance from each other to four posts, and as the operation continued, there was much laughing and joking, for as they lashed their miserable victims, they cried out,—“Here is to the health of such and such a person.” It is some comfort to be able to say, that this wretch has been ruined; but his ruin has been caused by his treatment of his slaves, which has occasioned the death of some, and the escape of others from his power in a less melancholy manner.Another man, on ordering a slave to work in the sugar-mill, was answered, that he was sick and could not go, but the master persisted. The negro went, saying, “you will then kill your slave;” and vexed with the treatment which he received now, and had suffered on other occasions, he placed his head near to one of the wheels, (for it was a water-mill) by which it was severed from his body. I could mention many anecdotes of this description, indicative of individual blackness of heart, such as have been related of all nations who have had to do with slaves; but few will suffice. Neither of the stories which are above related, occurred in the great and pre-eminent instance of depravity of which the scene was the Mata, and which has been mentioned in a former part of this work; in that case 55 slaves were consumed in less than fifteen years.[239]Might not an act be passed for the British Colonies, obliging the master to manumit his slave, on the fair value of the individual being tendered? However, this is not a place for discussion.[240]I met with the following passage in a work of much reputation upon the affairs of the British sugar islands. “The circumstance wherein the slaves in the West Indies seem mostly indebted to their owners’ liberality are, I think, those of medical attendance and accommodation when sick.” Would not a man take his horse to a farrier if any thing ailed him?[241]Horses are usually marked upon the right haunch with the private mark of their owners; but the beasts which have been bred by slaves are marked on the left haunch or on the shoulder-blade. This proves, among many other corroborating circumstances, that though the law may prohibit a slave from possessing property, custom has established a practice which is better adapted to the present state of the country.[242]The plan of distributing the new-comers among the old established negroes to be taken care of by them, as is practised in Jamaica, has not been adopted in Brazil. I think the effect of this must be good, for thus each established slave takes an interest in one of his newly-arrived companions; the new slaves too may be sooner reconciled to their situation, by the interest which is shewn in their behalf; and their wants may be made known to the master with more ease. The law which was passed at Rio de Janeiro in 1809 (mentioned in chapter 16th) for preventing executions for debt upon the property of sugar planters, may have one beneficial effect;—the slaves cannot, unless the master pleases, be sold separately from the estate for the purpose of paying debts; the master cannot be forced to dispose of them, unless the debt amounts to the value of the estate; and thus the slave is advanced in some slight degree towards the condition of a serf.[243]Bicho, means an animal, in the common acceptation of the word; but the insect which is commonly, in other countries, called thechigua, is known at Pernambuco,onlyunder the name ofbicho.[244]Dr. Pinckard, in his “Notes on the West-Indies” mentions that mercury was used for the complaint at Berbice, with very little success. Mr. Edwards doubts “if medicine of any kind is of use in this disease.” This writer likewise states that he had heard of the Gold Coast negroes inoculating their children with the complaint, and also the notion which they have of the disease getting into the bone. Bolingbroke says, “No effectual cure has, I believe, ever been found for it. Salivation will drive it in, but sulphur and other opening medicines are now preferred to induce its coming out;” and again “There are black women who inoculate their children for this disorder; its violence is thereby lessened.”—Voyage to the Demerary, &c. p. 54.In the “Voyage à la Guiane et à Cayenne fait en 1789 et anneés suivantes,” I find that speaking of the same disorder, “on la gagne trés-aisement avec les Indiennes qui en sont presque toutes attaquées.” It is supposed by Mr. Edwards to be brought from Africa, and the same idea exists in Brazil; indeed it is less known among the Indians than among the people of colour.[245]A small proprietor in Brazil is a man who possesses from two to ten slaves. A large proprietor upon an average, in the part of the country of which I may speak, possesses from twenty to sixty slaves.[246]A slave belonging to a colonel of militia, who was a planter of great wealth, was in the frequent practice of concealing himself in the woods for some days at a time; on being brought back, he was punished, and soon again ran away; and this behaviour continued for some time. In one of his rambles he met his master, who was riding alone in one of the narrow roads of the country. The slave placed himself in the middle of the path, and taking off his hat, saluted his master as if he had been only slightly acquainted with him, and addressed him, begging that he would give him some money. The colonel was much alarmed, and granted his request, upon which he was suffered to proceed, but was admonished to be silent upon the subject. The slave was soon taken; but he continued to run away, to be brought home, to be punished, and again to go through the same proceeding so frequently and for so many years, that at last his master allowed him to do as he pleased; indeed he was somewhat afraid of a second meeting in the woods, when he might not perhaps be treated so courteously. He as obstinately refused to sell the negro as the negro objected to serving him; because he knew that the slave wished to be sold to some one else, and from a notion which some of the planters entertain of not choosing to dispose of any person whom they have owned, unless by manumission.[247]There was a boy of twelve years of age, of African birth, who belonged to Jaguaribe; this child often inhabited the woods for several days together. He killed a calf on one occasion, and separated the quarters of the animal by means of a sharp stone. He was discovered by the dropping of the blood, from the field to the hiding-place. As soon as the owner of the calf found the boy, he wished, of course, to take him to his master; but the boy laid himself down upon the ground and refused to stir. The man bound him to a tree, and went home to fetch a horse, upon which he placed the boy and tied him there; he walked after him to Jaguaribe, driving the horse on before. The boy was punished; but a few hours after he had been flogged, he said to one of his companions, “Well, at least I have had the honour of being attended by apagem,” or page, the usual word for a groom. This happened under a former tenant of Jaguaribe.A short time before I left that plantation, the same boy fled with another of nearly the same age, both of them being about fourteen years of age. They had been absent some days, when late one evening an Indian labourer brought them both home. The children had thrown off all cloathing, and had made bows and arrows suited to their own size, with which they were to kill poultry, rats, &c. as food. Their appearance was most laughable, but it was distressing; it was soon known that they were found, and many of their companions and other inhabitants of the plantation assembled to see and to laugh at these terriblenegros do mato, orbushnegroes. The boys had been well treated by me, and therefore the propensity to continue in practices which had commenced under severe usage could be their only inducement to prefer the woods now.[248]One of the men who was in my possession used to say, on being tasked with any theft, “to steal from master is not to steal.” “Furtar de Senhor nam he furtar.”[249]Strange notions exist on this subject. Several nostrums are in repute for the curing of this habit; but that of which the fame stands the highest, is, earth that is taken from a grave dissolved in water and given to the negro without his knowing what he is taking.[250]TheInvestigador Portuguezand theCorreio Braziliense, two Portugueze journals published in London, have arranged themselves on the side of justice, humanity, and sound policy. The former of them has been translating Dr. Thorpe’s pamphlet respecting the colony of Sierra Leone, and has given portions of it in each number. I hope the editors will be aware of the necessity of fair play, and will next proceed to translate “The Special Report of the Directors of the African Institution” in answer to the charges preferred against them by Dr. Thorpe. I know no more of the matter to which either of the pamphlets relate than what I have gathered from them, and from Mr. Macauley’s letter to H. R. H. the Duke of Gloucester. But let there be fair play, let each side be heard and judged. This is due to the African Institution, owing to the until now unimpeached characters of its leading members. By so doing the editors of the journal would prove most decidedly their sincerity in the cause of abolition.[251]The cry against the injustice and tyranny which is said to have been exercised by Great Britain in the employment of her naval superiority, has been removed at least on this score; for a sum of money was agreed to be paid by Great Britain to the government of Brazil for the purpose of reimbursing those of its subjects whom it might judge to have been unjustly treated.The captures, of which complaint was principally made, were effected under the impression that all ships which bore the Portugueze flag, trading to the coast of Africa for slaves, ought to be of Portugueze build. This was a mistake arising from misunderstanding the treaties which were concluded between the two Powers in 1810.[252]Observacoens sobre a prosperidade do Estado pelos principios liberaes da Nova Legislacam do Brazil,p.16.[253]Correio Braziliensefor December 1815, p. 735.[254]Investigador Portuguezfor June 1816, p. 496.[255]I met with the following passage in a work of high and deserved reputation. “The Romans, notwithstanding their prodigious losses in the incessant wars which they carried on for centuries, never experienced any want of men in the early periods of the commonwealth; but were even able to send colonies abroad out of their redundant population. Afterwards, in the time of the Emperors, when the armies were generally kept in camps and garrisons, where a soldier is perhaps the healthiest of all professions, the Roman population in Italy had greatly diminished, and was visibly declining every day, owing to a change in the division of property, and to the pernicious and monstrous increase of domestic slavery, which had left the poorer class of free citizens without any means of subsistence, but public charity.”—Essay on the Military Policy and Institutions of the British Empire, by C. W. Pasley, Captain (now Colonel) in the corps of Royal Engineers. Note to p. 505.In the work in which the note appears, it is introduced for the purpose of proving, that “the total average population in any country can never be affected by the annual number of deaths, but depends solely and exclusively upon the means of subsistence afforded to the living.” I have transcribed it inasmuch as the author of it states, that domestic slavery was one of the causes of the decrease of population in Italy; and though the pernicious effects of slavery do not act to the same extent in Brazil, it does undoubtedly prevent the rapid increase of the numbers of the people of colour; and if the trade in Africans continues much longer, it will tend to stop the increase altogether of the persons of mixed blood. That the increase of the free population of colour ought to be encouraged, no one will deny; they are the pillars of the state, the bulwark from the strength of which Brazil becomes invincible.[256]I am aware that this is not the case with all nations; but although it may not be correct when speaking generally, its application to the people of whom I am treating, will not, I think, be found to be erroneous.[257]If thecamaraor municipality of each township held the rank which it ought, this alone would produce much zeal in the higher ranks of people.[258]Observaçoens sobre o commercio franco no Brazil, p. 80.[259]Antonio de Araujo de Azevedo, Minister and Secretary of State for Naval and Ultramarine Affairs. He has lately been created Conde da Barca. It was formerly said that he was a French partizan; but he is a true patriot, who opposes the entrance of the undue influence of any foreign power into the affairs of the government of which he is a member.[260]These arguments savour somewhat of peevishness; let these plain questions be asked. Does Great Britain interfere in the police of Brazil? Would Great Britain take the trouble of negotiating respecting any regulations which Brazil might enact for the better preserving of internal good order, and for providing with more ease for the apprehension of improper persons? The truth is that Brazil does not require any thing of the kind, and Great Britain does, consequently each Power acts according to its situation.[261]The Alien Bill has given offence. Does not all the world know that it was passed for the purpose of preventing the entrance into Great Britain of those unquiet spirits who have desolated the Continent of Europe for so many years; and some of whom aided in burning the towns and villages of Portugal? Would Great Britain change her plan of operations for any one Power on earth, or even for all of them combined? Each government must act as suits its own peculiar circumstances.[262]Must not Great Britain build ships because Brazil will not? Why does not Brazil form a navy?[263]I do not know how far good policy directs that preference should be given to the Portugal wines over those of other parts; but it is rather hard that the people of Great Britain should be obliged to drink the wines of Portugal, when others of a superior flavour might be obtained, if restrictions did not exist against their consumption.[264]The privileges which British subjects have long enjoyed in the dominions of the crown of Portugal are considerable. I give as concise an account of them as I possibly can. “D. Joam by the grace of God Prince Regent of Portugal, &c. To all myCorregedores, &c. be it known, that Joam Bevan declares himself to be a merchant, resident in this city (Lisbon, I suppose,) and a subject of his Britannic Majesty, and therefore competent to enjoy all the privileges and immunities which have been conceded to British subjects, &c. The merchants of that nation may freely trade, contract, buy and sell in all these kingdoms and lordships, &c. and where a doubt arises concerning any business with them, this shall be construed rather with a bias in their favour than against them(1). British subjects can only be arrested and confined in their own houses, according to their rank in life, or in the castle of St. Jorge; and these arrests cannot be carried into executions by bailiffs (homems de vara) but only by thealcaide(2). They are exempted from the payment of certain duties upon those articles which they can prove to be for the use of their own families. They cannot be obliged to give up their houses or warehouses against their consent(3). They cannot be obliged to serve as guardians, and they are exempted from certain imposts. They may carry offensive and defensive arms, by day and by night with or without a light, taking care not to do with them what they ought not to do.”Then follow the penalties to which those officers will be subjected who do not pay a due regard to these privileges.The clerks and servants of Englishmen enjoy the same privileges to the number of six, provided they are not Spaniards.British subjects cannot be arrested, nor can their houses be searched without an order from their judge-conservator. Then follow some regulations by which their law proceedings may be rendered as easy as possible. They are not subject to the jurisdiction of theJuiz de Orfaons & Auzentes(4).The copy of the privileges from which the above has been extracted is passed in the name of John Bevan. I obtained it at Pernambuco as a curiosity. If the state of government in Brazil is considered, these privileges are absolutely necessary for the prevention of oppression; and even the privilege of wearing arms is not more than is requisite, because although the laws which prohibit Portugueze subjects from carrying arms ordain severe penalties, still scarcely any man in Brazil leaves his own home without some species of weapon; and the crime which is committed in so doing is too general to be punished.(1)Mais em seu favor do que em odio.—What occasion is there for this? Impartiality is what is required.(2)An officer of a rank somewhat superior.(3)An officer of government can turn an unprivileged man out of his house by placing the letters P. R. upon his door.(4)The officer into whose hands the property of orphans falls, and of those persons who die without heirs resident upon the spot. It is difficult to reclaim what has found its way into this office.[265]Du Tertre, in speaking of a species ofKaratas, which is to be found in the islands, “dans des deserts pierreux, où il ne se trouve guere d’eau douce,” says “les paysans travaillez de la soif y courent, parce que ces feüilles sont tellement disposés, qu’elles se ferment en bas comme un verre, où on trouve quelquefois une pinte d’eau fraische, claire et trés saine, et cela a sauvé la vie à plusieurs qui sans cela seroient morts de soif.”—Histoire des Antilles, tom. ii. p. 100.I heard this mentioned frequently whilst I was in the Sertam; but at the time we were in want of water, we were not crossing any of those lands upon which the plant grows.—Transl.[266]Bolingbroke says, that “it is a common thing to feed swine with pine-apples. My astonishment was increased when our conductor took us to a large trench fifty rood long, and twelve feet wide, which was absolutely filled up with pine-apples; they so completely overran the estate at one time, that he was obliged to root them up for the purpose of preventing their farther extension.”—Voyage to the Demerary, &c. p. 21.Neither pigs nor pine-apples are to be found thus by wholesale in Pernambuco.—Transl.Barrere says “La Pitte, qui est une espéce d’ananas, fournit encore une filasse d’un bon usage. Le fil en est plus fort et plus fin que la soye. Les Portugais en font des bas qui ne cedent en rien, dit-on, par leur bonté et par leur finesse aux bas de soye.”—Nouvelle Relation de la France Equinoxiale, p. 115.Old Ligon says “the last and best sort of drinke that this iland or the world affords, is the incomparable wine of pines; and is certainly the nectar which the gods drunke; for on earth there is none like it; and that is made of the pure juyce of the fruit itselfe, without commixture of water or any other creature, having in itselfe a naturall compound of all tastes excellent, that the world can yield. This drinke is too pure to keep long; in three or four dayes it will be fine; ‘tis made by pressing the fruite, and strayning the liquor, and it is kept in bottles.”—A true and exact History of the Iland of Barbadoes, 1657.[267]Du Tertre speaks of a species ofKaratas, which agrees, from his description, with this in the height of the stalk, the shape of the leaves, and the colour of the flowers; which he says areestroileés—Transl.He adds, “Avant que les boutons de ces fleurs soient ouverts ils sont remplis d’un fort beau et bon cotton, dont l’on se peut servir utilement: apres que l’on a fait boüillir les füeilles l’on en tire du fil dont l’on se sert en plusieurs endroits de l’Amerique, non seulement à faire des toilles, mais encore à faire des licts pendans. La racine et les füeilles de cette plante broyées et lavées dans une riviere, jettent un suc qui estourdit si fort le poisson, qu’il se laisse prendre à la main: ce grand tronc qui est tout spongieux estant seché, brulle comme une méche ensouffrée, et froté rudement, avec une bois plus dur, s’enflame et se consume.”—Histoire des Antilles, tom. ii. p. 106.Labat gives the same account, and adds that persons who are in the habit of smoking “ne manquent jamais d’avoir sur eux leur provision de tol.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. 6. p. 142.“Le caratas dont j’ai parlé dans un autre endroit est bien meilleur que la Savonette pour blanchir le linge. On prend la füeille et aprés en avoir ôté les piquans, on la bat et l’écrase entre deux pierres et on frote le linge avec l’eau. Elle produit le même effet que le mielleur savon, elle fait une mousse ou écume épaisse, blanche, qui decrasse, nettoye et blanchit parfaitement le linge, sans le rougir ou le brûler en aucune facon.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. vii. p. 385.[268]At Pillar, upon the island of Itamaraca, the persons who are in the habit of preparing thecairo, dig holes in the sands below high water mark, and bury the rind of the coco for several days before they beat it. I suppose this method is resorted to, owing to the want of a running stream in which to steep the rind.—Transl.[269]There are some breaks, but they are not extensive, as far as I am acquainted with the country.—Transl.[270]In Wildenow this plant is so arranged.—T.[271]“The inhabitants of the plains of Iguaraçu make use of it to fasten together the rushes from which they make the mats that are used for pack-saddles.”—Discurso sobre a Utilidade da Instituicam de Jardims, &c.Padre Ignacio de Almeida Fortuna told me, that he had had a pair of stockings made from the fibre of theMacaiba. I brought some of the fibre to England; it is extremely strong and fine. I think Dr. Arruda may perhaps have been rather hasty in ranking it with thetucum, in the difficulty of obtaining it. At Itapissuma, near to Itamaraca, a great quantity of thread is manufactured for fishing-nets, &c. and it has at that place a fixed price.—Transl.“Referring the meeting to what was communicated in the last annual Report on the subject of a species of hemp, manufactured from the leaves of a particular kind of palm which abounds in Sierra Leone and its neighbourhood, the directors have now to add, that one of their Board, Mr. Allen, has lately subjected a small quantity of cord, manufactured from this substance, to experiments calculated to ascertain its strength, as compared with the same length and weight of common hempen cord. The result has been very satisfactory.” In five trials, the average is as follows “hempen cord 43lbs.3-fifths. African cord 53lbs.2-fifths, being a difference in favour of the African cord of 10lbs.in 43lbs.”—Fourth Report of the Directors of the African Institution, p. 15.[272]I have often in the course of this volume spoken of thejangadas.—Transl.[273]The seeds have a strong aromatic smell, and the taste is very pleasant.—Transl.[274]In the neighbourhood of Goiana I saw a large piece of land completely covered with the commonmaracuja; the owner of the ground complained to me of the trouble which he should have in getting rid of the plant when he should wish to cultivate the land.—Transl.[275]Excepting in times of famine, the food which may be thus obtained causes too much destruction to allow of its becoming general, and even if it should for a time afford subsistence to the people, this cannot last long, for the trees will soon be destroyed. The quantity of food which each tree yields is too small, the growth of the trees too slow, and the space which each plant occupies too considerable ever to render the cabbage of the palms a permanent staple food of any country.Dr. Arruda has not spoken of thedendezeiroordendetree, which, next to the coco tree, is the palm which is of the most service to the Pernambucans. An oil of good quality is made from the nut, and is sold in Recife as a culinary ingredient, being more generally used than the coco oil. The fruit resembles much that of thecoco naia, according to Arruda’s description of the latter.Labat, who has a propensity to call in question the opinions of others, in speaking of the tree which he callspalmier franc ou dattier, says, “On prétend que cet arbre est mâle et femelle, &c. Je suis fâché de ne pouvoir pas souscrire au sentiment des naturalistes, mais j’en suis empêché par une expérience que j’ai trés-sûre, opposée directement à leur sentiment, qui dément absolument ce que je viens de rapporter sur leur bonne foi; car nous avions un dattier à côté de notre couvent du Moüillage à la Martinique, qui rapportoit du fruit quoiqu’il fut tout seul. Qu’il fut mâle ou femelle, je n’en sçai rien, mais ce que je sçai trés certainement, c’est que dans le terrain où est le Fort Saint Pierre et le Moûillage et a plus de deux lieuës à la ronde il n’y avoit et n’y avoit jamais eu de dattier, &c.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. iii. p. 276.[276]Thegoiabais to be found in all situations in Pernambuco; there is scarcely acercado(field) of any sugar plantation which has not several of these trees scattered about upon it. Thegoiabais never cut down, for the people are fond of it, and the cattle likewise feed upon it. Thearaçais another species of the same plant; the shrub and the fruit of this are smaller than thegoiaba, and the inside of the fruit is of a pale yellow colour, instead of a deep red.—Transl.[277]Labat speaks of a species ofcanelle bâtarde, and he adds, “On se sert beaucoup en Italie d’une canelle semblable à celle que je viens de décrire; les Portugais l’apportent du Bresil dans des paniers de roseaux refendus et à jour; on l’appelle canelle geroflée (canella garofanata). On la met en poudre avec un peu de gérofle, de veritable canelle, de poivre et de graines tout-à faite resemblables à celles de nos bois d’Inde des Isles, et on en fait un debit assez considérable.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. iii. p. 92.[278]In the Philosophical Transactions for 1811 is given, “An Account of a Vegetable Wax from Brazil,” by William Thomas Brande, Esq. F. R. S. The work from which I extract part of the account is Nicholson’s Journal, Vol. xxxi. p. 14.“The vegetable wax described in this paper was given to the president by Lord Grenville, with a wish on the part of his Lordship, that its properties should be investigated, in the hope that it might prove a useful substitute for bees’ wax, and constitute in due time a new article of commerce between Brazil and this country. It was transmitted to Lord Grenville from Rio de Janeiro by the Conde das Galveas(1), as a new article lately brought to that city(2), from the northernmost parts of the Brazilian dominions, thecapitaniasof Rio Grande and Seará, between the latitude of three and seven degrees north; it is said to be the production of a tree of slow growth, called by the nativescarnâùba, which also produces a gum used as food for men, and another substance employed for fattening poultry.”“The wax in its rough state is in the form of a coarse pale grey powder, soft to the touch, and mixed with various impurities, consisting chiefly of fibres of the bark of the tree, which when separated by a sieve amount to about 40per cent.It has an agreeable odour, somewhat resembling new hay, but scarcely any taste.”(Here follow various chemical Experiments which I wish I could insert, but they are too long.)“Having been unsuccessful in my attempts to bleach the wax in its original state, I made some experiments to ascertain whether its colour could be more easily destroyed, after it had been acted upon by nitric acid, and found that by exposing it spread upon glass to the action of light, it became in the course of three weeks of a pale straw colour, and on the surface nearly white(3). The same change was produced by steeping the wax, in thin plates, in an aqueous solution of oxymuriatic gas, but I have not hitherto succeeded in rendering it perfectly white.”(Other chemical Experiments follow, which are of considerable Length.)“From the preceding detail of experiments, it appears that although the South American vegetable wax possesses the characteristic properties of bees’ wax, it differs from that substance in many of its chemical habitudes; it also differs from the other varieties of wax, namely, the wax of the myrica cerifera, of lac, and of white lac. The attempts which have been made to bleach the wax have been conducted on a small scale; but from the experiments related, it appears that after the colour has been changed by the action of very dilute nitric acid, it may be rendered nearly white by the usual means. I have not had sufficient time to ascertain whether the wax can be more effectually bleached by long continued exposure, nor have I had an opportunity of submitting it to the processes employed by the bleachers of bees’ wax.”“Perhaps the most important part of the present inquiry is that which relates to the combustion of the vegetable wax, in the form of candles. The trials which have been made to ascertain its fitness for this purpose are extremely satisfactory; and when the wick is properly proportioned to the size of the candle, the combustion is as perfect and uniform as that of common bees’ wax. The addition of one eighth to one tenth part of tallow is sufficient to obviate the brittleness of the wax in its pure state, without giving it any unpleasant smell, or materially impairing the brilliancy of its flame. A mixture of three parts of the vegetable wax with one part of bees’ wax, also makes very excellent candles.”(1)This nobleman is since dead.(2)It was sent to Rio de Janeiro by Francisco de Paula Cavalcante de Albuquerque, Governor of Rio Grande do Norte.(3)The portion which the Governor of Rio Grande gave to me was in the form of a cake, which could not be pierced, but was brittle; it was of a pale straw colour.—Transl.[279]“On l’apporte (the root) en Europe coupeé en rouelles blanches & assez légéres.”—Voyage du Chevalier des Marchais a Cayenne, &c.tom. iii. p. 262.I brought some of it to England in powder.—Transl.
[209]Manumitted creole blacks are, I am nearly certain, admitted into these regiments.[210]There was a rumour of the appointment of a white man as colonel of this regiment, and also of a white colonel for the Recife mulatto regiment; and I was asked by several individuals of these casts whether there was any truth in the report. I cannot believe any thing of this kind; the liberal policy which seems to pervade the Council of Rio de Janeiro forbids that such a report should be believed; but if this should be true, most pernicious will be the consequences, which from such a determination may be expected to proceed.[211]The priests of the island of St. Thomé, upon the coast of Africa, are negroes. I have seen some of these men at Recife, who have come over for a short time. I have heard that they are prohibited from saying Mass any where excepting upon the island for which they are ordained; but I can scarcely think that this can be correct. In theVoyage du Chevalier des Marchais en Guinée, isles voisines et a Cayenne, I find that men of mixed blood were ordained in the islands of St. Thomé and Principe, and the editor of the work says, “presque tout le clergé de la cathedrale(of St. Thome)étoit de cette couleur.” Vol. iii. p. 4. “L’Eglise de S. Antoine qui est la Paroisse(of Prince’s Island)est déservie par des prêtres noirs ou presque noirs, c’est à dire mulâtres.” p. 30.I have, as is stated in the text, heard from good authority, that the law forbids the ordination of mulattos; what the practice is I am quite certain, and I hope the law may be favourable also.[212]This word is without doubt derived fromEgypçianos; I am told that the wordgitanosis also used as a name for these people.[213]A Portugueze writer says, “When permission was given in Portugal to work upon several of the holidays, the same was not extended to Brazil from a principle of humanity, that the slaves might not be deprived of any of their days of rest.”—Correio Braziliense, for December, 1815, p. 738.[214]In the island of Grenada “every manumission is by an act of the island, charged with a fine of one hundred pounds currency;” it is said that this law has neither operated as a productive fund nor as a prohibition.—Edwards’ History of the West-Indies, vol. i. p. 380.At Surinam, says another writer, “Si un maître voulait affranchir son esclave, outre la perte qu’il fesait de son negre, il étoit encore obligé d’acheter fort cher des lettres de franchise, sans lesquelles aucun noir ne pouvait être instruit dans la religion Chrétienne, ni baptisé.”—Voyage a la Guiane et a Cayenne en 1789, et années suivantes, p. 224.Bolingbroke says, “It is by no means an uncommon thing in these colonies for negroes when they have accumulated a sufficiency, to purchase their freedom; and I have known many instances of negroes who paid their owners a proportion of the purchase-money, and were allowed after emancipation to workout the balance.”—Voyage to the Demerary, &c. p. 65.I give this statement, and should be happy to transcribe any other, with which I might meet in the course of reading, of the same tenor; but it must be recollected that the “Voyage to the Demerary” is decidedly written in favour of the slave trade and of slavery.[215]The owner of a sugar plantation, with whose sons I was well acquainted, possessed a slave, who had the management of the sugar boiling house during crop time, and who was accounted by all who knew him and understood the business, to be a most excellent workman.—This man accumulated a sum of money, which he offered to his master for his freedom, but it was not accepted; and although the slave made great interest with persons of consideration in the country, he could not accomplish his end. His master loaded him with irons, and he was made to work in this state. He did not obtain his liberty till after his master’s death, when the widow received his money, and manumitted him. His trade of sugar-boiler renders him large profits yearly, and this injured man now lives in ease and comfort. This instance of refusal, and some others of which I have heard, would make me doubtful of the foundation upon which the custom of manumitting is placed, if I did not know how easily the laws relating to many other important points are evaded through the influence of wealth and power. I did not see a copy of the law or regulation on the subject, but I never met with any one who made a doubt of its existence. I never met with any one who doubted that the slave had a right to appeal, if he thought proper; whether he would be heard or not was another question.[216]The major part of the slaves that abscond, are brought back to their owners, but some do escape, and are never afterwards heard of. They remove to some distant district and there reside as free men. Those who have once tasted of the sweets of free agency, for any length of time, even if they are brought back to their masters, scarcely ever remain longer than is requisite to seek an opportunity of eluding the vigilance of those whose business it is to watch them; they soon brave the risk of another detection. A young and handsome mulatto man of these unsettled habits once applied to me to purchase him. He had by mere accident been discovered only a short time before, by a friend of his master in the Sertam, where he had married a free woman, and had been considered as free himself. He was brought back to his master, was sold to another person, escaped, returned, and again fled, and had not, when I left the country, been heard of for a twelvemonth.[217]The following circumstances occurred under my own observation:—A negress had brought into the world ten children, and had reared nine of them. These remained to work for their owners; the woman claimed her freedom, for the tenth child did not die until it had arrived at an age when it did not require any farther care from her; but it was refused. She was hired to a gentleman as a nurse for one of his children. This person did all in his power to obtain her freedom, but did not succeed; he purchased her, and immediately had a deed of manumission made out by a notary-public. When he returned home to dinner, he desired his wife to tell the woman that she was his slave, and in the course of the day the deed was given to her. When I left the country, her only fear was, that as she was free, her master and mistress might turn her away; thus proving, by her anxiety, how happy she was.[218]Du Tertre says, speaking of negro baptismal festivals—“les parrains et les marraines qui sont ordinairement de François amis de leurs maitres, ne laissent pas de contribuer à la bonne chere.”—Histoire des Antilles, tom. ii. p. 528.Fellow slaves, or free persons of colour, are usually the sponsors in Brazil; but it is better, I think, that fellow-slaves, that is, belonging to the same master, should be sponsors, for they take a considerable interest in their god-children. The god-child, indeed, in any of the ranks of life, never approaches either of its sponsors without begging for their blessing. Labat, in speaking of a negro whom he had maderenoncer tous ses pactes implicites et explicites qu’il pouvoit avoir fait avec le diable, says,—“Je chargeai sont maitre, qui étoit aussi son parrain de vieller soigneusement sur sa conduite.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. ii. p.54.I never heard of the master in Brazil being likewise the god-father, nor do I think that this ever happens; for such is the connection between two persons which this is supposed to produce, that the master would never think of ordering the slave to be chastised.[219]The same occurs in the Spanish and French colonies. Du Tertre, who seems from the general tenor of his work, to have been a much better man than friars usually are, speaks of the difficulty of converting the Caribs, and of their indifference to religion, and then adds, “Mais les négres sont certainement touchez de Dieu, puis qu’ils conservent, jusqu’à la mort, la religion qu’ils ont embrassée; qu’ils en pratiquent les vertus et en exercent les œuvres, et je puis dire avec verité qu’ils y vivent bien plus Chrestiennement dans leur condition, que beaucoup de François.”—Histoire des Antilles, tom. ii. p. 502.[220]Labat says that the inhabitants of St. Domingo were in the habit of marking the negroes which they bought by burning the skin, and he adds, in his Dominican way, “De sorte qu’un esclave qui auroit été vendu et revendu plusieurs fois paroîtroit à la fin aussi chargé de caracters, que ces obelisques d’Egypt.” This was not practised, as he tells us, in the islands (Martinique and Guadaloupe) and he adds that their negroes, and principally the creole slavesseroient au desespoir qu’on les marquât comme on fait les bœufs et les chevaux. The small islands did not require this practice, but St. Domingoun pais aussi vaste, could not do without it, because the slaves ran away to the mountains.—Nouveau Voyage, &c., tom. vii. p. 260.The St. Domingo planters have paid severely for all their misdeeds, and therefore of them nothing need to be said in the present day. The vastness, however, of Brazil, which is a little morevastethan St. Domingo, does not require that the slaves should be marked like cattle.[221]Edwards’ History of the West-Indies, vol. ii. p. 82, and 147.[222]The base, the most abominable practice of some masters and mistresses,and of the latter oftener than the former, increases the bias which these miserable, these uneducated beings must be expected to have towards licentiousness. Females have been punished because they have not increased the number of their owners’ slaves. This is a fact; but it is almost too much to believe. On which side does the extreme of depravity lie?[223]The following circumstances occurred within my own observation. A negro woman applied to a planter to be purchased, for which purpose she had brought a note from her master. She was accepted, and a bargain was concluded between the two persons; however, the day after she had taken up her abode upon the estate of her new master, she came to him, and falling down upon her knees, said that she had had a fellow-slave who wished likewise to serve him, and she begged him to purchase her companion. The new master spoke to the owner of the slave in question on the subject, but he refused to sell him, and the matter rested in this manner; but on the third day, he received a visit from the owner, offering the slave for sale, adding that the man had refused to work, and had threatened to hang himself; and as he was aGabamnegro, he much feared that he might put his threat in execution. The price was soon fixed, and on the following morning the man made his appearance. He proved to be a most excellent slave.[224]The following occurrences took place upon the estate of a wealthy planter to the South of Recife, and the anecdote was related by the owner of the plantation himself. A negro complained to his master of the infidelity of his wife; she was immediately questioned; and other enquiries being made, and the truth of the statement respecting her conduct being proved, she was tied to a post to be flogged. Her husband was present, and at first he rather received pleasure from the sight of her sufferings; but he soon stopped the driver’s hand, and going to his master, begged him to order her to be unbound, and that he would pardon her, for he added, “If there are to be so many men, and so small a number of women upon the estate, how is it to be expected that the latter are to be faithful.” “Para que Senhor tem tantos negros et tam poucas negras.”[225]The ships which are employed in this trade oftentimes fill some of their water casks with salt water, when they leave Brazil, that they may serve as ballast; and on taking their live cargo on board upon the coast of Africa, the salt water is replaced by that which is for the use of the additional number of persons. On one occasion a vessel had proceeded for some days on her voyage from Africa towards Brazil with a full cargo, when the discovery was made that the casks had not been filled with fresh water. The coast of either continent was too distant to enable the vessel to reach one or the other, before the greatest distress must be experienced, and therefore a most shocking expedient was resorted to,—a great number of the negroes were thrown overboard. This misfortune was accidental and occurred unintentionally, and a man must have been in a similar situation before he can declare that he would not act as the Portugueze did on this occasion; but the circumstances arose from the nature of this execrable trade.[226]I was present on one occasion at the purchase of some slaves. The person who was chusing those which suited his purpose, singled out among others a handsome woman, and a beautiful boy of about six years old. The woman had been a slave at Loanda upon the coast of Africa, and she spoke a little Portugueze. Whilst the selection was going on, the slave-dealer had happened to leave the room; but after it was concluded he returned, and seeing the persons who had been set apart to be purchased, said, he was sorry the woman and child could not be sold, for they formed part of a lot which could not be separated. The purchaser enquired the reason of the formation of a lot in this instance, and was answered that it consisted of a family, the husband, wife, and three children. The dealer was then requested to point out the individuals which composed it, and they were all bought together. How few slave-merchants would have acted in this manner! The whole family was present during the greatest part of the time, but there was no change of countenance in either the husband or the wife,—both of them understood the Portugueze language; the children were almost too young to know what was about to happen, and besides we spoke in a language whichtheydid not understand. That their parents did feel deeply the separation which they must have apprehended as being upon the point of taking place, I have not the slightest doubt, because I frequently saw these slaves afterwards, and knew how much they were attached to each other and to their children. But whether it proceeded from resignation, from despair, from fear, or from being ashamed to shew what they felt before so many strangers, there was no demonstration of feeling. Negroes may have feelings, and yet not allow the standers-by to know what they feel.[227]An instance occurred at Liverpool of the attachment of some of these people to their master. At the commencement of the direct trade from Brazil to Great Britain, some small vessels came to Liverpool manned in part with slaves, owing to their masters being ignorant that their arrival upon British ground would make them free. However the men themselves were soon made acquainted with this circumstance, and many of them availed themselves of the advantages which were to be thus obtained. One of the men belonging to a small bark left his vessel, and having entered himself as a seaman on board some other ship, returned to persuade three of his companions to do the same; but he was answered, that they were well treated where they were, had always been used kindly, and therefore had no wish to try any other way of life. These three men returned to Brazil in the bark, and I have heard that they were set at liberty by their master on their arrival there. I hope it was so. When the advocates of slavery relate such stories as these, they give them as tending to prove that slaves in general are happy. Anecdotes of this kind demonstrate individual goodness in the master and individual gratitude in the slave, but they prove nothing generally; they do not affect the great question;thatis rested upon grounds which are too deeply fixed to be moved by single instances of evil or of good.[228]Mr. Edwards mentions some of the Gold coast negroes, or those of the adjacent countries, and gives as an instance thechambanegroes, who follow this custom.[229]Whilst I resided at Jaguaribe, I heard that two negroes of this nation had murdered a child of three or four years of age, the son or daughter of their master, and that they had been caught in the act of preparing to cook part of the body. The men were carried down to Recife, but the person who informed me of these circumstances did not know what punishment had been inflicted upon them.[230]I merely state what is the general idea upon the subject in that country, without giving an opinion upon the general question.—Mr. Edwards says that it is a disease and not a habit.—History of the West-Indies, vol. ii. p. 141.Labat is of opinion, that it is a habit and not a disease.—Nouveau Voyage &c. tom. ii. p. 11.[231]There was one in 1814, and another in February of the present year, 1816.[232]Edwards’ History of the West-Indies, vol. ii. p. 64.[233]The negroes who are obtained in the province of Senegambia, “are known to the West-Indian planters by the general name ofMandingoes.”—History of the West-Indies, vol. ii. p. 50.“There is a sort of people who travel about in the country, called Mandingo-men; (these are Mahommedans) they do not like to work; they go from place to place; and when they find any chiefs or people whom they think they can make any thing of, they take up their abode for a time with them, and makegreegrees, and sometimes cast sand from them, for which they make them pay.”—Correspondence of Mr. John Kizell in the Sixth Report of the Directors of the African Institution, p. 136.[234]Mr. Edwards says, “In Jamaica the negroes are allowed one day in a fortnight, except in time of crop, besides Sundays and holidays, for cultivating their grounds, and carrying their provisions to market.” The Protestant church enjoins the observance of three or four holidays, and the Catholic church of above thirty.Du Tertre says that the custom of giving a certain portion of time to the slave for the purpose of providing for his own maintenance, was introduced into the Columbian islands by “les Holandois chassez du Recif,” and he adds that they “gouvernent leurs esclaves à la façon du Bresil.”—Histoire des Antilles, vol. ii. p. 515.[235]One of these old men, who was yet however sufficiently hearty to be often in a state of intoxication, and would walk to a considerable distance to obtain liquor, made a practice of coming to see me for this purpose. He would tell me, that he and his companions were not slaves to the monks but to St. Bento himself, and that consequently, the monks were only the representatives of their master for the due administration of the Saint’s property in this world. I enquired of some others of the slaves, and found that this was the general opinion among them.[236]An old slave, who had been invariably well treated, for he had never deserved punishment, was asked by his master if he wished to be free; he smiled, but said nothing; the question being repeated, he answered that of course he wished to be free; the master then told him that his deed of manumission should be drawn out that same day; upon this being said, the slave shook his head, saying, “Why do you say such things to laugh at your old black man.” However, as soon as he was persuaded that it was true, he began to dance about like one who was mad, and for some minutes could answer no questions, nor could any directions be given to him.[237]The Saturday of each week is not sufficient for the slave to provide for his own subsistence, unless the labour of his master, is done by task work, in which case, he may manage to finish this in due time, and to work a little each day upon his own provision grounds. He may indeed be able to live, by assisting the Saturdays, through the labour of his Sundays and holidays, even if the labour of his master is not done by piece-work; but this is not just, for to the Sundays and holidays he has a right as his own, even if his master supports him; but slavery and justice seldom go hand in hand.[238]A planter with whom I was acquainted, was once seen by a person who happened to call upon him, occupied with three of his companions in flogging four negroes; the men were tied at a short distance from each other to four posts, and as the operation continued, there was much laughing and joking, for as they lashed their miserable victims, they cried out,—“Here is to the health of such and such a person.” It is some comfort to be able to say, that this wretch has been ruined; but his ruin has been caused by his treatment of his slaves, which has occasioned the death of some, and the escape of others from his power in a less melancholy manner.Another man, on ordering a slave to work in the sugar-mill, was answered, that he was sick and could not go, but the master persisted. The negro went, saying, “you will then kill your slave;” and vexed with the treatment which he received now, and had suffered on other occasions, he placed his head near to one of the wheels, (for it was a water-mill) by which it was severed from his body. I could mention many anecdotes of this description, indicative of individual blackness of heart, such as have been related of all nations who have had to do with slaves; but few will suffice. Neither of the stories which are above related, occurred in the great and pre-eminent instance of depravity of which the scene was the Mata, and which has been mentioned in a former part of this work; in that case 55 slaves were consumed in less than fifteen years.[239]Might not an act be passed for the British Colonies, obliging the master to manumit his slave, on the fair value of the individual being tendered? However, this is not a place for discussion.[240]I met with the following passage in a work of much reputation upon the affairs of the British sugar islands. “The circumstance wherein the slaves in the West Indies seem mostly indebted to their owners’ liberality are, I think, those of medical attendance and accommodation when sick.” Would not a man take his horse to a farrier if any thing ailed him?[241]Horses are usually marked upon the right haunch with the private mark of their owners; but the beasts which have been bred by slaves are marked on the left haunch or on the shoulder-blade. This proves, among many other corroborating circumstances, that though the law may prohibit a slave from possessing property, custom has established a practice which is better adapted to the present state of the country.[242]The plan of distributing the new-comers among the old established negroes to be taken care of by them, as is practised in Jamaica, has not been adopted in Brazil. I think the effect of this must be good, for thus each established slave takes an interest in one of his newly-arrived companions; the new slaves too may be sooner reconciled to their situation, by the interest which is shewn in their behalf; and their wants may be made known to the master with more ease. The law which was passed at Rio de Janeiro in 1809 (mentioned in chapter 16th) for preventing executions for debt upon the property of sugar planters, may have one beneficial effect;—the slaves cannot, unless the master pleases, be sold separately from the estate for the purpose of paying debts; the master cannot be forced to dispose of them, unless the debt amounts to the value of the estate; and thus the slave is advanced in some slight degree towards the condition of a serf.[243]Bicho, means an animal, in the common acceptation of the word; but the insect which is commonly, in other countries, called thechigua, is known at Pernambuco,onlyunder the name ofbicho.[244]Dr. Pinckard, in his “Notes on the West-Indies” mentions that mercury was used for the complaint at Berbice, with very little success. Mr. Edwards doubts “if medicine of any kind is of use in this disease.” This writer likewise states that he had heard of the Gold Coast negroes inoculating their children with the complaint, and also the notion which they have of the disease getting into the bone. Bolingbroke says, “No effectual cure has, I believe, ever been found for it. Salivation will drive it in, but sulphur and other opening medicines are now preferred to induce its coming out;” and again “There are black women who inoculate their children for this disorder; its violence is thereby lessened.”—Voyage to the Demerary, &c. p. 54.In the “Voyage à la Guiane et à Cayenne fait en 1789 et anneés suivantes,” I find that speaking of the same disorder, “on la gagne trés-aisement avec les Indiennes qui en sont presque toutes attaquées.” It is supposed by Mr. Edwards to be brought from Africa, and the same idea exists in Brazil; indeed it is less known among the Indians than among the people of colour.[245]A small proprietor in Brazil is a man who possesses from two to ten slaves. A large proprietor upon an average, in the part of the country of which I may speak, possesses from twenty to sixty slaves.[246]A slave belonging to a colonel of militia, who was a planter of great wealth, was in the frequent practice of concealing himself in the woods for some days at a time; on being brought back, he was punished, and soon again ran away; and this behaviour continued for some time. In one of his rambles he met his master, who was riding alone in one of the narrow roads of the country. The slave placed himself in the middle of the path, and taking off his hat, saluted his master as if he had been only slightly acquainted with him, and addressed him, begging that he would give him some money. The colonel was much alarmed, and granted his request, upon which he was suffered to proceed, but was admonished to be silent upon the subject. The slave was soon taken; but he continued to run away, to be brought home, to be punished, and again to go through the same proceeding so frequently and for so many years, that at last his master allowed him to do as he pleased; indeed he was somewhat afraid of a second meeting in the woods, when he might not perhaps be treated so courteously. He as obstinately refused to sell the negro as the negro objected to serving him; because he knew that the slave wished to be sold to some one else, and from a notion which some of the planters entertain of not choosing to dispose of any person whom they have owned, unless by manumission.[247]There was a boy of twelve years of age, of African birth, who belonged to Jaguaribe; this child often inhabited the woods for several days together. He killed a calf on one occasion, and separated the quarters of the animal by means of a sharp stone. He was discovered by the dropping of the blood, from the field to the hiding-place. As soon as the owner of the calf found the boy, he wished, of course, to take him to his master; but the boy laid himself down upon the ground and refused to stir. The man bound him to a tree, and went home to fetch a horse, upon which he placed the boy and tied him there; he walked after him to Jaguaribe, driving the horse on before. The boy was punished; but a few hours after he had been flogged, he said to one of his companions, “Well, at least I have had the honour of being attended by apagem,” or page, the usual word for a groom. This happened under a former tenant of Jaguaribe.A short time before I left that plantation, the same boy fled with another of nearly the same age, both of them being about fourteen years of age. They had been absent some days, when late one evening an Indian labourer brought them both home. The children had thrown off all cloathing, and had made bows and arrows suited to their own size, with which they were to kill poultry, rats, &c. as food. Their appearance was most laughable, but it was distressing; it was soon known that they were found, and many of their companions and other inhabitants of the plantation assembled to see and to laugh at these terriblenegros do mato, orbushnegroes. The boys had been well treated by me, and therefore the propensity to continue in practices which had commenced under severe usage could be their only inducement to prefer the woods now.[248]One of the men who was in my possession used to say, on being tasked with any theft, “to steal from master is not to steal.” “Furtar de Senhor nam he furtar.”[249]Strange notions exist on this subject. Several nostrums are in repute for the curing of this habit; but that of which the fame stands the highest, is, earth that is taken from a grave dissolved in water and given to the negro without his knowing what he is taking.[250]TheInvestigador Portuguezand theCorreio Braziliense, two Portugueze journals published in London, have arranged themselves on the side of justice, humanity, and sound policy. The former of them has been translating Dr. Thorpe’s pamphlet respecting the colony of Sierra Leone, and has given portions of it in each number. I hope the editors will be aware of the necessity of fair play, and will next proceed to translate “The Special Report of the Directors of the African Institution” in answer to the charges preferred against them by Dr. Thorpe. I know no more of the matter to which either of the pamphlets relate than what I have gathered from them, and from Mr. Macauley’s letter to H. R. H. the Duke of Gloucester. But let there be fair play, let each side be heard and judged. This is due to the African Institution, owing to the until now unimpeached characters of its leading members. By so doing the editors of the journal would prove most decidedly their sincerity in the cause of abolition.[251]The cry against the injustice and tyranny which is said to have been exercised by Great Britain in the employment of her naval superiority, has been removed at least on this score; for a sum of money was agreed to be paid by Great Britain to the government of Brazil for the purpose of reimbursing those of its subjects whom it might judge to have been unjustly treated.The captures, of which complaint was principally made, were effected under the impression that all ships which bore the Portugueze flag, trading to the coast of Africa for slaves, ought to be of Portugueze build. This was a mistake arising from misunderstanding the treaties which were concluded between the two Powers in 1810.[252]Observacoens sobre a prosperidade do Estado pelos principios liberaes da Nova Legislacam do Brazil,p.16.[253]Correio Braziliensefor December 1815, p. 735.[254]Investigador Portuguezfor June 1816, p. 496.[255]I met with the following passage in a work of high and deserved reputation. “The Romans, notwithstanding their prodigious losses in the incessant wars which they carried on for centuries, never experienced any want of men in the early periods of the commonwealth; but were even able to send colonies abroad out of their redundant population. Afterwards, in the time of the Emperors, when the armies were generally kept in camps and garrisons, where a soldier is perhaps the healthiest of all professions, the Roman population in Italy had greatly diminished, and was visibly declining every day, owing to a change in the division of property, and to the pernicious and monstrous increase of domestic slavery, which had left the poorer class of free citizens without any means of subsistence, but public charity.”—Essay on the Military Policy and Institutions of the British Empire, by C. W. Pasley, Captain (now Colonel) in the corps of Royal Engineers. Note to p. 505.In the work in which the note appears, it is introduced for the purpose of proving, that “the total average population in any country can never be affected by the annual number of deaths, but depends solely and exclusively upon the means of subsistence afforded to the living.” I have transcribed it inasmuch as the author of it states, that domestic slavery was one of the causes of the decrease of population in Italy; and though the pernicious effects of slavery do not act to the same extent in Brazil, it does undoubtedly prevent the rapid increase of the numbers of the people of colour; and if the trade in Africans continues much longer, it will tend to stop the increase altogether of the persons of mixed blood. That the increase of the free population of colour ought to be encouraged, no one will deny; they are the pillars of the state, the bulwark from the strength of which Brazil becomes invincible.[256]I am aware that this is not the case with all nations; but although it may not be correct when speaking generally, its application to the people of whom I am treating, will not, I think, be found to be erroneous.[257]If thecamaraor municipality of each township held the rank which it ought, this alone would produce much zeal in the higher ranks of people.[258]Observaçoens sobre o commercio franco no Brazil, p. 80.[259]Antonio de Araujo de Azevedo, Minister and Secretary of State for Naval and Ultramarine Affairs. He has lately been created Conde da Barca. It was formerly said that he was a French partizan; but he is a true patriot, who opposes the entrance of the undue influence of any foreign power into the affairs of the government of which he is a member.[260]These arguments savour somewhat of peevishness; let these plain questions be asked. Does Great Britain interfere in the police of Brazil? Would Great Britain take the trouble of negotiating respecting any regulations which Brazil might enact for the better preserving of internal good order, and for providing with more ease for the apprehension of improper persons? The truth is that Brazil does not require any thing of the kind, and Great Britain does, consequently each Power acts according to its situation.[261]The Alien Bill has given offence. Does not all the world know that it was passed for the purpose of preventing the entrance into Great Britain of those unquiet spirits who have desolated the Continent of Europe for so many years; and some of whom aided in burning the towns and villages of Portugal? Would Great Britain change her plan of operations for any one Power on earth, or even for all of them combined? Each government must act as suits its own peculiar circumstances.[262]Must not Great Britain build ships because Brazil will not? Why does not Brazil form a navy?[263]I do not know how far good policy directs that preference should be given to the Portugal wines over those of other parts; but it is rather hard that the people of Great Britain should be obliged to drink the wines of Portugal, when others of a superior flavour might be obtained, if restrictions did not exist against their consumption.[264]The privileges which British subjects have long enjoyed in the dominions of the crown of Portugal are considerable. I give as concise an account of them as I possibly can. “D. Joam by the grace of God Prince Regent of Portugal, &c. To all myCorregedores, &c. be it known, that Joam Bevan declares himself to be a merchant, resident in this city (Lisbon, I suppose,) and a subject of his Britannic Majesty, and therefore competent to enjoy all the privileges and immunities which have been conceded to British subjects, &c. The merchants of that nation may freely trade, contract, buy and sell in all these kingdoms and lordships, &c. and where a doubt arises concerning any business with them, this shall be construed rather with a bias in their favour than against them(1). British subjects can only be arrested and confined in their own houses, according to their rank in life, or in the castle of St. Jorge; and these arrests cannot be carried into executions by bailiffs (homems de vara) but only by thealcaide(2). They are exempted from the payment of certain duties upon those articles which they can prove to be for the use of their own families. They cannot be obliged to give up their houses or warehouses against their consent(3). They cannot be obliged to serve as guardians, and they are exempted from certain imposts. They may carry offensive and defensive arms, by day and by night with or without a light, taking care not to do with them what they ought not to do.”Then follow the penalties to which those officers will be subjected who do not pay a due regard to these privileges.The clerks and servants of Englishmen enjoy the same privileges to the number of six, provided they are not Spaniards.British subjects cannot be arrested, nor can their houses be searched without an order from their judge-conservator. Then follow some regulations by which their law proceedings may be rendered as easy as possible. They are not subject to the jurisdiction of theJuiz de Orfaons & Auzentes(4).The copy of the privileges from which the above has been extracted is passed in the name of John Bevan. I obtained it at Pernambuco as a curiosity. If the state of government in Brazil is considered, these privileges are absolutely necessary for the prevention of oppression; and even the privilege of wearing arms is not more than is requisite, because although the laws which prohibit Portugueze subjects from carrying arms ordain severe penalties, still scarcely any man in Brazil leaves his own home without some species of weapon; and the crime which is committed in so doing is too general to be punished.(1)Mais em seu favor do que em odio.—What occasion is there for this? Impartiality is what is required.(2)An officer of a rank somewhat superior.(3)An officer of government can turn an unprivileged man out of his house by placing the letters P. R. upon his door.(4)The officer into whose hands the property of orphans falls, and of those persons who die without heirs resident upon the spot. It is difficult to reclaim what has found its way into this office.[265]Du Tertre, in speaking of a species ofKaratas, which is to be found in the islands, “dans des deserts pierreux, où il ne se trouve guere d’eau douce,” says “les paysans travaillez de la soif y courent, parce que ces feüilles sont tellement disposés, qu’elles se ferment en bas comme un verre, où on trouve quelquefois une pinte d’eau fraische, claire et trés saine, et cela a sauvé la vie à plusieurs qui sans cela seroient morts de soif.”—Histoire des Antilles, tom. ii. p. 100.I heard this mentioned frequently whilst I was in the Sertam; but at the time we were in want of water, we were not crossing any of those lands upon which the plant grows.—Transl.[266]Bolingbroke says, that “it is a common thing to feed swine with pine-apples. My astonishment was increased when our conductor took us to a large trench fifty rood long, and twelve feet wide, which was absolutely filled up with pine-apples; they so completely overran the estate at one time, that he was obliged to root them up for the purpose of preventing their farther extension.”—Voyage to the Demerary, &c. p. 21.Neither pigs nor pine-apples are to be found thus by wholesale in Pernambuco.—Transl.Barrere says “La Pitte, qui est une espéce d’ananas, fournit encore une filasse d’un bon usage. Le fil en est plus fort et plus fin que la soye. Les Portugais en font des bas qui ne cedent en rien, dit-on, par leur bonté et par leur finesse aux bas de soye.”—Nouvelle Relation de la France Equinoxiale, p. 115.Old Ligon says “the last and best sort of drinke that this iland or the world affords, is the incomparable wine of pines; and is certainly the nectar which the gods drunke; for on earth there is none like it; and that is made of the pure juyce of the fruit itselfe, without commixture of water or any other creature, having in itselfe a naturall compound of all tastes excellent, that the world can yield. This drinke is too pure to keep long; in three or four dayes it will be fine; ‘tis made by pressing the fruite, and strayning the liquor, and it is kept in bottles.”—A true and exact History of the Iland of Barbadoes, 1657.[267]Du Tertre speaks of a species ofKaratas, which agrees, from his description, with this in the height of the stalk, the shape of the leaves, and the colour of the flowers; which he says areestroileés—Transl.He adds, “Avant que les boutons de ces fleurs soient ouverts ils sont remplis d’un fort beau et bon cotton, dont l’on se peut servir utilement: apres que l’on a fait boüillir les füeilles l’on en tire du fil dont l’on se sert en plusieurs endroits de l’Amerique, non seulement à faire des toilles, mais encore à faire des licts pendans. La racine et les füeilles de cette plante broyées et lavées dans une riviere, jettent un suc qui estourdit si fort le poisson, qu’il se laisse prendre à la main: ce grand tronc qui est tout spongieux estant seché, brulle comme une méche ensouffrée, et froté rudement, avec une bois plus dur, s’enflame et se consume.”—Histoire des Antilles, tom. ii. p. 106.Labat gives the same account, and adds that persons who are in the habit of smoking “ne manquent jamais d’avoir sur eux leur provision de tol.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. 6. p. 142.“Le caratas dont j’ai parlé dans un autre endroit est bien meilleur que la Savonette pour blanchir le linge. On prend la füeille et aprés en avoir ôté les piquans, on la bat et l’écrase entre deux pierres et on frote le linge avec l’eau. Elle produit le même effet que le mielleur savon, elle fait une mousse ou écume épaisse, blanche, qui decrasse, nettoye et blanchit parfaitement le linge, sans le rougir ou le brûler en aucune facon.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. vii. p. 385.[268]At Pillar, upon the island of Itamaraca, the persons who are in the habit of preparing thecairo, dig holes in the sands below high water mark, and bury the rind of the coco for several days before they beat it. I suppose this method is resorted to, owing to the want of a running stream in which to steep the rind.—Transl.[269]There are some breaks, but they are not extensive, as far as I am acquainted with the country.—Transl.[270]In Wildenow this plant is so arranged.—T.[271]“The inhabitants of the plains of Iguaraçu make use of it to fasten together the rushes from which they make the mats that are used for pack-saddles.”—Discurso sobre a Utilidade da Instituicam de Jardims, &c.Padre Ignacio de Almeida Fortuna told me, that he had had a pair of stockings made from the fibre of theMacaiba. I brought some of the fibre to England; it is extremely strong and fine. I think Dr. Arruda may perhaps have been rather hasty in ranking it with thetucum, in the difficulty of obtaining it. At Itapissuma, near to Itamaraca, a great quantity of thread is manufactured for fishing-nets, &c. and it has at that place a fixed price.—Transl.“Referring the meeting to what was communicated in the last annual Report on the subject of a species of hemp, manufactured from the leaves of a particular kind of palm which abounds in Sierra Leone and its neighbourhood, the directors have now to add, that one of their Board, Mr. Allen, has lately subjected a small quantity of cord, manufactured from this substance, to experiments calculated to ascertain its strength, as compared with the same length and weight of common hempen cord. The result has been very satisfactory.” In five trials, the average is as follows “hempen cord 43lbs.3-fifths. African cord 53lbs.2-fifths, being a difference in favour of the African cord of 10lbs.in 43lbs.”—Fourth Report of the Directors of the African Institution, p. 15.[272]I have often in the course of this volume spoken of thejangadas.—Transl.[273]The seeds have a strong aromatic smell, and the taste is very pleasant.—Transl.[274]In the neighbourhood of Goiana I saw a large piece of land completely covered with the commonmaracuja; the owner of the ground complained to me of the trouble which he should have in getting rid of the plant when he should wish to cultivate the land.—Transl.[275]Excepting in times of famine, the food which may be thus obtained causes too much destruction to allow of its becoming general, and even if it should for a time afford subsistence to the people, this cannot last long, for the trees will soon be destroyed. The quantity of food which each tree yields is too small, the growth of the trees too slow, and the space which each plant occupies too considerable ever to render the cabbage of the palms a permanent staple food of any country.Dr. Arruda has not spoken of thedendezeiroordendetree, which, next to the coco tree, is the palm which is of the most service to the Pernambucans. An oil of good quality is made from the nut, and is sold in Recife as a culinary ingredient, being more generally used than the coco oil. The fruit resembles much that of thecoco naia, according to Arruda’s description of the latter.Labat, who has a propensity to call in question the opinions of others, in speaking of the tree which he callspalmier franc ou dattier, says, “On prétend que cet arbre est mâle et femelle, &c. Je suis fâché de ne pouvoir pas souscrire au sentiment des naturalistes, mais j’en suis empêché par une expérience que j’ai trés-sûre, opposée directement à leur sentiment, qui dément absolument ce que je viens de rapporter sur leur bonne foi; car nous avions un dattier à côté de notre couvent du Moüillage à la Martinique, qui rapportoit du fruit quoiqu’il fut tout seul. Qu’il fut mâle ou femelle, je n’en sçai rien, mais ce que je sçai trés certainement, c’est que dans le terrain où est le Fort Saint Pierre et le Moûillage et a plus de deux lieuës à la ronde il n’y avoit et n’y avoit jamais eu de dattier, &c.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. iii. p. 276.[276]Thegoiabais to be found in all situations in Pernambuco; there is scarcely acercado(field) of any sugar plantation which has not several of these trees scattered about upon it. Thegoiabais never cut down, for the people are fond of it, and the cattle likewise feed upon it. Thearaçais another species of the same plant; the shrub and the fruit of this are smaller than thegoiaba, and the inside of the fruit is of a pale yellow colour, instead of a deep red.—Transl.[277]Labat speaks of a species ofcanelle bâtarde, and he adds, “On se sert beaucoup en Italie d’une canelle semblable à celle que je viens de décrire; les Portugais l’apportent du Bresil dans des paniers de roseaux refendus et à jour; on l’appelle canelle geroflée (canella garofanata). On la met en poudre avec un peu de gérofle, de veritable canelle, de poivre et de graines tout-à faite resemblables à celles de nos bois d’Inde des Isles, et on en fait un debit assez considérable.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. iii. p. 92.[278]In the Philosophical Transactions for 1811 is given, “An Account of a Vegetable Wax from Brazil,” by William Thomas Brande, Esq. F. R. S. The work from which I extract part of the account is Nicholson’s Journal, Vol. xxxi. p. 14.“The vegetable wax described in this paper was given to the president by Lord Grenville, with a wish on the part of his Lordship, that its properties should be investigated, in the hope that it might prove a useful substitute for bees’ wax, and constitute in due time a new article of commerce between Brazil and this country. It was transmitted to Lord Grenville from Rio de Janeiro by the Conde das Galveas(1), as a new article lately brought to that city(2), from the northernmost parts of the Brazilian dominions, thecapitaniasof Rio Grande and Seará, between the latitude of three and seven degrees north; it is said to be the production of a tree of slow growth, called by the nativescarnâùba, which also produces a gum used as food for men, and another substance employed for fattening poultry.”“The wax in its rough state is in the form of a coarse pale grey powder, soft to the touch, and mixed with various impurities, consisting chiefly of fibres of the bark of the tree, which when separated by a sieve amount to about 40per cent.It has an agreeable odour, somewhat resembling new hay, but scarcely any taste.”(Here follow various chemical Experiments which I wish I could insert, but they are too long.)“Having been unsuccessful in my attempts to bleach the wax in its original state, I made some experiments to ascertain whether its colour could be more easily destroyed, after it had been acted upon by nitric acid, and found that by exposing it spread upon glass to the action of light, it became in the course of three weeks of a pale straw colour, and on the surface nearly white(3). The same change was produced by steeping the wax, in thin plates, in an aqueous solution of oxymuriatic gas, but I have not hitherto succeeded in rendering it perfectly white.”(Other chemical Experiments follow, which are of considerable Length.)“From the preceding detail of experiments, it appears that although the South American vegetable wax possesses the characteristic properties of bees’ wax, it differs from that substance in many of its chemical habitudes; it also differs from the other varieties of wax, namely, the wax of the myrica cerifera, of lac, and of white lac. The attempts which have been made to bleach the wax have been conducted on a small scale; but from the experiments related, it appears that after the colour has been changed by the action of very dilute nitric acid, it may be rendered nearly white by the usual means. I have not had sufficient time to ascertain whether the wax can be more effectually bleached by long continued exposure, nor have I had an opportunity of submitting it to the processes employed by the bleachers of bees’ wax.”“Perhaps the most important part of the present inquiry is that which relates to the combustion of the vegetable wax, in the form of candles. The trials which have been made to ascertain its fitness for this purpose are extremely satisfactory; and when the wick is properly proportioned to the size of the candle, the combustion is as perfect and uniform as that of common bees’ wax. The addition of one eighth to one tenth part of tallow is sufficient to obviate the brittleness of the wax in its pure state, without giving it any unpleasant smell, or materially impairing the brilliancy of its flame. A mixture of three parts of the vegetable wax with one part of bees’ wax, also makes very excellent candles.”(1)This nobleman is since dead.(2)It was sent to Rio de Janeiro by Francisco de Paula Cavalcante de Albuquerque, Governor of Rio Grande do Norte.(3)The portion which the Governor of Rio Grande gave to me was in the form of a cake, which could not be pierced, but was brittle; it was of a pale straw colour.—Transl.[279]“On l’apporte (the root) en Europe coupeé en rouelles blanches & assez légéres.”—Voyage du Chevalier des Marchais a Cayenne, &c.tom. iii. p. 262.I brought some of it to England in powder.—Transl.
[209]Manumitted creole blacks are, I am nearly certain, admitted into these regiments.[210]There was a rumour of the appointment of a white man as colonel of this regiment, and also of a white colonel for the Recife mulatto regiment; and I was asked by several individuals of these casts whether there was any truth in the report. I cannot believe any thing of this kind; the liberal policy which seems to pervade the Council of Rio de Janeiro forbids that such a report should be believed; but if this should be true, most pernicious will be the consequences, which from such a determination may be expected to proceed.[211]The priests of the island of St. Thomé, upon the coast of Africa, are negroes. I have seen some of these men at Recife, who have come over for a short time. I have heard that they are prohibited from saying Mass any where excepting upon the island for which they are ordained; but I can scarcely think that this can be correct. In theVoyage du Chevalier des Marchais en Guinée, isles voisines et a Cayenne, I find that men of mixed blood were ordained in the islands of St. Thomé and Principe, and the editor of the work says, “presque tout le clergé de la cathedrale(of St. Thome)étoit de cette couleur.” Vol. iii. p. 4. “L’Eglise de S. Antoine qui est la Paroisse(of Prince’s Island)est déservie par des prêtres noirs ou presque noirs, c’est à dire mulâtres.” p. 30.I have, as is stated in the text, heard from good authority, that the law forbids the ordination of mulattos; what the practice is I am quite certain, and I hope the law may be favourable also.[212]This word is without doubt derived fromEgypçianos; I am told that the wordgitanosis also used as a name for these people.[213]A Portugueze writer says, “When permission was given in Portugal to work upon several of the holidays, the same was not extended to Brazil from a principle of humanity, that the slaves might not be deprived of any of their days of rest.”—Correio Braziliense, for December, 1815, p. 738.[214]In the island of Grenada “every manumission is by an act of the island, charged with a fine of one hundred pounds currency;” it is said that this law has neither operated as a productive fund nor as a prohibition.—Edwards’ History of the West-Indies, vol. i. p. 380.At Surinam, says another writer, “Si un maître voulait affranchir son esclave, outre la perte qu’il fesait de son negre, il étoit encore obligé d’acheter fort cher des lettres de franchise, sans lesquelles aucun noir ne pouvait être instruit dans la religion Chrétienne, ni baptisé.”—Voyage a la Guiane et a Cayenne en 1789, et années suivantes, p. 224.Bolingbroke says, “It is by no means an uncommon thing in these colonies for negroes when they have accumulated a sufficiency, to purchase their freedom; and I have known many instances of negroes who paid their owners a proportion of the purchase-money, and were allowed after emancipation to workout the balance.”—Voyage to the Demerary, &c. p. 65.I give this statement, and should be happy to transcribe any other, with which I might meet in the course of reading, of the same tenor; but it must be recollected that the “Voyage to the Demerary” is decidedly written in favour of the slave trade and of slavery.[215]The owner of a sugar plantation, with whose sons I was well acquainted, possessed a slave, who had the management of the sugar boiling house during crop time, and who was accounted by all who knew him and understood the business, to be a most excellent workman.—This man accumulated a sum of money, which he offered to his master for his freedom, but it was not accepted; and although the slave made great interest with persons of consideration in the country, he could not accomplish his end. His master loaded him with irons, and he was made to work in this state. He did not obtain his liberty till after his master’s death, when the widow received his money, and manumitted him. His trade of sugar-boiler renders him large profits yearly, and this injured man now lives in ease and comfort. This instance of refusal, and some others of which I have heard, would make me doubtful of the foundation upon which the custom of manumitting is placed, if I did not know how easily the laws relating to many other important points are evaded through the influence of wealth and power. I did not see a copy of the law or regulation on the subject, but I never met with any one who made a doubt of its existence. I never met with any one who doubted that the slave had a right to appeal, if he thought proper; whether he would be heard or not was another question.[216]The major part of the slaves that abscond, are brought back to their owners, but some do escape, and are never afterwards heard of. They remove to some distant district and there reside as free men. Those who have once tasted of the sweets of free agency, for any length of time, even if they are brought back to their masters, scarcely ever remain longer than is requisite to seek an opportunity of eluding the vigilance of those whose business it is to watch them; they soon brave the risk of another detection. A young and handsome mulatto man of these unsettled habits once applied to me to purchase him. He had by mere accident been discovered only a short time before, by a friend of his master in the Sertam, where he had married a free woman, and had been considered as free himself. He was brought back to his master, was sold to another person, escaped, returned, and again fled, and had not, when I left the country, been heard of for a twelvemonth.[217]The following circumstances occurred under my own observation:—A negress had brought into the world ten children, and had reared nine of them. These remained to work for their owners; the woman claimed her freedom, for the tenth child did not die until it had arrived at an age when it did not require any farther care from her; but it was refused. She was hired to a gentleman as a nurse for one of his children. This person did all in his power to obtain her freedom, but did not succeed; he purchased her, and immediately had a deed of manumission made out by a notary-public. When he returned home to dinner, he desired his wife to tell the woman that she was his slave, and in the course of the day the deed was given to her. When I left the country, her only fear was, that as she was free, her master and mistress might turn her away; thus proving, by her anxiety, how happy she was.[218]Du Tertre says, speaking of negro baptismal festivals—“les parrains et les marraines qui sont ordinairement de François amis de leurs maitres, ne laissent pas de contribuer à la bonne chere.”—Histoire des Antilles, tom. ii. p. 528.Fellow slaves, or free persons of colour, are usually the sponsors in Brazil; but it is better, I think, that fellow-slaves, that is, belonging to the same master, should be sponsors, for they take a considerable interest in their god-children. The god-child, indeed, in any of the ranks of life, never approaches either of its sponsors without begging for their blessing. Labat, in speaking of a negro whom he had maderenoncer tous ses pactes implicites et explicites qu’il pouvoit avoir fait avec le diable, says,—“Je chargeai sont maitre, qui étoit aussi son parrain de vieller soigneusement sur sa conduite.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. ii. p.54.I never heard of the master in Brazil being likewise the god-father, nor do I think that this ever happens; for such is the connection between two persons which this is supposed to produce, that the master would never think of ordering the slave to be chastised.[219]The same occurs in the Spanish and French colonies. Du Tertre, who seems from the general tenor of his work, to have been a much better man than friars usually are, speaks of the difficulty of converting the Caribs, and of their indifference to religion, and then adds, “Mais les négres sont certainement touchez de Dieu, puis qu’ils conservent, jusqu’à la mort, la religion qu’ils ont embrassée; qu’ils en pratiquent les vertus et en exercent les œuvres, et je puis dire avec verité qu’ils y vivent bien plus Chrestiennement dans leur condition, que beaucoup de François.”—Histoire des Antilles, tom. ii. p. 502.[220]Labat says that the inhabitants of St. Domingo were in the habit of marking the negroes which they bought by burning the skin, and he adds, in his Dominican way, “De sorte qu’un esclave qui auroit été vendu et revendu plusieurs fois paroîtroit à la fin aussi chargé de caracters, que ces obelisques d’Egypt.” This was not practised, as he tells us, in the islands (Martinique and Guadaloupe) and he adds that their negroes, and principally the creole slavesseroient au desespoir qu’on les marquât comme on fait les bœufs et les chevaux. The small islands did not require this practice, but St. Domingoun pais aussi vaste, could not do without it, because the slaves ran away to the mountains.—Nouveau Voyage, &c., tom. vii. p. 260.The St. Domingo planters have paid severely for all their misdeeds, and therefore of them nothing need to be said in the present day. The vastness, however, of Brazil, which is a little morevastethan St. Domingo, does not require that the slaves should be marked like cattle.[221]Edwards’ History of the West-Indies, vol. ii. p. 82, and 147.[222]The base, the most abominable practice of some masters and mistresses,and of the latter oftener than the former, increases the bias which these miserable, these uneducated beings must be expected to have towards licentiousness. Females have been punished because they have not increased the number of their owners’ slaves. This is a fact; but it is almost too much to believe. On which side does the extreme of depravity lie?[223]The following circumstances occurred within my own observation. A negro woman applied to a planter to be purchased, for which purpose she had brought a note from her master. She was accepted, and a bargain was concluded between the two persons; however, the day after she had taken up her abode upon the estate of her new master, she came to him, and falling down upon her knees, said that she had had a fellow-slave who wished likewise to serve him, and she begged him to purchase her companion. The new master spoke to the owner of the slave in question on the subject, but he refused to sell him, and the matter rested in this manner; but on the third day, he received a visit from the owner, offering the slave for sale, adding that the man had refused to work, and had threatened to hang himself; and as he was aGabamnegro, he much feared that he might put his threat in execution. The price was soon fixed, and on the following morning the man made his appearance. He proved to be a most excellent slave.[224]The following occurrences took place upon the estate of a wealthy planter to the South of Recife, and the anecdote was related by the owner of the plantation himself. A negro complained to his master of the infidelity of his wife; she was immediately questioned; and other enquiries being made, and the truth of the statement respecting her conduct being proved, she was tied to a post to be flogged. Her husband was present, and at first he rather received pleasure from the sight of her sufferings; but he soon stopped the driver’s hand, and going to his master, begged him to order her to be unbound, and that he would pardon her, for he added, “If there are to be so many men, and so small a number of women upon the estate, how is it to be expected that the latter are to be faithful.” “Para que Senhor tem tantos negros et tam poucas negras.”[225]The ships which are employed in this trade oftentimes fill some of their water casks with salt water, when they leave Brazil, that they may serve as ballast; and on taking their live cargo on board upon the coast of Africa, the salt water is replaced by that which is for the use of the additional number of persons. On one occasion a vessel had proceeded for some days on her voyage from Africa towards Brazil with a full cargo, when the discovery was made that the casks had not been filled with fresh water. The coast of either continent was too distant to enable the vessel to reach one or the other, before the greatest distress must be experienced, and therefore a most shocking expedient was resorted to,—a great number of the negroes were thrown overboard. This misfortune was accidental and occurred unintentionally, and a man must have been in a similar situation before he can declare that he would not act as the Portugueze did on this occasion; but the circumstances arose from the nature of this execrable trade.[226]I was present on one occasion at the purchase of some slaves. The person who was chusing those which suited his purpose, singled out among others a handsome woman, and a beautiful boy of about six years old. The woman had been a slave at Loanda upon the coast of Africa, and she spoke a little Portugueze. Whilst the selection was going on, the slave-dealer had happened to leave the room; but after it was concluded he returned, and seeing the persons who had been set apart to be purchased, said, he was sorry the woman and child could not be sold, for they formed part of a lot which could not be separated. The purchaser enquired the reason of the formation of a lot in this instance, and was answered that it consisted of a family, the husband, wife, and three children. The dealer was then requested to point out the individuals which composed it, and they were all bought together. How few slave-merchants would have acted in this manner! The whole family was present during the greatest part of the time, but there was no change of countenance in either the husband or the wife,—both of them understood the Portugueze language; the children were almost too young to know what was about to happen, and besides we spoke in a language whichtheydid not understand. That their parents did feel deeply the separation which they must have apprehended as being upon the point of taking place, I have not the slightest doubt, because I frequently saw these slaves afterwards, and knew how much they were attached to each other and to their children. But whether it proceeded from resignation, from despair, from fear, or from being ashamed to shew what they felt before so many strangers, there was no demonstration of feeling. Negroes may have feelings, and yet not allow the standers-by to know what they feel.[227]An instance occurred at Liverpool of the attachment of some of these people to their master. At the commencement of the direct trade from Brazil to Great Britain, some small vessels came to Liverpool manned in part with slaves, owing to their masters being ignorant that their arrival upon British ground would make them free. However the men themselves were soon made acquainted with this circumstance, and many of them availed themselves of the advantages which were to be thus obtained. One of the men belonging to a small bark left his vessel, and having entered himself as a seaman on board some other ship, returned to persuade three of his companions to do the same; but he was answered, that they were well treated where they were, had always been used kindly, and therefore had no wish to try any other way of life. These three men returned to Brazil in the bark, and I have heard that they were set at liberty by their master on their arrival there. I hope it was so. When the advocates of slavery relate such stories as these, they give them as tending to prove that slaves in general are happy. Anecdotes of this kind demonstrate individual goodness in the master and individual gratitude in the slave, but they prove nothing generally; they do not affect the great question;thatis rested upon grounds which are too deeply fixed to be moved by single instances of evil or of good.[228]Mr. Edwards mentions some of the Gold coast negroes, or those of the adjacent countries, and gives as an instance thechambanegroes, who follow this custom.[229]Whilst I resided at Jaguaribe, I heard that two negroes of this nation had murdered a child of three or four years of age, the son or daughter of their master, and that they had been caught in the act of preparing to cook part of the body. The men were carried down to Recife, but the person who informed me of these circumstances did not know what punishment had been inflicted upon them.[230]I merely state what is the general idea upon the subject in that country, without giving an opinion upon the general question.—Mr. Edwards says that it is a disease and not a habit.—History of the West-Indies, vol. ii. p. 141.Labat is of opinion, that it is a habit and not a disease.—Nouveau Voyage &c. tom. ii. p. 11.[231]There was one in 1814, and another in February of the present year, 1816.[232]Edwards’ History of the West-Indies, vol. ii. p. 64.[233]The negroes who are obtained in the province of Senegambia, “are known to the West-Indian planters by the general name ofMandingoes.”—History of the West-Indies, vol. ii. p. 50.“There is a sort of people who travel about in the country, called Mandingo-men; (these are Mahommedans) they do not like to work; they go from place to place; and when they find any chiefs or people whom they think they can make any thing of, they take up their abode for a time with them, and makegreegrees, and sometimes cast sand from them, for which they make them pay.”—Correspondence of Mr. John Kizell in the Sixth Report of the Directors of the African Institution, p. 136.[234]Mr. Edwards says, “In Jamaica the negroes are allowed one day in a fortnight, except in time of crop, besides Sundays and holidays, for cultivating their grounds, and carrying their provisions to market.” The Protestant church enjoins the observance of three or four holidays, and the Catholic church of above thirty.Du Tertre says that the custom of giving a certain portion of time to the slave for the purpose of providing for his own maintenance, was introduced into the Columbian islands by “les Holandois chassez du Recif,” and he adds that they “gouvernent leurs esclaves à la façon du Bresil.”—Histoire des Antilles, vol. ii. p. 515.[235]One of these old men, who was yet however sufficiently hearty to be often in a state of intoxication, and would walk to a considerable distance to obtain liquor, made a practice of coming to see me for this purpose. He would tell me, that he and his companions were not slaves to the monks but to St. Bento himself, and that consequently, the monks were only the representatives of their master for the due administration of the Saint’s property in this world. I enquired of some others of the slaves, and found that this was the general opinion among them.[236]An old slave, who had been invariably well treated, for he had never deserved punishment, was asked by his master if he wished to be free; he smiled, but said nothing; the question being repeated, he answered that of course he wished to be free; the master then told him that his deed of manumission should be drawn out that same day; upon this being said, the slave shook his head, saying, “Why do you say such things to laugh at your old black man.” However, as soon as he was persuaded that it was true, he began to dance about like one who was mad, and for some minutes could answer no questions, nor could any directions be given to him.[237]The Saturday of each week is not sufficient for the slave to provide for his own subsistence, unless the labour of his master, is done by task work, in which case, he may manage to finish this in due time, and to work a little each day upon his own provision grounds. He may indeed be able to live, by assisting the Saturdays, through the labour of his Sundays and holidays, even if the labour of his master is not done by piece-work; but this is not just, for to the Sundays and holidays he has a right as his own, even if his master supports him; but slavery and justice seldom go hand in hand.[238]A planter with whom I was acquainted, was once seen by a person who happened to call upon him, occupied with three of his companions in flogging four negroes; the men were tied at a short distance from each other to four posts, and as the operation continued, there was much laughing and joking, for as they lashed their miserable victims, they cried out,—“Here is to the health of such and such a person.” It is some comfort to be able to say, that this wretch has been ruined; but his ruin has been caused by his treatment of his slaves, which has occasioned the death of some, and the escape of others from his power in a less melancholy manner.Another man, on ordering a slave to work in the sugar-mill, was answered, that he was sick and could not go, but the master persisted. The negro went, saying, “you will then kill your slave;” and vexed with the treatment which he received now, and had suffered on other occasions, he placed his head near to one of the wheels, (for it was a water-mill) by which it was severed from his body. I could mention many anecdotes of this description, indicative of individual blackness of heart, such as have been related of all nations who have had to do with slaves; but few will suffice. Neither of the stories which are above related, occurred in the great and pre-eminent instance of depravity of which the scene was the Mata, and which has been mentioned in a former part of this work; in that case 55 slaves were consumed in less than fifteen years.[239]Might not an act be passed for the British Colonies, obliging the master to manumit his slave, on the fair value of the individual being tendered? However, this is not a place for discussion.[240]I met with the following passage in a work of much reputation upon the affairs of the British sugar islands. “The circumstance wherein the slaves in the West Indies seem mostly indebted to their owners’ liberality are, I think, those of medical attendance and accommodation when sick.” Would not a man take his horse to a farrier if any thing ailed him?[241]Horses are usually marked upon the right haunch with the private mark of their owners; but the beasts which have been bred by slaves are marked on the left haunch or on the shoulder-blade. This proves, among many other corroborating circumstances, that though the law may prohibit a slave from possessing property, custom has established a practice which is better adapted to the present state of the country.[242]The plan of distributing the new-comers among the old established negroes to be taken care of by them, as is practised in Jamaica, has not been adopted in Brazil. I think the effect of this must be good, for thus each established slave takes an interest in one of his newly-arrived companions; the new slaves too may be sooner reconciled to their situation, by the interest which is shewn in their behalf; and their wants may be made known to the master with more ease. The law which was passed at Rio de Janeiro in 1809 (mentioned in chapter 16th) for preventing executions for debt upon the property of sugar planters, may have one beneficial effect;—the slaves cannot, unless the master pleases, be sold separately from the estate for the purpose of paying debts; the master cannot be forced to dispose of them, unless the debt amounts to the value of the estate; and thus the slave is advanced in some slight degree towards the condition of a serf.[243]Bicho, means an animal, in the common acceptation of the word; but the insect which is commonly, in other countries, called thechigua, is known at Pernambuco,onlyunder the name ofbicho.[244]Dr. Pinckard, in his “Notes on the West-Indies” mentions that mercury was used for the complaint at Berbice, with very little success. Mr. Edwards doubts “if medicine of any kind is of use in this disease.” This writer likewise states that he had heard of the Gold Coast negroes inoculating their children with the complaint, and also the notion which they have of the disease getting into the bone. Bolingbroke says, “No effectual cure has, I believe, ever been found for it. Salivation will drive it in, but sulphur and other opening medicines are now preferred to induce its coming out;” and again “There are black women who inoculate their children for this disorder; its violence is thereby lessened.”—Voyage to the Demerary, &c. p. 54.In the “Voyage à la Guiane et à Cayenne fait en 1789 et anneés suivantes,” I find that speaking of the same disorder, “on la gagne trés-aisement avec les Indiennes qui en sont presque toutes attaquées.” It is supposed by Mr. Edwards to be brought from Africa, and the same idea exists in Brazil; indeed it is less known among the Indians than among the people of colour.[245]A small proprietor in Brazil is a man who possesses from two to ten slaves. A large proprietor upon an average, in the part of the country of which I may speak, possesses from twenty to sixty slaves.[246]A slave belonging to a colonel of militia, who was a planter of great wealth, was in the frequent practice of concealing himself in the woods for some days at a time; on being brought back, he was punished, and soon again ran away; and this behaviour continued for some time. In one of his rambles he met his master, who was riding alone in one of the narrow roads of the country. The slave placed himself in the middle of the path, and taking off his hat, saluted his master as if he had been only slightly acquainted with him, and addressed him, begging that he would give him some money. The colonel was much alarmed, and granted his request, upon which he was suffered to proceed, but was admonished to be silent upon the subject. The slave was soon taken; but he continued to run away, to be brought home, to be punished, and again to go through the same proceeding so frequently and for so many years, that at last his master allowed him to do as he pleased; indeed he was somewhat afraid of a second meeting in the woods, when he might not perhaps be treated so courteously. He as obstinately refused to sell the negro as the negro objected to serving him; because he knew that the slave wished to be sold to some one else, and from a notion which some of the planters entertain of not choosing to dispose of any person whom they have owned, unless by manumission.[247]There was a boy of twelve years of age, of African birth, who belonged to Jaguaribe; this child often inhabited the woods for several days together. He killed a calf on one occasion, and separated the quarters of the animal by means of a sharp stone. He was discovered by the dropping of the blood, from the field to the hiding-place. As soon as the owner of the calf found the boy, he wished, of course, to take him to his master; but the boy laid himself down upon the ground and refused to stir. The man bound him to a tree, and went home to fetch a horse, upon which he placed the boy and tied him there; he walked after him to Jaguaribe, driving the horse on before. The boy was punished; but a few hours after he had been flogged, he said to one of his companions, “Well, at least I have had the honour of being attended by apagem,” or page, the usual word for a groom. This happened under a former tenant of Jaguaribe.A short time before I left that plantation, the same boy fled with another of nearly the same age, both of them being about fourteen years of age. They had been absent some days, when late one evening an Indian labourer brought them both home. The children had thrown off all cloathing, and had made bows and arrows suited to their own size, with which they were to kill poultry, rats, &c. as food. Their appearance was most laughable, but it was distressing; it was soon known that they were found, and many of their companions and other inhabitants of the plantation assembled to see and to laugh at these terriblenegros do mato, orbushnegroes. The boys had been well treated by me, and therefore the propensity to continue in practices which had commenced under severe usage could be their only inducement to prefer the woods now.[248]One of the men who was in my possession used to say, on being tasked with any theft, “to steal from master is not to steal.” “Furtar de Senhor nam he furtar.”[249]Strange notions exist on this subject. Several nostrums are in repute for the curing of this habit; but that of which the fame stands the highest, is, earth that is taken from a grave dissolved in water and given to the negro without his knowing what he is taking.[250]TheInvestigador Portuguezand theCorreio Braziliense, two Portugueze journals published in London, have arranged themselves on the side of justice, humanity, and sound policy. The former of them has been translating Dr. Thorpe’s pamphlet respecting the colony of Sierra Leone, and has given portions of it in each number. I hope the editors will be aware of the necessity of fair play, and will next proceed to translate “The Special Report of the Directors of the African Institution” in answer to the charges preferred against them by Dr. Thorpe. I know no more of the matter to which either of the pamphlets relate than what I have gathered from them, and from Mr. Macauley’s letter to H. R. H. the Duke of Gloucester. But let there be fair play, let each side be heard and judged. This is due to the African Institution, owing to the until now unimpeached characters of its leading members. By so doing the editors of the journal would prove most decidedly their sincerity in the cause of abolition.[251]The cry against the injustice and tyranny which is said to have been exercised by Great Britain in the employment of her naval superiority, has been removed at least on this score; for a sum of money was agreed to be paid by Great Britain to the government of Brazil for the purpose of reimbursing those of its subjects whom it might judge to have been unjustly treated.The captures, of which complaint was principally made, were effected under the impression that all ships which bore the Portugueze flag, trading to the coast of Africa for slaves, ought to be of Portugueze build. This was a mistake arising from misunderstanding the treaties which were concluded between the two Powers in 1810.[252]Observacoens sobre a prosperidade do Estado pelos principios liberaes da Nova Legislacam do Brazil,p.16.[253]Correio Braziliensefor December 1815, p. 735.[254]Investigador Portuguezfor June 1816, p. 496.[255]I met with the following passage in a work of high and deserved reputation. “The Romans, notwithstanding their prodigious losses in the incessant wars which they carried on for centuries, never experienced any want of men in the early periods of the commonwealth; but were even able to send colonies abroad out of their redundant population. Afterwards, in the time of the Emperors, when the armies were generally kept in camps and garrisons, where a soldier is perhaps the healthiest of all professions, the Roman population in Italy had greatly diminished, and was visibly declining every day, owing to a change in the division of property, and to the pernicious and monstrous increase of domestic slavery, which had left the poorer class of free citizens without any means of subsistence, but public charity.”—Essay on the Military Policy and Institutions of the British Empire, by C. W. Pasley, Captain (now Colonel) in the corps of Royal Engineers. Note to p. 505.In the work in which the note appears, it is introduced for the purpose of proving, that “the total average population in any country can never be affected by the annual number of deaths, but depends solely and exclusively upon the means of subsistence afforded to the living.” I have transcribed it inasmuch as the author of it states, that domestic slavery was one of the causes of the decrease of population in Italy; and though the pernicious effects of slavery do not act to the same extent in Brazil, it does undoubtedly prevent the rapid increase of the numbers of the people of colour; and if the trade in Africans continues much longer, it will tend to stop the increase altogether of the persons of mixed blood. That the increase of the free population of colour ought to be encouraged, no one will deny; they are the pillars of the state, the bulwark from the strength of which Brazil becomes invincible.[256]I am aware that this is not the case with all nations; but although it may not be correct when speaking generally, its application to the people of whom I am treating, will not, I think, be found to be erroneous.[257]If thecamaraor municipality of each township held the rank which it ought, this alone would produce much zeal in the higher ranks of people.[258]Observaçoens sobre o commercio franco no Brazil, p. 80.[259]Antonio de Araujo de Azevedo, Minister and Secretary of State for Naval and Ultramarine Affairs. He has lately been created Conde da Barca. It was formerly said that he was a French partizan; but he is a true patriot, who opposes the entrance of the undue influence of any foreign power into the affairs of the government of which he is a member.[260]These arguments savour somewhat of peevishness; let these plain questions be asked. Does Great Britain interfere in the police of Brazil? Would Great Britain take the trouble of negotiating respecting any regulations which Brazil might enact for the better preserving of internal good order, and for providing with more ease for the apprehension of improper persons? The truth is that Brazil does not require any thing of the kind, and Great Britain does, consequently each Power acts according to its situation.[261]The Alien Bill has given offence. Does not all the world know that it was passed for the purpose of preventing the entrance into Great Britain of those unquiet spirits who have desolated the Continent of Europe for so many years; and some of whom aided in burning the towns and villages of Portugal? Would Great Britain change her plan of operations for any one Power on earth, or even for all of them combined? Each government must act as suits its own peculiar circumstances.[262]Must not Great Britain build ships because Brazil will not? Why does not Brazil form a navy?[263]I do not know how far good policy directs that preference should be given to the Portugal wines over those of other parts; but it is rather hard that the people of Great Britain should be obliged to drink the wines of Portugal, when others of a superior flavour might be obtained, if restrictions did not exist against their consumption.[264]The privileges which British subjects have long enjoyed in the dominions of the crown of Portugal are considerable. I give as concise an account of them as I possibly can. “D. Joam by the grace of God Prince Regent of Portugal, &c. To all myCorregedores, &c. be it known, that Joam Bevan declares himself to be a merchant, resident in this city (Lisbon, I suppose,) and a subject of his Britannic Majesty, and therefore competent to enjoy all the privileges and immunities which have been conceded to British subjects, &c. The merchants of that nation may freely trade, contract, buy and sell in all these kingdoms and lordships, &c. and where a doubt arises concerning any business with them, this shall be construed rather with a bias in their favour than against them(1). British subjects can only be arrested and confined in their own houses, according to their rank in life, or in the castle of St. Jorge; and these arrests cannot be carried into executions by bailiffs (homems de vara) but only by thealcaide(2). They are exempted from the payment of certain duties upon those articles which they can prove to be for the use of their own families. They cannot be obliged to give up their houses or warehouses against their consent(3). They cannot be obliged to serve as guardians, and they are exempted from certain imposts. They may carry offensive and defensive arms, by day and by night with or without a light, taking care not to do with them what they ought not to do.”Then follow the penalties to which those officers will be subjected who do not pay a due regard to these privileges.The clerks and servants of Englishmen enjoy the same privileges to the number of six, provided they are not Spaniards.British subjects cannot be arrested, nor can their houses be searched without an order from their judge-conservator. Then follow some regulations by which their law proceedings may be rendered as easy as possible. They are not subject to the jurisdiction of theJuiz de Orfaons & Auzentes(4).The copy of the privileges from which the above has been extracted is passed in the name of John Bevan. I obtained it at Pernambuco as a curiosity. If the state of government in Brazil is considered, these privileges are absolutely necessary for the prevention of oppression; and even the privilege of wearing arms is not more than is requisite, because although the laws which prohibit Portugueze subjects from carrying arms ordain severe penalties, still scarcely any man in Brazil leaves his own home without some species of weapon; and the crime which is committed in so doing is too general to be punished.(1)Mais em seu favor do que em odio.—What occasion is there for this? Impartiality is what is required.(2)An officer of a rank somewhat superior.(3)An officer of government can turn an unprivileged man out of his house by placing the letters P. R. upon his door.(4)The officer into whose hands the property of orphans falls, and of those persons who die without heirs resident upon the spot. It is difficult to reclaim what has found its way into this office.[265]Du Tertre, in speaking of a species ofKaratas, which is to be found in the islands, “dans des deserts pierreux, où il ne se trouve guere d’eau douce,” says “les paysans travaillez de la soif y courent, parce que ces feüilles sont tellement disposés, qu’elles se ferment en bas comme un verre, où on trouve quelquefois une pinte d’eau fraische, claire et trés saine, et cela a sauvé la vie à plusieurs qui sans cela seroient morts de soif.”—Histoire des Antilles, tom. ii. p. 100.I heard this mentioned frequently whilst I was in the Sertam; but at the time we were in want of water, we were not crossing any of those lands upon which the plant grows.—Transl.[266]Bolingbroke says, that “it is a common thing to feed swine with pine-apples. My astonishment was increased when our conductor took us to a large trench fifty rood long, and twelve feet wide, which was absolutely filled up with pine-apples; they so completely overran the estate at one time, that he was obliged to root them up for the purpose of preventing their farther extension.”—Voyage to the Demerary, &c. p. 21.Neither pigs nor pine-apples are to be found thus by wholesale in Pernambuco.—Transl.Barrere says “La Pitte, qui est une espéce d’ananas, fournit encore une filasse d’un bon usage. Le fil en est plus fort et plus fin que la soye. Les Portugais en font des bas qui ne cedent en rien, dit-on, par leur bonté et par leur finesse aux bas de soye.”—Nouvelle Relation de la France Equinoxiale, p. 115.Old Ligon says “the last and best sort of drinke that this iland or the world affords, is the incomparable wine of pines; and is certainly the nectar which the gods drunke; for on earth there is none like it; and that is made of the pure juyce of the fruit itselfe, without commixture of water or any other creature, having in itselfe a naturall compound of all tastes excellent, that the world can yield. This drinke is too pure to keep long; in three or four dayes it will be fine; ‘tis made by pressing the fruite, and strayning the liquor, and it is kept in bottles.”—A true and exact History of the Iland of Barbadoes, 1657.[267]Du Tertre speaks of a species ofKaratas, which agrees, from his description, with this in the height of the stalk, the shape of the leaves, and the colour of the flowers; which he says areestroileés—Transl.He adds, “Avant que les boutons de ces fleurs soient ouverts ils sont remplis d’un fort beau et bon cotton, dont l’on se peut servir utilement: apres que l’on a fait boüillir les füeilles l’on en tire du fil dont l’on se sert en plusieurs endroits de l’Amerique, non seulement à faire des toilles, mais encore à faire des licts pendans. La racine et les füeilles de cette plante broyées et lavées dans une riviere, jettent un suc qui estourdit si fort le poisson, qu’il se laisse prendre à la main: ce grand tronc qui est tout spongieux estant seché, brulle comme une méche ensouffrée, et froté rudement, avec une bois plus dur, s’enflame et se consume.”—Histoire des Antilles, tom. ii. p. 106.Labat gives the same account, and adds that persons who are in the habit of smoking “ne manquent jamais d’avoir sur eux leur provision de tol.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. 6. p. 142.“Le caratas dont j’ai parlé dans un autre endroit est bien meilleur que la Savonette pour blanchir le linge. On prend la füeille et aprés en avoir ôté les piquans, on la bat et l’écrase entre deux pierres et on frote le linge avec l’eau. Elle produit le même effet que le mielleur savon, elle fait une mousse ou écume épaisse, blanche, qui decrasse, nettoye et blanchit parfaitement le linge, sans le rougir ou le brûler en aucune facon.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. vii. p. 385.[268]At Pillar, upon the island of Itamaraca, the persons who are in the habit of preparing thecairo, dig holes in the sands below high water mark, and bury the rind of the coco for several days before they beat it. I suppose this method is resorted to, owing to the want of a running stream in which to steep the rind.—Transl.[269]There are some breaks, but they are not extensive, as far as I am acquainted with the country.—Transl.[270]In Wildenow this plant is so arranged.—T.[271]“The inhabitants of the plains of Iguaraçu make use of it to fasten together the rushes from which they make the mats that are used for pack-saddles.”—Discurso sobre a Utilidade da Instituicam de Jardims, &c.Padre Ignacio de Almeida Fortuna told me, that he had had a pair of stockings made from the fibre of theMacaiba. I brought some of the fibre to England; it is extremely strong and fine. I think Dr. Arruda may perhaps have been rather hasty in ranking it with thetucum, in the difficulty of obtaining it. At Itapissuma, near to Itamaraca, a great quantity of thread is manufactured for fishing-nets, &c. and it has at that place a fixed price.—Transl.“Referring the meeting to what was communicated in the last annual Report on the subject of a species of hemp, manufactured from the leaves of a particular kind of palm which abounds in Sierra Leone and its neighbourhood, the directors have now to add, that one of their Board, Mr. Allen, has lately subjected a small quantity of cord, manufactured from this substance, to experiments calculated to ascertain its strength, as compared with the same length and weight of common hempen cord. The result has been very satisfactory.” In five trials, the average is as follows “hempen cord 43lbs.3-fifths. African cord 53lbs.2-fifths, being a difference in favour of the African cord of 10lbs.in 43lbs.”—Fourth Report of the Directors of the African Institution, p. 15.[272]I have often in the course of this volume spoken of thejangadas.—Transl.[273]The seeds have a strong aromatic smell, and the taste is very pleasant.—Transl.[274]In the neighbourhood of Goiana I saw a large piece of land completely covered with the commonmaracuja; the owner of the ground complained to me of the trouble which he should have in getting rid of the plant when he should wish to cultivate the land.—Transl.[275]Excepting in times of famine, the food which may be thus obtained causes too much destruction to allow of its becoming general, and even if it should for a time afford subsistence to the people, this cannot last long, for the trees will soon be destroyed. The quantity of food which each tree yields is too small, the growth of the trees too slow, and the space which each plant occupies too considerable ever to render the cabbage of the palms a permanent staple food of any country.Dr. Arruda has not spoken of thedendezeiroordendetree, which, next to the coco tree, is the palm which is of the most service to the Pernambucans. An oil of good quality is made from the nut, and is sold in Recife as a culinary ingredient, being more generally used than the coco oil. The fruit resembles much that of thecoco naia, according to Arruda’s description of the latter.Labat, who has a propensity to call in question the opinions of others, in speaking of the tree which he callspalmier franc ou dattier, says, “On prétend que cet arbre est mâle et femelle, &c. Je suis fâché de ne pouvoir pas souscrire au sentiment des naturalistes, mais j’en suis empêché par une expérience que j’ai trés-sûre, opposée directement à leur sentiment, qui dément absolument ce que je viens de rapporter sur leur bonne foi; car nous avions un dattier à côté de notre couvent du Moüillage à la Martinique, qui rapportoit du fruit quoiqu’il fut tout seul. Qu’il fut mâle ou femelle, je n’en sçai rien, mais ce que je sçai trés certainement, c’est que dans le terrain où est le Fort Saint Pierre et le Moûillage et a plus de deux lieuës à la ronde il n’y avoit et n’y avoit jamais eu de dattier, &c.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. iii. p. 276.[276]Thegoiabais to be found in all situations in Pernambuco; there is scarcely acercado(field) of any sugar plantation which has not several of these trees scattered about upon it. Thegoiabais never cut down, for the people are fond of it, and the cattle likewise feed upon it. Thearaçais another species of the same plant; the shrub and the fruit of this are smaller than thegoiaba, and the inside of the fruit is of a pale yellow colour, instead of a deep red.—Transl.[277]Labat speaks of a species ofcanelle bâtarde, and he adds, “On se sert beaucoup en Italie d’une canelle semblable à celle que je viens de décrire; les Portugais l’apportent du Bresil dans des paniers de roseaux refendus et à jour; on l’appelle canelle geroflée (canella garofanata). On la met en poudre avec un peu de gérofle, de veritable canelle, de poivre et de graines tout-à faite resemblables à celles de nos bois d’Inde des Isles, et on en fait un debit assez considérable.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. iii. p. 92.[278]In the Philosophical Transactions for 1811 is given, “An Account of a Vegetable Wax from Brazil,” by William Thomas Brande, Esq. F. R. S. The work from which I extract part of the account is Nicholson’s Journal, Vol. xxxi. p. 14.“The vegetable wax described in this paper was given to the president by Lord Grenville, with a wish on the part of his Lordship, that its properties should be investigated, in the hope that it might prove a useful substitute for bees’ wax, and constitute in due time a new article of commerce between Brazil and this country. It was transmitted to Lord Grenville from Rio de Janeiro by the Conde das Galveas(1), as a new article lately brought to that city(2), from the northernmost parts of the Brazilian dominions, thecapitaniasof Rio Grande and Seará, between the latitude of three and seven degrees north; it is said to be the production of a tree of slow growth, called by the nativescarnâùba, which also produces a gum used as food for men, and another substance employed for fattening poultry.”“The wax in its rough state is in the form of a coarse pale grey powder, soft to the touch, and mixed with various impurities, consisting chiefly of fibres of the bark of the tree, which when separated by a sieve amount to about 40per cent.It has an agreeable odour, somewhat resembling new hay, but scarcely any taste.”(Here follow various chemical Experiments which I wish I could insert, but they are too long.)“Having been unsuccessful in my attempts to bleach the wax in its original state, I made some experiments to ascertain whether its colour could be more easily destroyed, after it had been acted upon by nitric acid, and found that by exposing it spread upon glass to the action of light, it became in the course of three weeks of a pale straw colour, and on the surface nearly white(3). The same change was produced by steeping the wax, in thin plates, in an aqueous solution of oxymuriatic gas, but I have not hitherto succeeded in rendering it perfectly white.”(Other chemical Experiments follow, which are of considerable Length.)“From the preceding detail of experiments, it appears that although the South American vegetable wax possesses the characteristic properties of bees’ wax, it differs from that substance in many of its chemical habitudes; it also differs from the other varieties of wax, namely, the wax of the myrica cerifera, of lac, and of white lac. The attempts which have been made to bleach the wax have been conducted on a small scale; but from the experiments related, it appears that after the colour has been changed by the action of very dilute nitric acid, it may be rendered nearly white by the usual means. I have not had sufficient time to ascertain whether the wax can be more effectually bleached by long continued exposure, nor have I had an opportunity of submitting it to the processes employed by the bleachers of bees’ wax.”“Perhaps the most important part of the present inquiry is that which relates to the combustion of the vegetable wax, in the form of candles. The trials which have been made to ascertain its fitness for this purpose are extremely satisfactory; and when the wick is properly proportioned to the size of the candle, the combustion is as perfect and uniform as that of common bees’ wax. The addition of one eighth to one tenth part of tallow is sufficient to obviate the brittleness of the wax in its pure state, without giving it any unpleasant smell, or materially impairing the brilliancy of its flame. A mixture of three parts of the vegetable wax with one part of bees’ wax, also makes very excellent candles.”(1)This nobleman is since dead.(2)It was sent to Rio de Janeiro by Francisco de Paula Cavalcante de Albuquerque, Governor of Rio Grande do Norte.(3)The portion which the Governor of Rio Grande gave to me was in the form of a cake, which could not be pierced, but was brittle; it was of a pale straw colour.—Transl.[279]“On l’apporte (the root) en Europe coupeé en rouelles blanches & assez légéres.”—Voyage du Chevalier des Marchais a Cayenne, &c.tom. iii. p. 262.I brought some of it to England in powder.—Transl.
[209]Manumitted creole blacks are, I am nearly certain, admitted into these regiments.
[210]There was a rumour of the appointment of a white man as colonel of this regiment, and also of a white colonel for the Recife mulatto regiment; and I was asked by several individuals of these casts whether there was any truth in the report. I cannot believe any thing of this kind; the liberal policy which seems to pervade the Council of Rio de Janeiro forbids that such a report should be believed; but if this should be true, most pernicious will be the consequences, which from such a determination may be expected to proceed.
[211]The priests of the island of St. Thomé, upon the coast of Africa, are negroes. I have seen some of these men at Recife, who have come over for a short time. I have heard that they are prohibited from saying Mass any where excepting upon the island for which they are ordained; but I can scarcely think that this can be correct. In theVoyage du Chevalier des Marchais en Guinée, isles voisines et a Cayenne, I find that men of mixed blood were ordained in the islands of St. Thomé and Principe, and the editor of the work says, “presque tout le clergé de la cathedrale(of St. Thome)étoit de cette couleur.” Vol. iii. p. 4. “L’Eglise de S. Antoine qui est la Paroisse(of Prince’s Island)est déservie par des prêtres noirs ou presque noirs, c’est à dire mulâtres.” p. 30.
I have, as is stated in the text, heard from good authority, that the law forbids the ordination of mulattos; what the practice is I am quite certain, and I hope the law may be favourable also.
[212]This word is without doubt derived fromEgypçianos; I am told that the wordgitanosis also used as a name for these people.
[213]A Portugueze writer says, “When permission was given in Portugal to work upon several of the holidays, the same was not extended to Brazil from a principle of humanity, that the slaves might not be deprived of any of their days of rest.”—Correio Braziliense, for December, 1815, p. 738.
[214]In the island of Grenada “every manumission is by an act of the island, charged with a fine of one hundred pounds currency;” it is said that this law has neither operated as a productive fund nor as a prohibition.—Edwards’ History of the West-Indies, vol. i. p. 380.
At Surinam, says another writer, “Si un maître voulait affranchir son esclave, outre la perte qu’il fesait de son negre, il étoit encore obligé d’acheter fort cher des lettres de franchise, sans lesquelles aucun noir ne pouvait être instruit dans la religion Chrétienne, ni baptisé.”—Voyage a la Guiane et a Cayenne en 1789, et années suivantes, p. 224.
Bolingbroke says, “It is by no means an uncommon thing in these colonies for negroes when they have accumulated a sufficiency, to purchase their freedom; and I have known many instances of negroes who paid their owners a proportion of the purchase-money, and were allowed after emancipation to workout the balance.”—Voyage to the Demerary, &c. p. 65.
I give this statement, and should be happy to transcribe any other, with which I might meet in the course of reading, of the same tenor; but it must be recollected that the “Voyage to the Demerary” is decidedly written in favour of the slave trade and of slavery.
[215]The owner of a sugar plantation, with whose sons I was well acquainted, possessed a slave, who had the management of the sugar boiling house during crop time, and who was accounted by all who knew him and understood the business, to be a most excellent workman.—This man accumulated a sum of money, which he offered to his master for his freedom, but it was not accepted; and although the slave made great interest with persons of consideration in the country, he could not accomplish his end. His master loaded him with irons, and he was made to work in this state. He did not obtain his liberty till after his master’s death, when the widow received his money, and manumitted him. His trade of sugar-boiler renders him large profits yearly, and this injured man now lives in ease and comfort. This instance of refusal, and some others of which I have heard, would make me doubtful of the foundation upon which the custom of manumitting is placed, if I did not know how easily the laws relating to many other important points are evaded through the influence of wealth and power. I did not see a copy of the law or regulation on the subject, but I never met with any one who made a doubt of its existence. I never met with any one who doubted that the slave had a right to appeal, if he thought proper; whether he would be heard or not was another question.
[216]The major part of the slaves that abscond, are brought back to their owners, but some do escape, and are never afterwards heard of. They remove to some distant district and there reside as free men. Those who have once tasted of the sweets of free agency, for any length of time, even if they are brought back to their masters, scarcely ever remain longer than is requisite to seek an opportunity of eluding the vigilance of those whose business it is to watch them; they soon brave the risk of another detection. A young and handsome mulatto man of these unsettled habits once applied to me to purchase him. He had by mere accident been discovered only a short time before, by a friend of his master in the Sertam, where he had married a free woman, and had been considered as free himself. He was brought back to his master, was sold to another person, escaped, returned, and again fled, and had not, when I left the country, been heard of for a twelvemonth.
[217]The following circumstances occurred under my own observation:—A negress had brought into the world ten children, and had reared nine of them. These remained to work for their owners; the woman claimed her freedom, for the tenth child did not die until it had arrived at an age when it did not require any farther care from her; but it was refused. She was hired to a gentleman as a nurse for one of his children. This person did all in his power to obtain her freedom, but did not succeed; he purchased her, and immediately had a deed of manumission made out by a notary-public. When he returned home to dinner, he desired his wife to tell the woman that she was his slave, and in the course of the day the deed was given to her. When I left the country, her only fear was, that as she was free, her master and mistress might turn her away; thus proving, by her anxiety, how happy she was.
[218]Du Tertre says, speaking of negro baptismal festivals—“les parrains et les marraines qui sont ordinairement de François amis de leurs maitres, ne laissent pas de contribuer à la bonne chere.”—Histoire des Antilles, tom. ii. p. 528.
Fellow slaves, or free persons of colour, are usually the sponsors in Brazil; but it is better, I think, that fellow-slaves, that is, belonging to the same master, should be sponsors, for they take a considerable interest in their god-children. The god-child, indeed, in any of the ranks of life, never approaches either of its sponsors without begging for their blessing. Labat, in speaking of a negro whom he had maderenoncer tous ses pactes implicites et explicites qu’il pouvoit avoir fait avec le diable, says,—“Je chargeai sont maitre, qui étoit aussi son parrain de vieller soigneusement sur sa conduite.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. ii. p.54.
I never heard of the master in Brazil being likewise the god-father, nor do I think that this ever happens; for such is the connection between two persons which this is supposed to produce, that the master would never think of ordering the slave to be chastised.
[219]The same occurs in the Spanish and French colonies. Du Tertre, who seems from the general tenor of his work, to have been a much better man than friars usually are, speaks of the difficulty of converting the Caribs, and of their indifference to religion, and then adds, “Mais les négres sont certainement touchez de Dieu, puis qu’ils conservent, jusqu’à la mort, la religion qu’ils ont embrassée; qu’ils en pratiquent les vertus et en exercent les œuvres, et je puis dire avec verité qu’ils y vivent bien plus Chrestiennement dans leur condition, que beaucoup de François.”—Histoire des Antilles, tom. ii. p. 502.
[220]Labat says that the inhabitants of St. Domingo were in the habit of marking the negroes which they bought by burning the skin, and he adds, in his Dominican way, “De sorte qu’un esclave qui auroit été vendu et revendu plusieurs fois paroîtroit à la fin aussi chargé de caracters, que ces obelisques d’Egypt.” This was not practised, as he tells us, in the islands (Martinique and Guadaloupe) and he adds that their negroes, and principally the creole slavesseroient au desespoir qu’on les marquât comme on fait les bœufs et les chevaux. The small islands did not require this practice, but St. Domingoun pais aussi vaste, could not do without it, because the slaves ran away to the mountains.—Nouveau Voyage, &c., tom. vii. p. 260.
The St. Domingo planters have paid severely for all their misdeeds, and therefore of them nothing need to be said in the present day. The vastness, however, of Brazil, which is a little morevastethan St. Domingo, does not require that the slaves should be marked like cattle.
[221]Edwards’ History of the West-Indies, vol. ii. p. 82, and 147.
[222]The base, the most abominable practice of some masters and mistresses,and of the latter oftener than the former, increases the bias which these miserable, these uneducated beings must be expected to have towards licentiousness. Females have been punished because they have not increased the number of their owners’ slaves. This is a fact; but it is almost too much to believe. On which side does the extreme of depravity lie?
[223]The following circumstances occurred within my own observation. A negro woman applied to a planter to be purchased, for which purpose she had brought a note from her master. She was accepted, and a bargain was concluded between the two persons; however, the day after she had taken up her abode upon the estate of her new master, she came to him, and falling down upon her knees, said that she had had a fellow-slave who wished likewise to serve him, and she begged him to purchase her companion. The new master spoke to the owner of the slave in question on the subject, but he refused to sell him, and the matter rested in this manner; but on the third day, he received a visit from the owner, offering the slave for sale, adding that the man had refused to work, and had threatened to hang himself; and as he was aGabamnegro, he much feared that he might put his threat in execution. The price was soon fixed, and on the following morning the man made his appearance. He proved to be a most excellent slave.
[224]The following occurrences took place upon the estate of a wealthy planter to the South of Recife, and the anecdote was related by the owner of the plantation himself. A negro complained to his master of the infidelity of his wife; she was immediately questioned; and other enquiries being made, and the truth of the statement respecting her conduct being proved, she was tied to a post to be flogged. Her husband was present, and at first he rather received pleasure from the sight of her sufferings; but he soon stopped the driver’s hand, and going to his master, begged him to order her to be unbound, and that he would pardon her, for he added, “If there are to be so many men, and so small a number of women upon the estate, how is it to be expected that the latter are to be faithful.” “Para que Senhor tem tantos negros et tam poucas negras.”
[225]The ships which are employed in this trade oftentimes fill some of their water casks with salt water, when they leave Brazil, that they may serve as ballast; and on taking their live cargo on board upon the coast of Africa, the salt water is replaced by that which is for the use of the additional number of persons. On one occasion a vessel had proceeded for some days on her voyage from Africa towards Brazil with a full cargo, when the discovery was made that the casks had not been filled with fresh water. The coast of either continent was too distant to enable the vessel to reach one or the other, before the greatest distress must be experienced, and therefore a most shocking expedient was resorted to,—a great number of the negroes were thrown overboard. This misfortune was accidental and occurred unintentionally, and a man must have been in a similar situation before he can declare that he would not act as the Portugueze did on this occasion; but the circumstances arose from the nature of this execrable trade.
[226]I was present on one occasion at the purchase of some slaves. The person who was chusing those which suited his purpose, singled out among others a handsome woman, and a beautiful boy of about six years old. The woman had been a slave at Loanda upon the coast of Africa, and she spoke a little Portugueze. Whilst the selection was going on, the slave-dealer had happened to leave the room; but after it was concluded he returned, and seeing the persons who had been set apart to be purchased, said, he was sorry the woman and child could not be sold, for they formed part of a lot which could not be separated. The purchaser enquired the reason of the formation of a lot in this instance, and was answered that it consisted of a family, the husband, wife, and three children. The dealer was then requested to point out the individuals which composed it, and they were all bought together. How few slave-merchants would have acted in this manner! The whole family was present during the greatest part of the time, but there was no change of countenance in either the husband or the wife,—both of them understood the Portugueze language; the children were almost too young to know what was about to happen, and besides we spoke in a language whichtheydid not understand. That their parents did feel deeply the separation which they must have apprehended as being upon the point of taking place, I have not the slightest doubt, because I frequently saw these slaves afterwards, and knew how much they were attached to each other and to their children. But whether it proceeded from resignation, from despair, from fear, or from being ashamed to shew what they felt before so many strangers, there was no demonstration of feeling. Negroes may have feelings, and yet not allow the standers-by to know what they feel.
[227]An instance occurred at Liverpool of the attachment of some of these people to their master. At the commencement of the direct trade from Brazil to Great Britain, some small vessels came to Liverpool manned in part with slaves, owing to their masters being ignorant that their arrival upon British ground would make them free. However the men themselves were soon made acquainted with this circumstance, and many of them availed themselves of the advantages which were to be thus obtained. One of the men belonging to a small bark left his vessel, and having entered himself as a seaman on board some other ship, returned to persuade three of his companions to do the same; but he was answered, that they were well treated where they were, had always been used kindly, and therefore had no wish to try any other way of life. These three men returned to Brazil in the bark, and I have heard that they were set at liberty by their master on their arrival there. I hope it was so. When the advocates of slavery relate such stories as these, they give them as tending to prove that slaves in general are happy. Anecdotes of this kind demonstrate individual goodness in the master and individual gratitude in the slave, but they prove nothing generally; they do not affect the great question;thatis rested upon grounds which are too deeply fixed to be moved by single instances of evil or of good.
[228]Mr. Edwards mentions some of the Gold coast negroes, or those of the adjacent countries, and gives as an instance thechambanegroes, who follow this custom.
[229]Whilst I resided at Jaguaribe, I heard that two negroes of this nation had murdered a child of three or four years of age, the son or daughter of their master, and that they had been caught in the act of preparing to cook part of the body. The men were carried down to Recife, but the person who informed me of these circumstances did not know what punishment had been inflicted upon them.
[230]I merely state what is the general idea upon the subject in that country, without giving an opinion upon the general question.—Mr. Edwards says that it is a disease and not a habit.—History of the West-Indies, vol. ii. p. 141.
Labat is of opinion, that it is a habit and not a disease.—Nouveau Voyage &c. tom. ii. p. 11.
[231]There was one in 1814, and another in February of the present year, 1816.
[232]Edwards’ History of the West-Indies, vol. ii. p. 64.
[233]The negroes who are obtained in the province of Senegambia, “are known to the West-Indian planters by the general name ofMandingoes.”—History of the West-Indies, vol. ii. p. 50.
“There is a sort of people who travel about in the country, called Mandingo-men; (these are Mahommedans) they do not like to work; they go from place to place; and when they find any chiefs or people whom they think they can make any thing of, they take up their abode for a time with them, and makegreegrees, and sometimes cast sand from them, for which they make them pay.”—Correspondence of Mr. John Kizell in the Sixth Report of the Directors of the African Institution, p. 136.
[234]Mr. Edwards says, “In Jamaica the negroes are allowed one day in a fortnight, except in time of crop, besides Sundays and holidays, for cultivating their grounds, and carrying their provisions to market.” The Protestant church enjoins the observance of three or four holidays, and the Catholic church of above thirty.
Du Tertre says that the custom of giving a certain portion of time to the slave for the purpose of providing for his own maintenance, was introduced into the Columbian islands by “les Holandois chassez du Recif,” and he adds that they “gouvernent leurs esclaves à la façon du Bresil.”—Histoire des Antilles, vol. ii. p. 515.
[235]One of these old men, who was yet however sufficiently hearty to be often in a state of intoxication, and would walk to a considerable distance to obtain liquor, made a practice of coming to see me for this purpose. He would tell me, that he and his companions were not slaves to the monks but to St. Bento himself, and that consequently, the monks were only the representatives of their master for the due administration of the Saint’s property in this world. I enquired of some others of the slaves, and found that this was the general opinion among them.
[236]An old slave, who had been invariably well treated, for he had never deserved punishment, was asked by his master if he wished to be free; he smiled, but said nothing; the question being repeated, he answered that of course he wished to be free; the master then told him that his deed of manumission should be drawn out that same day; upon this being said, the slave shook his head, saying, “Why do you say such things to laugh at your old black man.” However, as soon as he was persuaded that it was true, he began to dance about like one who was mad, and for some minutes could answer no questions, nor could any directions be given to him.
[237]The Saturday of each week is not sufficient for the slave to provide for his own subsistence, unless the labour of his master, is done by task work, in which case, he may manage to finish this in due time, and to work a little each day upon his own provision grounds. He may indeed be able to live, by assisting the Saturdays, through the labour of his Sundays and holidays, even if the labour of his master is not done by piece-work; but this is not just, for to the Sundays and holidays he has a right as his own, even if his master supports him; but slavery and justice seldom go hand in hand.
[238]A planter with whom I was acquainted, was once seen by a person who happened to call upon him, occupied with three of his companions in flogging four negroes; the men were tied at a short distance from each other to four posts, and as the operation continued, there was much laughing and joking, for as they lashed their miserable victims, they cried out,—“Here is to the health of such and such a person.” It is some comfort to be able to say, that this wretch has been ruined; but his ruin has been caused by his treatment of his slaves, which has occasioned the death of some, and the escape of others from his power in a less melancholy manner.
Another man, on ordering a slave to work in the sugar-mill, was answered, that he was sick and could not go, but the master persisted. The negro went, saying, “you will then kill your slave;” and vexed with the treatment which he received now, and had suffered on other occasions, he placed his head near to one of the wheels, (for it was a water-mill) by which it was severed from his body. I could mention many anecdotes of this description, indicative of individual blackness of heart, such as have been related of all nations who have had to do with slaves; but few will suffice. Neither of the stories which are above related, occurred in the great and pre-eminent instance of depravity of which the scene was the Mata, and which has been mentioned in a former part of this work; in that case 55 slaves were consumed in less than fifteen years.
[239]Might not an act be passed for the British Colonies, obliging the master to manumit his slave, on the fair value of the individual being tendered? However, this is not a place for discussion.
[240]I met with the following passage in a work of much reputation upon the affairs of the British sugar islands. “The circumstance wherein the slaves in the West Indies seem mostly indebted to their owners’ liberality are, I think, those of medical attendance and accommodation when sick.” Would not a man take his horse to a farrier if any thing ailed him?
[241]Horses are usually marked upon the right haunch with the private mark of their owners; but the beasts which have been bred by slaves are marked on the left haunch or on the shoulder-blade. This proves, among many other corroborating circumstances, that though the law may prohibit a slave from possessing property, custom has established a practice which is better adapted to the present state of the country.
[242]The plan of distributing the new-comers among the old established negroes to be taken care of by them, as is practised in Jamaica, has not been adopted in Brazil. I think the effect of this must be good, for thus each established slave takes an interest in one of his newly-arrived companions; the new slaves too may be sooner reconciled to their situation, by the interest which is shewn in their behalf; and their wants may be made known to the master with more ease. The law which was passed at Rio de Janeiro in 1809 (mentioned in chapter 16th) for preventing executions for debt upon the property of sugar planters, may have one beneficial effect;—the slaves cannot, unless the master pleases, be sold separately from the estate for the purpose of paying debts; the master cannot be forced to dispose of them, unless the debt amounts to the value of the estate; and thus the slave is advanced in some slight degree towards the condition of a serf.
[243]Bicho, means an animal, in the common acceptation of the word; but the insect which is commonly, in other countries, called thechigua, is known at Pernambuco,onlyunder the name ofbicho.
[244]Dr. Pinckard, in his “Notes on the West-Indies” mentions that mercury was used for the complaint at Berbice, with very little success. Mr. Edwards doubts “if medicine of any kind is of use in this disease.” This writer likewise states that he had heard of the Gold Coast negroes inoculating their children with the complaint, and also the notion which they have of the disease getting into the bone. Bolingbroke says, “No effectual cure has, I believe, ever been found for it. Salivation will drive it in, but sulphur and other opening medicines are now preferred to induce its coming out;” and again “There are black women who inoculate their children for this disorder; its violence is thereby lessened.”—Voyage to the Demerary, &c. p. 54.
In the “Voyage à la Guiane et à Cayenne fait en 1789 et anneés suivantes,” I find that speaking of the same disorder, “on la gagne trés-aisement avec les Indiennes qui en sont presque toutes attaquées.” It is supposed by Mr. Edwards to be brought from Africa, and the same idea exists in Brazil; indeed it is less known among the Indians than among the people of colour.
[245]A small proprietor in Brazil is a man who possesses from two to ten slaves. A large proprietor upon an average, in the part of the country of which I may speak, possesses from twenty to sixty slaves.
[246]A slave belonging to a colonel of militia, who was a planter of great wealth, was in the frequent practice of concealing himself in the woods for some days at a time; on being brought back, he was punished, and soon again ran away; and this behaviour continued for some time. In one of his rambles he met his master, who was riding alone in one of the narrow roads of the country. The slave placed himself in the middle of the path, and taking off his hat, saluted his master as if he had been only slightly acquainted with him, and addressed him, begging that he would give him some money. The colonel was much alarmed, and granted his request, upon which he was suffered to proceed, but was admonished to be silent upon the subject. The slave was soon taken; but he continued to run away, to be brought home, to be punished, and again to go through the same proceeding so frequently and for so many years, that at last his master allowed him to do as he pleased; indeed he was somewhat afraid of a second meeting in the woods, when he might not perhaps be treated so courteously. He as obstinately refused to sell the negro as the negro objected to serving him; because he knew that the slave wished to be sold to some one else, and from a notion which some of the planters entertain of not choosing to dispose of any person whom they have owned, unless by manumission.
[247]There was a boy of twelve years of age, of African birth, who belonged to Jaguaribe; this child often inhabited the woods for several days together. He killed a calf on one occasion, and separated the quarters of the animal by means of a sharp stone. He was discovered by the dropping of the blood, from the field to the hiding-place. As soon as the owner of the calf found the boy, he wished, of course, to take him to his master; but the boy laid himself down upon the ground and refused to stir. The man bound him to a tree, and went home to fetch a horse, upon which he placed the boy and tied him there; he walked after him to Jaguaribe, driving the horse on before. The boy was punished; but a few hours after he had been flogged, he said to one of his companions, “Well, at least I have had the honour of being attended by apagem,” or page, the usual word for a groom. This happened under a former tenant of Jaguaribe.
A short time before I left that plantation, the same boy fled with another of nearly the same age, both of them being about fourteen years of age. They had been absent some days, when late one evening an Indian labourer brought them both home. The children had thrown off all cloathing, and had made bows and arrows suited to their own size, with which they were to kill poultry, rats, &c. as food. Their appearance was most laughable, but it was distressing; it was soon known that they were found, and many of their companions and other inhabitants of the plantation assembled to see and to laugh at these terriblenegros do mato, orbushnegroes. The boys had been well treated by me, and therefore the propensity to continue in practices which had commenced under severe usage could be their only inducement to prefer the woods now.
[248]One of the men who was in my possession used to say, on being tasked with any theft, “to steal from master is not to steal.” “Furtar de Senhor nam he furtar.”
[249]Strange notions exist on this subject. Several nostrums are in repute for the curing of this habit; but that of which the fame stands the highest, is, earth that is taken from a grave dissolved in water and given to the negro without his knowing what he is taking.
[250]TheInvestigador Portuguezand theCorreio Braziliense, two Portugueze journals published in London, have arranged themselves on the side of justice, humanity, and sound policy. The former of them has been translating Dr. Thorpe’s pamphlet respecting the colony of Sierra Leone, and has given portions of it in each number. I hope the editors will be aware of the necessity of fair play, and will next proceed to translate “The Special Report of the Directors of the African Institution” in answer to the charges preferred against them by Dr. Thorpe. I know no more of the matter to which either of the pamphlets relate than what I have gathered from them, and from Mr. Macauley’s letter to H. R. H. the Duke of Gloucester. But let there be fair play, let each side be heard and judged. This is due to the African Institution, owing to the until now unimpeached characters of its leading members. By so doing the editors of the journal would prove most decidedly their sincerity in the cause of abolition.
[251]The cry against the injustice and tyranny which is said to have been exercised by Great Britain in the employment of her naval superiority, has been removed at least on this score; for a sum of money was agreed to be paid by Great Britain to the government of Brazil for the purpose of reimbursing those of its subjects whom it might judge to have been unjustly treated.
The captures, of which complaint was principally made, were effected under the impression that all ships which bore the Portugueze flag, trading to the coast of Africa for slaves, ought to be of Portugueze build. This was a mistake arising from misunderstanding the treaties which were concluded between the two Powers in 1810.
[252]Observacoens sobre a prosperidade do Estado pelos principios liberaes da Nova Legislacam do Brazil,p.16.
[253]Correio Braziliensefor December 1815, p. 735.
[254]Investigador Portuguezfor June 1816, p. 496.
[255]I met with the following passage in a work of high and deserved reputation. “The Romans, notwithstanding their prodigious losses in the incessant wars which they carried on for centuries, never experienced any want of men in the early periods of the commonwealth; but were even able to send colonies abroad out of their redundant population. Afterwards, in the time of the Emperors, when the armies were generally kept in camps and garrisons, where a soldier is perhaps the healthiest of all professions, the Roman population in Italy had greatly diminished, and was visibly declining every day, owing to a change in the division of property, and to the pernicious and monstrous increase of domestic slavery, which had left the poorer class of free citizens without any means of subsistence, but public charity.”—Essay on the Military Policy and Institutions of the British Empire, by C. W. Pasley, Captain (now Colonel) in the corps of Royal Engineers. Note to p. 505.
In the work in which the note appears, it is introduced for the purpose of proving, that “the total average population in any country can never be affected by the annual number of deaths, but depends solely and exclusively upon the means of subsistence afforded to the living.” I have transcribed it inasmuch as the author of it states, that domestic slavery was one of the causes of the decrease of population in Italy; and though the pernicious effects of slavery do not act to the same extent in Brazil, it does undoubtedly prevent the rapid increase of the numbers of the people of colour; and if the trade in Africans continues much longer, it will tend to stop the increase altogether of the persons of mixed blood. That the increase of the free population of colour ought to be encouraged, no one will deny; they are the pillars of the state, the bulwark from the strength of which Brazil becomes invincible.
[256]I am aware that this is not the case with all nations; but although it may not be correct when speaking generally, its application to the people of whom I am treating, will not, I think, be found to be erroneous.
[257]If thecamaraor municipality of each township held the rank which it ought, this alone would produce much zeal in the higher ranks of people.
[258]Observaçoens sobre o commercio franco no Brazil, p. 80.
[259]Antonio de Araujo de Azevedo, Minister and Secretary of State for Naval and Ultramarine Affairs. He has lately been created Conde da Barca. It was formerly said that he was a French partizan; but he is a true patriot, who opposes the entrance of the undue influence of any foreign power into the affairs of the government of which he is a member.
[260]These arguments savour somewhat of peevishness; let these plain questions be asked. Does Great Britain interfere in the police of Brazil? Would Great Britain take the trouble of negotiating respecting any regulations which Brazil might enact for the better preserving of internal good order, and for providing with more ease for the apprehension of improper persons? The truth is that Brazil does not require any thing of the kind, and Great Britain does, consequently each Power acts according to its situation.
[261]The Alien Bill has given offence. Does not all the world know that it was passed for the purpose of preventing the entrance into Great Britain of those unquiet spirits who have desolated the Continent of Europe for so many years; and some of whom aided in burning the towns and villages of Portugal? Would Great Britain change her plan of operations for any one Power on earth, or even for all of them combined? Each government must act as suits its own peculiar circumstances.
[262]Must not Great Britain build ships because Brazil will not? Why does not Brazil form a navy?
[263]I do not know how far good policy directs that preference should be given to the Portugal wines over those of other parts; but it is rather hard that the people of Great Britain should be obliged to drink the wines of Portugal, when others of a superior flavour might be obtained, if restrictions did not exist against their consumption.
[264]The privileges which British subjects have long enjoyed in the dominions of the crown of Portugal are considerable. I give as concise an account of them as I possibly can. “D. Joam by the grace of God Prince Regent of Portugal, &c. To all myCorregedores, &c. be it known, that Joam Bevan declares himself to be a merchant, resident in this city (Lisbon, I suppose,) and a subject of his Britannic Majesty, and therefore competent to enjoy all the privileges and immunities which have been conceded to British subjects, &c. The merchants of that nation may freely trade, contract, buy and sell in all these kingdoms and lordships, &c. and where a doubt arises concerning any business with them, this shall be construed rather with a bias in their favour than against them(1). British subjects can only be arrested and confined in their own houses, according to their rank in life, or in the castle of St. Jorge; and these arrests cannot be carried into executions by bailiffs (homems de vara) but only by thealcaide(2). They are exempted from the payment of certain duties upon those articles which they can prove to be for the use of their own families. They cannot be obliged to give up their houses or warehouses against their consent(3). They cannot be obliged to serve as guardians, and they are exempted from certain imposts. They may carry offensive and defensive arms, by day and by night with or without a light, taking care not to do with them what they ought not to do.”
Then follow the penalties to which those officers will be subjected who do not pay a due regard to these privileges.
The clerks and servants of Englishmen enjoy the same privileges to the number of six, provided they are not Spaniards.
British subjects cannot be arrested, nor can their houses be searched without an order from their judge-conservator. Then follow some regulations by which their law proceedings may be rendered as easy as possible. They are not subject to the jurisdiction of theJuiz de Orfaons & Auzentes(4).
The copy of the privileges from which the above has been extracted is passed in the name of John Bevan. I obtained it at Pernambuco as a curiosity. If the state of government in Brazil is considered, these privileges are absolutely necessary for the prevention of oppression; and even the privilege of wearing arms is not more than is requisite, because although the laws which prohibit Portugueze subjects from carrying arms ordain severe penalties, still scarcely any man in Brazil leaves his own home without some species of weapon; and the crime which is committed in so doing is too general to be punished.
(1)Mais em seu favor do que em odio.—What occasion is there for this? Impartiality is what is required.
(2)An officer of a rank somewhat superior.
(3)An officer of government can turn an unprivileged man out of his house by placing the letters P. R. upon his door.
(4)The officer into whose hands the property of orphans falls, and of those persons who die without heirs resident upon the spot. It is difficult to reclaim what has found its way into this office.
[265]Du Tertre, in speaking of a species ofKaratas, which is to be found in the islands, “dans des deserts pierreux, où il ne se trouve guere d’eau douce,” says “les paysans travaillez de la soif y courent, parce que ces feüilles sont tellement disposés, qu’elles se ferment en bas comme un verre, où on trouve quelquefois une pinte d’eau fraische, claire et trés saine, et cela a sauvé la vie à plusieurs qui sans cela seroient morts de soif.”—Histoire des Antilles, tom. ii. p. 100.
I heard this mentioned frequently whilst I was in the Sertam; but at the time we were in want of water, we were not crossing any of those lands upon which the plant grows.—Transl.
[266]Bolingbroke says, that “it is a common thing to feed swine with pine-apples. My astonishment was increased when our conductor took us to a large trench fifty rood long, and twelve feet wide, which was absolutely filled up with pine-apples; they so completely overran the estate at one time, that he was obliged to root them up for the purpose of preventing their farther extension.”—Voyage to the Demerary, &c. p. 21.
Neither pigs nor pine-apples are to be found thus by wholesale in Pernambuco.—Transl.
Barrere says “La Pitte, qui est une espéce d’ananas, fournit encore une filasse d’un bon usage. Le fil en est plus fort et plus fin que la soye. Les Portugais en font des bas qui ne cedent en rien, dit-on, par leur bonté et par leur finesse aux bas de soye.”—Nouvelle Relation de la France Equinoxiale, p. 115.
Old Ligon says “the last and best sort of drinke that this iland or the world affords, is the incomparable wine of pines; and is certainly the nectar which the gods drunke; for on earth there is none like it; and that is made of the pure juyce of the fruit itselfe, without commixture of water or any other creature, having in itselfe a naturall compound of all tastes excellent, that the world can yield. This drinke is too pure to keep long; in three or four dayes it will be fine; ‘tis made by pressing the fruite, and strayning the liquor, and it is kept in bottles.”—A true and exact History of the Iland of Barbadoes, 1657.
[267]Du Tertre speaks of a species ofKaratas, which agrees, from his description, with this in the height of the stalk, the shape of the leaves, and the colour of the flowers; which he says areestroileés—Transl.He adds, “Avant que les boutons de ces fleurs soient ouverts ils sont remplis d’un fort beau et bon cotton, dont l’on se peut servir utilement: apres que l’on a fait boüillir les füeilles l’on en tire du fil dont l’on se sert en plusieurs endroits de l’Amerique, non seulement à faire des toilles, mais encore à faire des licts pendans. La racine et les füeilles de cette plante broyées et lavées dans une riviere, jettent un suc qui estourdit si fort le poisson, qu’il se laisse prendre à la main: ce grand tronc qui est tout spongieux estant seché, brulle comme une méche ensouffrée, et froté rudement, avec une bois plus dur, s’enflame et se consume.”—Histoire des Antilles, tom. ii. p. 106.
Labat gives the same account, and adds that persons who are in the habit of smoking “ne manquent jamais d’avoir sur eux leur provision de tol.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. 6. p. 142.
“Le caratas dont j’ai parlé dans un autre endroit est bien meilleur que la Savonette pour blanchir le linge. On prend la füeille et aprés en avoir ôté les piquans, on la bat et l’écrase entre deux pierres et on frote le linge avec l’eau. Elle produit le même effet que le mielleur savon, elle fait une mousse ou écume épaisse, blanche, qui decrasse, nettoye et blanchit parfaitement le linge, sans le rougir ou le brûler en aucune facon.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. vii. p. 385.
[268]At Pillar, upon the island of Itamaraca, the persons who are in the habit of preparing thecairo, dig holes in the sands below high water mark, and bury the rind of the coco for several days before they beat it. I suppose this method is resorted to, owing to the want of a running stream in which to steep the rind.—Transl.
[269]There are some breaks, but they are not extensive, as far as I am acquainted with the country.—Transl.
[270]In Wildenow this plant is so arranged.—T.
[271]“The inhabitants of the plains of Iguaraçu make use of it to fasten together the rushes from which they make the mats that are used for pack-saddles.”—Discurso sobre a Utilidade da Instituicam de Jardims, &c.
Padre Ignacio de Almeida Fortuna told me, that he had had a pair of stockings made from the fibre of theMacaiba. I brought some of the fibre to England; it is extremely strong and fine. I think Dr. Arruda may perhaps have been rather hasty in ranking it with thetucum, in the difficulty of obtaining it. At Itapissuma, near to Itamaraca, a great quantity of thread is manufactured for fishing-nets, &c. and it has at that place a fixed price.—Transl.
“Referring the meeting to what was communicated in the last annual Report on the subject of a species of hemp, manufactured from the leaves of a particular kind of palm which abounds in Sierra Leone and its neighbourhood, the directors have now to add, that one of their Board, Mr. Allen, has lately subjected a small quantity of cord, manufactured from this substance, to experiments calculated to ascertain its strength, as compared with the same length and weight of common hempen cord. The result has been very satisfactory.” In five trials, the average is as follows “hempen cord 43lbs.3-fifths. African cord 53lbs.2-fifths, being a difference in favour of the African cord of 10lbs.in 43lbs.”—Fourth Report of the Directors of the African Institution, p. 15.
[272]I have often in the course of this volume spoken of thejangadas.—Transl.
[273]The seeds have a strong aromatic smell, and the taste is very pleasant.—Transl.
[274]In the neighbourhood of Goiana I saw a large piece of land completely covered with the commonmaracuja; the owner of the ground complained to me of the trouble which he should have in getting rid of the plant when he should wish to cultivate the land.—Transl.
[275]Excepting in times of famine, the food which may be thus obtained causes too much destruction to allow of its becoming general, and even if it should for a time afford subsistence to the people, this cannot last long, for the trees will soon be destroyed. The quantity of food which each tree yields is too small, the growth of the trees too slow, and the space which each plant occupies too considerable ever to render the cabbage of the palms a permanent staple food of any country.
Dr. Arruda has not spoken of thedendezeiroordendetree, which, next to the coco tree, is the palm which is of the most service to the Pernambucans. An oil of good quality is made from the nut, and is sold in Recife as a culinary ingredient, being more generally used than the coco oil. The fruit resembles much that of thecoco naia, according to Arruda’s description of the latter.
Labat, who has a propensity to call in question the opinions of others, in speaking of the tree which he callspalmier franc ou dattier, says, “On prétend que cet arbre est mâle et femelle, &c. Je suis fâché de ne pouvoir pas souscrire au sentiment des naturalistes, mais j’en suis empêché par une expérience que j’ai trés-sûre, opposée directement à leur sentiment, qui dément absolument ce que je viens de rapporter sur leur bonne foi; car nous avions un dattier à côté de notre couvent du Moüillage à la Martinique, qui rapportoit du fruit quoiqu’il fut tout seul. Qu’il fut mâle ou femelle, je n’en sçai rien, mais ce que je sçai trés certainement, c’est que dans le terrain où est le Fort Saint Pierre et le Moûillage et a plus de deux lieuës à la ronde il n’y avoit et n’y avoit jamais eu de dattier, &c.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. iii. p. 276.
[276]Thegoiabais to be found in all situations in Pernambuco; there is scarcely acercado(field) of any sugar plantation which has not several of these trees scattered about upon it. Thegoiabais never cut down, for the people are fond of it, and the cattle likewise feed upon it. Thearaçais another species of the same plant; the shrub and the fruit of this are smaller than thegoiaba, and the inside of the fruit is of a pale yellow colour, instead of a deep red.—Transl.
[277]Labat speaks of a species ofcanelle bâtarde, and he adds, “On se sert beaucoup en Italie d’une canelle semblable à celle que je viens de décrire; les Portugais l’apportent du Bresil dans des paniers de roseaux refendus et à jour; on l’appelle canelle geroflée (canella garofanata). On la met en poudre avec un peu de gérofle, de veritable canelle, de poivre et de graines tout-à faite resemblables à celles de nos bois d’Inde des Isles, et on en fait un debit assez considérable.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. iii. p. 92.
[278]In the Philosophical Transactions for 1811 is given, “An Account of a Vegetable Wax from Brazil,” by William Thomas Brande, Esq. F. R. S. The work from which I extract part of the account is Nicholson’s Journal, Vol. xxxi. p. 14.
“The vegetable wax described in this paper was given to the president by Lord Grenville, with a wish on the part of his Lordship, that its properties should be investigated, in the hope that it might prove a useful substitute for bees’ wax, and constitute in due time a new article of commerce between Brazil and this country. It was transmitted to Lord Grenville from Rio de Janeiro by the Conde das Galveas(1), as a new article lately brought to that city(2), from the northernmost parts of the Brazilian dominions, thecapitaniasof Rio Grande and Seará, between the latitude of three and seven degrees north; it is said to be the production of a tree of slow growth, called by the nativescarnâùba, which also produces a gum used as food for men, and another substance employed for fattening poultry.”
“The wax in its rough state is in the form of a coarse pale grey powder, soft to the touch, and mixed with various impurities, consisting chiefly of fibres of the bark of the tree, which when separated by a sieve amount to about 40per cent.It has an agreeable odour, somewhat resembling new hay, but scarcely any taste.”
(Here follow various chemical Experiments which I wish I could insert, but they are too long.)
“Having been unsuccessful in my attempts to bleach the wax in its original state, I made some experiments to ascertain whether its colour could be more easily destroyed, after it had been acted upon by nitric acid, and found that by exposing it spread upon glass to the action of light, it became in the course of three weeks of a pale straw colour, and on the surface nearly white(3). The same change was produced by steeping the wax, in thin plates, in an aqueous solution of oxymuriatic gas, but I have not hitherto succeeded in rendering it perfectly white.”
(Other chemical Experiments follow, which are of considerable Length.)
“From the preceding detail of experiments, it appears that although the South American vegetable wax possesses the characteristic properties of bees’ wax, it differs from that substance in many of its chemical habitudes; it also differs from the other varieties of wax, namely, the wax of the myrica cerifera, of lac, and of white lac. The attempts which have been made to bleach the wax have been conducted on a small scale; but from the experiments related, it appears that after the colour has been changed by the action of very dilute nitric acid, it may be rendered nearly white by the usual means. I have not had sufficient time to ascertain whether the wax can be more effectually bleached by long continued exposure, nor have I had an opportunity of submitting it to the processes employed by the bleachers of bees’ wax.”
“Perhaps the most important part of the present inquiry is that which relates to the combustion of the vegetable wax, in the form of candles. The trials which have been made to ascertain its fitness for this purpose are extremely satisfactory; and when the wick is properly proportioned to the size of the candle, the combustion is as perfect and uniform as that of common bees’ wax. The addition of one eighth to one tenth part of tallow is sufficient to obviate the brittleness of the wax in its pure state, without giving it any unpleasant smell, or materially impairing the brilliancy of its flame. A mixture of three parts of the vegetable wax with one part of bees’ wax, also makes very excellent candles.”
(1)This nobleman is since dead.
(2)It was sent to Rio de Janeiro by Francisco de Paula Cavalcante de Albuquerque, Governor of Rio Grande do Norte.
(3)The portion which the Governor of Rio Grande gave to me was in the form of a cake, which could not be pierced, but was brittle; it was of a pale straw colour.—Transl.
[279]“On l’apporte (the root) en Europe coupeé en rouelles blanches & assez légéres.”—Voyage du Chevalier des Marchais a Cayenne, &c.tom. iii. p. 262.
I brought some of it to England in powder.—Transl.