Chapter XXX: Appendix (4)

Likewise in the “_Voyage a la Guiane_,” p. 101, “_Le suc de manioc cet instrument de mort devient, travaillé par les creoles de Cayenne, une sauce appétissante et salutaire_.”

“The juice is boiled with meat and seasoned, and makes excellent soup, which is termed casserepo, and used in pepper-pot and sauces.”—Voyage to the Demerary, &c. by H. Bolingbroke, p. 149.

Dr. Pinckard mentions having tasted in the colony of Demerary of the juice of the cassada prepared as sauce.—Notes on the West-Indies, vol. ii. p. 257.

During the famine of 1793, the people of Pernambuco made use of the juice as food; but in times of plenty it is regarded as being unfit for any purpose. It is by evaporation that it loses its poisonous qualities.

[177] Du Tertre speaks of a species of harmless mandioc, which is called _Kamanioc_, and he adds, that it is _assez rare_.—Histoire des Antilles, &c. tom. ii. p. 114.

Labat likewise speaks of the _Camanioc_, “_comme qui diroit le chef des maniocs. En effet son bois, ses feüilles et ses racines sont plus grandes et plus grosses que les autres maniocs. Mais comme il est beaucoup plus long tems à crôitre et à mûrir, et que ses racines rendent beaucoup moins de farine parce qu’elles sont plus legéres et plus spongieuses que les autres, on le neglige et peu de gens en plantent._”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. i. p. 411.

It is not only the root of the _macaxeira_ which is smaller, but the plant is, I think, altogether smaller than the other species.

Barrere, in the _Nouvelle Relation de la France Equinoxiale_, p. 61, speaks of the harmless species under the name of _maniok sauvage_.

[178] Barrere says, speaking of Cayenne, “_Les Creoles préferent encore au meilleur pain du monde la cassave qu’elles mange rarement séche; car elles la font toujours tremper dans l’eau ou dans quelque sauce: c’est sans doute cette nourriture qui leur donne cette couleur pâle, et qui fait qu’elles n’ont point de coloris_.” I am afraid he does not look quite far enough for the want of colour in the ladies of Cayenne.

Then again, he says, “_On ne mange que trés rarement a Cayenne, ou pour mieux dire, presque jamais de la Coaque, qui est la nourriture ordinaire des Portugais de Parà, du Maragnan, et des peuples, qui sont sur les rivages du fleuve des Amazones_.” He describes the _coaque_; and it is clearly the _farinha_, but he does not explain how the _cassave_ was made, of which the creole ladies were so fond, and which did them so much mischief.

He says afterwards, “_Les Indiens Portugais, quand ils veulent prendre leurs repas, ils mettent une poignée de coaque dans le creux de la main, qui leur sert d’assiette; et de là ils la font sauter adroitement dans la bouche; l’on boit par dessus une bonne coüye d’eau et de boisson; et voila leur repas pris._”—Nouvelle Relation de la France Equinoxiale, p. 55, and 56.

This mode of eating and the abstemiousness of the repast are both common in Brazil to all casts of people. With respect to the _cassave_, I cannot comprehend what he means. But, contrary to his notion, to eat _farinha_ in the manner that he mentions quite dry, although it is done by most people, is not reckoned wholesome. In fact, it is one of the duties of a _feitor_ or manager to see that the negroes do not make their meals with dry _farinha_, but he should see that they make _piram_; this is done by mixing the flour with boiling water or gravy. The negroes do not dislike _piram_, but they are sometimes too idle or too much fatigued to take the trouble of cooking their victuals; and therefore they eat the _farinha_ dry, and their salt meat with it, after having smoke-dried the latter upon a wooden skewer. The disorder which is said to proceed from constantly eating dry _farinha_ is the dropsy. The flour of the mandioc swells considerably when it is moistened: if the expansion takes place in the stomach it may be injurious, and this may perhaps afford some reason for the opinion of the Brazilians upon the subject.

[179] Du Tertre mentions the same practice,—of steeping the mandioc, and says that the savages were in the habit “_de la sécher au soleil et l’ecorce s’ostant d’elle-mesme, ils pillent le manyoc dans un mortier, pour le reduire en farine, qu’ils mangent sans autre cuisson_.”—Histoire des Antilles, &c. tom. ii. p. 114.

Labat says, that the maroon negroes used to prepare it in the two following ways. “_C’est de la couper par morceaux, et de le mettre tremper dans l’eau courante des rivieres ou des ravines pendant sept ou huit heures. Le movement de l’eau ouvre les pores de la racine et entraîne ce trop de substance. La seconde maniere est de le mettre cuire tout entier sous la braise. L’action du feu met ses parties en mouvement et on le mange comme on fait des chataignes ou des patates sans aucune crainte._”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. i. p. 410.

I think the said negroes must have been accustomed by degrees to eating the mandioc in this manner. I should not be willing to recommend either of these ways of cooking it.

[180] “_Les Espanhols en font des tasses pour prendre le chocolat. J’en ai vû de très belles bien travaillées, cizelées, enrichies d’argent sur un pied d’argent, et d’ autres sur un pied fait d’un autre morceau de cocos bien cizelé._”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. iii. p. 273.

[181] “_On prétend que l’arbre est autant d’années à rapporter du fruit, qu’il a été de mois en terre, avant de pousser son germe._”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. iii. p. 267.

Labat does not however vouch for the truth of the statement. He speaks of the cabbage of the coco-tree being very good; and I agree with him. A coco-tree was cut down at Itamaraca, and the vicar sent me the cabbage of which several dishes were made, and they were excellent.

[182] Vide Appendix for a further account of the coco-tree.

[183] Labat was a most determined experimental eater, and therefore I was not surprised at meeting with the following expression of regret, “_Je suis faché de n’avoir pas expérimenté pendant que j’étois aux isles, si cette huile ne seroit pas bonne à manger_.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. iii. p. 283. I wish he had.

[184] Mr. Clarkson, in his work on the Impolicy of the Slave Trade, p. 13 and 14, mentions that a small billet was brought to England from the coast of Africa among a parcel of bar-wool; that “it was found to produce a colour that emulated the carmine, and was deemed to be so valuable in the dying trade, that an offer was immediately made of sixty guineas _per_ ton for any quantity that could be procured.”

[185] History of Brazil, vol. i. p. 19.

[186] Labat is much enraged, in his work of the _Voyage du Chevalier des Marchais a Cayenne_, &c. at the idea of the Portugueze monopolizing the trade in Brazil wood, by persuading all the world that the only true wood came from Pernambuco, or _Fernambourg_, as he calls it. He imagines that the Brazil is the same as the logwood.

[187] The long banana or plantain appears to be of much more importance in Demarary and the adjoining colonies, for Mr. Bolingbroke says, “This coast (between the Essequibo and Pomaroon rivers) possesses a considerable advantage over the other sea-coasts, from its being able to rear any quantity of plantains.”—Voyage to the Demarary, &c. p. 115; and at p. 87, he speaks of the same fruit being the “negroes’ chief food.”

Labat mentions a means of rendering the banana serviceable in travelling; and as the ingredients of his receipt are all of them good, the mixture must, I should imagine, be likewise good, and therefore I insert it for the benefit of those who may, as I have been, be much in want of something palatable, when crossing the Seará-Meirim. “_Ceux qui veulent faire cette pâte avec plus de soin, font d’abord sécher les bananes au four ou au soleil, puis ils les gragent, ils y mêlent ensuite du sucre pilé, avec un peu de poudre de canelle, de géroffle et de gingembre, tant soit peu de farine et un blanc d’œuf pour lier toutes ces choses ensemble, après qu’elles ont été paitries avec un peu d’eau de fleur d’orange._”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. iii. p. 314. Fewer ingredients might be made use of.

Du Tertre says of the banana, “_Quand on le coupe on voit une belle croix imprimeé sur chaque tronçon; c’est qui a fait croire à plusieurs que ce fruit est le même qu’Adam mangea dans le Paradis terrestre_,” _&c._—Histoire des Antilles, &c. tom. ii. p. 140.

Labat speaks of the same story, but adds, “_Adam pouvoit avoir meilleure vûë que nous, ou la croix de ces bananes étoit mieux formée_.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom iii. p. 307. I was once desired by a Brazilian woman of colour to cut the banana lengthways, and not across, for by the latter manner of dividing the fruit, I should cut the _Cruz de Nosso Senhor_, Our Saviour’s Cross.

[188] Labat says, that “_la patate est une espece de pomme de terre que approche assez de ce qu’on appelle en France les Taupinambours_.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. ii. p. 400.

Du Tertre says, “_Lorsque les ouragans ont tant de fois ravagé les manyocs de nos isles, on a toujours eu recours aux patates, sans lesquelles bien du monde auroit pery de faim_.” And again, “_Tous les matins, c’est une coustume generale par toutes les isles de faire cuyre plein une chaudiere de patates pour dejeûner_.”—Histoire des Antilles, &c. tom. ii. p. 118 and 119.

[189] Labat says, in speaking of cacao, “_On ne manque jamais de planter du manioc en même tems qu’on met les amandes en terre_.” This is done for the purpose of defending the plant from the sun. “_On arrache le manioc au bout de douze ou quinze mois_”—“_et sur le champ on en plante d’autres, mais en moindre quantité, c’est a dire, qu’on ne met qu’un rang de fosses au milieu des allées_;” and he recommends that the water-melon, the common melon, and such like plants should be sown between the mandioc and the cacao-trees.—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. vi. p. 397 and 398.

[190] Labat is angry at a notion which was entertained in his time by some people, that the black Ipecacuanha was only to be found near to the gold mines in the interior of Rio de Janeiro. He speaks of a third species of Ipecacuanha, which he distinguishes by the epithet of _gris_, and he likewise mentions the white kind; both of these, he says, answer the same purpose as the black, but a larger dose is required.—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. vi. p. 29.

[191] “Vieyra, in his letters, mentions a received tradition that Emanuel ordered all the spice plants to be rooted up, lest the Indian trade should be injured, and that ginger was the only spice which escaped, because it was under-ground. He does not appear to have recollected the impossibility of carrying such an order into effect upon a continent.”—History of Brazil, vol. i, note to p. 32. Dr. Arruda alludes to this order in his _Discurso sobre a utilidade da instituiçam de jardims_, &c. And he adds that a few cinnamon trees at Pernambuco escaped as well as the ginger, p. 8.

[192] “On one article, guinea-grains or malagueta-pepper, the duty has been doubled; not with a view of increasing the revenue, but of operating as a prohibition of the use of it, as it is supposed to have been extensively employed in the brewing of malt-liquor. The Directors however have great reason to doubt the existence of the deleterious qualities ascribed to this drug; as they find it to be universally esteemed in Africa one of the most wholesome of spices, and generally used by the natives to season their food.”—Fourth Report of the Directors of the African Institution, p. 16.

If this article and the _malagueta_ of Brazil are the same, I should be strongly inclined to agree with the Report; and indeed I conceive that it is not only harmless but extremely wholesome. A decoction of the pods is used among the peasantry as an injection in aguish disorders.

[193] _Noticias MSS._ quoted by Mr. Southey, History of Brazil, vol. i. p. 320.

[194] Labat says, “_a l’égard du thé, il croît naturellement aux isles. Toutes les terres lui sont propres, j’en ai vû en quantité à la Basseterre._” &c.—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. iv. p. 225.

He mentions it again, and seems to be quite confident that the plant of which he speaks is the tea shrub.

[195] “_Il faut que les graines se naturalisent au pays, et quand cela est fait elles produisent a merveille. J’ai experimenté qu’ayant sémé des pois qui venoient de France, ils rapportoient trés peu, les seconds rapportoient davantage, mais le troisiémes produisoient d’une maniere extraordinaire pour le nombre, la grosseur et la bonte._”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. i. p. 367.

[196] Du Tertre speaks of the same occurring in the Columbian Islands.

[197] Again Labat, “_On employe le suc des oranges aigres avec un succès merveilleux et infaillible à guerir les ulcéres quelque vieux et opiniátres qu’ils puissent être_.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. iii. p. 254.

The orange is cut into two pieces, and is rubbed violently upon the sore.

[198] History of Brazil, vol. i. p. 216.

[199] This was not the case at one time in the French islands. “_Quand quelque commandeur abuse d’une negre, l’enfant mulastre qui en vient est libre, et le pere est obligé de le nourrir et de l’entretenir jusqu’a l’age de douze ans, sans l’amende à laquelle il est encore condamné._”—Histoire des Antilles &c. tom. ii. p. 460.

Labat tells us that “_Le roi a fait revivre par sa Declaration la loi Romaine, qui veut que les enfans suivens le sort du ventre qui les a portez_,” and this revival took place in 1674, when the king took the islands from the Companies which had held them during his pleasure.—Nouveau Voyage &c. tom. ii. p. 192.

[200] The majority of the clergy of Pernambuco, both regular and secular, are of Brazilian parentage. The governor is an European, and so are the major part of the chief officers, civil, military, and ecclesiastical; but the bishop is a Brazilian, and so is the _ouvidor_.

[201] Our wicked stage coach and post chaise system.

[202] The term of _Senhor_ or _Senhora_ is made use of to all free persons, whites, mulattos, and blacks, and in speaking to a freeman of whatever class or colour the manner of address is the same. Dr. Pinckard says, in his “Notes on the West Indies,” “the title of Mrs. seems to be reserved solely for the ladies from Europe, and the white Creoles, and to form a distinction between them and the women of colour of all classes and descriptions.”

[203] I refer the reader to Edwards’ History of the West Indies, vol. ii.

[204] “_Era, porem ja nam he._”

[205] “_Pois Senhor Capitam-mor pode ser mulatto?_”

[206] To this statement some explanation is necessary, owing to the regulations of the Portugueze military service. Privates are sometimes raised to commissions by the intermediate steps of corporals, quarter-masters, and sergeants; these men gain their ensigncies without any relation to their birth; and though a decidedly dark coloured mulatto might not be so raised, a European of low birth would. It is to enable a man to become a cadet and then an officer without serving in the ranks, that requires nobility of birth.

[207] The son of this man is a priest.

[208] “_Negro sim, porem direito._”

[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 the _Voyage 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 from _Egypçianos_; I am told that the word _gitanos_ is 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 made _renoncer 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 slaves _seroient au desespoir qu’on les marquât comme on fait les bœufs et les chevaux_. The small islands did not require this practice, but St. Domingo _un 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 more _vaste_ than 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 a _Gabam_ negro, 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 which _they_ did 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; _that_ is 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 the _chamba_ negroes, 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 of _Mandingoes_.”—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 make _greegrees_, 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 the _chigua_, is known at Pernambuco, _only_ under the name of _bicho_.

[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 a _pagem_,” 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 terrible _negros do mato_, or _bush_ negroes. 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] The _Investigador Portuguez_ and the _Correio 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 Braziliense_ for December 1815, p. 735.

[254] _Investigador Portuguez_ for 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 the _camara_ or 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.