AGRICULTURE.—SUGAR PLANTATIONS.
AGRICULTURE in Brazil[142] had not for many years, until very lately,
received any improvement; and even now it is only slowly and with much
difficulty that innovations are made. It is quite hopeless to expect
a rapid change of system among men who had not even heard that there
existed other agriculturists besides themselves; who were astonished
to learn that Brazil was not the only country in which sugar was made;
who know not, or at least did not know until very lately, that there
was any other nation than their own; who imagined that Portugal had
possession of every thing worth having in this world; in fact, whose
ignorance was extreme. Most of the planters of the inland country, and
even most of those near to the coast who reside entirely upon their
estates, were, and many still are, in this state. They continue year
after year the system which was followed by their fathers, without any
wish to improve, and indeed without the knowledge that any improvement
could be made. But the freedom of commercial intercourse with other
nations has here, as in every thing else, had its effect, and the
benefits which are derived from this policy are increasing most
rapidly. One of these is to be perceived in the wish which many of the
planters display to obtain information respecting the management of the
British and French plantations in the Columbian islands. The persons
who thus in enriching themselves, are likewise doing the greatest good
to their country, are the proprietors of sugar-mills, who reside in
Recife altogether or who make frequent visits to it; these men enter
into company, hear what is going on in the world, read the few books
which are to be obtained, and soon assent to new ideas. Many of the
merchants now possess this kind of property, which has fallen into
their hands, either in payment of debts or by purchase; and these
men have no prejudices to conquer respecting any particular plan of
operations. Some of the improvements which are proposed are of such
self-evident utility, as to carry with them conviction as soon as they
are mentioned.
[Illustration: _A Sugar Mill._]
PLANTING THE SUGAR-CANE.
THE lands in Brazil are never grubbed up[143], either for planting the
sugar-cane, or for any other agricultural purposes. The inconveniences
of this custom are perceivable more particularly in high lands; because
all of these that are of any value are naturally covered with thick
woods. The cane is planted among the numerous stumps of trees, by
which means much ground is lost, and as the sprouts from these stumps
almost immediately spring forth, (such is the rapidity of vegetation,)
the cleanings are rendered very laborious. These shoots require to be
cut down, sometimes even before the cane has forced its way to the
surface of the ground. The labour likewise is great every time a piece
of land is to be put under cultivation, for the wood must be cut down
afresh; and although it cannot have reached the same size which the
original timber had attained, still, as several years are allowed to
pass between each period at which the ground is planted, the trees
are generally of considerable thickness[144]. The wood is suffered
to remain upon the land until the leaves become dry; then it is set
on fire, and these are destroyed with the brushwood and the smaller
branches of the trees. Heaps are now made of the remaining timber,
which is likewise burnt. This process is universally practised in
preparing land for the cultivation of any plant. I have often heard
the method much censured as being injurious in the main to the soil,
though the crop immediately succeeding the operation may be rendered
more luxuriant by it. I have observed that the canes which grew upon
the spots where the heaps of timber and large branches of trees had
been burnt, were of a darker and richer green than those around them,
and that they likewise over-topped them. After the plant-canes or those
of the first year’s growth are taken from the lands, the field-trash,
that is the dried leaves and stems of the canes which remain upon
the ground, are set fire to, with the idea that the ratoons, that is
the sprouts from the old roots of the canes, spring forth with more
luxuriance, and attain a greater size by means of this practice[145].
The ratoons of the first year are called in Brazil _socas_; those of
the second year, _resocas_; those of the third year, _terceiras socas_,
and so forth. After the roots are left unencumbered by burning the
field-trash, the mould is raised round about them; indeed if this was
neglected, many of these roots would remain too much exposed to the
heat of the sun, and would not continue to vegetate. Some lands will
continue to give ratoons for five or even seven years; but an average
may be made at one crop of good ratoons fit for grinding, another of
inferior ratoons for planting or for making molasses to be used in the
still-house, and a third which affords but a trifling profit, in return
for the trouble which the cleanings give.[146]
I have above spoken more particularly of high lands; the low and
marshy grounds, called in Brazil _varzeas_, are however those which
are the best adapted to the cane, and indeed upon the plantations that
do not possess some portion of this description of soil, the crops are
very unequal, and sometimes almost entirely fail, according to the
greater or less quantity of rain which may chance to fall in the course
of the year. The _varzeas_ are usually covered with short and close
brushwood, and as these admit, from their rank nature, of frequent
cultivation, they soon become easy to work. The soil of these, when it
is new, receives the name of _pàûl_; it trembles under the pressure of
the feet, and easily admits of a pointed stick being thrust into it;
and though dry to appearance, it requires draining. The _maçapé_ marle
is often to be met with in all situations; it is of a greenish white
colour, and if at all wet, it sticks very much to the hoe; it becomes
soon dry at the surface, but the canes which have been planted upon it
seldom fail to revive after rain, even though a want of it should have
been much felt. The white marle, _barro branco_, is less frequently
found; it is accounted extremely productive. This clay is used in
making bricks and coarse earthen ware, and also for claying the sugar.
Red earth is occasionally met with upon the sides of hills near to the
coast; but this description of soil belongs properly to the cotton
districts. Black mould is common; and likewise a loose and brownish
soil, in which a less or greater proportion of sand is intermixed. It
is, I believe, generally acknowledged that no land can be too rich for
the growth of the sugar cane. One disadvantage, however, attends soil
that is low and quite new, which is, that the canes run up to a great
height without sufficient thickness, and are thus often lodged before
the season for cutting them arrives. I have seen rice planted upon
lands of this kind on the first year, to decrease their rankness and
render them better adapted to the cane on the succeeding season.[147]
Some attempts have been made to plant cane upon the lands which reach
down to the edge of the mangroves, and in a few instances pieces of
land, heretofore covered by the salt water at the flow of the tide,
have been laid dry by means of draining for the same purpose; but the
desired success has not attended the plan, for the canes have been
found to be unfit for making sugar; the syrup does not coagulate, or
at least does not attain that consistence which is requisite, and
therefore it can only be used for the distilleries.[148]
The general mode of preparing the land for the cane is by holing it
with hoes. The negroes stand in a row, and each man strikes his hoe
into the ground immediately before him, and forms a trench of five or
six inches in depth; he then falls back, the whole row doing the same,
and they continue this operation from one side of the cleared land to
the other, or from the top of a hill to the bottom. The earth which
is thrown out of the trench remains on the lower side of it. In the
British colonies this work is done in a manner nearly similar, but
more systematically[149]. The lands in Brazil are not measured, and
every thing is done by the eye. The quantity of cane which a piece of
land will require for planting is estimated by so many cart loads; and
nothing can be more vague than this mode of computation, for the load
which a cart can carry depends upon the condition of the oxen, upon
the nature of the road, and upon the length of the cane. Such is the
awkward make of these vehicles that much nicety is necessary in packing
them, and if two canes will about fit into a cart lengthways, much
more will be conveyed than if the canes are longer and they double over
each other.
The plough is sometimes used in low lands, upon which draining has
not been found necessary; but such is the clumsy construction of the
machine of which they make use, that six oxen are yoked to it[150].
Upon high lands the stumps of the trees almost preclude the possibility
of thus relieving the labourers.
The trenches being prepared, the cuttings are laid longitudinally in
the bottom of them, and are covered with the greatest part of the
mould which had been taken out of the trench. The shoots begin to rise
above the surface of the ground in the course of twelve or fourteen
days. The canes undergo three cleanings from the weeds and the sprouts
proceeding from the stumps of the trees; and when the land is poor, and
produces a greater quantity of the former and contains fewer of the
latter, the canes require to be cleaned a fourth time. The cuttings
are usually from twelve to eighteen inches in length, but it is judged
that the shorter they are, the better. If they are short, and one piece
of cane rots, the space which remains vacant is not so large as when
the cuttings are long, and they by any accident fail. The canes which
are used for planting are generally ratoons, if any exist upon the
plantation, but if there are none of these, the inferior plant canes
supply their places. It is accounted more economical to make use of
the ratoons for this purpose, and many persons say that they are less
liable to rot than the plant canes. In the British sugar islands the
cuttings for planting “are commonly the tops of the canes which have
been ground for sugar[151].” But in Brazil the tops of the canes are
all thrown to the cattle, for there is usually a want of grass during
the season that the mills are at work[152]. In the British colonies,
the canes are at first covered with only a small portion of mould; and
yet they are as long in forcing their way to the surface as in Brazil,
though in the latter a more considerable quantity of earth is laid
upon them. I suppose that the superior fatness of the Brazilian soil
accounts for this. Upon rich soils the cuttings are laid at a greater
distance, and the trenches are dug farther from each other, than upon
those which have undergone more frequent cultivation, or which are
known to possess less power from their natural composition. The canes
which are planted upon the former throw out great numbers of sprouts,
which spread each way; and although when they are young the land may
appear to promise but a scanty crop, they soon close, and no opening is
to be seen. It is often judged proper to thin the canes, by removing
some of the suckers at the time that the last cleaning is given, and
some persons recommend that a portion of the dry leaves should also be
stripped off at the same period, but on other plantations this is not
practised.
The proper season for planting is from the middle of July to the
middle of September, upon high lands, and from September to the middle
of November in low lands. Occasionally the great moisture of the
soil induces the planter to continue his work until the beginning of
December, if his people are sufficiently numerous to answer all the
necessary purposes. The first of the canes are ready to be cut for
the mill in September of the following year, and the crop is finished
usually in January or February. In the British sugar islands the canes
are planted from August to November and are “ripe for the mill in the
beginning of the second year.” Thus this plant in Brazil requires from
thirteen to fifteen months to attain its proper state for the mill;
and in the Columbian islands it remains standing sixteen or seventeen
months.[153]
I did not discover, nor hear it mentioned, that the cane is liable to
destruction from the _blast_, which is spoken of by Mr. Edwards, as
doing much injury to the plantations in the British colonies. The cane
is subject certainly to several pests, but they are of a nature which
may be remedied. The rats destroy great quantities[154], and the fox is
no less fond of it; and when he gets among it he makes dreadful havock,
for he is only satisfied by cutting down great numbers of canes, taking
only a small portion of each. There is also a strange custom among the
lower orders of people; they scruple not in passing a field, to cut
down and make a bundle of ten or a dozen canes, from which they suck
the juice as they go along, or preserve some of them to carry home. The
devastation which is committed in this manner is incalculable, in the
fields that border upon much frequented paths. It is a custom; and
many persons think that the owner has scarcely a right to prevent these
attacks upon his property.
The planters of Brazil have not yet arrived at the period (which is not
however far distant) of being under the necessity of manuring their
lands. I heard of very few instances in which this is the practice. The
cane-trash, that is, the rind of the cane from which the juice has been
extracted, is thus entirely lost, with the exception of the small part
of it which is eaten by the cattle. The manure of cattle is likewise of
no use. Lands are not yet of sufficient value to oblige each planter to
confine himself to certain pieces of ground for certain purposes, with
any sort of regularity. The population of the country is yet too scanty
to make every man husband what he possesses, or to oblige him to draw
in and give room for others, as, imperceptibly, these others require
that he should do so. For the present, the planter finds that it is
more convenient to change from one piece of land to another, as each
becomes unfit to be cultivated; he allows the wood to grow up again as
soon as the ratoons no longer spring forth and yield him a sufficient
profit to compensate for the trouble of cleaning them.
The Otaheitan or the Bourbon cane has been brought from Cayenne
to Pernambuco, since the Portugueze obtained possession of that
settlement. I believe the two species of cane are much alike, and I
have not been able to discover which of them it is. Its advantages are
so apparent, that after one trial on each estate, it has superseded
the small cane which was in general use. The Cayenne cane, as it is
called in Pernambuco, is of a much larger size than the common cane; it
branches so very greatly, that the labour in planting a piece of land
is much decreased, and the returns from it are at the same time much
more considerable. It is not planted in trenches, but holes are dug at
equal distances from each other, in which the cuttings are laid. This
cane bears the dry weather better than the small cane; and when the
leaves of the latter begin to turn brown, those of the former still
preserve their natural colour. A planter in the Varzea told me that
he had obtained four crops from one piece of land in three years, and
that the soil in question had been considered by him as nearly worn
out, before he planted the Cayenne cane upon it. Its rind is likewise
so hard that the fox cannot make any impression upon it. The business
of the boiling-houses is in general so slovenly performed, that I
could not obtain any exact information respecting the returns in the
manufacturing of it; but most persons were of opinion that here too
some advantage was to be perceived.
THE MILL.
A sugar-plantation is doubtless one of the most difficult species
of property to manage in a proper manner. The numerous persons
employed upon it, their divers avocations, and the continual change
of occupation, give to the owner or his manager constant motives for
exertion, innumerable opportunities of displaying his activity. A
plantation ought to possess within itself all the tradesmen which are
required for the proper furtherance of its concerns; a carpenter, a
blacksmith, a mason, a potter, and others which it is needless to name
in this place. It is a manufactory as well as a farm, and both these
united must act in unison with each other, and with the seasons of the
year.
The mill ought, properly, to commence grinding the cane in September,
but few of them begin until the middle of October; for the planting
scarcely allows that they should set to work before the latter period.
This is the time of merriment and of willing exertion, and for some
weeks the negroes are all life and spirit; but the continuance of
constant work for the whole of the day and part of the night at last
fatigues them, and they become heavy and fall asleep wherever they
chance to lay their heads.[155]
The mills for grinding the canes are formed of three upright rollers,
which are made of solid timber, entirely cased or rather hooped in
iron, and the hoops are driven on to the wood before they become quite
cool[156]. The improvement of the “circular piece of frame-work called
in Jamaica the dumb-returner” has not been introduced. Two men and
two women are employed in feeding the mill with cane; a bundle of it
is thrust in between the middle roller and one of the side rollers,
and being received by one of the women, she passes it to the man who
stands-close to her, for the purpose of being by him thrust between
the other side roller and that of the centre. This operation is
continued five or six times until the juice has been extracted. There
appears to be some mismanagement in this part of the work; for in the
British colonies a second compression “squeezes them completely dry,
and sometimes even reduces them to powder;” and the same occurred
in Labat’s time in the French islands. The dumb-returner tends very
greatly to prevent accidents, which occasionally occur in Brazil
through the carelessness or drowsiness of the slaves. The negroes who
thrust the cane in between the rollers have sometimes allowed their
hands to go too far, and one or both of them having been caught, in
some instances, before assistance could be given, the whole limb and
even the body has been crushed to pieces. In the mills belonging to
owners who pay attention to the safety of their negroes, and whose
wish it is to have every thing in proper order, a bar of iron and a
hammer are placed close to the rollers upon the table (_meza_) which
supports the cane. The bar is intended to be violently inserted between
the rollers in case of accident, so as to open them, and thus set at
liberty the unfortunate negro. In some instances I have seen lying
by the side of the bar and hammer, a well-tempered hatchet, for the
purpose of severing the limb from the body, if judged necessary[157].
On these unfortunate occasions the screams of the negro have the
effect of urging the horses which draw the mill, to run with increased
velocity. I am acquainted with two or three individuals who now work
their mills with oxen; and they gave as the principal reason for this
change, the decrease of danger to the negroes who feed the mill;
because such is the slowness of these animals, that an accident of the
above description can scarcely happen, and indeed they are stopped
rather than urged to proceed by noise. Some of the mills are turned
by water, but many more would admit of this improvement than take
advantage of it. Most of the mills are worked by horses. There are no
windmills in Pernambuco or in the other provinces which I visited[158].
The expence which is incurred in making dams and in other alterations,
is doubtless considerable, and few persons can afford to lay out the
money which these works require; but the conveniences of working by
means of water are various; the number of animals required upon a
plantation is reduced to less than one half; less pasture land is
necessary, and fewer persons need to be employed. The animals likewise
which are thus rendered superfluous are those which are of the most
cost, the most liable to disease, and the most difficult to feed. Great
care and attention is requisite in preserving the horses, or rather the
mares (for these are mostly employed in this description of work) in a
condition to go through with the crop; and quantities of cane are cut
up and given to them, as well as molasses. Oxen are usually employed
in drawing the carts, and it is seldom thought necessary to afford any
expensive food to these animals. They pick up as much as they please of
the cane-trash which is thrown out of the mill, and the cane tops are
likewise given to them.
THE BOILING-HOUSE.
IN the boiling-house the manufactory of sugar in Brazil requires
great alteration. The work is done in a slovenly manner, very little
attention being paid to the minutiæ of the business. The ovens over
which the boilers are placed, are rudely made, and they answer the
purpose for which they are intended in an imperfect manner; enormous
quantities of fuel are consumed, and the negroes who attend to the
ovens are soon worn out. The juice runs from the cane as it is squeezed
between the rollers, into a wooden trough below, and is from thence
conveyed into a cistern made of the same material, standing in the
boiling house. It is received from this cistern into the great caldron,
as it is called, which is a large iron or copper vessel. The caldron
has previously been heated, and when nearly full, the _temper_ is
thrown into it, and the liquor is suffered to boil. It is now scummed
with considerable labour. The work of scumming is usually performed by
free persons, which is owing to two causes; it demands considerable
skill, to which slaves seldom attain; and the exertion which it
requires induces the planter to pay a free man rather than injure one
of his own people.
From this first caldron or clarifier, if I may so call it, the liquor
is ladled out into a long trough or cistern, which is generally made
of the trunk of one tree; and in this it remains until it becomes
tepid[159]. The labour which the operation of ladling requires is
excessive, the heat and smoke of a boiling-house in a tropical climate
increasing greatly the violence of the exertion. From this trough
which holds the whole of the contents of the great caldron, the liquor
when sufficiently cool is suffered to run into the first copper, and
from this it is removed into a second and a third copper, and some
boiling-houses contain a fourth. From this it is ladled into large
jars, called _formas_, when the master of the boiling-house judges from
the touch that the syrup has arrived at a proper consistence. The jars
are afterwards taken into the adjoining building, in which the sugar is
to undergo the process of claying. The sugar, after being clayed, is
invariably dried in the sun[160]. The management of the boiling-houses
in the British sugar islands is arranged in such a manner as to
render the labour much less violent, and much greater nicety has been
introduced in the preparation of the juice.
The boilers are fixed at a considerable height over the large ovens
within which the fire is made. Each boiling-house has two ovens, one
for heating the caldron and the other for the three or four coppers.
The mouths of these are about half as broad as the ovens themselves.
Enormous rolls of timber and the branches of trees are prepared for
the purpose of supplying these ovens with fuel. The negroes sometimes
find it almost impossible to approach them, owing to the excessive heat
which they throw out[161]. The manner of conducting the manufacture
of sugar was, from what I can collect, very similar on the whole, in
the Columbian islands about the beginning of the last century, to that
which is practised at present in the parts of Brazil which I visited.
The _temper_ which is usually made use of is the ashes of wood
calcinated, of which there are certain species preferred for this
purpose[162]. Lime is commonly used in the Columbian islands, and
few planters of Pernambuco have lately introduced this alkali into
their boiling houses, but there exists a general prejudice against
lime, under the idea that the sugar with which it has been made is
unwholesome; and this has prevented many persons from adopting it.
No difficulty would be found in introducing it, among the planters
themselves, because the ease with which it is obtained, would soon urge
them to give it a fair trial. Some plantations sell a great portion of
their sugar and rum upon the spot, and several of the lesser ones grind
all their canes for the purpose of making melasses, which they distil
themselves, or sell to the distillers of small capital, who are very
numerous; therefore to the owners of these plantations in particular,
the opinion of the people of the country is of considerable moment.
The planters of Brazil invariably follow the system of claying their
sugars, but the process is too generally known to require any account
of it in this place.
THE STILL-HOUSE.
THE Brazil planters are more backward in the management of their
still-houses than in any other department of their business. The stills
are earthen jars with small necks, and likewise small at the bottom,
widening upwards considerably, but again straightening on approaching
the neck. The foundation of a circular oven is formed, and two of
these jars are placed within it, one on each side of it, in a slanting
position, with the bottom within the oven and the neck on the outside,
and being thus secured the walls of the oven are built up against them,
and the top is closed in. These stills have round caps, _carapuças_,
which fit on to the mouths of the jars, and are rendered perfectly
tight by a coat of clay being daubed round the edges, after the _wash_
has been put into the still and the fire has been lighted underneath.
These caps have on one side a pipe of six inches in length attached
to each of them, and into this is inserted the end of a brass tube of
four feet in length. This tube is placed in a broad and deep earthen
pot or jar containing cold water, and the opposite end of it reaches
beyond the pot. The tube is fixed with a sufficient slant to allow of
the liquor running freely through it. The liquor which is obtained from
the first distillation is usually sold, without undergoing any further
process. A second distillation is only practised in preparing a small
quantity for the use of the planter’s house.
The _wash_ ripens for distillation in earthen jars similar to those
which are used for claying sugar, but they are closed at the bottom
instead of being perforated, as must necessarily occur with the latter.
No exact rules are followed in the quantities of each ingredient for
making the _wash_, because the distillers, who are usually freemen,
differ much in the proportions of each ingredient. Until lately, only
a small number of the planters had any apparatus for distilling, for
it was their practice to sell all the melasses which were produced
to the small distillers. Many of the persons in the lower ranks of
life possess one or two of these rude stills, by which they derive a
small profit without much trouble; fuel is to be had for the pains
of fetching it, and scarcely any man is without a horse. The women
often attend to the still whilst the men are otherwise employed.
However, since the opening of the ports of Brazil to foreign trade,
a considerable quantity of rum has been exported to North America,
and likewise the demand of it for Lisbon has been greater than it was
formerly; the price has consequently risen, and has induced many of
the planters to distil their own melasses. But although this plan has
been adopted, the stills are so totally inadequate to the distillation
of large quantities of rum, that few persons erect a sufficient number
of them to consume the whole of the melasses with which the sugar
furnishes them.[163]
LANDS.
A SUGAR plantation of Pernambuco or Paraiba does not require the
enormous capital which is necessary in purchasing and establishing
an estate of the same description in the Columbian islands; but a
certain degree of capital is requisite, otherwise continual distress
will be the consequence of entering into such a concern. The instances
of persons having purchased sugar plantations without any advance of
money are however by no means rare, and even the slaves, or at least
the major part of them, have sometimes been obtained on long credit
at exorbitant prices. This plan was of more frequent occurrence at
the time that the exclusive trading company existed at Pernambuco;
its directors found that it was for the interest of those concerned
to advance every thing which the agriculturist required, receiving in
payment a certain portion of his produce yearly. Although the company
has for many years been abolished, its accounts have not yet been
wound up, and it is astonishing to learn how considerable a number of
plantations are yet indebted to it. The reputed owners of many of those
which are so circumstanced have oftentimes given to their predecessors
only half the purchase-money; paying interest to the accountant of the
company for the other half. If they can raise a sufficient sum of money
for the purpose, they may strike off the principal of the debt, but if
this is not practicable, they remain in perfect confidence that they
will never be molested for it, provided the interest is paid.
There are a few _morgados_ or entailed estates in Pernambuco, and I
believe in Paraiba likewise; and I have heard that in Bahia there
are a great many. There are also _capellados_ or chapel lands; these
estates cannot be sold, and from this cause are sometimes suffered to
decay, or at any rate they yield much less profit to the State than
they would under other circumstances. The _capellado_ is formed in
this manner: the owner bequeaths a certain part of the produce or rent
of the estate to some particular church, for the purpose of having
masses said for his own soul, or for pious uses of a less selfish
nature. On this account the estate cannot, according to law, be sold,
so that if the next heir is not rich enough to work the mill himself,
he lets it to some one who possesses a sufficient number of negroes.
The portion which is due to the favoured church being paid, the owner
then remains with the residue of the rent as his share of the profit.
Now, lands even with buildings upon them, are let at so low a rate,
that after the church is paid, and the tenant has deducted what he
has expended in repairing the edifices of the plantation, but a poor
pittance remains for the owner. The _engenho_ of Catû near to Goiana is
placed in these circumstances; the owner lives in the neighbourhood of
the Great House or principal residence, and the only advantage which
he derives from the possession of this most excellent and extensive
estate, is that of residing rent free upon one corner of it and now
and then receiving a trifling sum of money. Whereas if it could be
sold, he would immediately receive a sufficient sum to place him in
easy circumstances; and the estate would undergo improvement, for the
occupier would then have a direct interest in its advancement. I might
mention several other plantations which are situated in a like manner.
The property of sugar planters, which is directly applied to the
improvement, or to the usual work of their plantations, is not subject
to be seized for debt; this privilege was granted for the encouragement
of the formation of such establishments, but it may have a contrary
effect. The planter is allowed many means of evading the demands of
his creditors, and every thing is permitted to act in his favour. But
thus it is that the government legislates; the revenue is thought of,
instead of equity being regarded as the primary consideration. Nor does
the plan act in the manner which the establishers of it imagine that
it will, for the estates which are labouring under the disadvantage
of being held by men who require such a law as this to enable them to
keep possession of the property would doubtless, nine times out of ten,
yield a greater profit if they passed into other hands; they could not
be in worse, and they might fall into better. The government need not
fear that good estates will, in the present state of Brazil, remain
long untenanted. Besides, the rulers of that kingdom may be very sure
that the merchants will be more careful how they lend their money;
and this may sometimes prevent an honest man from obtaining what he
requires for the due advancement of his labours.[164]
Most of the plantations of the first class are however in the hands of
wealthy persons, and this is becoming more and more the case every day.
The estates which may be said to constitute this class are those which
are situated near to the sea coast, that is, from two to sixteen miles
from it; which possess a considerable portion of low land adapted to
the planting of the sugar-cane,—another of virgin wood,—good pasture
land, (for nature must do every thing) and the possibility of being
worked by water. The rains are more regular near to the coast than at
a distance from it, and the facility of conveying the produce of the
estate down some of the small streams or creeks to a market, are the
particular advantages which are derived from the vicinity of the sea.
The slaves are fed with more ease, and less expence, and the quantity
of food which they themselves have the means of obtaining from the
sea and from the rivulets, enables them to be less dependent upon the
rations of the master than the slaves of the Mata or districts between
the coast and the Sertam. In a country that is without roads, upon
which a wheeled carriage can be drawn with any degree of regularity
of pace or of safety, the difficulty of removing the large chests in
which the sugar is packed, is a most serious consideration, and this
inconvenience alone decreases the value of lands, however productive
they may be, which are so situated. If a person wishes to purchase
property of this description, he will discover that the plantations
which are conveniently placed, are only to be obtained at high
comparative prices, and by a considerable advance of money; but many of
those in the Mata may be purchased even without any advance, and under
the agreement of small yearly payments of eight to ten _per cent._ upon
the price.
The lands of sugar plantations are appropriated to five purposes. These
are; the woods,—the lands for planting canes,—those which are cleared
for pasturage,—the provision grounds for the negroes,—and the lands
which are occupied by free people.
The woods occupy a very considerable portion of the lands belonging
to a plantation; in most cases much more than half the estate is yet
covered with wood, but still I do not think, from what I saw and heard,
that these forests contain so much fine timber as has been imagined.
A tree of any species of valuable timber must now be purchased. Very
little consideration is given to the quantity of wood that is destroyed
in the work of a plantation, in many cases very unnecessarily. The
fences are made of stakes, which are formed of the trunks of trees,
driven into the ground, and to these are fastened horizontally the
stems of younger plants. The best timber, rather than that of inferior
quality, is selected for this purpose, that it may last the longer
under exposure to the heat of the sun and to the rains. The fuel,
likewise, is another most enormous source of destruction; and although
for this purpose some selection might be made of the qualities of
timber which are less valuable, no thought is given to the matter. The
havock which is committed in bringing out of the woods a tree that has
been felled for any particular purpose is likewise immense; for many
trees are cut down to make a path from the usual road to the spot upon
which the tree which is to be brought out is laying, that the oxen may
enter to convey it away. It will be said, that the great object is to
get rid of the superabundant quantities of wood, and this is no doubt
the case; but according to the present system, very little land is
radically cleared of wood, and yet the large and valuable timber is
undergoing rapid destruction. Virgin woods however certainly do yet
exist to a great extent. It is said that those of Apepucos, which is
near to Recife, are connected with the woods in the neighbourhood of
Goiana, a distance of fifteen leagues.
Of the lands for planting canes I have already treated.
Each sugar plantation has one large field in which the buildings are
placed. It is very rarely that estates are supplied with a second
inclosure, consequently the cattle, or at least that part of it which
is required after and before crop time for the work which is necessary
to be done during the whole of the year, always remains upon the spot.
These fields are sometimes of considerable extent; I have seen some of
three miles in circumference, or even of more. Few owners of estates
can manage to preserve the field free from brushwood. The horses
which work the mill are usually removed from the plantation as soon
as the crop is finished, and are often sent to the Sertam to pass the
winter, and they return again just before crop-time on the following
year. Indeed such is the importance of having good pasturage for these
animals between the crops, and the advantage of allowing some of them
to rest two years, that every plantation should have a cattle estate
in the interior of the country, as a necessary appendage. The oxen are
often driven to the sea shore after the crop is over, if the estate is
conveniently situated for this purpose, and are left to graze under the
coco-trees until the following season. But they are fond of the young
coco-plants, and therefore it is not in every situation that this can
be done.
As the planters commonly feed their slaves, instead of allowing them a
certain portion of each week for the purpose of supplying themselves,
the lands which are set apart for raising their provisions are of great
importance, for it does not answer to the planter to purchase the
vegetable part of the food. The root of the mandioc and the kidney-bean
are the two plants which are chiefly cultivated; of the first of these
I shall soon treat more at large. Maize is not much used in this part
of the country.
An estate contains in general much more land than its owner can manage
or in any way employ, even under the present extravagant system of
changing from one piece of ground to another. I call it extravagant,
because it requires so much space for its operations, and performs
these with more labour than is necessary. This overplus of land gives
room for the habitations of free people in the lower ranks of life, who
live upon the produce which they raise by their own labour. The tenures
by which these persons hold the lands which they occupy, are most
insecure, and this insecurity constitutes one of the great engines of
that power which the landholder enjoys over his tenants. No agreements
are drawn out; but the proprietor of the land verbally permits the
peasant who applies to him for a place of residence, to inhabit a
cottage upon his lands, under the condition of paying him a trifling
rent (from four to eight mil reis, one to two guineas or rather more;)
and he is allowed to cultivate as much ground as he possibly can by
himself, but the rent is increased if he calls in any one to assist
him. Sometimes the verbal arrangement which is entered into, is that
the tenant shall perform some service in lieu of making his payment
in money. The service required is, for instance, that of going upon
errands, or of seeing that the woods are not destroyed by persons who
have not obtained permission from the owner to cut down timber, and
other offices of the same description.
THE BUILDINGS.
THE buildings which are usually to be seen upon the plantations are the
following:
The mill; which is either turned by water or by cattle; some of the
plantations possess both of these, owing to the failure of the water in
the dry season; and indeed there are a few estates upon which the crops
are so large as to require that there should be both.
The boiling-house; which is usually attached to the mill, and is
the most costly part of the apparatus, for the coppers, &c. must be
obtained from Europe.
The claying-house or _caza de purgar_; which is oftentimes connected
with the boiling-house. It is also generally made use of as the
still-house or distillery.
The chapel; which is usually of considerable dimensions. This building
and all the foregoing are almost universally constructed of brick.
The dwelling-house for the owner or manager; to this is usually
attached a stable for the saddle-horses; the dwelling-houses are
frequently made of timber and mud.
The row of negro dwellings; which I have described in another place as
looking like neglected alms-houses in England, and is made of the same
materials as the house of the owner. From the appearance of the negro
huts an idea may usually be formed of the disposition of the owner of a
plantation. All these buildings are covered with tiles.
The estates have no regular hospital for the sick negroes; but one
of the houses of the row is oftentimes set apart for this purpose.
The stocks in which disorderly slaves are placed, stand in the
claying-house.
STOCK.
OF those estates which I have seen, I think that the average number
of negroes sent to daily labour in the field does not reach forty
for each; for although there may be upon a plantation this number of
males and females of a proper age for working, still some of them will
always be sick or employed upon errands, not directly conducive to the
advancement of the regular work. An estate which possesses forty able
negroes, males and females, an equal number of oxen[165], and the same
of horses, can be very well worked; and if the lands are good, that
is, if there is a fair proportion of low and high lands fit for the
culture of the sugar-cane, such an estate ought to produce a number
of chests of sugar of fifteen hundred weight each, equal to that of
the able slaves. I speak of forty slaves being sufficient, because
some descriptions of work are oftentimes performed by freemen; thus,
for instance, the sugar boilers, the person who clays the sugar, the
distiller, the cartmen, and even some others are very frequently free.
Only a very small proportion of the sugar will be muscavado, if the
business is conducted with any degree of management. I have heard it
said by many planters that the melasses will pay almost every expence;
and that if rum is made, the proceeds of the melasses are rendered
fully equal to the usual yearly expenditure.
The negroes may be valued at 32_l._ each; oxen at 3_l._ each; and
horses at the same; but by management the two last may be obtained at
lower prices. A sugar plantation of the first class, with suitable
buildings, may be reckoned as being worth from 7000_l._ to 8000_l._
and some few are valued as high as 10,000_l._; but an advance of
one-sixth of the price would probably be accepted, the remainder to be
paid by yearly instalments. The inland plantations may be reckoned at
from 3000_l._ to 5000_l._ and a few are rather higher; but a smaller
advance would be required than upon the purchase of prime plantations,
and the instalments would be more moderate. Plantations of the first
class ought to have eighty negroes at least, and an increased number of
animals, owing to their capability of employing more hands.[166]
The only carts which are used upon the plantations are very clumsily
made; a flat surface or table (_meza_) made of thick and heavy timber,
of about two feet and a half broad, and six feet in length, is fixed
upon two wheels of solid timber, with a moveable axle-tree; a pole is
likewise fixed to the cart. These vehicles are always drawn by four
oxen or more, and as they are narrow, and the roads upon which they
must travel are bad, they are continually overturning. The negroes who
drive the carts have generally some indulgencies, with which their
fellow-slaves are not favoured, from the greater labour which this
business requires, and from the continual difficulty and danger to
which they are exposed, owing to the overturning of the carts and the
unruliness of the oxen. In the whole management of the concerns of a
plantation, the want of mechanical assistance to decrease the labour
of the workmen must strike every person who is in the habit of seeing
them, and of paying any attention to the subject. I will mention one
instance; when bricks or tiles are to be removed from one place to
another, the whole gang of negroes belonging to the estate is employed
in carrying them; each man takes three or perhaps four bricks or tiles
upon his head, and marches off gently and quietly; he lays them down
where he is desired so to do, and again returns for three or four more.
Thus thirty persons sometimes pass the whole day in doing the same
quantity of work that two men with wheel-barrows would have performed
with equal ease in the same space of time.