SLAVERY.
THE general equity of the laws regarding free persons of colour in
the Portugueze South American possessions, has been to a certain
degree extended to that portion of the population which is in a state
of slavery; and the lives of the slaves of Brazil have been rendered
less hard and less intolerable than those of the degraded beings who
drag on their cheerless existence under the dominion of other nations.
The Brazilian slave is taught the religion of his master, and hopes
are held out of manumission from his own exertions; but still he is
a slave, and must be guided by another man’s will; and this feeling
alone takes away much of the pleasure which would be felt from the
faithful discharge of his duty, if it was voluntarily performed. The
consciousness that if the directions were not willingly attended to,
the arbitrary will of the master would enforce their performance,
removes much of the desire to please; obedience to a command is not
required with any idea that refusal can possibly ensue, and therefore
no merit is attached to its accomplishment by him whose orders are
obeyed; nor does the slave feel that he is doing in any degree more
than would be enforced if he had made any doubts. The world has heard
so much, and from so many quarters, of the enormities which have been
committed by slave-owners in the colonies with which England has had
any communication; both from her own possessions, and from those of
other nations, that no doubts can be entertained of their existence.
That such evil deeds are of frequent occurrence, I would not wish to
suppose, though that they are dreadfully too frequent is well known; I
had rather not be persuaded that man in so depraved a state is often to
be met with;—that many civilized beings should have made such rapid
returns to barbarism. I have to say, that in Brazil too, such instances
of barbarity are spoken of—that they do exist; they are, however, of
rare occurrence, they are seldom heard of, and are always mentioned
with abhorrence; but it is enough that instances should be recorded,
of the abuse of this absolute power of one man over another; it is
enough that this absolute power itself should be allowed to continue,
to render the system upon which it is founded an evil of such great
importance, as to sanction all exertions for its removal, as to make
any government overlook many inconveniences rather than increase the
numbers of those human beings who suffer this dreadful degradation.
The Indian slavery has been for many years abolished in Brazil, and
the individuals who are now in bondage in that country are Africans,
and their descendants on both sides, or individuals whose mothers are
of African origin; and no line is drawn at which the near approach to
the colour and blood of the whites entitles the child, whose mother
is a slave, to freedom. I have seen several persons who were to all
appearance of white origin, still doomed to slavery.
Slaves, however, in Brazil, have many advantages over their brethren
in the British colonies. The numerous holidays of which the Catholic
religion enjoins the observance[213], give to the slave many days
of rest or time to work for his own profit; thirty-five of these,
and the Sundays besides, allow him to employ much of his time as he
pleases. Few masters are inclined to restrain the right of their
slaves to dispose of these days as they think fit, or at any rate
few dare, whatever their inclinations may be, to brave public
opinion in depriving them of the intervals from work which the law
has set apart as their own, that their lives may be rendered less
irksome. The time which is thus afforded enables the slave, who is so
inclined, to accumulate a sum of money; however this is by law his
master’s property, from the incapability under which a slave labours
of possessing any thing which he can by right call his own. But I
believe there is no instance on record in which a master attempted to
deprive his slave of these hard-earned gains. The slave can oblige
his master to manumit him, on tendering to him the sum for which he
was first purchased, or the price for which he might be sold, if that
price is higher than what the slave was worth at the time he was
first bought[214]. This regulation, like every one that is framed in
favour of slaves, is liable to be evaded, and the master sometimes
does refuse to manumit a valuable slave; and no appeal is made by the
sufferer, owing to the state of law in that country, which renders it
almost impossible for the slave to gain a hearing; and likewise this
acquiescence in the injustice of the master proceeds from the dread,
that if he was not to succeed he would be punished, and that his life
might be rendered more miserable than it was before[215]. Consequently
a great deal depends upon the inclinations of the master, who will
however be very careful in refusing to manumit, owing to the well-known
opinion of every priest in favour of this regulation, to the feelings
of the individuals of his own class in society, and to those of the
lower orders of people, and likewise he will be afraid of losing his
slave; he may escape with his money, and the master will then run much
risk of never seeing him again, particularly if the individual is a
creole slave[216]. In general therefore no doubts are urged, when
application is made for manumission by a slave to his master; who
is indeed oftentimes prepared for it by the habits of industry and
regularity of his slave, and by common report among the other slaves
and free persons upon the estate, that the individual in question is
scraping together a sum of money for this purpose. The master might
indeed deprive the slave of the fruits of his own labour, but this is
never thought of, because the slave preserves his money in a secret
place, or has entrusted it to some person upon whom he can depend, and
would suffer any punishment rather than disclose the spot in which his
wealth lies concealed. A still more forcible reason than any other, for
the forbearance of the master, is to be found in the dread of acting
against public opinion; in the shame which would follow the commission
of such an act; and perhaps the natural goodness which exists in almost
every human being, would make him shun such gross injustice, would make
him avoid such a deed of baseness.
A slave is often permitted by his owner to seek a master more to his
liking; for this purpose a note is given, declaring that the bearer
has leave to enter into the service of any one, upon the price which
the master demands being paid by the purchaser. With this the slave
applies to any individual of property whom he may wish to serve; owing
to having heard a good report of his character towards his slaves, or
from any other cause. This is a frequent practice, and at least admits
the possibility of escape from a severe state of bondage to one that is
less irksome.
A considerable number of slaves are manumitted at the death of
their masters, and indeed some persons of large property fail not
to set at liberty a few of them during their own life-time. A deed
of manumission, however simply it may be drawn out, cannot be set
aside; a register of these papers is preserved at the office of every
notary-public, by which any distress which might be occasioned by the
loss of the originals is provided against, for the copy of course holds
good in law. A slave who has brought into the world, and has reared ten
children, ought to be free, for so the law ordains; but this regulation
is generally evaded; and besides, the number of children is too great
for many women to be enabled to be benefited by it[217]. The price
of a new-born child is 5_l._ (20,000 _mil-reis_,) and the master is
obliged to manumit the infant at the baptismal font, on the sum being
presented. In this manner a considerable number of persons are set at
liberty, for the smallness of the price enables many freemen who have
had connections with female slaves to manumit their offspring; and
instances occur of the sponsors performing this most laudable act. Not
unfrequently female slaves apply to persons of consideration to become
sponsors to their children, in the hopes that the pride of these will
be too great to allow of their god-child remaining in slavery[218].
Thus by their own exertions, by the favour of their masters, and by
other means, the individuals who gain their freedom annually are very
numerous.
The comforts of slaves in different situations are widely
disproportionate; whilst some are doomed to an existence of excessive
toil and misery, from the nature of their occupations and the
characters of their masters, others lead a comparatively easy life.
It is true, that in countries of which the workmen are free, the
daily labour is unequally divided, but their wages are proportioned
accordingly, and as each man is a free agent he seeks that employment
to which his bodily and mental powers are befitted. The slave is
purchased for a certain purpose, and is to follow the line of life
which his master has chalked out for him; he is not to be occupied
in that which he would himself prefer, or at any rate his wishes are
not consulted upon the subject. The price for which a slave is to be
obtained, and the convenience of the purchaser are oftener consulted
than the fitness of his bodily strength to the labour which it is his
lot to be ordered to perform. Besides the obligation of following an
unsuitable trade, or at any rate of following one which he has not
chosen, he has to endure the still incomparably greater grievance of
bearing with a tyrannical, an inconsiderate, or a peevish master, whose
commands are not to be called in question, whose will is absolute, and
from whom the possibility of appeal is far removed, and that of redress
placed at a still greater distance. Masters are punished by the payment
of fines, for cruelty to their slaves, if any account of such behaviour
should reach the ear of the _Ouvidor_ of the province; but I never
heard of punishment having been carried farther than this trifling
manner of correction. The emoluments which proceed from this mode of
chastising the offenders weigh heavily in its favour; the injury which
the slave has received is not, I am afraid, the only cause which urges
the exaction of the stipulated penalty; of this the slave does not
receive any part.
All slaves in Brazil follow the religion of their masters[219]; and
notwithstanding the impure state in which the Christian church exists
in that country, still such are the beneficent effects of the Christian
religion, that these, its adopted children, are improved by it to an
infinite degree; and the slave who attends to the strict observance
of religious ceremonies invariably proves to be a good servant. The
Africans who are imported from Angola are baptized in lots before they
leave their own shores, and on their arrival in Brazil they are to
learn the doctrines of the church, and the duties of the religion into
which they have entered. These bear the mark of the royal crown upon
their breasts, which denotes that they have undergone the ceremony
of baptism, and likewise that the king’s duty has been paid upon
them[220]. The slaves which are imported from other parts of the coast
of Africa, arrive in Brazil unbaptized, and before the ceremony of
making them Christians can be performed upon them, they must be taught
certain prayers, for the acquirement of which one year is allowed to
the master, before he is obliged to present the slave at the parish
church. This law is not always strictly adhered to as to time, but
it is never evaded altogether. The religion of the master teaches
him that it would be extremely sinful to allow his slave to remain
a heathen; and indeed the Portugueze and Brazilians have too much
religious feeling to let them neglect any of the ordinances of their
church. The slave himself likewise wishes to be made a Christian, for
his fellow-bondmen will in every squabble or trifling disagreement
with him, close their string of opprobrious epithets with the name
of _pagam_ (pagan.) The unbaptized negro feels that he is considered
as an inferior being, and although he may not be aware of the value
which the whites place upon baptism, still he knows that the stigma
for which he is upbraided will be removed by it; and therefore he is
desirous of being made equal to his companions. The Africans who have
been long imported, imbibe a Catholic feeling, and appear to forget
that they were once in the same situation themselves. The slaves are
not asked whether they will be baptized or not; their entrance into
the Catholic church is treated as a thing of course; and indeed they
are not considered as members of society, but rather as brute animals,
until they can lawfully go to mass, confess their sins, and receive the
sacrament.
The slaves have their religious brotherhoods as well as the free
persons; and the ambition of a slave very generally aims at being
admitted into one of these, and at being made one of the officers and
directors of the concerns of the brotherhood; even some of the money
which the industrious slave is collecting for the purpose of purchasing
his freedom will oftentimes be brought out of its concealment for the
decoration of a saint, that the donor may become of importance in the
society to which he belongs. The negroes have one invocation of the
Virgin, (or I might almost say one virgin) which is peculiarly their
own. Our Lady of the Rosary is even sometimes painted with a black
face and hands. It is in this manner that the slaves are led to place
their attention upon an object in which they soon take an interest,
but from which no injury can proceed towards themselves, nor can any
through its means be by them inflicted upon their masters. Their ideas
are removed from any thought of the customs of their own country, and
are guided into a channel of a totally different nature, and completely
unconnected with what is practised there. The election of a King of
Congo (which I have mentioned in chapter 13,) by the individuals who
come from that part of Africa, seems indeed as if it would give them
a bias towards the customs of their native soil; but the Brazilian
Kings of Congo worship Our Lady of the Rosary, and are dressed in the
dress of white men; they and their subjects dance, it is true, after
the manner of their country; but to these festivals are admitted
African negroes of other nations, creole blacks, and mulattos, all of
whom dance after the same manner; and these dances are now as much
the national dances of Brazil as they are of Africa. The Portugueze
language is spoken by all the slaves, and their own dialects are
allowed to lay dormant until they are by many of them quite forgotten.
No compulsion is resorted to to make them embrace the habits of their
masters, but their ideas are insensibly led to imitate and adopt them.
The masters at the same time imbibe some of the customs of their
slaves, and thus the superior and his dependant are brought nearer to
each other. I doubt not that the system of baptizing the newly-imported
negroes, proceeded rather from the bigotry of the Portugueze in former
times than from any political plan; but it has had the most beneficial
effects. The slaves are rendered more tractable; besides being better
men and women, they become more obedient servants; they are brought
under the controul of the priesthood, and even if this was the only
additional hold which was gained by their entrance into the church, it
is a great engine of power which is thus brought into action.
But in no circumstance has the introduction of the Christian religion
among the slaves been of more service than in the change which it has
wrought in the men regarding the treatment of their women, and in
the conduct of the females themselves. A writer of great reputation
on West-Indian affairs, states that the introduction of the marriage
ceremony among the slaves of the colonies of which he treats “would
be utterly impracticable to any good purpose;” and again, that he
who conceives that a remedy may be found for polygamy “by introducing
among them the laws of marriage, as established in Europe, is utterly
ignorant of their manners, propensities, and superstitions[221].” Is
it not that by the masters these things are considered to be of little
importance, and therefore unworthy of much trouble? As long as the
work is done, little else is thought of. Where the _interest_ of the
master is concerned, the “manners, propensities, and superstitions”
will soon be overcome. I hope that at the present day such opinions
do not generally exist. All men in the same state of barbarism treat
their women in the same manner; the evil lies not with the race of
beings, but in the dreadful situation to which this one is reduced.
Why, therefore, not attempt to improve and to benefit the individuals
of which it is composed?
The slaves of Brazil are regularly married according to the forms of
the Catholic church; the banns are published in the same manner as
those of free persons; and I have seen many happy couples (as happy
at least as slaves can be) with large families of children rising
around them. The masters encourage marriages among their slaves, for
it is from these lawful connections that they can expect to increase
the number of their creoles. A slave cannot marry without the consent
of his master, for the vicar will not publish the banns of marriage
without this sanction. It is likewise permitted that slaves should
marry free persons; if the woman is in bondage, the children remain
in the same state, but if the man is a slave, and she is free, their
offspring is also free. A slave cannot be married until the requisite
prayers have been learnt, the nature of confession be understood, and
the Sacrament can be received. Upon the estates the master or manager
is soon made acquainted with the predilections of the slaves for each
other, and these being discovered, marriage is forthwith determined
upon, and the irregular proceedings are made lawful. In towns there is
more licentiousness among the negroes, as there is among all other
classes of men[222]. The passion of love is supposed only to exist in a
certain state of civilization, and this may be granted without at the
same time declaring that negroes are incapable of lasting attachment,
without supposing that the regard of each sex is mere animal desire,
unconnected with predilection. That species of affection which is
heightened until personal possession is almost forgotten, doubtless is
not felt by human beings who are in a state of barbarism; but still
a negro may be attached, he may fix upon one object in preference to
all others. That this is the case, I can vouch; I have known and have
heard of many instances in which punishments and other dangers have
been braved to visit a chosen one; in which journies by night have
been made after a day of fatigue; in which great constancy has been
shewn, and a determination that the feelings of the heart shall not be
controuled.[223]
The great proportion of men upon many of the estates, produces, of
necessity, most mischievous consequences. A supply is requisite
to keep up the number of labourers. The women are more liable to
misconduct[224], and the men imbibe unsettled habits; but if an
adequate number of females are placed upon the estate, and the
slaves are trained and taught in the manner which is practised upon
well-regulated plantations, the negroes will be as correct in their
behaviour, as any other body of men; and perhaps their conduct may
be less faulty than that of other descriptions of persons, who have
less to occupy their time, though their education may be infinitely
superior. That many men and many women will be licentious, has been and
is still the lot of human nature, and not the peculiar fault of the
much injured race of which I speak.
I shall now state the manner in which the Africans are transported
from their own country to Brazil, and the disposal of them on their
arrival in South America; the characters of the several African nations
with which the ships are loaded; the condition of those who are
employed in Recife,—upon the sugar plantations,—in the Mata or cotton
estates,—and in the Sertam or cattle districts.
As the voyage from the coast of Africa to the opposite shores of South
America is usually short, for the winds are subject to little variation
and the weather is fine, the vessels which are employed in this traffic
are generally speaking small, and are not of the best construction.
The situation of captain or master of a slave ship is considered of
secondary rank in the Portugueze merchant-service, and the persons
who are usually so occupied are vastly inferior to the generality of
the individuals who command the large and regular trading vessels
between Europe and Brazil. The slave ships[225] were formerly crowded
to a most shocking degree, nor was there any means of preventing
this; but a law has been passed for the purpose of restricting the
number of persons for each vessel. However, I more than suspect, that
no attention is paid to this regulation,—that means are made use of
to evade the law. On the arrival at Recife of a cargo of slaves, the
rules of the port direct that these persons shall be disembarked and
taken to St. Amaro, which is an airy spot, and sufficiently distant
from the town to prevent the admittance of any infectious disorder,
if any such should exist among the newly-imported negroes; and yet
the place is at a convenient distance for the purchasers, St. Amaro
being situated immediately opposite to Recife, upon the inland bank
of the expanse of waters which is formed by the tide on the land side
of the town. However, like many others, this excellent arrangement is
not attended to, and even if the slaves are removed for a few days
to St. Amaro, they are soon conveyed back to the town. Here they are
placed in the streets before the doors of their owners, regardless of
decency, of humanity, and of due attention to the general health of the
town. The small pox, the yaws, and other complaints have thus frequent
opportunities of spreading. It is probable, that if the climate was
not so very excellent as it is, this practice would be discontinued,
but if it was not put a stop to, and the country was subject to
pestilential complaints, the town would not be habitable.
In the day-time some of the streets of Recife are in part lined with
these miserable beings, who are lying or sitting promiscuously upon
the foot-path, sometimes to the number of two or three hundred. The
males wear a small piece of blue cloth round their waists, which is
drawn between the legs and fastened behind; the females are allowed a
larger piece of cloth, which is worn as a petticoat; and sometimes a
second portion is given to them, for the purpose of covering the upper
parts of the body. The stench which is created by these assemblages is
almost intolerable to one who is unaccustomed to their vicinity; and
the sight of them, good God, is horrid beyond any thing. These people
do not however seem to feel their situation, any farther than that
it is uncomfortable. Their food consists of salt meat, the flour of
the mandioc, beans, and plantains occasionally; the victuals for each
day are cooked in the middle of the street in an enormous caldron.
At night they are driven into one or more warehouses, and a driver
stands to count them as they pass; they are locked in, and the door
is again opened at day-break on the following morning. The wish of
these wretched creatures to escape from this state of inaction and
discomfort is manifested upon the appearance of a purchaser; they start
up willingly, to be placed in the row for the purpose of being viewed
and handled like cattle, and on being chosen they give signs of much
pleasure. I have had many opportunities of seeing slaves bought, for
my particular friends at Recife lived opposite to slave-dealers. I
never saw any demonstrations of grief at parting from each other; but
I attribute this to the dread of punishment if there had been any flow
of feeling, and to a resigned or rather despairing sensation which
checks any shew of grief, and which has prepared them for the worst, by
making them indifferent to whatever may occur; besides, it is not often
that a family is brought over together,—the separation of relatives
and friends has taken place in Africa. It is among the younger part of
the assemblage of persons who are exposed for sale that pleasure is
particularly visible at the change of situation, in being removed from
the streets of the town; the negroes of more advanced age do whatever
the driver desires, usually with an unchanged countenance. I am afraid
that very little care is taken to prevent the separation of relations
who may chance to come over in the same ship; and any consideration on
this point lies entirely with the owner of the cargo[226]. A species of
relationship exists between the individuals who have been imported in
the same ship; they call each other _malungos_, and this term is much
regarded among them. The purchaser gives to each of his newly-bought
slaves a large piece of baize and a straw hat, and as soon as possible
marches them off to his estate. I have often in travelling met with
many parties going up to their new homes, and have observed that they
were usually cheerful;—any thing is better than to sit at the door of
the slave merchant in Recife. The new master too does every thing in
his power to keep them in good humour at first, whatever his conduct
may afterwards be towards them.
The slaves which are usually brought to Pernambuco are known under the
names of Angola, Congo, Rebolo, Anjico, Gabam, and Mosambique. These
last have only been imported of late years, owing, I rather imagine,
to the difficulty with which slaves have been obtained on the western
coast of Africa, caused by the vigilance of the British cruisers in
that quarter, and the vexations to which some of the slave ships have
been liable from detention, although they were ultimately suffered to
proceed on their voyages.
The Angola negroes make the best slaves; many of them have been in
bondage in their own country, and therefore to these the change is for
the better. Some of them have even served the whites in the city of
Loanda, which is the principal Portugueze settlement upon the coast
of Africa. But others were free in Angola, and consequently to these
is allotted a life of disappointment and vexation, whenever they
remember their own country. The negroes from Angola are however usually
tractable, and may be taught to perform the menial services of a house
or stable without much pains being taken with them; and they often shew
great attachment[227], fidelity, and honesty. The Angola negroes are
those who most commonly exert themselves to purchase their own freedom.
The Congo negroes partake much of the character of the Angolans, being
equally tractable; but they are steadier, and are particularly adapted
to the regular routine of field labour. They are less quick in their
movements than the Angolans, and do not seem to be so spirited and
courageous; they obtain in a short period a knowledge of the Portugueze
language. The Rebolos can scarcely in person be distinguished from the
two former, being stoutly made, and not tall; they have a black skin,
but it is not shining, and the features are flat. They seem to be a
branch of the Angolans and Congos, but they are more obstinate, and
more subject to despond than the others. These three tribes appear to
have belonged originally to the same nation, for many parts of their
characters are similar, their persons are of the same mould, and the
dialects of each sufficiently resemble each other to be understood by
all the three.
The Anjico negroes shew many marks of being of another nation; they
make good slaves if they are well treated, and are yet preserved
under due controul. They are difficult to train, and bear a heavy
yoke impatiently; there is in them much independence of character, if
they dared to shew it; there is also much cunning, and the desire and
capability of over-reaching. Their persons are tall and well formed,
their skins are of a glossy black, their eyes are expressive, and their
countenances plainly denote that it is not by their own will that they
continue in slavery. They are not however numerous. Great neatness is
shown by them in their household arrangements, and they often exert
themselves to obtain money; but they are less careful and prudent than
the nations of which I have already treated. All the Anjico negroes
have three gashes on each cheek, which are cut in a circular form from
the ear to the mouth.[228]
The _Gabam_ or Gaboon negroes have not been very long introduced, and
from the well known general character of the nation they are sold
at a reduced price. I have heard many persons state that they are
cannibals[229]. They appear to be in a still more savage state than any
of the former-mentioned nations, and are much given to despondency and
consequent suicide; indeed ten and even twenty that have been purchased
together have, in some instances, in the course of a short period, all
died from despair, or have put an end to their lives in a more summary
manner. It is with difficulty that the Gaboons can be taught to perform
any labour above that of the simplest description; and sometimes they
remain for years unbaptized, from the great trouble which is required
in making them articulate any sounds to which they have not been
accustomed. Yet it is rather that they _will_ not be taught, than that
they _cannot_ learn, for I have heard many planters say, that if a
_Gabam_ negro can be made cheerful, and is induced to take an interest
in those persons who are around him and in his occupations, he becomes
a most useful and intelligent slave. The _Gabam_ negroes are tall and
handsome, and their skins are very black and shining; the features of
many of them are good, being much less flat and blunt than those of
their countrymen in general.
The Mosambique negroes are a poor and ugly race of beings, languid and
inactive, and subject to despondency. Their colour inclines to brown,
but still they have completely the negro features. As the price of
these slaves is much below that of any other description of negroes,
some of the planters have taken them on trial, but they are said to
have many of the bad qualities of the _Gaboons_ without their hardiness.
A negro will sometimes tell his master that he is determined to die,
and too often the effects of his resolve begin shortly afterwards to
be perceived; he becomes thin, loses his appetite, and dies almost a
skeleton. One of the means which it is very generally said that these
miserable beings employ for the purpose of destroying themselves, is
that of eating considerable quantities of lime and earth, which either
produces emaciation or dropsy. But it is strange that a habit of eating
lime and earth should be contracted in some instances by African and
likewise by creole children, and as frequently by free children as by
those who are in slavery. This practice is not treated as if it were a
disorder, but it is accounted a habit, which, by attention from those
who have the charge of the children—in watching and punishing them,
may be conquered without the aid of medicine. I know of some instances
in which no medical treatment was deemed necessary, but the individuals
recovered by means of chastisement and constant vigilance. It is a
subject upon which I was often led to converse, and I discovered that
most of the free-born families were acquainted with the practice from
experience among their own children or those of their neighbours, and
that they always considered it as a habit and not as a disease. Among
adults, however, slaves are infinitely more subject to it than free
persons.[230]
Pernambuco has never experienced any serious revolt among the slaves;
but at Bahia there have been several commotions[231]. I believe that
Bahia contains fewer free people than Pernambuco in proportion to the
number of slaves; but I cannot avoid attributing the quietude of the
latter in some measure to the circumstance of few of the Gold Coast
negroes being imported to it, whilst at Bahia the principal stock of
slaves is from that part of Africa. It is by the _Mina_ negroes in
Bahia that the revolts have been made, and by the _Koromanties_ in
Jamaica, in 1760[232]. These are, I believe, the same people under
different names, and they are represented as possessing great firmness
of mind and body, and ferociousness of disposition.
The _Obeah_-men of the Columbian islands and the _Mandingueiros_ of
Brazil[233], are evidently, from their practices, the same description
of persons. The religion which the Brazilian slaves are taught, has
likewise a salutary effect upon this point, for it tends to lessen
or entirely removes the faith which was previously entertained by
the Africans respecting the incantations of their countrymen; the
superstitions of their native land are replaced by others of a more
harmless nature. The dreadful effects of faith in the _Obeah_-men
which sometimes occur in the British colonies, are not experienced in
Brazil from the _Mandingueiros_: belief in their powers is certainly
not extinguished, and indeed even some of the creoles imbibe a notion
of the efficacy of their spells, but the effects of these are not
generally felt.
The slaves who are employed in Recife may be divided into two classes;
household slaves, and those which pay a weekly stipend to their owners
proceeding from the earnings of some employment which does not oblige
them to be under the immediate eye of the master. The first class have
little chance of gaining their freedom by their own exertions, and
are subject to the caprice and whims of their superiors; but some few
are manumitted by the kindness of those whom they have served, and
the clothing and food which is afforded to them is generally better
than that which the other class obtains. This second class consists
of joiners, shoemakers, &c. canoe-men, porters, &c. and these men
may acquire a sufficient sum of money to purchase their own freedom,
if they have the requisite prudence and steadiness to allow their
earnings to accumulate; but too often, the inducements to expend them
foolishly are sufficiently powerful to make these people swerve from
their purpose. They generally earn more each day than the master
exacts, and have besides the Sundays and holidays as their own; and if
the slave feeds and cloaths himself, to these are added the Saturday
of every week[234]. I think that allowing largely for him to supply
every thing requisite for his support and decent appearance, and yet
something for what to a person in such a rank in life may be accounted
luxury, a slave so circumstanced may in ten years purchase his freedom.
If his value is great, it is because his trade is lucrative, so that
these things keep pace with each other. The women have likewise some
employments by which they may be enabled to gain their liberty;
they make sweetmeats and cakes, and are sent out as cooks, nurses,
housekeepers, &c.
Creole negroes and mulattos are generally accounted quicker in learning
any trade than the Africans. This superior aptitude to profit by
instruction is doubtless produced by their acquaintance from infancy
with the manners, customs, and language of their masters. From the
little experience, however, which I have had, and from the general
remarks which I have gathered from others, who might be judged better
acquainted than myself with slaves, I think that an African who
has become chearful, and seems to have forgotten his former state,
is a more valuable slave than a creole negro or mulatto. He will be
generally more fit to be trusted. Far from the latter submitting
quietly to the situation in which they have been born, they bear the
yoke of slavery with impatience; the daily sight of so many individuals
of their own casts, who are in a state of freedom, makes them wish
to be raised to an equality with them, and they feel at every moment
their unfortunate doom. The consideration with which the free persons
of mixed casts are treated, tends to increase the discontent of their
brothers who are in slavery. The Africans do not feel this, for
they are considered by their creole brethren in colour, as being so
completely inferior, that the line which by public opinion has been
drawn between them, makes the imported slave feel towards the creoles
as if they had not been originally of the same stock.
Miserable objects are at times to be seen in Recife, asking alms in
various quarters of the town, aged and diseased; some of these persons
have been slaves, and when, from infirmity they have been rendered
useless, their masters have manumitted them; and thus being turned
away to starve in their old age, or in a crippled state, their only
resource is to beg in the public streets. These instances of gross
injustice and depravity in masters, are not many, but that they should
occur, is sufficient to cause the aid of law to be called in, that the
_existence_ of them should be prevented.
The sugar-plantations which belong to the Benedictine monks and
Carmelite friars, are those upon which the labour is conducted with
the greatest attention to system, and with the greatest regard to the
comfort and ease of the slaves. I can more particularly speak of the
estates of the Benedictine monks, because my residence at Jaguaribe
gave me daily opportunities of hearing of the management of one of
their establishments; and although sugar-works were not erected upon
the estate in question, still the number of negroes which were upon
it, was fully adequate to this purpose. Besides, in some years canes
were planted upon it, which were to be ground at some neighbouring
mill. The frequent communication, likewise, which there was between the
slaves of this plantation and those of the other estates, belonging to
the same convent, upon which sugar is made, enabled me to ascertain
that all the establishments which are owned by the Benedictines, are
conducted in the same manner.
The slaves of the Jaguaribe St. Bento estate are all creoles, and are
in number about one hundred. The children are carefully taught their
prayers by some of the elder negroes, and the hymn to the Virgin is
sung by all the slaves, male and female, who can possibly attend, at
seven o’clock every evening; at this hour it is required that every
person shall be at home. The young children are allowed to amuse
themselves as they please during the greatest part of the day; and
their only occupation for certain hours is to pick cotton for lamps,
and to separate the beans which are fit for seed from those which are
rotten, and other work of the same description. When they arrive at
the age of ten and twelve years, the girls spin thread for making the
coarse cotton cloth of the country, and the boys attend to the horses
and oxen, driving them to pasture, &c. If a child evinces peculiar
fitness for any trade, care is taken that his talents should be applied
in the manner which he would himself prefer. A few of them are taught
music, and assist in the church festivals of the convent. Marriages
are encouraged; as early as the age of seventeen and eighteen years
for the men, and at fourteen and fifteen for the girls, many of these
unions take place. Immediately after their entrance into this state,
the people begin to labour regularly in the field for their owners;
oftentimes both boys and girls request the manager to allow them to
commence their life of daily toil, before the age which is pointed out
by the regulations of the convent; and this occurs because they are
not permitted to possess provision grounds of their own until they
labour for their masters. Almost every description of labour is done by
piece-work; and the task is usually accomplished by three o’clock in
the afternoon, which gives to those who are industrious an opportunity
of working daily upon their own grounds. The slaves are allowed the
Saturday of every week to provide for their own subsistence, besides
the Sundays and holidays. Those who are diligent fail not to obtain
their freedom by purchase. The provision grounds are never interfered
with by the monks, and when a negro dies or obtains his freedom, he is
permitted to bequeath his plot of land to any of his companions whom
he may please to favour in this manner. The superannuated slaves are
carefully provided with food and cloathing.[235]
None of the monks reside upon the Jaguaribe estate, but one of them
comes from Olinda almost every Sunday and holiday to say Mass. Upon
the other Benedictine estates there are resident monks. The slaves
treat their masters with great familiarity; they only pay respect to
the abbot, whom they regard as the representative of the Saint. The
conduct of the younger members of the communities of regular clergy,
is well known not to be by any means correct; the vows of celibacy are
not strictly adhered to. This circumstance decreases the respect with
which these men might otherwise be treated upon their own estates,
and increases much the licentiousness of the women. I have seen
upon these plantations many light-coloured mulatto slaves; but when
the approximation to white blood becomes considerable, a marriage
is projected for the individual with a person of a darker tint. No
compulsion is made use of to oblige any one to marry, and therefore
many of the slaves, contrary to the wishes of their masters, remain
single. The monks allow their female slaves to marry free men, but the
male slaves are not permitted to marry free women. Many reasons are
alleged in favour of this regulation. One is that they do not wish
that a slave should be useless in the way of increasing the stock of
the plantation; likewise the monks do not wish to have a free family
residing among their slaves (for obvious reasons), which must be the
case if a man marries a free woman; they have less objection to a man,
because he is during the whole of the day away from their people, or is
perhaps employed by the community, and thus in part dependant upon it,
and he merely comes to sleep in one of the huts; besides, a stranger is
contributing to the increase of the stock.
The Jaguaribe estate is managed by a mulatto slave, who married a
person of his own colour, and she likewise belonged to the convent.
Her husband has purchased her freedom and that of her children; he
possesses two African slaves, the profits of whose labour are entirely
his own; but he is himself obliged to attend to the business of the
plantation, and to see that the work of his masters is properly
executed. This man has offered his two Africans in exchange for himself
to the monks; but they tell him that the Jaguaribe estate could not
be properly managed without his assistance; and, though much against
his inclination, he continues in slavery. This is one of the strongest
instances of man’s desire to act for himself; Nicolau enjoys the
entire direction of the estate, and every comfort which a man of his
description can possibly wish for; when he moves from home, he is as
well mounted as the generality of the rich planters; he is permitted to
be seated in the presence of his masters, and indeed is allowed all the
privileges of free men; and yet the consciousness of being under the
controul of another always occupies his mind, and leads him to desire
the possession of those privileges as a right, which he at present only
enjoys by sufferance.[236]
Slavery, however, in this less intolerable state exists in only a few
instances; and although a great many of the planters certainly do
treat their slaves with considerable regard and attention to their
comforts, still, upon _none_ of the estates, _excepting_ those of the
religious communities which have been mentioned, is the complete system
of rendering unnecessary a constant supply of new labourers, made the
primary object;—the end to which all other considerations must give
place.
Next to the plantations which belong to the convents, stand some
of those of the rich Brazilian owners, who go on quietly, if not
systematically. Here the labour is not in general done by piece-work,
nor do the labourers provide for their own subsistence; and the slaves
are sent to the field at an earlier age than they ought, and earlier
than is practised upon the convent estates. Some of the plantations,
however, which are owned by individuals, do give the Saturday of each
week for the slave to support himself[237]. Corporal punishments are
resorted to contrary to the custom of the St. Bento and Carmo estates,
and though great cruelties are not _often_ committed[238], still
the mode of punishment produces much suffering, much misery, much
degradation. Confinement and privations, would, I rather imagine, be
more efficacious. The pride of the slave, who is obliged to appear
abroad with his back covered with scars, is at first much hurt; but
the shame of being seen in this state soon wears off, and then all
hopes of reform may be given up; he will continue in his faults, and
be indifferent to the stripes which he must occasionally undergo for
committing them. I have been requested by slaves, who had been often
so treated, to punish them with the whip, and not to make them endure
the misery of sitting in the stocks in solitary confinement. But the
punishment is suffered in private; no exposure is occasioned by it. It
would appear strange that the slave should prefer corporal punishment;
and this would seem to denote that this class of men possesses none of
those feelings of shame of which I have spoken; but I am convinced,
that these are as deeply implanted in the negro, as in any other
race of human beings. The case is this, where a slave has been often
punished with the whip, and is seeing many of his companions and
acquaintance undergoing the same punishment frequently, the knowledge
that it is what he himself has before borne, and that so many are
thus treated, takes away the horror which he would otherwise feel at
the kind of chastisement. This proves the debased state,—the very
low ebb to which human nature may be brought. The additional rigour
which thus the slave seems to consider confinement to be, would be a
recommendation to some persons, and perhaps the feeling is in the main
right; for if the crime is great, the punishment should be adequate,
and by this means of confinement no degradation of the human being
is occasioned. Hopes may be entertained that the time which is given
for reflection, and the depression of spirits which is produced by the
loneliness of the situation, may bring about a correction of error;
but by the whip, angry and vindictive feelings are excited, or despair
is the consequence, and in either case the owner will be injured;
in the former, by a determination to continue in fault, and in the
latter by the death or inaction of the sufferer. The objection which
is principally to be urged against the mode of chastisement, which I
have accounted the least prejudicial to the slave, considered as a
rational being, is to be met with in the loss of time which is incurred
by confinement a due length; but I think, that this would be much more
than compensated by the loss of health and of character which the negro
suffers in undergoing punishment by the whip, and even of time during
the period that the slave is recovering from the stripes. Iron collars,
chains, and other punishments of the same description are likewise
made use of, and are liable to the objection of rendering callous the
sense of shame. I have observed, and have often heard it remarked, that
scarcely any of the slaves who receive frequent correction, ever gain
their freedom through their own exertions. The bad dispositions and
inclinations of many, and the indifference which is produced in others
by severe punishments, sufficiently account for this fact.[239]
The creole slaves are usually employed as tradesmen and household
servants; even upon the sugar plantations this is the case where
they are not more numerous than what are necessary to fill these
departments; to the Africans the field labour is chiefly allotted.
The negroes are sent to work as the sun rises, and far from being
more capable of exertion in the early part of the morning than under
the mid-day heat, the Africans are inactive and languid, until the
increasing power of the sun removes the chill which they receive from
the cool morning air. They frequently leave their huts wrapped up in
their coverlids of baize, seemingly much distressed by the cold. The
negroes breakfast about eight o’clock, and for this meal half an hour
or less is allowed; and some masters expect that their slaves shall
breakfast before they commence their work in the morning;—that is,
before sunrise. The time which is allowed for dinner, is from twelve
o’clock till two, when the labourers again continue their labour until
half past five o’clock. They are now, generally speaking, expected to
pick a small bundle of grass for the master’s saddle-horses, in some
of the neighbouring provision grounds; but if this is not requisite,
the work continues until sunset, about six o’clock. On the arrival
of the people at home in the evening, they are sometimes required to
scrape the rind from the mandioc for about one or two hours; but as
none of the principal estates make a practice of selling the flour of
the mandioc, and only prepare the quantity which is necessary for the
subsistence of the slaves, this labour only occurs about once in each
week, or less frequently. In crop time, the work is only discontinued
on Sundays and holidays; and, as is practised on board vessels at sea,
the negroes relieve each other at stated hours.
The field negroes are attended by a _feitor_ or driver, who is
sometimes a white man; but more frequently a free mulatto is employed
for the purpose. It is the practice likewise of some of the planters
to appoint a Creole, or even an African slave to the situation. Upon
a _feitor_ who is a slave, more reliance is to be placed than upon
a free person of colour, for the slave _feitor_ becomes responsible
to his master for the work which is to be executed, and is therefore
careful that every one should do his duty. It is a remark which is
generally made; that the slave _feitores_ require to be watched, that
they may be prevented from being too rigorous towards those whom they
are appointed to command; their behaviour is usually more overbearing
than that of free men; and next to the slaves the European _feitores_
are the most tyrannical. It is likewise frequently observed that even
manumitted Africans who become possessed of slaves, which occasionally
occurs, treat them in a severe and unfeeling manner, that is nothing
softened, but rather rendered more violent, by a remembrance of
their own sufferings. Experience in trouble too often leads those
who have suffered to the infliction of equal or greater hardships,
when opportunities for so doing are afforded; the human being becomes
callous; it is tormented, and torments with the same indifference.
Medical attendance is not so well provided for as it ought, which
proceeds rather from the small number of practitioners in the country,
than from the negligence of the planters; indeed due attention in this
respect is so much and so evidently their interest, that this alone,
independent of any feelings of humanity, would make them seek every
means of obtaining proper advice for their slaves[240]. I do not think
that the food which the slaves receive is in sufficient quantities,
or of a quality sufficiently nourishing for the labour which they are
required to perform; and it would be undoubtedly much too scanty, if
the days of intended rest did not supply them with an addition to the
stock of provisions which the master affords. I have in another place
stated, that the vegetable part of the food of the sugar plantation
negroes is chiefly the flour of the mandioc; the animal food is
generally the _carne do Searà_, salt meat which comes from Rio Grande
do Sul; and sometimes salt fish supplies its place. The cloathing which
is given to the slaves by the master consists of a shirt and drawers
of the cotton cloth of the country, and a straw hat; a piece of baize
and a mat are likewise afforded to them; but these things are not
renewed as often as a due consideration to their comforts would demand.
Although the negroes are fed by their masters, still as lands are to
be had in abundance, the slaves are permitted to plant whatever they
think fit, and to sell the produce to whom they please. Many of them
rear pigs and poultry, and occasionally a horse is kept, from the hire
of which money may be obtained.[241]
The newly-imported negroes are usually sent to work too soon after
their arrival upon the estates; if proper care is taken of them, they
may indeed be employed in almost any description of labour at the
end of eight or ten months, but not much before this period. Damp
situations should be avoided, and they ought not to be sent out in the
morning earlier than eight o’clock, and they should breakfast before
they leave home: by these precautions the loss of many slaves might be
prevented; and they should be followed without any deviation, at least
until the new negroes have been for a twelvemonth in the country to
which they have been transported.[242]
I have represented slavery in what I conceive to be the state in
which it usually exists upon the plantations; but any comforts which
the human beings who are so circumstanced enjoy, and any respite
from severe labour is so entirely at the will of the master, that
the instances in which the fate of the slave is hard almost beyond
endurance, are dreadfully too frequent. Some planters follow the
system of performing certain kinds of work during the early part of
the night, besides making the negroes labour for the full usual time
during the day;—for instance, the whole of the labour of making the
mandioc flour, preparing with the feet the clay for making bricks and
earthenware, also building mud walls; besides removing bricks, fire
wood, and so forth from one place to another. This extra work is called
_quingingoo_. I even knew of one instance in which the field labour was
continued until twelve o’clock at night, by the light of large fires
which had been kindled in several parts of the ground. For this manner
of proceeding there was no reason, excepting that it was the master’s
pleasure so to act, for the season was favourable, and not too far
advanced to have continued the work in the usual manner and yet have
accomplished the planting of the field in proper time. Of cruelty I
could say much, but I have gone far enough, and must not enter into
farther details upon this part of my subject. The relation of such
misdeeds do more harm than good, they serve as examples for those who
have unprincipled minds and unfeeling hearts; and who may consider them
as paths in which they may tread, because others have trodden in them,
rather than as precipices which ought to be avoided. The power which is
entrusted to an individual is too great, abuses must arise, the system
is radically bad, and every possible means should be put into action
for its extirpation.
I am acquainted with the owners of a few estates who profess to
purchase any slaves however bad their characters may be, if they can
obtain them below the usual price. The persons of secondary rank who
possess only a few slaves, and have not the same means of punishing
them if they misbehave which exist upon the great estates, dispose of
those of their negroes who act improperly to the rich men who will
purchase them. There is an estate in the Mata, of which the owner is
known to buy any slave, however ill disposed he may be, provided he
can obtain him at a low price. This man manages to keep his estate in
the best order possible; every thing goes on regularly upon it. He
even prefers purchasing creole slaves to Africans, although the former
are invariably more difficult to manage. He is a man of determined
character; on the arrival of one of these new slaves, he takes him to
the prison of the estate and shews him the stocks, the chains, the
whips, &c. saying “this is what you are to expect if you continue
in your evil practices;” then a hut is given to the slave; and also
cloaths and other articles of comfort, all of which are in a state
of greater neatness, and are afforded in larger quantities than are
usually bestowed upon the slaves of other plantations. On one occasion
a negro struck the _feitor_, for which he was immediately confined,
until the matter could be investigated; the freeman was found to be
in fault, and was turned away. The negro suffered a certain degree of
punishment for striking a superior, but he was ultimately appointed to
the situation of _feitor_, having before held that of second driver. If
this planter did not rule his people with great severity when guilty,
his estate would soon become a den of thieves and murderers, for it
is well known of what bad materials his gang of slaves is composed.
This man is of mixed blood, but is nearly related to some of the first
families of the province. It is well that a man should appear, who is
willing, for the sake of a trifling difference in the price for which
he may obtain his labourers, to take the trouble, and undergo the risk
of person and of property in controuling a set of uneducated men, who
cannot consequently have any principle of action, and whose habits are
of the worst description. According to present circumstances he is of
service to the country, for these fellows are kept quiet; but what a
dreadful state it is, that the institutions of a country should be
so framed that there should possibly exist in its centre, a body of
human beings of which many of the individuals are criminals; men, who
certainly never will be punished by the laws of the country, though
punishment may or may not be inflicted by the person to whom they are
subservient.
The slaves of the cotton estates undergo, as may be supposed, the same
kind of punishments, and are subject to the same species of treatment
as those which have already been spoken of; their management, as in
other parts, is conducted on the whole in a more lenient or more
rigorous manner, according to the dispositions of the owners. They are
however liable to greater privations from the nature of the country
in which they reside, and they do not enjoy the benefit of crop time,
which is so favourable to the negroes of the sugar plantations. Food
is not so easily obtained in parts which are so distant from great
towns and from the sea-coast; and greater difficulty is experienced
in the sale of the mandioc, the beans and the maize which the slaves
raise upon their own provision grounds. Still the negroes of the cotton
districts sometimes gain their freedom by their own exertions, for as
cotton is a most lucrative plant, and yet may be cultivated and brought
to market with little or no out-lay of money, those of the slaves who
plant regularly and gather their trifling quantities, frequently in the
end meet with the reward of their labours. This is not the case with
the sugar-cane, for in cultivating this plant assistance is necessary,
much work being required to be done within a given time, owing to
the seasons in planting it, and to the nature of the cane when it
ripens; and there is likewise the difficulty of having it ground, and
of receiving the proceeds, &c. In the manufactory the slave has not
his property under his own eye; it passes through the hands of many
other individuals, and as there is no personal respect for the owner
of the property, nor any means of redress in case of injustice, the
slave has only a poor chance of being properly dealt with; the above
circumstances being those to which the culture of the sugar-cane is
subject, it is scarcely ever planted by slaves on their own account.
The cattle districts employ few slaves, and these are occupied at
home, for scarcely any of them, unless they are Creoles, are deemed
capable of undertaking the more arduous employments of pursuing
the cattle, breaking in horses, &c. The slaves remain in the huts
to attend to the less enterprising occupations. The climate of the
Sertam is accounted well adapted to the constitutions of the Africans;
sickly negroes are often purchased at reduced prices by persons who
reside in the interior, under the idea that the climate will soon
re-establish their health. The circumstance of the non-existence of
the _chigua_ or _bicho_[243], in the plains of the Sertam is of much
importance; for this insect is extremely injurious to some of the
negroes;—notwithstanding every precaution, the feet have in some
instances been destroyed by them. The _chigua_ has more effect upon the
flesh of some persons than upon that of others; and the subjects who
are violently attacked by this insect, are sometimes only preserved
from being crippled by their removal to a part of the country in which
it does not exist. The dryness of the air and soil of the Sertam
generally removes agues of long standing, and likewise the complaint
which frequently proceeds from the ague, and is called _amarellidam_,
or yellowness. The Africans are seldom attacked by the ague, but they
have often the _amarellidam_.
In the back settlements, beyond the plains of the Sertam, bordering
upon the mountains where cotton is planted, and from which the plains
are in part supplied with food, the number of negroes is becoming
considerable. I have had opportunities of conversing with negroes
from the Sertam, and have invariably found that they preferred their
residence in the cattle districts even to a removal into the country
bordering upon the sea. The diet of the Sertam negro is preferable to
that of the plantation slave, so that this circumstance, independently
of all others, would make the former be well aware of the superiority
of his situation. Fresh beef and mutton are the usual food of the
Sertam slaves, but upon the plantations these are rarely served out.
The most dreadful complaint to which negroes are subject more than
other descriptions of men, is that which, in the Columbian islands
is known under the name of _yaws_, and in Brazil by that of _bobas_.
I had opportunities of seeing it, and most loathsome is the sight of
the individuals who are afflicted with it. The body becomes covered
with large ulcers, the patient is reduced to a mere skeleton, and is
rendered generally for a time quite helpless. The facility with which
it is communicated to others increases the distress of the patient;
for every precaution must be taken in separating the sufferer to some
distance from the other slaves. The adult who recovers from it seldom
enjoys as perfect health as before. The negroes say that it gets into
the bone; every change of weather is felt by those who have had the
disorder, although they are again accounted in health, and in some
cases the use of one or other of the limbs is occasionally lost for
a time. A certain diet must be observed for many months after the
disorder has apparently left the person who has had it, for the purpose
of preventing a relapse; and sometimes a deviation from this, even some
years after, will cause violent pains in the joints. The following
circumstances occurred under my own eyes. A child belonging to one of
my neighbours, whilst I resided at Jaguaribe, was in the practice of
coming to amuse itself with some of the children of the plantation. He
had this disorder upon him; and soon afterwards the son of a labourer
caught it; all this was not made known to me, until a slave of eight
years of age was reported to me to have the _bobas_; and shortly
afterwards an old man, the father of this child, likewise fell sick. In
the course of a short time, notwithstanding every care was taken, other
persons were afflicted with the disease. A surgeon was applied to, and
he prescribed mercury to all the patients. An infant of a few months
old, which afterwards caught the disease, underwent the same treatment.
The children who had arrived at a certain age all recovered, and until
the period of my departure, they had never experienced any return, nor
had felt any bad effects from it. The old man still laboured under
it, but was recovering. The growth of the infant was stopped by the
disease, and very little hopes were entertained of saving its life.
This horrible disorder is contracted by inhabiting the same room with
the patient, and by inoculation; this is effected by means of a small
fly, from which every precaution is oftentimes of no avail. Great
numbers of the insects of this species appear early in the morning;
but they are not so much seen when the sun is powerful. If one of them
chances to settle upon the corner of the eye or mouth, or upon the most
trifling scratch, it is enough to inoculate the _bobas_, if the insect
comes from a person who labours under the disease. The same person can
only have the _bobas_ once. The scars which it leaves upon the bodies
of the negroes have a most disgusting appearance; for the wounds have
in some cases been of such long standing, and have penetrated so deep
as to have changed the colour of the skin, which becomes of a most
loathsome white colour.[244] However, deep wounds of any description
have the same effect upon the negro skin.
There are considerable numbers of white persons and of colour who
possess two or three slaves, and share with them the daily labour, even
of the field. These slaves are, generally speaking, creoles, who have
been reared in the family, or they are Africans who have been purchased
very young for a trifling sum of money; they are frequently considered
as part of the family, and share with the master the food for which
both are working. These slaves appear on gala days well-dressed, and
they have a certain air of independence, which shews that they think
themselves to be something more in the world than mere drudges. The
difference of the feeling of one of these men towards his master,
and that of the generality of the slaves which are owned by great
proprietors, is very striking. The former will not suffer in his
presence a word to be spoken against his master, whilst the latter
cares not if he hears every injurious epithet made use of. The slaves
of small proprietors are not so liable to imbibe many of the faults to
which those of wealthy men are subject, and they possess more pride,—a
greater wish to act honourably,—a greater dread of being upbraided for
a fault. Upon large estates the assemblage of so many persons tends to
depravation, and the wide distance which there is between the slave and
the master tends to produce a greater feeling of inferiority; but among
the small proprietors the difference of rank is infinitely less, owing,
among other causes, to the assistance which they receive from each
other, in their daily occupations.[245]
From the vastness of the country, it might be supposed that if a slave
escapes from his master, the chances would be against his return,
but this is not the case. The Africans particularly are generally
brought back; they are soon distinguished by their manner of speaking
the Portugueze language; and if any one of them cannot give a good
account of himself, he will not be allowed to remain long unmolested,
for the profit arising from the apprehension of a runaway slave is
considerable. Besides, the manumitted African generally continues to
reside in the neighbourhood of the estate upon which he has served
as a slave; so that when a man of this description, that is, an
African, comes without being known, to settle in a district, suspicion
immediately arises that he is not free. The manumitted creoles remove
to where they are not known, because they do not wish that the state
in which they were born should reach their new place of residence. An
African must have been brought to Brazil as a slave, and therefore his
situation of a freeman proves that his character is good, or he could
not have obtained his liberty; but a creole may have been born free,
and consequently his former state as a slave he wishes to conceal.
Creole slaves, and more especially mulattos, often do escape, and
are never afterwards heard of by their masters; but even these are
sometimes brought back.
A case of great hardship occurred at Recife a short time before I left
that place. A negro and his wife had escaped, and as their master had
not received any tidings of them for sixteen or seventeen years, he
supposed that both of them had died. However, one day there arrived
at his door in Recife, a number of _capitaens-do-campo_ with several
persons in custody. He soon recognized his negro and negress, and
was told that the five young persons who were with them were their
children, and consequently his slaves. These poor creatures had been
brought up until this period of their lives with the idea that they
were free; and thus a young man of sixteen, and his sister of fourteen
years of age, were at the season of joy and gladness to commence a life
of misery. The master confined them all, until he could dispose of them
to some slave-dealer, which he soon accomplished, and they were shipped
from Recife for Maranham. I never heard how the discovery had been
made, that these people were not free. Oh! system accursed, which thus
damps the hopes and prospects of a whole life.
Some of the negroes who escape determine to shun the haunts of man,
they conceal themselves in the woods, instead of attempting to be
received into some distant village as free persons. They form huts,
which are called _mocambos_, in the most unfrequented spots, and live
upon the game and fruit which their places of retreat afford. These
persons sometimes assemble to the number of ten or twelve, and then
their dislodgement is difficult; for their acquaintance with the woods
around gives them the advantage over any party which may be sent to
attack them[246]. Sometimes a whole neighbourhood is disturbed by one
of these communities, who rob the provision grounds, steal calves[247],
lambs and poultry; and stories are told of the _Gabam_ negroes stealing
children.
The slaves of Maranham are in a less favourable state than those of
Pernambuco, on the whole; but the system which is followed respecting
them is radically the same. Their food is usually rice, which is said
to disagree with most of the nations which come from Africa; and the
treatment which they receive upon the estates in that part of the
country, is said to be more rigorous; but of this I cannot myself
speak, for I had no opportunities of judging.
Negroes who are decidedly of incorrigible character, are shipped
from Pernambucco to Maranham, and though the cause for which these
transportations are made, is well known, they are often sold to great
advantage. Nothing tends so much to keep a slave in awe, as the threat
of sending him to Maranham or to Parà.
That the general character of persons who are in a state of slavery
should be amiable, and that goodness should predominate, is not to be
expected; but we ought rather to be surprised at the existence of that
degree of virtue which is to be found among those who are reduced to
a situation of so much misery. Slaves are much inclined to pilfer,
and particularly towards their masters this is very frequent; indeed
many of them scarcely think that they are acting improperly in so
doing[248]. Drunkenness is common among them[249]. A direct answer
is not easily obtained from a slave, but the information which is
required is learnt by means of four or five questions put in various
ways. The necessity for this is frequently caused by stupidity, or from
ignorance of the language in which the slave is addressed, rather than
from any wish to deceive. It is in their behaviour to their families
and companions, that the good part of the human being is displayed,
and natural enough it is that it should be so. The negroes shew much
attachment to their wives and children, to their other relations if
they should chance to have any, and to their _malungos_ or fellow
passengers from Africa. The respect which is paid to old age, it
is extremely pleasing to witness. Superannuated Africans, upon the
estates, are never suffered to want any comforts with which it is
in the power of their fellow slaves to supply them. The old negroes
are addressed by the term of _pai_ and _mai_, father and mother. The
masters likewise add this term to the name of their older slaves,
when speaking to them. That the generality of the slaves should shew
great attachment to their masters, is not to be expected; why should
they? The connection between the two descriptions of persons, is not
one of love and harmony, of good producing gratitude, of esteem and
respect; it is one of hatred and discord, of distrust, and of continual
suspicion; one of which the evil is so enormous, that if any proper
feelings exist in those who are supposed to benefit from it, and in
those who suffer under it, they proceed from our nature, and not from
the system.
It will be seen from the above statement, that the slaves of those
parts of Brazil which I have had opportunities of seeing, are more
favourably situated than those of the Columbian islands; but still
they are slaves, and in this word is included, great misery, great
degradation, great misfortune.