Villa of Huaura....Description....Village of Supe....Ruins of an
Indian Town...._Huacas_, Burying Places....Bodies preserved
entire....Village of Barranca....Earthquake in 1806....Barranca
River....Bridge of Ropes....Village of Pativilca....Sugar
Plantation....Produce and Profit....Cane cultivated....Mills....
Sugar-house....Management of Slaves....Regulations, &c. of Slaves.
Two leagues to the northward of Huacho is the villa or town of Huaura;
it consists of one long street and about two thousand inhabitants, some
of whom are respectable creole families; it has a parish church, a
convent of Franciscan friars, and a hospital. Owing to the situation of
this town, having a range of high hills between it and the sea, and
which keep off the sea breeze, it is very sultry; to this circumstance a
cutaneous disease is attributed, which leaves a bluish mark on the skin.
It is most prevalent among the mulattos; and on those negroes who are
affected by it a stain is left which is almost white, and is called by
the natives _carati_.
Near to Huaura is a plantation, the _ingenio_, formerly belonging to the
Jesuits; here the cane is crushed by cylinders put in motion by a water
wheel, which is said to be the first ever constructed in Peru.
A very handsome brick bridge of one arch, the centre of which was
forty-seven yards above the bed of the river, and the span twenty-six
yards wide, was erected at the entrance of the town; it was thrown down
by an earthquake on the 1st of December, 1806, and the old wooden
bridge, which had formerly a redoubt to guard it, has been repaired.
The English pirate Edward David took Huaura and sacked it in 1685,
putting to death the _alcalde de la hermandad_, Don Bias Carrera, whom
he had made his prisoner; this so terrified the inhabitants that they
immediately abandoned the town, nor could they be persuaded to avail
themselves of the drunken state of the sailors during the night to
revenge the injuries they had suffered; they were fearful of being
captured and treated in the same manner as their alcalde. The charter of
villa was taken from the town by the King, but afterwards restored.
The valley of Huaura extends about twelve leagues to the eastward, and
contains many excellent farms, plantations of sugar cane, and about
three thousand slaves.
Seven leagues from Huaura is the village of Supe, with a parish church
and eight hundred inhabitants, the greater part of whom are indians.
Between these towns there is a large plain, called _pampa de medio
mundo_, which before the conquest was under irrigation; the vestiges of
the old canals, _asequias_, are still visible, and bear witness of the
enormous labour of the ancient Peruvians, as well as of their uncommon
skill in conveying water for the purpose of watering their fields to
immense distances, without the aid of engines; the principal asequia
here took its water from the Huaura river, and winding round the foot of
the mountains conveyed it to the distance of ten leagues, irrigating in
its course some very beautiful plains, which are now only deserts of
sand.
Near to Supe are the remains of a large indian town, built on the side
of a rock, galleries being dug out of it, one above another, for the
purpose of making room for their small houses; many remains of these are
still visible, and also of small parapets of stone raised before them,
so that the hill has the appearance of a fortified place. At a short
distance are the ruins of another town, on an elevated plain, where
water doubtless could not be procured for irrigation; for, as I have
already observed, the indians never built on land that could be
cultivated.
I was fully convinced here that the indians buried their dead in the
houses where they had resided, as I dug up many of them. They appear to
have been buried with whatever belonged to them at the time of their
death; I have found women with their pots, pans, and jars of
earthenware, some of which are very curious. One kind is composed of two
hollow spheres, each about three inches in diameter; they are connected
by a small tube placed in the centre, and a hollow arched handle to hold
it by, having a hole on the upper side; if water be poured into this
hole till the jar is about half full, and the jar be then inclined first
to one side and then to the other, a whistling noise is produced.
Sometimes a figure of a man stands on each jar, and the water is poured
down an opening in his head, and by the same means the noise is
occasioned. I saw one of these at the Carmelite nunnery at Quito, having
two indians upon it carrying a corpse on their shoulders, laid on a
hollow bier resembling a butcher's tray; when the jar was inclined
backwards and forwards a plaintive cry was heard, resembling that made
by the indians at a funeral. The jars and other utensils were of good
clay, and well baked, which, with the ingenious construction just
alluded to, prove that the indians were acquainted with the art of
pottery. I have also found in these huacas long pieces of cotton cloth,
similar to that which is made by the indians at the present time, called
tocuyo; many calabashes, quantities of indian corn or maize, quinua,
beans, and the leaves of plantains; feathers of the ostrich from the
plains of Buenos Ayres, and different dresses; some spades of palm wood,
similar to the _chonta_ of Guayaquil, and of which none grow near to
Supe; lances and clubs of the same wood; jars filled with chicha, which
was quite sweet when discovered, but became sour after being exposed to
the air for a short time. I have also found small dolls made of cotton,
their dress similar to that worn at present by the females of Cajatambo
and Huarochiri: it consists of a white petticoat, _anaco_, a piece of
coloured flannel, two corners of which are fastened on the left shoulder
by a cactus thorn, the middle being passed under the right arm, girt
round the waist with a coloured fillet, and open on the left side down
to the bottom; this part of the dress was called the _chaupe anaco_; a
piece of flannel, of another colour, of about two feet square, was
brought over the shoulders and fastened on the breast with two large
pins of silver or gold, called _topas_: this part of the dress is called
the _yiglla_. The hair is divided into two side tresses, and these are
fastened behind, at the extremity, with a coloured fillet. The
principal motive for digging the huacas is to search for treasure; I
have found rings and small cups of gold; they are beat out very thin,
and their size is that of half a hen's egg-shell; it is supposed that
they were worn in the ears, for a small shank is attached to them, like
the buttons worn by the indian females at present. Slips of silver,
about two inches broad and ten long, as thin as paper, are also
frequently dug up. Any small piece of gold which was buried with them is
generally found in their mouths.
Owing to the nitrous quality of the sand, and to its almost perfect
dryness, the bodies are quite entire, and not the least defaced,
although many of them have been buried at least three centuries: the
clothes are also in the same state of preservation, but both soon decay
after being exposed to the sun and air. I dug up one man whose hair grew
from his eyebrows, covering his forehead, or rather he had no visible
forehead; a great quantity of dried herbs had been buried with him, some
small pots, and several dolls: the indians who saw him assured me, that
he had been a _brujo_, a wizard or diviner; but I was inclined to
believe him to have been a physician: however, the two sciences might
be considered by them as somewhat similar.
Many persons are persuaded that these huacas were only burying grounds,
and not places of residence for the living: if so, it shews the respect
which the people had for their dead; but as some of the tribes of wild
indians bury their dead in the house where they lived, and then abandon
it, building for themselves another, this appears to be a sufficient
reason for suspecting that such was the practice with the ancient
Peruvians.
I resided several months at the small village of la Barranca, and I here
witnessed the great earthquake that happened on the 1st of December,
1806, supposed to be one of the periodical shocks felt in Lima and its
vicinity; they have occurred in the following years:--1586, 1609, 1655,
1690, 1716, 1746, and 1806. This earthquake, however, did not extend its
desolating effects to the capital; these appear to have been limited by
the rivers of Barranca and Huaura, an extent of about ten leagues; but
the shock was felt at Ica, a hundred leagues to the southward, although
it was not perceived at Huaras, thirty leagues to the eastward.
No hollow sound was observed to precede this shock, a circumstance
particularly remarked by several of the old people, who said, that it
came on so suddenly, that the dogs did not hear it, nor the pigs smell
it, before every one felt the shock. I inquired their reason for thus
expressing themselves, and was informed, that it had always been found
when the shocks were severe, that they were announced by the howling of
the dogs and the squealing of the pigs. This effect, I think, can only
be accounted for by the dogs lying on the ground, and either hearing the
noise or feeling the motion before either become perceptible to the
people; and probably if any gaseous vapour be ejected the olfactory
nerves of the pigs may be affected by it. Immediately after the
earthquake many people saw red flames rising out of the sea, and others
burning over a low piece of ground on the shore called the Totoral. The
cattle which were feeding here at the time, died shortly afterwards from
the effect produced on the grass by this burning vapour.
The motion of the earth during the shock was oscillatory, resembling the
waves of the sea; and the sensation which I experienced was similar to
that which is felt in a boat when approaching the land. The motion was
so great, that some bottles of wine and brandy, placed on a shelf about
two yards high and three from the door, were thrown from a shop into the
street to a distance of more than two feet from the door; if, therefore,
they fell from the shelf without any projecting impulse to impel them
forward, the wall must have inclined so as to form with its natural base
an angle of 25 degrees.
The ground was rent in several places, and quantities of sand and a
species of mud were thrown into the air. Trees were torn up by the
roots; the church and several of the houses, both here and at Supe, were
destroyed; while Pativilca, a town at only two leagues distance, on the
opposite side of the river, suffered very trivially. The undulations of
the earth lasted twenty-one minutes; but there was no repetition of
shocks, nor was any subterraneous noise heard. The perpendicular height
of the land on the sea side is fifty-three yards, notwithstanding which
several canoes and boats were thrown by the waves nearly to the top, and
left among the trees, and for more than two months afterwards enormous
quantities of fish drifted daily on the beach.
Perhaps the effect produced on the grass at the Totoral, and this on the
fish, may throw some light on the problem of the sterility occasioned
by earthquakes, which I have already noticed--in particular, as the
gaseous matter having become condensed was left on the surface to
produce its effect on the ground, where it could not be washed off by
the rains.
An old mulatto, one of the four men who escaped at Callao in 1746, when
that city was submersed in the sea, assured me, that the convulsion
there did not appear to him so terrible as the one I have just
mentioned.
Near to this village is a convenient port and landing place, called de
la Barranca, and about a mile to the northward of the village is the
river de la Barranca. During the rainy months, in the mountainous
districts of the interior, it is so filled with water, that its passage
is attended with considerable danger without the assistance of the
_chimbadoros_, ferrymen. The bottom is very stony, which also occasions
much danger, if the horses are not sure-footed and accustomed to ford
rivers. The rapidity of the current precludes the use of boats or
canoes, and its width would render the construction of a bridge
extremely expensive. I have often crossed it when the water covered the
space of half a mile, and was divided into thirteen or fourteen
branches, through some of which the horse on which I was mounted had to
swim. About six leagues from the main coast road, and the usual fording
place of the river, there is a bridge of ropes, made from the fibres of
the maguey leaves. These are first crushed between two stones, immersed
in water till the vegetable matter easily separates from the fibres,
when they are taken out, beat with a stick, washed, and dried; the ropes
are then twisted by hand, without the assistance of any machinery, the
fibrous parts of the leaves being inserted when the diminished strength
of the rope requires them. This bridge is called _de Cochas_, from the
small village which stands near to it: it is thirty-eight yards across.
On one side, the principal ropes, five in number, each about twelve
inches in circumference, are fastened to a large beam laid on the
ground, secured by two strong posts buried nearly to their tops: on the
opposite side the beam is secured by being placed behind two small
rocks. Across these five ropes a number of the flower stalks of the
maguey are laid, and upon them a quantity of old ropes and the fibrous
parts of leaves are strewed, to preserve the stalks and the principal
ropes. A net-work, instead of railings, is placed on each side, to
prevent the passengers from falling into the river. Although the whole
construction appears so flimsy, the breadth being only five feet, I
have seen droves of laden mules, as well as horned cattle, cross it; and
I have repeatedly done so myself, on horseback, after I had reconciled
myself to its tremulous motion.
These swing bridges, which are common in South America, are called
_puentes de maroma_, or _de amaca_; and by the indians, _cimpachaca_,
bridge of ropes, or rather, of tresses--as cimpa signifies a platted
tress. Some persons, however, call them _huascachaca_, huasca being more
properly a twisted rope; but I apprehend that they were originally made
from platted ropes, in which the insertion of leaves is more easy.
Bridges of this description were general in Peru before the conquest,
and they are unquestionably the best calculated for a mountainous
country, where some of the ravines requiring them are very steep, and
the currents impetuous. Bridges were likewise formed by the indians by
laying large beams across stone piers; but these were not so common nor
so appropriate as the rope bridges. The largest of them was over the
river Apurimac, which runs between Lima and Cusco, and is crossed by
travellers who frequent this road to and from the ancient and modern
capitals of Peru. The bridge was two hundred and forty feet long, and
nine feet broad; the ends of the principal ropes were fastened on one
side the river to rings of stone, cut in the solid rock: one of these
was broken in 1819, when the stream rose so high that it caught the
bridge, and dragged it away.
Two leagues to the northward of Barranca is the neat village of
Pativilca, without any indian population: it was formerly a country
covered with wood, and a place of retreat for malefactors; but the
Viceroy Castel-forte sent people to form a village, and ordered a church
to be built, offering an indult to all persons who should leave the
bush, and build themselves houses in the town. By this wise policy he
accomplished his end--reclaiming many outcasts, and rendering the road
secure to travellers.
While residing at Barranca I had an excellent opportunity of judging of
the condition of the slaves on the plantations; and I shall here give a
brief account of one of the best regulated that I visited, which was
Huaito, the property of Doña Josefa Salasar de Monteblanco.
This plantation is principally dedicated to the cultivation of cane and
the elaboration of sugar; but a part is destined to ordinary
agricultural pursuits, such as the growth of maize, beans, camotes,
pumpkins, &c., beside some pasture land for cattle. The number of slaves
employed on it, including all descriptions, is six hundred and
seventy-two; and the weight of sugar produced annually, according to the
statement given to me by Don Manuel Sotil, who superintended the
manufactory, is as follows:--
Loaves of clayed Sugar 9555, each weighing }
on an average 50 lbs. at 10 dollars per } 47770 dollars.
quintal }
Chancaca, or coarse brown Sugar in cakes 6000
Coarse Sugar made from the refuse 1500
Molasses sold on the estate 600
-----
Value of produce of Sugar 55870
-----
Expences:--Clothing of slaves at 10 dollars each 3720
Chaplain 200
Surgeon 300
Overseer 500
Sugar boiler 800
Premium to Slaves 600
Drugs 200
----
6320
====
The result of this statement is, that after defraying all the expences
of the cultivation of the cane, and the elaboration of the sugar, the
profit amounted to 49550 dollars.
Besides this profit, another of considerable importance was derived
from the feeding of cattle on extensive fields of lucern, and the
breeding of hogs. There was also generally, a surplus of maize and beans
beyond the consumption of the estate; but without this, according to the
valuation made of the whole estate, including buildings, slaves and
utensils, which amounted to 962000, the clear profit on this capital
exceeded five per cent.; which, with the assistance of the requisite
machinery for cultivating and harvesting the cane, and manufacturing the
sugar, might be doubled.
I have made no deductions for the food of the slaves, because they were
maintained by the produce of the estate, leaving a great surplus for
sale; probably as much in value as would defray the expences of their
clothing.
The cane usually cultivated in Peru is the creole; but in the year 1802
plants of the Otaheitean cane were first introduced at Guayaquil, by Don
Jose Merino, who procured them from Jamaica, whence in 1806 they were
brought to some of the plantations of Peru, and from the advantageous
result which has been experienced in the growth of this cane, it would
follow that the creole will soon be exploded, notwithstanding the
assertion, that the sugar obtained from the cane of Otaheite abounds
more in mucilage than in essential salt, and that it is susceptible of
but a feeble consistency, which exposes it to decomposition on long
voyages, or if it be warehoused any considerable length of time. But the
Peruvian cultivator has neither of these drawbacks to fear, because
there is always an immediate demand for it at home, or the longest
voyage to which it is subjected is to Chile.
The Otaheitean cane, on the same land, and with equal labour with the
creole, grows to the height of nine or ten feet in eighteen or twenty
months, while the creole only grows six in thirty-five or thirty-six
months, at which times they are respectively in a state of maturity. The
large canes of the former are from seven to eight inches in diameter,
but those of the latter seldom exceed three and a half, and the same
measure of juice produces nearly the same weight of sugar: besides this,
the saving of labour at the mills and manufactory is very great. The
cane of Otaheite is more tenacious, and comes from the cylinders whole,
while the creole is frequently completely crushed, and incapable of
being returned to the operation of the cylinders, on which account a
considerable portion of the juice is lost; the pressed cane of Otaheite
is also conveyed to the furnace with much more facility than the other.
The cane is usually planted in the foggy season, that it may have taken
root before the dry weather commences; the land is prepared by repeated
ploughings, and by breaking the lumps of earth with clubs, harrows and
rollers for this purpose being unknown. The ploughs are similar to those
used in Chile, and which I have already described. If suitable ploughs
and other utensils were introduced, it is easy to conceive what great
relief would be given to manual labour; and if the horse or mule were
substituted for the drowsy, slow-paced bullock, the result would be much
more favourable.
The canes are planted in drills made with hoes, so formed, that when the
water for irrigation enters the upper end of a field it can flow without
any hinderance to the lower; but before this operation of watering takes
place the earth is hilled up to the plants. According to the dryness of
the season, and the quality of the land, irrigation is repeated three or
four times during the summer, and owing to the disposal of the furrows
it is neither laborious nor troublesome. The water is generally allowed
to remain on the ground twenty-four hours.
When the cane is ripe it is cut close to the ground, and all the leaves
are stript off, which with the rubbish are left until the whole field be
cut, when they are burnt; and immediately afterwards the roots are
irrigated. The cane is carried to the mill on the backs of asses; but
for this purpose carts might be used with much saving of labour.
In some parts of the province of Guayaquil and on the coast of Choco the
natives, who cultivate the cane for their household consumption of
molasses, guarapo, and rum, cut all that is ripe, leaving that which is
green; they next bare the roots, mix the soil so obtained with the soil
in the furrow, by digging and turning them over, and then hill up the
cane again. By repeating this operation every time they cut their cane,
they have a constant succession of crops, and the plantation never
fails; while in Peru a plantation only yields two crops, for the third
is often scarcely sufficient to plant the ground for the ensuing
harvest.
The general method of pressing the cane is by means of three vertical
grooved brass cylinders, which are put in motion by two pairs of oxen,
yoked to two opposite points of a large wooden wheel, placed above the
cylinders, and attached at its centre to the axle of the central
cylinder, the cogs or teeth of which communicate the rotatory motion to
the other two. This tardy method of pressing is used on many
plantations; but on the one I am now speaking of vertical water-wheels
supply the place of the bullocks, one wheel being attached to each mill.
There is however great room for improvement, particularly in the
adoption of iron cog and lantern wheels, or at least of metal cogs to
the large wheels, iron axletrees, &c.; but rude as the present plan is,
the expence of keeping a considerable number of oxen is avoided.
The juice of the cane is received in the boiling house, in a large
bell-metal pan, a small quantity of lime being first thrown into it;
from this receiver it is carried in large calabashes to a pan ten feet
deep, where it is evaporated to a proper consistency, and at intervals
caustic ley is added to it, prepared at a considerable expence from the
ashes of the _espino_, or _huarango_. After throwing into the pan about
half a pint of this ley, a considerable quantity of fecula rises to the
top, which is immediately taken off with a skimmer made of a large
calabash, bored full of holes. When the syrup has become cool it is put
into another pan, and evaporated to a proper consistency for
crystallization; it is then poured into the moulds, made of common baked
clay, in which it is repeatedly stirred, and on the following day it is
transferred to the purging house, where the plug is taken from the
bottom of the mould, and the coarse molasses run from the sugar. It is
next removed to the claying house; each mould, like an inverted cone, is
placed on a jar, and soft clay of the consistency of batter poured on
the sugar. This operation is repeated three or four times, or till the
loaf is purged from the molasses it contained, when it is taken out of
the mould and carried into the store to dry. The whole process requires
a month or five weeks, according to the season, for it is much sooner
ready for the store house in damp weather than in dry. Unlike other
countries, where the cane is only cut during a certain season, on the
plantations on the coast of Peru it is cut and sugar is made from it
during the whole year.
The pans for boiling the juice are of brass, being a mixture of copper
and tin; the lower pan is generally three feet in diameter at the
bottom, five feet at the top, and five feet deep; the rim which is
placed above this is three feet deep, and above that the brick and wood
work commences, making the whole boiler ten feet deep. The pans,
cylinders, and receivers are cast on the estate by the slaves, and by
them also all the carpentery and blacksmith work are performed.
I have been rather more particular on this subject than some persons
may think necessary; but it has been with the view of opening another
outlet to British manufactures, namely, that of iron machinery and
implements of agriculture. If the evaporation of the cane juice were
effected by heat communicated by steam, or by preventing atmospheric
pressure on the surface of the liquid while boiling, a considerable
quantity of sugar which is burnt by the present method, and which
constitutes the molasses, would be saved: it would be an advantage of at
least thirty per cent. At the same time that I advert to iron machinery
for the mills, as an article worthy the attention of mercantile
speculators, I would also recommend some stills on an improved
principle, for the brandy distilleries at Pisco, Ica, Cañete, and other
vine countries, as well as those of rum; because the political change in
South America will annul the prohibitory colonial law, and because the
sugar manufacturer would be glad to convert to his advantage that refuse
from which the rum is distilled; at present it is a nuisance to him, or
if applied to any use, it is thrown to the oxen and asses, and they eat
it with great avidity.
The management of the slaves here is worthy of the imitation of every
planter, both with regard to the comfort of the negroes, and the
profitable result to the owner. I shall describe the laws established,
and mention some other regulations which I suggested to Doña Josefa,
which she approved, and put in practice: she afterwards frequently told
me, that they deserved to be generally adopted, because they would
eventually tend to ameliorate the condition of the slave and benefit the
proprietor.
A slave was never flogged at Huaito without the consent of the mistress,
who, having heard the complaint made by the overseer or other
task-master, adjudged the number of lashes to be inflicted, or else
determined on some other means of punishment, which she thought more
proper. Her motive for this regulation was, to prevent their being
improperly chastised by any one during the heat of passion, or perhaps
under the influence of revenge. The slave was never questioned as to the
imputed delinquency, because, as she observed, it would only induce them
to disregard the overseer, if he were not implicitly believed, or the
slave were allowed to contradict him. When any doubt presented itself,
she would sometimes send for some other slave, who had either been
present or was near at the time, and make the necessary inquiry; but she
would often say, that she trusted very little to what they said about
each other, quoting the old Spanish proverb as a reason, _la peor cuña,
is del mismo palo_, the worst wedge is from the same block.
No slave was punished privately; those at least were present who were
acquainted with the crime which had been committed.
If a slave absented himself, and were afterwards caught, he was
sentenced for the first offence to carry a chain at his leg as many
weeks as he had been absent days; for a repetition, he was sentenced to
the mill, where the most laborious work is to be done; it is also
esteemed the most degrading situation, very few except delinquents being
employed at it. If a recurrence took place, the slave was kept at the
mill during the day with a chain to his leg, and slept in the gaol
during the night. If the fugitive returned home and presented himself to
his mistress, he was pardoned for the first offence; the penalty of the
first was inflicted if it were the second; and that of the second if it
were the third; after which, if the slave persevered in running away he
was sold.
To promote marriages, all children born out of wedlock were sold while
young; and as the slaves, except some few domestic servants, were all
negroes, if a tawny child made its appearance it was also sold: this
mode was adopted to prevent the negresses from having any intercourse
with the people of the neighbouring villages.
The negresses from the age of eleven or twelve years were kept separate
from the men, and slept within the walls of the house, under the care of
a _duenna_, until they were married.
The greatest care was taken of child-bearing women, both with regard to
relief from work and the administration of proper food; a separate
building, called the lying-in hospital, was furnished with beds and
other comforts for them; and if a slave reared six children so that they
could walk, she obtained her liberty, or a release from work for herself
and husband for three days in each week; when, if they worked on the
estate, they were regularly paid for their labour.
As an improvement of this regulation, I proposed the allowing one day of
rest weekly either to the father or the mother for each child; and Doña
Josefa acknowledged the propriety of it, for, said she, the manumission
of a slave is his ruin if young, and the origin of his distress if old.
She assured me that, at different times, she had given freedom to fifty
slaves, out of whom, she was sorry to say, she could not find one
useful member of society; much less one that was grateful to herself,
although all of them were young at the time they were manumitted, and
some had been put to different trades at her expence. I have frequently
observed, that nine-tenths of the convicts for different crimes at Lima
were freed slaves, generally zambos.
I am convinced from experience, that if proper magistrates were
appointed in all districts where there is a number of slaves, each
having a competent salary for his subsistence, but removeable every
year, to prevent private connexions with the planters, that the state of
slavery would be freed from its greatest evil, that of a human creature
being subjected to the whip of an offended, irritable, or unjust master;
for how can justice prevail where the plaintiff is the judge, and the
defendant the criminal? or when _a prima instantia_ the accused is
brought to receive his sentence, or suffer the infliction of an
arbitrary punishment. If proprietors were prohibited from using the
whip, or any other cruel chastisements, without the concurrence of an
order from the magistrate, who should inquire summarily into the
circumstances, under the penalty of a heavy fine, the odious epithet of
slave-driver would lose its stigma, at the same time that the slave
would reverence the law that protected as well as punished him, instead
of hating his arbitrary master, and lurking for an opportunity of
revenge. It is the interest as well as the duty of a master to preserve
the health and life of his slave, and the slave has only to dread the
presence of his master under the influence of passion or misinformation:
let this occasion for the exercise of cruelty be avoided, by
transferring the authority to punish from the interested master to an
unbiassed person, and the hand of justice would fall like the
invigorating dew of heaven, while that of passion often rages like the
destructive tornado.
The principal food of the slaves at Huaito was the flour of maize boiled
with water to the consistency of a hardish paste, to this was added a
quantity of molasses; and beans boiled in the same manner. They had meat
once or twice a week, either fresh or jerked beef. The quantity allowed
was quite sufficient; and I have frequently seen them feeding their
poultry with what they could not eat. Each married man and each widow or
widower was presented annually with a small pig, which they reared with
the refuse of the cane, and some pumpkins which they cultivated: it was
afterwards fattened with maize from their own small plots of ground.
This was an inducement to the slaves to marry, and it kept them from
strolling abroad on Sundays and holidays. Indeed, all the married had
small portions of land allotted to them, and were allowed the use of the
oxen and ploughs belonging to the estate. On an average two hundred fat
pigs were sold annually by the slaves at Huaito, and these generally
produced twelve dollars each; so that two thousand four hundred dollars
were distributed yearly among the slaves for this article alone; but
several of the more industrious fed two, three, or four pigs, by
purchasing maize for them. A convincing proof of their comfortable life
was afforded on a Sunday afternoon; many of the negresses, dressed in
white muslins or gaudily printed calicoes, gold ear-rings, rosaries and
necklaces, stockings and coloured shoes, and a profusion of
handkerchiefs, might be seen dancing with the negro youths to the sound
of their large drums and unharmonious songs: this exhibition certainly
evinced that their minds were uncankered with care.
Each slave had two working dresses given to him yearly; the men a
flannel shirt and woollen trowsers--the women a flannel petticoat and a
cotton shirt with long sleeves; they had also an allowance of blankets
and ponchos, but whatever other clothes they possessed were purchased
by themselves. Weekly premiums and a small quantity of tobacco were
given according to the class of work in which they were individually
employed; they were also permitted to have the skimmings and other
refuse from the sugar-house for their _guarapo_ or fermented drink.
The _galpon_, where the slaves lived, on this as on every other
plantation, was a large square enclosure, walled round about twelve feet
high; it was divided into streets, having an open square in the centre
for dancing and their other amusements; the small houses were uniform,
and whitewashed, which with the clean streets made a very neat
appearance. The slaves slept in the galpon, by which means they were
kept from visiting the neighbouring villages or plantations and from
committing depredations.
Mass was celebrated every morning at six o'clock, and those who chose to
hear it had sufficient time, as the field labourers never went to work
till seven; their tasks were light, they had two hours' rest at noon,
and always returned at six in the evening, and many at four in the
afternoon; after which they attended to their own little farms. I am
certain that a labourer in England does more work in _one_ day than any
slave I ever saw in the Spanish colonies performs in _three_. Those
employed at the mills are more hours at work; but this is considered a
punishment: those employed in the sugar-house have also more hours to
attend; but they have always sufficient rest between the time of
emptying one pan and waiting till it boils again, and this leisure some
occupy in making baskets or in knitting stockings for their own profit.
The slaves are mustered at mass on Sundays and holidays, and are
required to confess, and receive the communion once a year. The chaplain
teaches the boys and girls the necessary prayers and catechisms, and
superintends the moral conduct of the slaves, being allowed to order
them for punishment in cases of misbehaviour, on reporting them to their
mistress.
I am ignorant of the treatment which the slaves may receive in the
British colonies; but I feel loath to believe that that mercy which I
have observed to guide the actions of a Spaniard or a Spanish creole
should be a stranger in the breast of an Englishman or an English
creole. If the lot of English slaves be not worse than that of Spanish
slaves, they are more fortunate and more happy than the labouring
classes at home. I have no doubt, but that if a slave were brought to
England, and subjected to the half-starved and hard-worked state of a
day-labourer--to experience all his penury and all his privations--he
would lift up his hands, and request that he might return to his master,
who fed him when hungry, clothed him when naked, and attended to his
wants when sick. If any thing be really wanting to ameliorate the
condition of the English slave, let a wise legislature enact such
regulations as will secure it to him; not place in his hand a weapon
wherewith to sacrifice his master in a fit of frantic exasperation; let
English slaves enjoy the blessings of the English poor, the boast of
every Englishman--an impartial distribution of justice--an equality in
the administration of the law. It is as preposterous to suppose that the
same law should not govern the master and the slave, as that a judge
should not be amenable to the law by which he judges others: and I
sincerely hope, for the honour of my country and countrymen, that they
all feel as did my Uncle Toby: "'tis the fortune of war that has put the
whip into our hands now, where it will be afterwards heaven only knows;
but be it where it will, the brave, Trim, will never use it unkindly."
END OF VOLUME I.
_Printed by Harris and Co.
Liverpool._