RIO DE JANEIRO.
eaten by the horses, and the roots are ground into a pulp,
which, when pressed dry and baked, forms the farinha, the
principal article of sustenance in the Brazils. It is a curious,
though well-known fact, that the expressed juice of this
most nutritious plant is highly poisonous. A few years ago
a cow died at this Fazenda, in consequence of having drunk
some of it. Senhor Figuireda told me that he had planted,
the year before, one bag of feijao or beans, and three of
r ic e ; the former of which produced eighty, and the latter
three hundred and twenty fold. The pasturage supports a
fine stock of cattle, and the woods are so full of game, that a
deer had been killed on each of the three previous days.
This profusion of food showed itself at dinner, where, if the
tables did not groan, the guests surely did : for each person
is expected to eat of every dish. One day, having, as I
thought, nicely calculated so that nothing should go away
untasted, to my utter dismay a roast turkey and a pig appeared
in aU their substantial reality. During the meals, it
was the employment of a man to drive out of the room
sundry old hounds, and dozens of little black children,
which crawled in together, at every opportunity. As long as
the idea of slavery could be banished, there was something
exceedingly fascinating in this simple and patriarchal style of
liv in g : it was such a perfect retirement and independence
of the rest of the world. As soon as any stranger is seen
arriving, a large bell is set tolling, and generally some small
cannon are fired. The event is thus announced to the rocks
and woods, but to nothing else. One morning I walked out
an hour before daylight to admire the solemn stillness of the
scene; at last, the silence was broken by the morning hymn,
raised on high by the whole body of the blacks; and in
this manner, their daily work is generally begun. On such
fazendas as these, I have no doubt the slaves pass happy and
contented lives. On Saturday and Sunday they work for
themselves, and in this fertile climate the labour of two days
is sufficient to support a man and his family for the whole
week.
A p r i l 1 4 t i i .—Leaving Socego, we rode to another estate
on the Rio Macae, which was the last patch of cultivated
ground in that direction. The estate was two and a half
miles long, and the owner had forgotten how many broad.
Only a very small piece had been cleared, yet almost every
acre was capable of yielding all the various rich productions
of a tropical land. Considering the enormous area of Brazil,
the proportion of cultivated ground can scarcely be considered
as any thing, compared to that which is left in the
state of nature : at some future age, how vast a population it
will support! During the second day’s journey we found
the road so shut up, that it was necessary that a man should
go ahead with a sword to cut away the creepers. The forest
abounded with beautiful objects; among which the tree
ferns, though not large, were, from their bright green foliage,
and the elegant curvature of their fronds, most worthy of admiration.
In the evening it rained very heavily, and although
the thermometer stood at 65°, I felt very cold. As soon as
the rain ceased, it was curious to observe the extraordinary
evaporation which commenced over the whole extent of the
forest. At the height of a hundred feet the hills were buried
in a dense white vapour, which rose like columns of smoke
from the most thickly-wooded parts, and especially from the
valleys. I observed this phenomenon on several occasions :
I suppose it is owing to the large surface of foliage, jire-
viously heated by the sun’s rays.
While staying at this estate, I was very nearly being an
eyewitness to one of those atrocious acts, which can only
take place in a slave country. Owing to a quarrel and a lawsuit,
the owner was on the point of taking all the women and
children from the men, and selling them separately at the
public auction at Rio. Interest, and not any feeling of compassion,
prevented this act. Indeed, I do not believe the
inhumanity of separating thirty families, who had hved together
for many years, even occurred to the person. Yet I
will pledge myself, that in humanity and good feeling, he