CHAPTER XXIV.
Rio de Janeiro.
December 30th.—It was quite a trial to bid adieu to the charms of San Aliexo. My kind host and hostess were earnest in their persuasions to detain me through the holidays; and I would most readily have yielded, but for an engagement to officiate, on Christmas morning, at the marriage of Miss K——, the daughter of the American consul, to Mr. R—— of the family of that name, already so often mentioned. The groom, though a native of Brazil, claims, through his father, the rights of a British subject; and the civil contract took place, in conformity with an act of parliament, in the presence of the British consul, at his office, at an early hour of the day. The marriage was afterwards solemnized by me, according to the Protestant service, in the drawing-room of the American consulate; and, Mr. R—— being a Romanist, a third ceremony occurred, as at the wedding of Miss R——, his sister, last August, in the private chapel of the country house of Mr. M——, his maternal grandfather.
The company assembled at the consulate was large, and the retinue of carriages by which it was conveyed the long drive to Mr. M——’s, quite imposing. Four-in-hand is the usual turn-out here, for such a distance, and Mr. Schenck, the American minister, led the way, next after the bride and groom, in an elegant chariot drawn by four beautiful white horses. Commodore McKeever’s carriage had four fine mules. I was of his party. The sky was slightly overcast with fleecy clouds, and the coachman’s box being so lofty as to overlook the walls and hedges, which screen so much of the taste and beauty of the suburbs from view on the level of the street, in defiance of every Brazilian idea of dignity, I perched myself upon it, for the greater enjoyment of the drive. The day being a general festival, the whole population of the city was in the streets in holiday dress; and in the extended suburbs through which we skirted our way, the inhabitants—by whole families—were everywhere seen in the verandahs and lawns and door-yards of the houses, in the cheerful and quiet enjoyment of the fiesta. A fondness for splendor and display of every kind—in dress, furniture and equipage—is strikingly a characteristic of the people here; and the showy procession, recognized as a bridal cortège, created quite a sensation as it dashed onward—manifestly exciting the admiration and lively sympathies of the observers.
From my elevated and unconfined position, I enjoyed the whole much; and feasted, the entire distance, on the gorgeous display of flowers, exhibited in the succession of tasteful gardens and pleasure-grounds which I overlooked.
The mansion and grounds of Mr. M—— I described to you in connection with the previous wedding. The religious ceremony now, was the same in every particular, from the scattering of the rose leaves and orange buds before the bride in the procession from the drawing-room to the chapel, to the showering of the same over her and the whole company, with the closing benedictions at the altar. A concert in the music-room immediately succeeded the ceremony, and continued till the banquet was served at six o’clock. This was more luxurious, if possible, in the variety and costliness of its delicacies, native and foreign, in season and out of season, than on the former occasion; and superb in its table-service and plate. The decorations in flowers alone, would, in a less favored climate, have formed no inconsiderable item of expense; while the fruits, in the perfection of their kinds—all freshly gathered—pines, figs, oranges, sweet-lemons, grapes in clusters like those of Eshcol, bananas, mangoes, and melons, were most artistically arranged. After coffee in the drawing-room, dancing was commenced; and, taking our leave, we were safely on board ship shortly after ten o’clock.
Thus passed my Christmas, and thus is our compatriot, Miss K——, married; and, in the language of the world, “well married.” But alas! married in Brazil: away from an American home; away from the intelligence and high cultivation of American life; away from the pure morals, spiritual aspirations, and religious privileges of American Christianity; away from almost every thing that I would wish an American girl to hold most dear!
January 7th, 1852.—This festive period of the year presents constant opportunities of witnessing the slave and negro population in holiday aspects. For many nights past, Gloria Hill, at which the Commodore’s barge usually lands in our evening visits to the shore, has echoed till a late hour with the songs, the wild music, and the tread of the dance in their favorite amusements; and yesterday afternoon, I accidentally became a spectator of a grand gathering of the kind. It was “Twelfth” or “King’s day,” as sometimes called,—being that commemorative of the adoration of the Magi in the stable of Bethlehem; and is a chief festival with the negroes.
I left the ship with the intention of taking, once more, the long walk through the valley of the Larangeiras to the aqueduct, and thence to the city by the hill of Santa Theresa. When about half way up the Larangeiras, however, my attention was arrested by a large gathering of negroes within an enclosure by the wayside, engaged in their native, heathen dances, accompanied by the wild and rude music brought with them from Africa. I stopped to witness the scene: a counterpart, in most respects, to those which, during the first period of my residence at the Sandwich Islands, attended the orgies of pagan revelry there. Many of the principal performers, both among the dancers and musicians, were dressed in the most wild and grotesque manner—some, as if in impersonation of the Prince of Evil himself, as pictured with hoof and horns and demoniac mien. Many of the dances surpassed in revolting licentiousness, any thing I recollect to have witnessed in the South Seas; and filled my mind with melancholy disgust: the more so, from the fact, that a majority, if not all the performers, as was manifest from the crosses and amulets they wore, were baptized members of the Romish Church—Christians in name, but in habits and in heart heathens still. Exhibitions of this kind are far from being limited here to extraordinary holidays, or to the seclusion of by-places. I have seen them in open daylight, in the most public corners of the city, while young females even, of apparent respectability and modesty, hung over the surrounding balconies as spectators.
I know not how long the revelry had now been going on; but either from the free use of cacha, the vile rum of the country, or from nervous excitement, many seemed fairly beside themselves. These danced till ready to drop from exhaustion; while shouts of encouragement and applause followed the persevering efforts of those who were most enduring and most frantic in muscular exertion. The performers on the African drums and other rude instruments, who accompanied the monotonous beating and thrumming upon these with loud songs, in solo and chorus, of similar character, seemed especially to enter into the spirit of the revelry, and labored with hands and voice and a vehemence of action in their whole bodies, that caused the sweat to roll down their naked limbs as if they had just stepped from a bath of oil.
By the time I had finished these observations, the evening was too far advanced for the walk upon which I had started, and I retraced my steps to the Catete, the principal street, connecting the city with the bay and suburbs of Botefogo. In it, toward evening, the wealth and fashion of the city, especially in the diplomatic and foreign circles, is generally met in carriages and on horseback for the daily afternoon drive. Many of the equipages equal in elegance those in New York and other of our chief cities; while well-mounted riders, liveried coachmen, footmen, and grooms, give to the whole quite the air of a metropolis. That, however, which most struck me on the present occasion, was an amusing side-scene. Though less generally the custom than formerly, it is still the habit of some of the bourgeoisie of Rio, at least on Sundays and great holidays, to promenade to and from church, by whole families, parents and children, from adults to infants, with a retinue of servants—in their best dresses, and in formal procession of two and two. The sight thus presented is interesting, and often amusing, from the formality and stately solemnity with which they move along. The servants bring up the rear, and, whether male or female, are usually as elaborately, if not as expensively dressed as the rest of the family: and often, in the case of the women, with an equal display of laces, muslins, and showy jewelry. Apparently in imitation of this usage of the white population—or rather of the Portuguese and Brazilian, for there are no whites among the native born here—two jet black African women, richly and fashionably attired, came sauntering along with the most conscious air of high-bred self-possession. They were followed by a black female servant, also in full dress, carrying a black baby three or four months old, and decked out in all the finery of an aristocratic heir—an elaborately wrought, lace-frilled and rosetted cap, and long flowing robe of thin muslin beautifully embroidered, and ornamented with lace. Every one seemed struck with this display; and I was at a loss to determine whether it was a bona fide exhibition of the pride of life, or only in burlesque of it, with the design of “shooting folly as it flies.” The common blacks, crowding the doors and gateways, burst into shouts of laughter as they passed; while the nurse, at least, of the party showed evidence of a like disposition. Indeed, I think I did not mistake, while looking back upon the group, in seeing the fat sides and shoulders of the black ladies themselves, notwithstanding their lofty bearing and stately step, shake with merriment, under the slight drapery of their fashionable and elegantly finished mantillas.
These may have been persons of wealth, and of respectable and even fashionable position in society; for color does not fix the social position here, as with us at home. It is a striking fact, that in a country where slavery exists in its most stringent form, there is little of the Anglo-Saxon prejudice in this respect, so universal in the United States. Condition, not color, regulates the grades in social life. A slave is a menial, not because he is black, but because he is a slave. In Brazil, all the avenues to wealth and office are open to the free man of color, if he has character and talents, and the ability to advance in them. As I recollect to have stated before, the officers of the standing army and of the municipal guards and militia, exhibit every shade of color as they stand side by side in their ranks; and I learn from Gov. Kent, that the leading lawyer of Rio is a mulatto. Some of the members of Congress, too, bear evidence of negro blood; and the Governor says, that he has met at the Imperial balls in the palace the “true ebony and topaz” in “ladies and gentlemen black as jet,” yet glittering, like the rest, with diamonds.
As to the general treatment of slaves by their owners, it probably does not differ in Brazil from that exhibited wherever there is irresponsible power. House-servants in Rio are said to have easy times, and to do very much as they please; but to judge by the instances I have seen of field laborers, I fear such have but a sad and wearisome life.
The eventual effect of the abolition of the slave trade, will doubtless be to ameliorate the treatment of the slaves, and particularly that of their children. In former years, when the price of a slave was only a hundred and twenty milreis, or about sixty dollars, it seemed to have passed into a settled principle, as a mere matter of profit and pecuniary calculation, that it was cheaper to “use up” the blacks by constant hard labor, and by extorting from them the utmost profit, and when they sunk under it to make new purchases, than to raise children or to extend the term of service by more moderate labor; but now, when the price of a slave has advanced to six and seven hundred dollars, the estimates in the economy of the case will be different; and both parents and children will fare better.
The incidental mention of the annoyance experienced by Mr. M—— of San Aliexo, in getting admittance into the country of the machinery requisite for the establishment of his factory, except by the payment of enormous duties, reminds me of noting some facts connected with the regulations of the Custom House here, derived from authority on the subject so reliable as my friend, the American Consul. These are a source of continual disgust to foreigners, particularly to masters of vessels, and those engaged in maritime matters. They are fifty years behind the age: reach to every minute particular, and seem to be framed with especial reference to fines and penalties. Indeed, one of the items in the annual estimates of expected receipts by the government, is fines on foreign vessels; and to seize and fine, appears to be a fixed purpose of the officials. A few pounds of tea, a pig, cups and saucers, and other small articles of the kind, not on the list of stores, or in the judgment of the visiting inspector an extra number for the size of the vessel, are at once seized and sold at auction at the Custom House door, to swell the receipts of the Imperial treasury. It is said that nothing but a metallic substance, held before the eyes, or placed in the palm of the hands, will prevent these petty seizures. Sometimes the articles seized are of considerable worth, and, in addition to the loss of their value, would lead to the imposition of a heavy fine. No discrimination or distinction seems to be made between cases of accident, ignorance, good faith and honest intentions, and those of designed and evident attempts to smuggle or to evade the law.
It makes no difference whether there is more or less in the shipment than the manifest calls for; if too much, then it is evidence of a design to smuggle the excess—if too little, it is evidence of fraud on the other side. The bed they make is that of Procrustes. If there is a barrel of flour—or any other article—more or less in the cargo than in the manifest, a forfeiture and fine follow with unyielding certainty. One regulation is, that a master shall give in a list of his stores within twenty-four hours after his arrival. This, it is expected, will include every thing. But it is impossible to know to what extent at times the regulation will be carried. In one instance, recently, a hawser—which had been used, and was in a long coil on deck, ready for immediate use again, and was necessary for the safe navigation of the ship,—was seized, on the ground that it was not in the list rendered. The master remonstrated, and set forth the facts—protesting that he should as soon have included his masts and boats, his anchors and cables, as this hawser; but all the authorities of the Custom House refused to give it up, and the vessel sailed without it. It was only after the question had been pending a long time before the higher authorities, on the strong representation of the American Minister, that restoration to the proper owners was made.
No person is allowed to go on board any vessel, before the discharge of the cargo, without a custom house permit. A poor sailor, a Greek by birth, who came here in an American vessel, and was discharged at his own request, was passing an English vessel in a boat a few days afterwards, and being thirsty, asked for a drink of water: the man on board told him to come up the side and get it. He did so, and after drinking the water returned to his boat. A guard-boat saw and arrested him. He pleaded entire ignorance of the regulation of the port, but in vain: he was fined a hundred milreis, and being unable to pay, was sentenced to be imprisoned one hundred days, or at the rate of a day for each milreis of the fine. He was eventually released, however, through the intervention of Gov. Kent.
Even the consul of a foreign nation must obtain a written permit before he can visit a vessel of his own nation, till she is discharged. The permit in any case is in force only for a single day. It must, too, be stamped at a cost of eight cents. Indeed, every paper of an official nature must be stamped. No note or bill of exchange is valid, unless stamped within thirty days of its date: the duty or the stamp being proportioned to the amount of the note or bill. The revenue derived by the government from this source, is, of course, large.
The want of confidence, indicated by the minuteness and rigid exactment of these custom-house regulations, is said to be a characteristic trait of the people. There is great external civility towards each other; many bows are exchanged, and frequent pinches of snuff, and there is an abundance of polite and complimentary speech; but, full and frank confidence in the intentions, purposes and words of those with whom they deal, seems to be greatly wanting. Some light may be gained upon this point from the fact that by public opinion, by the criminal code, and by the actual administration of the law, offences against the person are looked upon as of a higher grade than the crimen falsi. To strike a man in the street with the open palm, and even under extreme provocation, is the great crime next to murder; and so of all offences against the person. An assault is considered an insult and an indignity, as well as a breach of the peace.
Direct stealing is visited with condign punishment; but all the crimes coming under the charge of obtaining money or goods under false pretences, and those involving forgery, lying, deception and fraud of all kinds, seem to meet with more lenient treatment. Convictions in cases of such crimes are not often obtained, and when they are, the sentences are very light. A short time ago, a very congratulatory article was inserted in the newspapers intended in perfect seriousness as a warning to evil doers, which called public attention to the gratifying fact, that two men had been convicted of gross perjury in swearing in court, and had each been sentenced to imprisonment for one month!
It is but just, however, to say, that in no country is there greater security for person and property. Though petty theft is not uncommon, robbery is almost unknown; and offences involving violence, daring, and courage of a reckless kind, are very infrequent.
The recent trial of a foreigner on a charge of murder, gave me an opportunity of observing the process in the criminal court. The preliminary measures after an arrest for crime, are somewhat similar to those which are taken in like cases, before a magistrate at home. The party is arraigned and verbally examined by the subdelegado, or justice of the district in which the crime charged has been committed. This examination is reduced to writing. The accused is asked his age, his business, and other questions, more or less varied and minute, at the discretion and pleasure of the justice. He is not compelled to answer, but his silence may lead to unfavorable inferences against him. After the examination of the prisoner himself, witnesses are examined. If these are foreigners, the official translator of the government attends, to translate the answers, all of which are written down by the clerk. The witnesses are sworn on the Evangelists, the open hand being placed on the book, but this is not kissed as with us. One custom struck me favorably, in comparison with the business-like and mere matter of form mode of administering an oath in courts at home. In every instance here, all rise—court, officers, bar and spectators, and stand during the ceremony. All rise, too, and stand while the jury retires.
After the preliminary examination is completed, the magistrate decides whether or not the accused shall be held for trial; and submits the papers with his decision to a superior officer, who usually confirms it, and the accused is imprisoned, or released on bail.
It is only in criminal cases that a jury forms a part of the judicial administration. As with us, it consists of twelve men. Forty-eight are summoned for the term; and the panel for each trial is selected by lot, the names being drawn by a boy, who hands the paper to the presiding judge. In capital cases, challenges are allowed, without the demand of cause. The jury being sworn and empanelled, the prisoner is again examined by the judge, sometimes at great length and with great minuteness, not only as to his acts, but to his motives. The record of the former proceedings, including all the testimony, is then read. If either party desire, the witnesses may be again examined, if present, but they are not bound over, as with us, to appear at the trial. Hence the examination of the accused and of the witnesses at the preliminary process, is very important and material. In many instances, the case is tried and determined entirely upon the record, as it comes up.
After reading the record, the government introduces such witnesses as it sees fit, and the prosecuting officer addresses the jury. The defendant then introduces his witnesses, and his advocate addresses the jury, sometimes at considerable length. The prosecuting attorney, if he desires it again, speaks in reply; and sometimes the argument becomes rather colloquial and tart, the questions and answers being bandied rather sharply.
The judge charges the jury briefly, and gives them a series of questions in writing, to be answered on the return of the verdict. The decision of the case is by majority—unanimity not being required, even in criminal cases. The questions put by the judge relate not merely to acts, but to motives, character, and other things, which may extenuate or aggravate the offence and sentence, and cover usually the whole case in all direct and remote accessories. A case begun, is always finished without an adjournment of the court, though it should continue through the day and entire night.
In the arrangement of the court-room, the judge with his clerk sits on one side, and the prosecuting officer on the other; the jury at semi-circular tables on either side. Two tribunes are erected, one at the end of each table, for the lawyers engaged in the case; these usually address the jury sitting. The lawyers not engaged in the suit in hand, are accommodated in a kind of pew, under the gallery, which a stranger would be likely, at first, to take for the criminal’s box or bar.
Public executions very seldom occur. There seems to be a repugnance to the taking of human life, if there is any possible chance to substitute imprisonment for life, or a term of years. Every point of excuse or mitigation is seized upon. One cannot wonder at this, when he regards the mode of capital punishment, the barbarous and revolting one of Portugal and Spain—a relic of barbarism, in which the condemned is ordered up a ladder under the gallows, and then forced to jump off, when another man immediately ascending, mounts the shoulders of the poor wretch, and jumps up and down upon him, with his hand over his mouth till he is dead. Those who have witnessed it, represent it as a most awful and revolting spectacle. This executioner is usually a criminal condemned himself to death, who is allowed to live by agreeing to perform the savage act when required. The old Portuguese custom of gratifying every wish of the condemned, as to food and clothing, is still retained; and for the twenty-four hours preceding his execution, the poorest black slave can order whatever in these respects his fancy dictates: segars, and wine, and luxuries of every kind are at his command.
Montevideo.
January 30th.—Intelligence from the Plata led to the return of the Congress to this place, on the 24th inst. Mr. Schenck, American Minister at the court of Brazil, came passenger with us, as the guest of Commodore McKeever.
During the three months of our absence, public interest, in political and military affairs, has been gradually centering at Buenos Ayres. The siege of Montevideo being raised, and the Argentine troops which had so long invested her having become part and parcel of the army of Urquiza, and been withdrawn by him to the territory of which he is captain-general, preparations have been in gradual process for a demonstration against Rosas, by the combined forces of Entre Rios and Brazil. Aware of this, every effort has been made by the wary Dictator, to rally his partisans, to give fresh force to the prestige of his name, and to excite the popular feeling in his favor. To aid in this, all the winning power of his accomplished daughter, has been brought forward. To afford better room for its exercise, a public ball of great magnificence was given at the new opera-house in Buenos Ayres. At this, Doña Manuelita held a kind of court; and, after having received throughout its course the homage of a queen, was, at its close, drawn in a triumphal car, by the young men of the city, to the governmental mansion. New levies of troops had been raised and drilled, and the whole city and country placed under martial law.
A fortnight ago, Urquiza and the allied army of thirty thousand, crossed the Parana without opposition; and, invading the province of Buenos Ayres, advanced within twenty miles of the city. It is now a week since Rosas, leaving Palermo at the head of twenty thousand soldiers, took the field in person, to oppose his further progress. It is said that previous to the march, Doña Manuelita, attired in a riding-dress of scarlet velvet embroidered with gold, and splendidly mounted, reviewed the troops; and, like Queen Elizabeth on the approach of the Spanish Armada, delivered to them an animated and inspiriting address.
A crisis, it is evident, is not far distant; and all is intense expectation. The universal impression is, that Rosas must fall. It is believed that there is treachery around him. An advance guard, in command of Pachecho, one of his best generals, has been defeated under circumstances which leads to the belief that, like Oribe at Montevideo, this officer had a secret understanding with Urquiza; and that the issue at Buenos Ayres will speedily be the same as that which occurred here four months ago—the triumph of Urquiza, through the desertion to him of the opposing soldiery.
This state of affairs led Mr. Schenck and Commodore McKeever, with Secretary G——, to proceed at once to Buenos Ayres. Captain Taylor of the marines was of the party, a company from the guard of the Congress under his command having, with Lieut. Holmes, been ordered to Buenos Ayres by the Commodore for the protection of American citizens and their property, in case of the overthrow of the existing power. As the crew are to have general liberty on shore here, during the passing fortnight—a time when my vocation for good seems to be suspended, and which, both on shipboard and on shore, is to me ever one of trial—I was urged much to accompany the party. Two reasons, however, forbade this—one, the still precarious state of a lad, who, the day we entered the river, fell from a height of ninety-six feet to the deck, without being killed outright; and the other, an engagement to officiate at the marriage of Dr. W——, one of the assistant surgeons of the Congress, to my friend, G—— H——, a daughter of the American Consul. This is appointed for the 5th of February, till when, at least, I must remain at Montevideo.
I have been twice only on shore—once with Captain Pearson, to accompany him in an official call; and again, one afternoon for a short walk. I had not intended being away from the ship more than an hour; but, shortly after attempting to return, when not a half mile from the shore, a furious tempest came rushing upon us. There was no alternative but to return to the landing before it. It was so sudden and so violent, that before the boat could well be secured within the mole by the crew, the whole bay was in a foam, and a heavy sea rolling over it. It was impossible to communicate with the ship the next day; and the following night was still more tempestuous. The hotels of the city afford but indifferent accommodations; and I availed myself in the detention of the ever free hospitality of Mr. F——. I improved the opportunity, too, by calling on the various families of the British Church before I should meet them again at the services of the chapel on the Sabbath. The last day, however, was taken up wholly in reading with absorbing and affecting interest, a manuscript loaned me by Mr. Lafone, and recently received by him from Terra del Fuego. I mentioned, under a date at Rio six months or nine ago, the arrival there of H. B. M. ship Dido, on her way to the Pacific, with orders from the admiralty to visit Terra del Fuego and the adjacent small islands, in search of a company of missionaries who had gone from England the year previous, but from whom nothing had been heard. A schooner chartered by Mr. Lafone, and sent by him about that time with the same object, anticipated the errand of the man-of-war, with melancholy result. The whole party, consisting of Captain Gardiner of the Royal Navy, Mr. Williams, a physician, Mr. Maidenant, a catechist, and four boatmen, perished from hunger and exposure, in the inclemency of the last winter there. The graves of some were found, and the unburied bodies of the rest. Among the effects is the full journal of Mr. Williams, from the time of his departure from England, till within a few days, as is supposed, of the death of the whole.[[3]]
[3]. See Memoir of Richard Williams, published by the Messrs. Carter.
Their object was the conversion and civilization of the poor degraded savages of those dreary and forbidding regions. Though Captain Gardiner, the projector and leader of the enterprise, had navigated the waters of Cape Horn, and become familiar with the region while on service in the navy, he was ignorant of the language of the natives, and was without an interpreter. Failing to establish friendly relations with the brutish people, the whole party became impressed with the idea, either with or without sufficient cause, that their lives were in jeopardy from them; and, abandoning the shore, in a great measure, they took to the water in frail and ill-appointed boats. In these they fled from bay to bay, and from islet to islet, till worn out with fatigue and exhausted from want of food, they fell victims to sickness, starvation, and death. Mr. Williams, to whose journal the remark I first made refers, abandoned, at very short notice, a handsome practice in his profession, a choice circle of friends, and a happy home in England, for the enterprise of philanthropy in which he so soon perished. From the record he has left it is evident that he was a deeply experienced and devout Christian: simple-minded, frank, and pure in heart. In this faithful diary, every thought and feeling of his inmost soul seems fully unbosomed. His faith never failed him, under the most afflictive and dispiriting trials; and his soul continued to be triumphantly joyous amidst the most grievous destitution and suffering of the body. I read the details of the journal as penned in the original manuscript by such a man with intense interest; and came off to the ship, deeply impressed in mind and heart, with the sadness of the tragedy which put an end to the record.