Previous to my arrival in Brazil, I had been led to believe, from the reports that have been published in England, that the condition of the slave in that country was the most wretched that could be conceived; and the accounts which I heard when I landed—from individuals whom I now find to have been little informed on the point—tended to confirm that belief. A few years’ residence in the country, during which I saw more than has fallen to the lot of most Europeans, has led me to alter very materially those early impressions. I am no advocate for the continuance of slavery; on the contrary, I should rejoice to see it swept from off the face of the earth—but I will never listen to those who represent the Brazilian slave-holder to be a cruel monster. My experience among them has been very great, and but very few wanton acts of cruelty have come under my own observation. The very temperament of the Brazilian is adverse to its general occurrence. They are of a slow and indolent habit, which causes much to be overlooked in a slave, that by people of a more active and ardent disposition, would be severely punished. Europeans, who have this latter peculiarity more strongly inherent in them, are known to be not only the hardest of task-masters, but the most severe punishers of the faults of their slaves.
In Brazil, as in all other countries, there is more crime in large towns than in the agricultural districts. This arises from the greater facilities which exist in the former for obtaining ardent spirits; yet, among the black population, intoxication is not often observed, even dense as it is in Rio de Janeiro. It was on a Sunday morning that I arrived in Liverpool from Brazil, and during the course of that day I saw in the streets a greater number of cases of intoxication, than, I believe, I observed altogether among Brazilians, whether black or white, during the whole period of my residence in the country. In the large towns the necessity for punishment is of frequent occurrence. The master has it in his own power to chastise his slaves at his own discretion. Some, however, prefer sending the culprit to the Calabouça, where, on the payment of a small sum, punishment is given by the police. Many of the crimes for which only a few lashes are awarded, are of such a nature that in England would bring upon the perpetrator either death or transportation. It is only for very serious crimes that a slave is given up entirely to the public tribunals, as then his services are lost to the owner, either altogether, or at least for a long period.
On most of the plantations the slaves are well attended to, and appear to be very happy. Indeed, it is a characteristic of the negro, resulting no doubt from his careless disposition, that he very soon gets reconciled to his condition. I have conversed with slaves in all parts of the country, and have met with but very few who expressed any regret at having been taken from their own country, or a desire to return to it. On some of the large estates at which I have resided for short periods, the number of slaves often amounted to three or four hundred, and but for my previous knowledge of their being such, I could never have found out from my own observations that they were slaves. I saw a set of contented and well-conditioned labourers turning out from their little huts, often surrounded by a small garden, and proceeding to their respective daily occupations, from which they returned in the evening, but not broken and bent down with the severity of their tasks. The condition of the domestic slave is, perhaps, even better than that of the others; his labour is but light, and he is certainly better fed and clothed. I have almost universally found the Brazilian ladies kind both to their male and female domestic slaves; this is particularly the case when the latter have acted as nurses. On estates, where there has been no medical attendant, I have often found the lady of the proprietor attending to the sick in the hospital herself.
Slaves, however, are variously inclined; from the very nature of a negro—his well-ascertained deficient intellectual capacity—the want of all education—the knowledge of his position in society, and the almost certainty of his never being able to raise himself above it—we need not wonder that there should be among them some who are restless, impatient of all control, and addicted to every vice. It is the frequent necessity which arises for the punishment of the evil-disposed, that has led to the supposition of the indiscriminate and universal use of the lash. If the intellectual capacity of the negro be contrasted with the native Indian, it will not be difficult, on most points, to decide in favour of the latter. It is no small proof of the deficient mental endowment of the negro, that even in remote parts of the empire, three or four white men can keep as many as two or three hundred of them in the most perfect state of submission. With the Indian this could never be accomplished, for they too once were allowed to be held as slaves, and even still are, on the northern and western frontier, although contrary to law. The Indian has the animal propensities less fully developed than the negro; hence he is more gentle in his disposition, but at the same time, is much more impatient of restraint.
The character and capacity of the negro vary very much in the different nations. Those from the northern parts of Africa are by far the finest races. The slaves of Bahia are more difficult to manage than those of any other part of Brazil, and more frequent attempts at revolt have taken place there than elsewhere. The cause of this is obvious. Nearly the whole of the slave population of that place is from the Gold Coast. Both the men and the women are not only taller and more handsomely formed than those from Mozambique, Benguela, and the other parts of Africa, but have a much greater share of mental energy, arising, perhaps, from their near relationship to the Moor and the Arab. Among them there are many who both read and write Arabic. They are more united among themselves than the other nations, and hence are less liable to have their secrets divulged when they aim at a revolt.
To sum up these observations, I have had ample opportunity, since I left South America, for contrasting the condition of the slave of that country with that of the coolie in the Mauritius and in India, but more particularly in Ceylon; and were I asked to which I would give the preference, I should certainly decide in favour of the former, although, at the same time I could not but exclaim with Sterne, “still, Slavery! still thou art a bitter draught!”
A general rise of the black population is much dreaded in Brazil, which is not unreasonable, when the great proportion it bears to the white is taken into consideration. Were they all united by one common sympathy, this would have happened long ago, but the hostile prejudices existing among the different races of Africans, have hitherto prevented it. In the northern and interior provinces, considerable encouragement to their insubordination has been offered, by the general feeling that animates a large proportion of the free class, who are mostly of mixed blood, and who desire to throw off the yoke of monarchy and replace it by a republican form of government, a feeling which I know to be general, not only among the lower orders, but among the magistrates, priests, officers in the army, and owners of landed property, and hence I believe the time is not far distant, when Brazil will share the fate of the other South American states. In such an event the white population will be sure to suffer from the savage rapacity of the mixed races, especially those who have African blood in them: for it is to be remarked, that the worst of criminals spring from this class, who inherit in some degree the superior intellect of the white, while they retain much of the cunning and ferocity of the black; they are mostly free, and bear no good will towards the whites, who form the smaller part of the entire population. It should be observed, however, that in the class of wealthier landed proprietors and commercial men, who have received the benefits of a more liberal education, especially those nearer the capital, and those belonging to the provinces along the coast, this tide of public opinion, that at one time nearly threatened the ruin of the empire, has been in a great measure arrested, and many of those who formerly advocated republican principles, are now the staunchest supporters of the constitutional monarchy, convinced of its being the strongest guarantee they can have for the security of their lives and property, and the developement of the industry and resources of the empire.
In Brazil the mixed races receive different names from those in the Spanish territories. The offspring of Europeans and negroes are called Mulattos; those of Europeans and native Indians, Mamelucos; those of the negro and Indian, Caboclos; while those which spring from the mulatto and negro are called Cabras; the term Creole is applied to the offspring of the negroes.