[15] I think that the Caza Forte and the Cazas de Dona Anna Paes, of which an account is given in the History of Brazil, vol. ii. p. 124, distinguish the same place under different names.
[16] When the Englishmen, who first established themselves at Recife, had finished the stock of tea which they had brought with them, they enquired where more could be purchased, and were directed to an apothecary’s shop. They went, and asked simply for tea, when the man wished to know what kind of tea they meant; he at last understood them, and said, “O, you want East-Indian tea,” “Cha da India,”—thus considering it as he would any other drug. But at the time of which I am now speaking, great quantities are consumed.
[17] I once heard, that a person who had been in England, and had returned to Pernambuco, observed, that the two things which surprised him the most in that country, were, that the people did not die, and that the children spoke English. He was asked his reason for supposing that his first wonder was correct, to which he answered, that he never had seen the Sacrament taken to the sick.
[18] A Juiz Conservador, Judge Conservator, of the British nation has been appointed for Pernambuco, but at the period of my departure from Recife, he was not arrived. Very soon after the commencement of a direct commercial intercourse with Great Britain, a vice-consul was appointed for Pernambuco, by the consul-general at Rio de Janeiro; this person was superseded by a consul sent out direct from England, who is subject to the consul-general of Brazil, but the place is disposed of by the government at home.
[19] When Brazil was in its infancy, the clergy could not subsist upon their tythes, and therefore petitioned the government of Portugal to pay them a certain stipend, and receive the tenths for its own account; this was accepted, but now that the tenths have increased in value twenty-fold, the government still pays to the vicars the same stipends. The clergy of the present day, bitterly complain of the agreement made by those to whom they have succeeded.
[20] A great confusion exists in Brazil respecting measures. Every captaincy has its own, agreeing neither with those of its neighbours, nor with the measures of Portugal, though the same names are used invariably: thus a canada and an alqueire in Pernambuco represent a much greater quantity than the same denominations in Portugal, and less than in some of the other provinces of Brazil.
[21] A patent has been obtained, and a manufactory established upon a large scale for making cordage from the outward rind of the coco-nut. Ropes of this description are, I believe, much used in the East Indies.
[22] An old woman applied at the gates of a convent, late one evening, and told the porter, an old friar, who was quite blind, that she wished one of the brothers to go with her, for the purpose of confessing a sick person. The old man, with perfect unconcern, gave her to understand, that they were all out, adding, “but if you will go to the garden gate, and wait there, some of them will soon be creeping in.”
[23] The younger members of the Franciscan order enjoy very much the duty of going out to beg, as opportunities offer of amusing themselves. A guardian was chosen at Paraiba some years ago, who examined the chest in which the money belonging to the community was kept, and on finding a considerable sum in it, gave orders that no one should go out to beg. He was a conscientious man, and said, that as they had already enough, the people must not be importuned for more, until what they possessed was finished. He kept the whole community within the walls of the convent for the term of two or three years, for which each guardian is appointed. On another occasion, the friars of a Franciscan convent chose for their guardian a young man, whose life had been very irregularly spent in any thing rather than the duties of his calling, under the idea, that during the continuance of his guardianship, they would lead a merry life,—that very little attention would be paid to the rules and regulations of the Order; but they were mistaken, he changed his habits as soon as he found himself at their head; the gates were rigidly closed at the proper hour, and according to the old and vulgar proverb, of “Set a thief,” &c. the duties of the convent were performed with much greater austerity than before.
[24] An anecdote was related to me of one of these couples, which occurred some years ago, under a former Governor. A solitary passenger, between Olinda and Recife, witnessed part of the following scene, and the remainder was described by one of the actors in it. A couple of criminals, of which one was a white man, and the other a negro, accompanied by their guard, were walking over the sands, to reach a ford, and cross the river at its narrowest part. Three horsemen, one of whom led a fourth horse, saddled and bridled, rode up, and one of them knocked the soldier down, whilst the white man of the chained couple urged his companion to go with him to the led horse, and mount up behind him: this the black man refused to do, when one of the horsemen, who seemed to direct the others, called out, “Cut the fellow’s leg off.” The criminals are secured to each other by the ankle. The negro now agreed, and both mounted the horse, and the whole party galloped away, first binding the soldier hand and foot. They passed through Olinda at full speed, and when they had arrived at some distance, a large file was made use of, and the negro was set down with all the chains and bolts. The party then proceeded, and were never afterwards heard of. It was imagined, that the man who made his escape in this manner, was the relation of a rich person in the interior, who had either committed some crime, or had been thus unjustly punished.