[154] The French friar complains of the rats, and says that there was in his time a chasseur de rats upon every estate. He says that he made his chasseur bring the rats that were caught to him; and he desired to have the whole rat, for if the heads or tails only came, the bodies were eaten by the negroes, which he wished to prevent, as he thought that this food brought on consumption. I know that the negroes in Brazil eat every rat which they can catch, and I do not see why they should not be well tasted and wholesome food, for they feed on sugar-cane and mandioc. I cannot refrain from transcribing the following statement: “Il y a des habitans qui se contentent que le preneur de rats leur en apporte les quëues ou les têtes. C’est une mauvaise methode, parce que les preneurs voisins s’accordent ensemble et portent les quëues d’un côté et les têtes d’autre, afin de profiter de la recompense que les maîtres donnent, sans se mettre beaucoup en peine de tendre les attrapes.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c., tom. iii. p. 358.
[155] “Dorminhoco como negro de Engenho,”—as sleepy as the negro of a sugar-mill, is a common proverb.
[156] In a few instances the “upright iron plated rollers” used in the Columbian islands have been erected. These have been sent from England, and are much approved of, particularly for mills that have the advantage of being turned by water.
[157] Labat says, speaking of the same dreadful kind of accident, “Ce qui pourroit arriver si la largeur des établis ni les en empêchoit;” he also mentions the necessity of having “sur le bout de la table une serpe sans bec bien affilée, pour s’en servir au besoin.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. iii. p. 406 and 407.
[158] The author of the Noveau Voyage, &c. says, the Portugueze, when they first established themselves in Brazil, and indeed even at the present time, (1696) in some places make use of mills for grinding the sugar cane similar to those of Normandy, “pour briser les pommes à faire le cidre, et dont on se sert aux päis ou il y a des oliviers, pour écraser les olives.”—tom iii. p. 428.
I never heard of any description of mill being employed at the present day, excepting that which is in general use.
[159] In the French islands the liquor was passed through a cloth when conveyed from the first cauldron into the second: of the trough I find no mention.—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. iv. p. 24.
[160] In the Voyage du Chevalier des Marchais a Cayenne, &c. I find that “le sucre séché au soleil est toujours plus susceptible d’humidité, que celui qui a été bien séché dans une bonne étuve.” tom. iii. p. 205.
In the fourth volume of the Nouveau Voyage, p. 106 to 110, is a description of an oven for drying clayed sugars; this would be interesting to Brazilian readers, but it is too long to excuse insertion before a British public.
[161] The long improved ovens, such as are used in the Columbians islands, are beginning to be introduced.