Travels in Brazil

by Henry Koster

The Indians who were in my service, occasionally requested leave to dance in front of my dwelling; I usually complied, and was often much amused. A large fire was made, that we might the better see what was going on; and that the evening might be rendered more entertaining, I frequently invited some of my neighbours. The dance commenced by two men stepping forwards, and walking round and round, taking a circuit of a few yards; one of them singing, or rather reciting in a low voice some ditty of his own language, and the other playing upon a shrill pipe; and as they went on, at intervals they gave a hop or a skip; soon, a woman joined them, and walked after them, and then another man came forwards, and so forth, until a large ring was formed and the pace was quickened. It was always expected that some liquor should be prepared for them, and each of these persons, as they felt inclined to take any of it, stepped out of the ring, and returned again as soon as they had drank. They continued dancing as long as any rum was produced, the women as well as the men relishing this, their means of inspiration; for as the quantities were increased, some new song was introduced, the tones became louder, and their articulation more rapid.

The free people of colour too would sometimes dance; but they only asked permission of me, and held their merry-making at the door of one of their own huts. Their dances were like those of the African negroes. A ring was formed; the guitar player sat down in a corner, and began a simple tune, which was accompanied by some favourite song, of which the burthen was often repeated, and frequently some of the verses were extempore, and contained indecent allusions. One man stepped out into the centre of the ring, and danced for some minutes, making use of lascivious attitudes, until he singled out a woman, who then came forwards, and took her turn in movements not less indecent, and thus the amusement continued sometimes until day-break. The slaves would also request to be permitted to dance; their musical instruments are extremely rude: one of them is a sort of drum, which is formed of a sheep skin, stretched over a piece of the hollowed trunk of a tree; and another is a large bow with one string, having half of a coco-nut shell or of a small gourd strung upon it. This is placed against the abdomen, and the string is struck with the finger, or with a small bit of wood. When two holidays followed each other uninterruptedly, the slaves would continue their noise until day-break.

I have now to enter upon an affair which gave me much trouble. The lands belonging to the negro brotherhood of Olinda were very conveniently situated for Jaguaribe, and for another plantation not far distant, which was owned by an old man of colour, who harboured around him a numerous clan of relations and dependants. It was arranged that we should rent these lands equally; but to prevent competition, one of us only was to apply for them, and then they were to be divided. The owner of the plantation in question was to make the application, and I rested satisfied; but I was surprised to discover, that I run much risk of remaining without any part of them; therefore I began to make arrangements for obtaining them for myself. Whilst the matter was yet in doubt, a person who was under the protection of the rival plantation, sent a number of negroes to work upon some land which lay very near to Jaguaribe. I sent a message to the owner of these men, purporting that the land was tenanted by a person of my acquaintance, who yearly rented it from the brotherhood, and therefore I requested him to direct that his slaves should retire. This he refused to do; consequently I collected a number of my free workmen, and rode towards the spot in question; the matter had become serious, and as he was aware that if a scuffle ensued, he might lose the service of a slave, whilst I who was accompanied by free men, would not sustain any loss, he gave the desired directions, and I returned home.

I gained my object of renting the lands through the interest of some persons who were intimately acquainted with the principal officers of the brotherhood. I attended at the council table of these black directors, and heard the arguments for and against the policy of placing the whole of the property in the hands of one person; however the matter was decided as soon as one of them rose up, and reminded the rest that the community was in debt, and that the new tenant was prepared with one year’s rent in advance. All objection was silenced by this speech, and the papers were signed without any farther remark. The black gentlemen came down to Jaguaribe to put me in possession of the lands. I had invited several of my friends on this occasion, and blacks and whites all sat down and ate together; the health of our Lady of the Rosary was drank first; then that of the chief of the brotherhood and of the new tenant. These fellows amused us much; for their politeness to each other, and to the white persons who were present sat awkwardly upon them; but was displayed to shew the importance which they imagined themselves to possess. The Juiz or chief of the brotherhood was a shoemaker at Olinda, and the rest were of the same rank in life, more or less.

Possession was given to me, and every thing unpleasant seemed to have subsided; when one night late, a mulatto man who resided at Jaguaribe, knocked at my door, and told me that he had just arrived from a visit to a neighbouring cottage, and that on the way, three men had come out upon him, and had commanded him to stop; but on seeing him alone, they had retreated. I had had some intimation of what I was to expect, and immediately supposed by whom these persons must have been sent, and for whom the blow was intended. I called two Indians and my faithful slave Manoel, and accompanied by these, and the mulatto man who had given me the information, I set off towards the spot. They were gone,—but we pursued; however, before we reached the nearest plantation, we heard the heavy gate of its field shut to; therefore it was useless to proceed farther, for the persons, whosoever they were, had reached a place of safety. Upon this path resided the families of the neighbourhood with whom I was the most intimate, and it was well known that I sometimes returned home at a late hour. This was a turbulent district in which I had fixed my residence. Some of the owners of the plantations around were perpetually squabbling, and I had been led into the same way of proceeding; indeed, if I had not done so, I should have been trampled upon. The slaves of Paulistas and of Timbô were constantly at war; and the owners of the plantations of Timbô and Jenipapeiro were likewise with law-suits always pending, and their dependants never easy. Some districts are in a quieter state than others, but very few are totally without disturbance; and there are few plantations in any part of the province about the boundaries of the lands of which more than one law-suit has not been entered into.[95]

I was often reminded by many of my new acquaintances, that every plantation ought to have a chaplain; and I was told, that without a doubt all those persons who attended to hear mass, would contribute towards the payment of the priest, as is customary. I spoke to a young man of this profession for the purpose, and he attended every Sunday and holiday; but when he was dismissed, at the time I was preparing to leave the place, I was left to pay him entirely myself; every one was poor and unable to assist when the day of payment came. This was only what I expected; but I thought it was right to follow the usual custom of having Mass said regularly, on account of the slaves.

In April I arranged with the tenant of the lands which lie to the eastward of Jaguaribe, and are called Maranguape, to allow me to turn loose upon them all my cattle during the rainy season; for the field of the plantation was not sufficiently large to support so great a number of animals, during the whole year, as the work which was performed upon it required. The lands upon which I intended the cattle to remain are about one league in length, and of about half the breadth. Part of them are under water in the rainy season, and in other places they were covered with woods; but these were, for the most part to be entered even on horseback, owing to the cattle feeding in them, and beating down the brushwood. It was astonishing to see in how short a period the cattle which had been accustomed to labour, became wild and comparatively fierce. I was in the habit of going occasionally with another person, both of us being on horseback, to collect the animals for the purpose of seeing that none were missing; we had many hard chaces after them, and got many blows from the branches of the trees, &c. One of the oxen was in the habit of invariably going into a bog when we appeared, and after having proceeded to a certain distance, he would turn round and look at us with apparent unconcern, and as if he was conscious that we could not reach him. This circumstance makes me recollect another, which occurred with one of my pack-horses. The animal escaped from Jaguaribe, and was not for a long time heard of; but at last, I enquired of an old black man, who said that he saw him every day. The horse fed upon some lands which produced excellent grass, but the only water in the neighbourhood was to be obtained from a well or hole, of which the entrance was narrow, and the water considerably below the surface. The negro said, that one day he found the horse near to the well, but unable to reach the water; he gave him some, out of a half gourd, which the old man carried with him, for the purpose of throwing water over his own head, in default of a better bath. The following day the horse was there, and this continued for weeks; but although he had attempted to put his hand upon his neck, the horse never allowed him to seize his mane. He was caught at last by two men, mounted on very swift-going horses, whom I sent for the purpose.

A short time after the cattle had been at Maranguape, I agreed with an Indian to go and stay there, for the purpose of taking care of them. This man was in my debt for cloathing, and for a gold chain which he had given to his wife. He came to me a few days after his removal, asking leave to go to his former place of residence, which was at some distance, and to take his family with him. I understood what this meant; he would never have returned, and therefore I answered that he might go if he thought proper, but must leave some pledge for the payment of the debt. This he promised to do. Julio, who had been with me on my journey to Seara, was again in my service. He now displeased me exceedingly, for he too, led astray by this fellow, wished to leave me; Julio had been accused of some petty thefts, with which I now taxed him; he denied having committed them, and that he was innocent I verily believe. However I did not think so then, consequently this circumstance, and his wish to leave me with a man whom I knew to be very unprincipled, for I had lately had information respecting him from other quarters; and above all, the suspicion that they had come at an hour when few persons were about me, under the impression that, being alone, I should be induced to accede to their demands, caused us to part on bad terms. They went their way towards Maranguape, and I had some hopes that all would have continued quiet. However in the afternoon, about half an hour before the close of day, the manager came to tell me that Francisco Joze, the Indian who was in my debt, had passed through the field, accompanied by his wife, Julio, and a number of other Indians. Thus he had determined to go in defiance of any right which I might have to his services, or to demand payment of what he owed me, and in breach of promise given to me only a few hours before. Several other labourers were also indebted to me, and if this man was, without remark, permitted to make his own terms, I knew not who might chuse to do likewise.