Travels in Brazil

by Henry Koster

The planters of Brazil have not yet arrived at the period (which is not however far distant) of being under the necessity of manuring their lands. I heard of very few instances in which this is the practice. The cane-trash, that is, the rind of the cane from which the juice has been extracted, is thus entirely lost, with the exception of the small part of it which is eaten by the cattle. The manure of cattle is likewise of no use. Lands are not yet of sufficient value to oblige each planter to confine himself to certain pieces of ground for certain purposes, with any sort of regularity. The population of the country is yet too scanty to make every man husband what he possesses, or to oblige him to draw in and give room for others, as, imperceptibly, these others require that he should do so. For the present, the planter finds that it is more convenient to change from one piece of land to another, as each becomes unfit to be cultivated; he allows the wood to grow up again as soon as the ratoons no longer spring forth and yield him a sufficient profit to compensate for the trouble of cleaning them.

The Otaheitan or the Bourbon cane has been brought from Cayenne to Pernambuco, since the Portugueze obtained possession of that settlement. I believe the two species of cane are much alike, and I have not been able to discover which of them it is. Its advantages are so apparent, that after one trial on each estate, it has superseded the small cane which was in general use. The Cayenne cane, as it is called in Pernambuco, is of a much larger size than the common cane; it branches so very greatly, that the labour in planting a piece of land is much decreased, and the returns from it are at the same time much more considerable. It is not planted in trenches, but holes are dug at equal distances from each other, in which the cuttings are laid. This cane bears the dry weather better than the small cane; and when the leaves of the latter begin to turn brown, those of the former still preserve their natural colour. A planter in the Varzea told me that he had obtained four crops from one piece of land in three years, and that the soil in question had been considered by him as nearly worn out, before he planted the Cayenne cane upon it. Its rind is likewise so hard that the fox cannot make any impression upon it. The business of the boiling-houses is in general so slovenly performed, that I could not obtain any exact information respecting the returns in the manufacturing of it; but most persons were of opinion that here too some advantage was to be perceived.

THE MILL.

A sugar-plantation is doubtless one of the most difficult species of property to manage in a proper manner. The numerous persons employed upon it, their divers avocations, and the continual change of occupation, give to the owner or his manager constant motives for exertion, innumerable opportunities of displaying his activity. A plantation ought to possess within itself all the tradesmen which are required for the proper furtherance of its concerns; a carpenter, a blacksmith, a mason, a potter, and others which it is needless to name in this place. It is a manufactory as well as a farm, and both these united must act in unison with each other, and with the seasons of the year.

The mill ought, properly, to commence grinding the cane in September, but few of them begin until the middle of October; for the planting scarcely allows that they should set to work before the latter period. This is the time of merriment and of willing exertion, and for some weeks the negroes are all life and spirit; but the continuance of constant work for the whole of the day and part of the night at last fatigues them, and they become heavy and fall asleep wherever they chance to lay their heads.[155]

The mills for grinding the canes are formed of three upright rollers, which are made of solid timber, entirely cased or rather hooped in iron, and the hoops are driven on to the wood before they become quite cool[156]. The improvement of the “circular piece of frame-work called in Jamaica the dumb-returner” has not been introduced. Two men and two women are employed in feeding the mill with cane; a bundle of it is thrust in between the middle roller and one of the side rollers, and being received by one of the women, she passes it to the man who stands-close to her, for the purpose of being by him thrust between the other side roller and that of the centre. This operation is continued five or six times until the juice has been extracted. There appears to be some mismanagement in this part of the work; for in the British colonies a second compression “squeezes them completely dry, and sometimes even reduces them to powder;” and the same occurred in Labat’s time in the French islands. The dumb-returner tends very greatly to prevent accidents, which occasionally occur in Brazil through the carelessness or drowsiness of the slaves. The negroes who thrust the cane in between the rollers have sometimes allowed their hands to go too far, and one or both of them having been caught, in some instances, before assistance could be given, the whole limb and even the body has been crushed to pieces. In the mills belonging to owners who pay attention to the safety of their negroes, and whose wish it is to have every thing in proper order, a bar of iron and a hammer are placed close to the rollers upon the table (meza) which supports the cane. The bar is intended to be violently inserted between the rollers in case of accident, so as to open them, and thus set at liberty the unfortunate negro. In some instances I have seen lying by the side of the bar and hammer, a well-tempered hatchet, for the purpose of severing the limb from the body, if judged necessary[157]. On these unfortunate occasions the screams of the negro have the effect of urging the horses which draw the mill, to run with increased velocity. I am acquainted with two or three individuals who now work their mills with oxen; and they gave as the principal reason for this change, the decrease of danger to the negroes who feed the mill; because such is the slowness of these animals, that an accident of the above description can scarcely happen, and indeed they are stopped rather than urged to proceed by noise. Some of the mills are turned by water, but many more would admit of this improvement than take advantage of it. Most of the mills are worked by horses. There are no windmills in Pernambuco or in the other provinces which I visited[158]. The expence which is incurred in making dams and in other alterations, is doubtless considerable, and few persons can afford to lay out the money which these works require; but the conveniences of working by means of water are various; the number of animals required upon a plantation is reduced to less than one half; less pasture land is necessary, and fewer persons need to be employed. The animals likewise which are thus rendered superfluous are those which are of the most cost, the most liable to disease, and the most difficult to feed. Great care and attention is requisite in preserving the horses, or rather the mares (for these are mostly employed in this description of work) in a condition to go through with the crop; and quantities of cane are cut up and given to them, as well as molasses. Oxen are usually employed in drawing the carts, and it is seldom thought necessary to afford any expensive food to these animals. They pick up as much as they please of the cane-trash which is thrown out of the mill, and the cane tops are likewise given to them.

THE BOILING-HOUSE.

In the boiling-house the manufactory of sugar in Brazil requires great alteration. The work is done in a slovenly manner, very little attention being paid to the minutiæ of the business. The ovens over which the boilers are placed, are rudely made, and they answer the purpose for which they are intended in an imperfect manner; enormous quantities of fuel are consumed, and the negroes who attend to the ovens are soon worn out. The juice runs from the cane as it is squeezed between the rollers, into a wooden trough below, and is from thence conveyed into a cistern made of the same material, standing in the boiling house. It is received from this cistern into the great caldron, as it is called, which is a large iron or copper vessel. The caldron has previously been heated, and when nearly full, the temper is thrown into it, and the liquor is suffered to boil. It is now scummed with considerable labour. The work of scumming is usually performed by free persons, which is owing to two causes; it demands considerable skill, to which slaves seldom attain; and the exertion which it requires induces the planter to pay a free man rather than injure one of his own people.

From this first caldron or clarifier, if I may so call it, the liquor is ladled out into a long trough or cistern, which is generally made of the trunk of one tree; and in this it remains until it becomes tepid[159]. The labour which the operation of ladling requires is excessive, the heat and smoke of a boiling-house in a tropical climate increasing greatly the violence of the exertion. From this trough which holds the whole of the contents of the great caldron, the liquor when sufficiently cool is suffered to run into the first copper, and from this it is removed into a second and a third copper, and some boiling-houses contain a fourth. From this it is ladled into large jars, called formas, when the master of the boiling-house judges from the touch that the syrup has arrived at a proper consistence. The jars are afterwards taken into the adjoining building, in which the sugar is to undergo the process of claying. The sugar, after being clayed, is invariably dried in the sun[160]. The management of the boiling-houses in the British sugar islands is arranged in such a manner as to render the labour much less violent, and much greater nicety has been introduced in the preparation of the juice.