Travels in Brazil

by Henry Koster

The boilers are fixed at a considerable height over the large ovens within which the fire is made. Each boiling-house has two ovens, one for heating the caldron and the other for the three or four coppers. The mouths of these are about half as broad as the ovens themselves. Enormous rolls of timber and the branches of trees are prepared for the purpose of supplying these ovens with fuel. The negroes sometimes find it almost impossible to approach them, owing to the excessive heat which they throw out[161]. The manner of conducting the manufacture of sugar was, from what I can collect, very similar on the whole, in the Columbian islands about the beginning of the last century, to that which is practised at present in the parts of Brazil which I visited.

The temper which is usually made use of is the ashes of wood calcinated, of which there are certain species preferred for this purpose[162]. Lime is commonly used in the Columbian islands, and few planters of Pernambuco have lately introduced this alkali into their boiling houses, but there exists a general prejudice against lime, under the idea that the sugar with which it has been made is unwholesome; and this has prevented many persons from adopting it. No difficulty would be found in introducing it, among the planters themselves, because the ease with which it is obtained, would soon urge them to give it a fair trial. Some plantations sell a great portion of their sugar and rum upon the spot, and several of the lesser ones grind all their canes for the purpose of making melasses, which they distil themselves, or sell to the distillers of small capital, who are very numerous; therefore to the owners of these plantations in particular, the opinion of the people of the country is of considerable moment.

The planters of Brazil invariably follow the system of claying their sugars, but the process is too generally known to require any account of it in this place.

THE STILL-HOUSE.

The Brazil planters are more backward in the management of their still-houses than in any other department of their business. The stills are earthen jars with small necks, and likewise small at the bottom, widening upwards considerably, but again straightening on approaching the neck. The foundation of a circular oven is formed, and two of these jars are placed within it, one on each side of it, in a slanting position, with the bottom within the oven and the neck on the outside, and being thus secured the walls of the oven are built up against them, and the top is closed in. These stills have round caps, carapuças, which fit on to the mouths of the jars, and are rendered perfectly tight by a coat of clay being daubed round the edges, after the wash has been put into the still and the fire has been lighted underneath. These caps have on one side a pipe of six inches in length attached to each of them, and into this is inserted the end of a brass tube of four feet in length. This tube is placed in a broad and deep earthen pot or jar containing cold water, and the opposite end of it reaches beyond the pot. The tube is fixed with a sufficient slant to allow of the liquor running freely through it. The liquor which is obtained from the first distillation is usually sold, without undergoing any further process. A second distillation is only practised in preparing a small quantity for the use of the planter’s house.

The wash ripens for distillation in earthen jars similar to those which are used for claying sugar, but they are closed at the bottom instead of being perforated, as must necessarily occur with the latter. No exact rules are followed in the quantities of each ingredient for making the wash, because the distillers, who are usually freemen, differ much in the proportions of each ingredient. Until lately, only a small number of the planters had any apparatus for distilling, for it was their practice to sell all the melasses which were produced to the small distillers. Many of the persons in the lower ranks of life possess one or two of these rude stills, by which they derive a small profit without much trouble; fuel is to be had for the pains of fetching it, and scarcely any man is without a horse. The women often attend to the still whilst the men are otherwise employed. However, since the opening of the ports of Brazil to foreign trade, a considerable quantity of rum has been exported to North America, and likewise the demand of it for Lisbon has been greater than it was formerly; the price has consequently risen, and has induced many of the planters to distil their own melasses. But although this plan has been adopted, the stills are so totally inadequate to the distillation of large quantities of rum, that few persons erect a sufficient number of them to consume the whole of the melasses with which the sugar furnishes them.[163]

LANDS.

A sugar plantation of Pernambuco or Paraiba does not require the enormous capital which is necessary in purchasing and establishing an estate of the same description in the Columbian islands; but a certain degree of capital is requisite, otherwise continual distress will be the consequence of entering into such a concern. The instances of persons having purchased sugar plantations without any advance of money are however by no means rare, and even the slaves, or at least the major part of them, have sometimes been obtained on long credit at exorbitant prices. This plan was of more frequent occurrence at the time that the exclusive trading company existed at Pernambuco; its directors found that it was for the interest of those concerned to advance every thing which the agriculturist required, receiving in payment a certain portion of his produce yearly. Although the company has for many years been abolished, its accounts have not yet been wound up, and it is astonishing to learn how considerable a number of plantations are yet indebted to it. The reputed owners of many of those which are so circumstanced have oftentimes given to their predecessors only half the purchase-money; paying interest to the accountant of the company for the other half. If they can raise a sufficient sum of money for the purpose, they may strike off the principal of the debt, but if this is not practicable, they remain in perfect confidence that they will never be molested for it, provided the interest is paid.