Travels in Brazil

by Henry Koster

From the mildness of the laws, however, the mixed casts have gained ground considerably; the regulations which exist against them are evaded, or rather they have become obsolete. Perhaps the heroic conduct of Camaram and Henrique Dias, the Indian and negro chieftains, in the famous and most interesting contest between the Pernambucans and the Dutch, and the honours subsequently granted by the crown of Portugal to both of them, may have led to the exaltation of the general character of the much-injured varieties of the human species of which they were members. Familiarity between the chieftains of the several corps must be the consequence of their embarkation in the same cause, when the war is one of skirmishes, of ambuscades, of continual alarm, of assistance constantly afforded to each other; a patriotic war, against a foreign invader, in which difference of religion exists, and each party mortally hates the other. On these occasions all men are equal, or he only is superior whose strength and whose activity surpasses that of others. The amalgamation of casts which is caused by this consciousness of equality could not have had a fairer field for its full accomplishment, than the war to which I have alluded; and the friendships which were formed under these circumstances would not easily be broken off. Although the parties who had been so united might have been, in their situations in life very far removed from each other, still the participation of equal danger must render dear the companions in peril, and make the feelings which had been roused on these occasions of long duration; they would continue to act, long after the cessation of the series of occurrences which had called them forth.

The free population of Brazil at the present time consists of Europeans; Brazilians, that is, white persons born in Brazil; mulattos, that is, the mixed cast between the whites and blacks, and all the varieties into which it can branch; mamalucos, that is, the mixed cast between the whites and Indians, and all its varieties; Indians in a domesticated state, who are called generally Caboclos; and those who still remain in a savage state, and are called generally Tapuyas; negroes born in Brazil, and manumitted Africans; lastly, Mestizos, that is, the mixed cast between the Indians and negroes. Of slaves, I shall speak by and by more at large; these are Africans, creole negroes, mulattos, and mestizos. The maxim of the civil law, partus sequitur ventrem, is in force here as well as in the colonies of other nations.[199]

These several mixtures of the human race have their shades of difference of character as well as of colour. First we must treat of the whites. The Europeans who are not in office, or who are not military men, are, generally speaking, adventurers who have arrived in that country with little or no capital. These men commence their career in low situations of life, but by parsimony and continual exertion directed to one end, that of amassing money, they often attain their object, and pass the evening of their lives in opulence. These habits fail not, oftentimes, to give a bias to their dispositions, which is unallied to generosity and liberality. They look down upon the Brazilians, or rather they wish to consider themselves superior to them; and until lately the government took no pains to remove the jealousy which existed between the two descriptions of white persons; and even now, not so much attention is paid to the subject as its great importance seems to require.[200]

The Brazilian white man of large property, who draws his descent from the first Donatory of a province, or whose family has for some generations enjoyed distinction, entertains a high opinion of his own importance, which may sometimes appear ridiculous; but which much oftener leads him to acts of generosity,—to the adoption of liberal ideas,—to honourable conduct. If he has been well educated, and has had the good fortune to have been instructed by a priest whose ideas are enlightened, who gives a proper latitude for difference of opinion, who tolerates as he is tolerated, then the character of a young Brazilian exhibits much to admire. Surrounded by numerous relatives, and by his immediate dependants, living in a vast and half-civilized country, he is endued with much independence of language and behaviour, which are softened by the subordination which has been imbibed during his course of education. That this is general, I pretend not to say; few persons are instructed in a proper manner, and again, few are those who profit by the education which they have received; but more numerous are the individuals who now undergo necessary tuition, for powerful motives have arisen to urge the attainment of knowledge.

I have heard it often observed, and I cannot help saying that I think some truth is to be attached to the remark, in the country of which I am treating, that women are usually less lenient to their slaves than men, but this doubtless proceeds from the ignorant state in which they are brought up; they scarcely receive any education, and have not the advantages of obtaining instruction from communication with persons who are unconnected with their own way of life; of imbibing new ideas from general conversation. They are born, bred, and continue surrounded by slaves without receiving any check, with high notions of superiority, without any thought that what they do is wrong. Bring these women forwards, educate them, treat them as rational, as equal beings, and they will be in no respect inferior to their countrymen; the fault is not with the sex, but in the state of the human being. As soon as a child begins to crawl, a slave of about its own age and of the same sex is given to it as a playfellow, or rather as a plaything; they grow up together, and the slave is made the stock upon which the young owner gives vent to passion; the slave is sent upon all errands, and receives the blame of all unfortunate accidents;—in fact, the white child is thus encouraged to be overbearing, owing to the false fondness of its parents. Upon the boys the effect is less visible in after-life, because the world curbs and checks them, but the girls do not stir from home, and therefore have no opportunities of wearing off these pernicious habits. It is only surprising that so many excellent women should be found among them, and by no means strange that the disposition of some of them should be injured by this unfortunate direction of their infant years.

As vegetation rapidly advances in such climates, so the animal sooner arrives at maturity than in those of less genial warmth; and here again education is rendered doubly necessary to lead the mind to new ideas, to curb the passions, to give a sense of honour, and to instil feelings of that species of pride which is so necessary to a becoming line of conduct. The state of society, the climate, and the celibacy of the numerous priesthood, cause the number of illegitimate children to be very great; but here the roda dos engeitados, and a custom which shews the natural goodness of the people, prevent the frequent occurrence of infanticide, or rather render it almost unknown. An infant is frequently during the night laid at the door of a rich person, and on being discovered in the morning is taken in, and is almost invariably allowed to remain; it is brought up with the children of the house (if its colour is not too dark to admit of this,) certainly as a dependant, but not as a servant; however a considerable tinge of colour will not prevent it from being reared with the white children. These engeitados or rejected ones, as individuals who are so circumstanced are called, are frequently to be met with, and I heard of few exceptions to the general kindness with which they are treated. Public feeling is much against the refusing to accept and rear an engeitado; the owner of a house, who is in easy circumstances, and yet sends the infant from his own door to the public institution which is provided for its reception, is generally spoken of in terms of indignation. Sometimes a poor man will find one of these presents at his door, and he will generally place it at the landholder’s threshold on the following night; this is accounted excusable and even meritorious, for at the Great House the child has nearly a certainty of being well taken care of.

I have observed that, generally speaking, Europeans are less indulgent to their slaves than Brazilians; the former feed them well, but they require from the poor wretches more labour than they can perform, whilst the latter allow the affairs of their estates to continue in the way in which it has been accustomed to be directed. This difference between the two descriptions of owners is easily accounted for; the European has probably purchased part of his slaves on credit, and has during the whole course of his life made the accumulation of riches his chief object. The Brazilian inherits his estate, and as nothing urges him to the necessity of obtaining large profits, he continues the course that has been pointed out to him by the former possessors. His habits of quietude and indolence have led him to be easy and indifferent, and although he may not provide for the maintenance of his slaves with so much care as the European, still they find more time to seek for food themselves. That avaricious spirit which deliberately works a man or a brute animal[201] until it is unfit for farther service, without any regard to the well-being of the creature, which is thus treated as a mere machine, as if it was formed of wood or iron, is however seldom to be met with in those parts of the country which I visited. Instances of cruelty occur (as has been, and will yet be seen,) but these proceed from individual depravity, and not from systematic, cold-blooded, calculating indifference to the means by which a desired end is to be compassed.

Notwithstanding the relationship of the mulattos on one side to the black race, they consider themselves superior to the mamalucos; they lean to the whites, and from the light in which the Indians are held, pride themselves upon being totally unconnected with them. Still the mulattos are conscious of their connection with men who are in a state of slavery, and that many persons even of their own colour are under these degraded circumstances; they have therefore always a feeling of inferiority in the company of white men, if these white men are wealthy and powerful. This inferiority of rank is not so much felt by white persons in the lower walks of life, and these are more easily led to become familiar with individuals of their own colour who are in wealthy circumstances. Still the inferiority which the mulatto feels is more that which is produced by poverty than that which his colour has caused, for he will be equally respectful to a person of his own cast, who may happen to be rich[202]. The degraded state of the people of colour in the British colonies is most lamentable[203]. In Brazil, even the trifling regulations which exist against them remain unattended to. A mulatto enters into holy orders or is appointed a magistrate, his papers stating him to be a white man, but his appearance plainly denoting the contrary. In conversing on one occasion with a man of colour who was in my service, I asked him if a certain Capitam-mor was not a mulatto man; he answered, “he was, but is not now[204].” I begged him to explain, when he added, “Can a Capitam-mor be a mulatto man[205]?” I was intimately acquainted with a priest, whose complexion and hair plainly denoted from whence he drew his origin; I liked him much, he was a well educated and intelligent man. Besides this individual instance, I met with several others of the same description.

The regiments of militia which are called mulatto regiments, are so named from all the officers and men being of mixed casts; nor can white persons be admitted into them. The principal officers are men of property, and the colonel, like the commander of any other regiment, is only amenable to the governor of the province. In the white militia regiments, the officers ought to be by law white men; but in practice they are rather reputed white men, for very little pains are taken to prove that there is no mixture of blood. Great numbers of the soldiers belonging to the regiments which are officered by white men, are mulattos, and other persons of colour. The regiments of the line, likewise, (as I have elsewhere said) admit into the ranks all persons excepting negroes and Indians; but the officers of these must prove nobility of birth; however, as certain degrees of nobility have been conferred upon persons in whose families there is much mixture of blood, this proof cannot be regarded as being required against the mulatto or mamaluco part of the population. Thus an European adventurer could not obtain a commission in these regiments, whilst a Brazilian, whose family has distinguished itself in the province in former times, will prove his eligibility without regard to the blood which runs in his veins. He is noble, let that flow from whence it may.[206]