Hunting a home in Brazil

by James McFadden Gaston

An hour before sundown we reached a house, when my escort intimated to me we would stop for the night. I suggested that we had made a very short journey, being only fifteen miles, and that it was some time until night; yet he said there was no house, water, or pasture to be found at any convenient distance, so that I had to acquiesce. Now we shall see more of caipira life, but in somewhat better condition than the miserable abode of my old camarada’s family. The house was a very good mud wall and thatched roof structure, with four divisions; one being for the corn, another the cooking-apartment, and the two others for sleeping-rooms. As the manner of constructing the walls of these houses is characteristic of this class of people, it may be stated that upright timbers are placed in the ground at the corners, and at such other points as the size of the building requires, upon which rests the plates for the roof. Between these uprights are arranged vertically and longitudinally, making a check-work, numerous small strips or laths of the palmetto, upon which is plastered a mortar composed of clay with an admixture of cow-dung. This last-named article is used in this country to give tenacity to the mortar, and, from the general resort to it, I infer that it must serve a good purpose. A wall plastered in this way on the outside and inside gives protection to the inmates from the weather, and, if not subjected to any violence, will remain for a number of years in good condition.

These thatched houses (palhaçar casas) are covered with a kind of long coarse grass, or with the leaves of a species of palm, secured to the laths of the roof by the sipo vine; and each layer extending partly over the foregoing, a very thorough security against rain is effected. With occasional repairs, this covering serves as protection for ten or twelve years.

In such walls, and with such a covering, an earth floor is usually found, and this may be the natural soil, if in a clay region, but is usually made with mortar, such as is used on the walls. As it is very rare to see a chimney in any kind of a house in Brazil, this style of building is of course without any other place for a fire than upon the dirt floor, in the middle of the apartment used for cooking, and the smoke finds its way through the roof as best it may.

The house at which we are to spend the night is owned by Senor José Francisco de Aranna, who is a tall, dark-skinned man, and probably having a mixture of Indian and negro blood; while his wife is a stout and rather comely white woman, being much fairer complexioned than most of those seen in this country. She seemed to be expected to perform most of the labor about the establishment, and got our dinner ready in a reasonable time.

The table for myself and my two attendants consisted of a large stool, having a cloth which only partially covered it, upon the middle of which was poured a large pile of farina, and upon each of three corners were plates, filled with regular home-made hominy and pieces of pork which had been cooked with it.

Not having met with any gritz before, since coming to Brazil, I enjoyed this dish hugely.

After it was disposed of, these plates were removed and others with small bits of fried pork were set down before each of us, which were to be eaten with the farina; but my appetite had been pretty well satisfied with the previous abundant supply, and I ate but little of this, while, however, my attendants made clean plates. Again we were called upon to partake of a dessert of big hominy, which was very nice, but beyond the capacity of my stomach, yet the other men managed to worry down all that was served.

As I have stated elsewhere, the big hominy is made here with the whole grains of corn, by being pounded in a mortar, and they don’t seem to know any thing of treating it with lime or ashes, to remove the outside. Its use is confined entirely to the category of dessert, even among the best people in the land, under the name, cangica.

While the articles furnished on this occasion were substantial, and the surroundings clean, the style of serving them was very primitive and plain, presenting a fair type of the living among the better order of caipiras.

Our host filled out the backwoods character by giving me some music on the viola, which is an instrument resembling the banjo, but with metallic strings, and is in great repute with these people. He sang at my request, which gave a zest to his performance, and I gave the best evidence of the soothing influence of his music by going to sleep during the rather protracted performance. Being in the dark, none of the party observed this act of appreciation.