We set out next day by sun-rise, and proceeded some miles along a tolerable road. The vallies as we advanced were wider, and more easy of cultivation, but the mountains were excessively steep. On even ground our general pace was three or four miles an hour, but on the acclivities we proceeded slowly, and were obliged to observe every step of our mules, and to balance ourselves accordingly. This action of the body produces no perceptible consequences for the first few days, but afterwards it begins to torture the loins with a species of lumbago.
After a journey of twenty-eight miles, which occupied nine hours, we found ourselves at six in the evening at a small farm-house called Fazenda de Dôna Clara e Dôna Maria. These two good ladies honored us with a more polite reception than we had hitherto experienced on the journey. It being the festival of St. Bartholomew, a great holiday among the Brazilians, they had prepared a more sumptuous dinner than usual, of which they kindly invited us to partake. We were the more sensible of this act of hospitality, because it evidently proceeded from sincere good-will; and, like the widow’s mite, derived additional merit from the smallness of the store which supplied the means of performing it. Their establishment seemed barely provided with necessaries; and the house in which they lived was ill built and scantily furnished. We could not but smile at the earnestness with which one of these worthy ladies complained of the hardness of the times; they paid, she observed, a moidore every three years in taxes. How happy, thought we, would our English spinsters of slender incomes deem themselves in being so lightly assessed!
We passed the evening tolerably, having provided ourselves with candles, which we found very necessary both here and in other places on the road; for the rooms in general are lighted only by a glimmering lamp, which rather augments than diminishes their melancholy gloom.
In the morning we were informed that the mules which had been provided for us over-night were taken away from the stable. This so enraged our soldier, that he immediately rode in quest of them, brought them back, and pressed others for our service. We here saw the convenience of travelling under official orders: had we not been so provided, we might have been exposed to a most vexatious delay. These military requisitions of cattle may be considered by the owner as a grievance; but he generally indemnifies himself by high charges to other travellers, and by impositions in the way of trade.
Being now within the province of Minas Geraes, (a country famed at Rio de Janeiro for its excellent cheese), I expected to see some improvement in the condition of the country,—some establishment worthy of being called a farm,—some dwelling, constructed not merely for shelter but for comfort. I hoped to remark among the inhabitants that air of health and animation which springs from the invigorating occupations and cheering pursuits of husbandry; but no such pleasing change was perceptible: the same want of exertion prevailed here as in other parts of the country; the people seemed to act as if the tenure by which they held their lands was about to be abolished; all around them had the appearance of make-shift; their old houses, fast hastening to decay, bore no marks of repair about them; wherever a bit of garden-ground was inclosed, it appeared overrun with weeds; where coffee-trees, planted in former years, still existed, the present occupiers were too indolent to gather the fruit; no inclosures were made for pasturage; a few goats supplied the little milk that was consumed; and cows’-milk was rarely to be procured. On observing these deplorable consequences of the apathy of the inhabitants, I could not but reflect on the advantages which might accrue from the introduction of the English system of agriculture among them. The example of a single farm, conducted on that system, might go far towards rousing the people from their slothful state; and, when they once felt their faculties awakened, they would be ashamed to lounge about as they now do, under an old great coat, for days together, burthens to themselves, and objects of contempt to all strangers who see them.
The next place we visited, after quitting the residence of these old ladies, offered every requisite for making the experiment above alluded to. It was a fazenda called Mantiqueira, situated in the largest plain we had hitherto traversed, consisting of rich land watered by numerous streams. The establishment was in a fit state to begin with: the house was falling to ruin, and the grounds about it were overrun with weeds and brushwood. What more desirable situation, exclaimed I to my companion, could an English farmer select! Here cattle of every description are cheap; cows and oxen at two years old may be purchased at 30s. or 40s. per head; excellent horses from 60s. to £8. each; and pigs, poultry, and other live-stock, at a price too trifling to mention. Here is land which, under the influence of this genial climate, is capable of yielding two hundred-fold; here is wood in abundance for every purpose; excellent clay for making bricks; and water at command. Yet all these advantages are lost to the present occupiers, who consider them too cheap to be valuable; and, perpetually hankering after the precious minerals, seem to think that the only standard for estimating the gifts of nature, is the difficulty of obtaining them.
Having passed the hamlet of St. Sebastian, we arrived late in the evening at Borda do Campo, a village consisting of about twenty houses, the best of which is that of Captain Rodrigo de Lima, who, on learning our situation, kindly took us in for the night. While supper was preparing, we had some conversation with him respecting the agriculture and produce of the neighbourhood, in the course of which he paid much attention to our observations, and promised next day to shew us the system he pursued. At the repast, which was speedily announced, he introduced us to his wife and daughter, and a lady who was then on a visit to them. This was an unexpected act of politeness, and one which had never yet been exercised towards us by any master of a family in the whole course of our journey. The few females we occasionally saw at any former place generally secluded themselves on our arrival and during our stay; and, when they came near us by chance, they commonly ran away in as much apparent alarm as if they had been accustomed to be frightened at the name of an Englishman. The ladies appeared in very neat dresses of English manufacture, with a profusion of gold chains about their necks, which are always worn on receiving or paying visits. Their conversation was gay and enlivening; they were very inquisitive respecting the costume of English women, and seemed quite astonished at hearing that they wore caps, it being never the custom among the Brazilian females to cover their heads until advanced in years. They ornament their hair with combs, frequently of gold, and very richly wrought. Wine was introduced, of which the ladies could not be prevailed on to partake: they gave our healths by putting the glass to their lips. After supper, the table was covered with delicious sweetmeats; when, being desirous of paying the lady of the house a compliment, I spoke highly of their excellence, and presumed that the fruits were preserved under her immediate direction; but she assured me to the contrary, and observed that her negress did all that sort of domestic work. I perceived, or imagined, that she was rather offended at my remark, and therefore apologized by saying, that it was not uncommon for the ladies in England to interest themselves personally in the concerns of housewifery. The remainder of the evening passed off very agreeably.
On looking out of my chamber-window the following morning, I was surprised to see two small and very neat inclosures, in one of which flax was growing, and in the other wheat. The latter, which apparently had been sown about seven weeks, was very poor and unpromising: the ground had too much water, and seemed of late to have been flooded. Our host regaled us with a breakfast of stewed fowl, excellent coffee and milk, and a dish of feijones, with mandioca and buttered toast; after which he conducted us to his inclosures.
The flax was very healthful and strong: he told us he cut[35] it three or four times a year, and that it was dressed, spun, and woven in his own house. He grew but little, having occasion for no more than what answered his domestic purposes. The wheat, he told us, was blighted. He shewed us a sample of last year’s growth, which was very poor, coarse, and foul. The mills are of similar construction to those used at Canta Gallo, but I did not observe a pair of stones fit for the grinding of wheat.
I now expressed a wish to see his dairy, which the good gentleman immediately complied with. Instead of an apartment, such as I expected to find, fitted up and kept in order for that sole purpose, I was shewn into a kind of dirty store-room, the smell of which was intolerable. The present, I was told, was not the time for making cheese, as the cows gave milk only in the rainy season. I begged to see the implements used in the process; and, on examining them, found, to my utter astonishment, that neither the vats nor cloths had been washed since they were last used; and the milk-pails, &c. were in the same condition. This sufficiently accounted for the offensive smell which I had perceived on entering the place. When I asked to see the utensil used for making butter, an apology was made, by stating that it was not in the way: they had observed my disgust at the other vessels, and probably thought that this was equally unfit to be inspected. I did all in my power to inform our worthy host of the manner in which English dairies were conducted, and gave him several directions, which he wrote down, but seemed quite indifferent about adopting them. On enquiry, I found that no provision was made for the cows; there were no houses erected for milking, and that operation was frequently neglected, and at all times badly performed.