48 SLAVES AND SLAVERY. [J 838. 



from twelve to thirty, sometimes yoked together with heavy 

 necklaces of iron and attended by a driver, and at others 

 headed by a leader, one of their own number, who carries a 

 small tin rattle, filled with stones, with which he keeps time. 

 They move along at a slow trot humming a monotonous 

 refrain, the words of which are often changed, though the 

 sound is rarely varied. Many masters rely solely upon the 

 income derived from the earnings of their slaves, who are 

 required to pay over from twenty-five to fifty cents, according 

 to their ability, every evening. If they are so fortunate as 

 to earn more during the day, the surplus is their own ; but 

 if they fail to produce the prescribed amount, they are 

 severely whipped. The females who are not employed as 

 house servants, work at millinery, or other light handicrafts. 



Those slaves that carry burdens in the streets, or work in 

 the fields, are poorly fed and scantily clothed, scarcely ever 

 wearing anything more than a slight covering about the 

 loins. Unlike the owners of slaves in most civilized coun- 

 tries, the Brazilians manifest but little feeling for their 

 servants. When they become worn out, or seriously 

 diseased, they are generally turned into the world, without 

 compunction, and left to die unfriended and alone. 



In 1830, the slave trade was prohibited ; but from seven 

 to ten thousand blacks are now imported, annually, in defi- 

 ance of the law. Pains are taken, however, to prevent their 

 increase. The two sexes are usually locked up at night in 

 different apartments, and all intercourse between them is 

 prevented as far as possible. 



(7.) If within the city of Rio, the eye is pained by the 

 constant recurrence of stone and mortar — very few of the 

 houses having either yards or gardens — ample atonement is 

 made for this defect in the suburbs and environs. Here all 

 is bright and beautiful. A superabundant vegetation, flowers 

 of the gayest colors, gardens filled with fruit trees and choice 

 shrubby plants, and wide-spreading groves of tamarinds, 

 oranges and bananas, extend to the foot of the distant moun- 

 tains. But the delightful qui/,tas, or country residences, 



