Cuap. VII. A MAMELUCO HOUSEHOLD. 139 
runs for a long distance inland, communicating with the extensive lake 
of Faro; on the south, three channels lead to the similar fresh-water 
sea of Villa Franca; these are in part arms of the river, so that the 
land they surround consists, properly speaking, of islands. When this 
description of land is not formed wholly of river deposit, as sometimes 
happens, or is raised above the level of the highest floods, it is called 
Yyapo alto, and is distinguished by the natives from the true islands of 
mid-river, as well as from the terra firma. We landed at one of the 
cacao plantations. The house was substantially built ; the walls formed 
of strong upright posts, lathed across, plastered with mud and white- 
washed, and the roof tiled. The family were mamelucos, and seemed 
to be an average sample of the poorer class of cacao growers. All were 
loosely dressed and barefooted. A broad verandah extended along 
one side of the house, the floor of which was simply the well-trodden 
earth ; and here hammocks were slung between the bare upright 
supports, a large rush mat being spread on the ground, upon which the 
stout matron-like mistress, with a tame parrot perched upon her shoulder, 
sat sewing with two pretty little mulatto girls. The master, coolly clad 
in shirt and drawers, the former loose about the neck, lay in his 
hammock smoking a long gaudily-painted wooden pipe. The household 
utensils, earthenware jars, water-pots and saucepans, lay at one end, 
near which was a wood fire, with the ever-ready coffee-pot simmering 
on the top of a clay tripod. A large shed stood a short distance off, 
embowered in a grove of banana, papaw, and mango trees; and under 
it were the ovens, troughs, sieves, and all other apparatus for the pre- 
paration of mandioca. The cleared space around the house was only 
a few yards in extent; beyond it lay the cacao plantations, which 
stretched on each side parallel to the banks of the river. There was a 
path through the forest which led to the mandioca fields, and several 
miles beyond to other houses on the banks of an interior channel. We 
were kindly received, as is always the case when a stranger visits these 
out-of-the-way habitations ; the people being invariably civil and hos- 
pitable. We had a long chat, took coffee, and, on departing, one of the 
daughters sent a basketful of oranges for our use down to the canoe. 
The cost of a cacao plantation in the Obydos district is after the rate 
of 240 reis or sixpence per tree, which is much higher than at Cameta, 
where I believe the yield is not so great. The forest here is cleared 
before planting, and the trees are grown in rows. ‘The smaller culti- 
vators are all very poor. Labour is scarce; one family generally 
manages its own small plantation of 10,000 to 15,000 trees, but at the 
harvest time neighbours assist each other. It appeared to me to be an 
easy, pleasant life ; the work is all done under shade, and occupies only 
a few weeks in the year. The incorrigible nonchalance and laziness of 
the people alone prevent them from surrounding themselves with all 
the luxuries of a tropical country. They might plant orchards of the 
choicest fruit-trees around their houses, grow Indian corn, and rear 
cattle and hogs, as intelligent settlers from Europe would certainly do, 
instead of indolently relying solely on the produce of their small planta- 
tions, and living on a meagre diet of fish and farinha. In preparing the 
cacao they have not devised any means of separating the seeds well 
