MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 



405 



that is, the mixed cast betweeq 

 the whites and blacks, and all the 

 varieties into which it can branch; 

 mamalucos, that is, tlie mixed 

 cast between the whites and In- 

 dians, 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 Ta- 

 puyas ; negroes born in Brazil, 

 and manumitted Africans; lastly. 

 Mestizos, that is, the mixed cast 

 between the Indians and negroes. 

 Of slaves, 1 shall speak by-and-by 

 more at large ; these are Africans, 

 Creole negroes, mulattos, and mes- 

 tizos. The maxim of the civil law, 

 partus sequitur ventrem, is in force 

 hefe as well as in the colonies of 

 other nation.5. 



These several mixtures of the 

 human race have their shmles 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 speak- 

 ing, adver.turers who have arrived 

 in that country with little or no 

 capital. These men cnminence 

 their career in low situations of 

 life, but by parsimony and con- 

 tinual exertion directed to one 

 end, that of amassing money, they 

 often attain their object, and pass 

 the evening of their lives in opu- 

 lence. These habits fail not, often- 

 times, to give a bias to their dis- 

 positions, ■which is unallied to ge- 

 nerosity and liberality. They h)ok 

 down upon the Brazilians, or ra- 

 ther they wish to consider thenj- 

 fielves superior to them ; and until 

 lately tlie government took no 

 )>aiiis to remove the jealousy 

 wliicli existed between the two 

 descrlptious of white persons ; 



and even now, not so much atten- 

 tion is paid to the subject as its 

 great importance seems to require. 

 The Brazilian white man of 

 large property, who draws his de- 

 scent from the first donatory of a 

 province, or whose family has for 

 some generations enjoyed distinc- 

 tion, entertains a high opinion of 

 his own importance, which may 

 sometimes appear ridiculous ; but 

 wliich much oftener leads him to 

 acts of generosity, — to the adop- 

 tion of liberal ideas, — to hououi'- 

 able conduct. If he has been well 

 educated, and has had the good 

 fortune to have been instructed by 

 a priest whose iileas are enlighten- 

 ed, who gives a proper latitude 

 for difference of opinion, who to- 

 lerates as he is tolerated, then the 

 chai acter of a young Brazilian ex- 

 hibits much to admire. Surround- 

 ed by numerous relatives, and by 

 his immediate dependants, living 

 in a vast and half-civilised country, 

 he is end\ied with much independ- 

 ence of language and behaviour, 

 which are softened by the subor- 

 dination 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 receiv- 

 ed ; but more numerous are the 

 individuals who now undergo ne- 

 cessarj' tuition, for powerful rno- 

 tives have arisen to urge the at- 

 tainment of knowledge. 



I have beard 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 nien, but this doubt- 

 less 



