24 RIO DE JANEIRO chap. 



great quantity. Every part of this plant is useful : the leaves 

 and stalks are eaten by the horses, and the roots are ground into 

 a pulp, which, when pressed dry and baked, forms the farinha, 

 the principal article of sustenance in the Brazils. It is a curious, 

 though well-known fact, that the juice of this most nutritious 

 plant is highly poisonous. A few years ago a cow died at this 

 Fazenda, in consequence of having drunk some of it. Senhor 

 Figuireda told me that he had planted, the year before, one bag 

 of feijao or beans, and three of rice ; the former of which pro- 

 duced eighty, and the latter three hundred and twenty fold. 

 The pasturage supports a fine stock of cattle, and the woods are 

 so full of game that a deer had been killed on each of the three 

 previous days. This profusion of food showed itself at dinner, 

 where, if the tables did not groan, the guests surely did : for 

 each person is expected to eat of every dish. One day, having, 

 as I thought, nicely calculated so that nothing should go away 

 untasted, to my utter dismay a roast turkey and a pig appeared 

 in all their substantial reality. During the meals, it was the 

 employment of a man to drive out of the room sundry old 

 hounds, and dozens of little black children, which crawled in 

 together, at every opportunity. As long as the idea of slavery 

 could be banished, there was something exceedingly fascinating 

 in this simple and patriarchal style of living : it was such a 

 perfect retirement and independence from the rest of the world. 

 As soon as any stranger is seen arriving, a large bell is set 

 tolling, and generally some small cannon are fired. The event 

 is thus announced to the rocks and woods, but to nothing else. 

 One morning I walked out an hour before daylight to admire 

 the solemn stillness of the scene ; at last, the silence was broken 

 by the morning hymn, raised on high by the whole body of the 

 blacks ; and in this manner their daily work is generally begun. 

 On such fazendas as these, I have no doubt the slaves pass 

 happy and contented lives. On Saturday and Sunday they 

 work for themselves, and in this fertile climate the labour of 

 two days is suflicient to support a man and his family for the 

 whole week. 



April 14///. — Leaving Socego, wc rode to another estate on 

 the Rio Macae, which was the last patch of cultivated ground 

 in that direction. The estate was two and a half miles long, and 

 the owner had forgotten how many broad. Only a very small 



