NOV. 1768 BRAZILIAN FISHERMEN 23 



Dr. Solander and I went on board this boat, in which 

 were eleven men (nine of whom were blacks), who all fished 

 with lines. We bought the chief part of their cargo, consisting 

 of dolphins, two kinds of large pelagic scombers, sea bream, 

 and the fish called in the West Indies Welshman, for which 

 they made us pay nineteen shillings and sixpence. We had 

 taken Spanish silver with us, which we imagined was the 

 currency of the country; we were therefore not a little 

 surprised that they asked us for English shillings, and 

 preferred two, which we by accident had, to the pistereens, 

 though after some words they took them also. The business 

 of the people seemed to consist in going a good distance 

 from land and catching large fish, which they salted in bulk, 

 in the middle of their boat, which was arranged for that 

 purpose. They had about two quintals of fish, laid in salt, 

 which they offered for sale for sixteen shillings, and would 

 doubtless have taken half the money had we been inclined to 

 buy them ; but fresh provisions were all we wanted, and 

 the fresh fish which we bought served for the whole ship's 

 company. 



Their provisions for the sea consisted of a cask of water 

 and a bag of the flour of cassada, which they call Farinha , 0? ^ 

 de Pao, or wooden flour, a very proper name for it, as indeed . 

 it tastes more like powdered chips than anything else. ^*** ' 



Their method of drinking from their cask was truly 

 primitive and pleased me much : the cask was large, as 

 broad as the boat, and exactly fitted a place made for it in 

 the ballast ; they consequently could not get at the bottom 

 of it to put in a tap by which the water might be drawn 

 out. To remedy this difficulty they made use of a cane 

 about three feet long, hollow, and open at each end, this the 

 man who wanted to drink desired his neighbour to fill for 

 him, which he did by putting it into the cask, and laying 

 the palm of his hand over the uppermost end, prevented 

 the water from running out of the lower, to which the 

 drinker applied his mouth, and the other man taking away 

 his hand, let the liquor run into the drinker's mouth till he 

 was satisfied. 



