CREOLE NEGROES. 



217 



the mestizo tries to pass for a mulatto, and to 

 persuade himself, and others, that his veins con- 

 tain some portion of white blood, although that 

 with which they are filled proceeds from Indian 

 and negro sources. Those only who can have 

 no pretensions to a mixture of blood, call them- 

 selves negroes, which renders the individuals 

 who do pass under this denomination much at- 

 tached to each other, from the impossibility of 

 being mistaken for members of any other cast. 

 They are of handsome persons, brave, and 

 hardy, obedient to the whites, and willing to 

 please ; but they are easily affronted, and the 

 least allusion to their colour being made by a 

 person of a lighter tint, enrages them to a great 

 degree ; though they will sometimes say, " A 

 negro I am, but always upright." * They are 

 again distinct from their brethren in slavery, 

 owing to their superior situation as free men. 



The free Creole negroes have their exclusive 

 regiments, as well as the mulattos, of which 

 every officer and soldier must be perfectly black. 

 There are two of these regiments for the pro- 

 vince of Pernambuco, which consist of indefinite 

 numbers of men, who are dispersed all over 

 the country. These regiments are distinguished 

 from each other by the names of Old Henrique* 



* " Negro sim, poreni dire it o.'' 



