18(i 



THE INDIANS. 



superior ; but even when they have escaped 

 from the irksome dominion of the director, they 

 never settle in one place. The Indian scarcely 

 ever plants for himself, or if he does, rarely 

 waits the crop ; he sells his maize or mandioc 

 for half its value, before it is fit to be gathered, 

 and removes to some other district. His favou- 

 rite pursuits are fishing and hunting ; a lake or 

 rivulet will alone induce him to be stationary 

 for any length of time. He has a sort of inde- 

 pendent feeling, which makes him spurn at any 

 thing like a wish to deprive him of his own free 

 agency ; to the director he submits, because it 

 is out of his power to resist. An Indian can 

 never be persuaded to address the master to 

 whom he may have hired himself, by the term 

 of Senhor, though it is made use of by the 

 whites in speaking to each other, and by all 

 other free people in the country ; but the ne- 

 groes also use it in speaking to their masters, 

 therefore the Indian will not ; he addresses his 

 temporary master by the term of amo or jjatram, 

 protector or patron. The reluctance to use the 

 term of Senhor may perhaps have commenced 

 with the immediate descendants of those who 

 were in slavery, and thus the objection may 

 have become traditionary. They may refuse to 

 give by courtesy what was once required from 

 them by law. However, if it began in this 

 manner, it is not now continued for the same 



