196 



FEITOZA CHIEF. 



were publicly murdered in the villages of the 

 interior ; the poor man who refused obedience 

 to their commands was devoted to destruction, 

 and the rich man, who was not of their clan, 

 was obliged silently to acquiesce in deeds of 

 which he did not approve. The Feitozas are 

 descendants of Europeans, but many of the 

 branches are of mixed blood, and perhaps few 

 are free from some tinge of the original inha- 

 bitants of Brazil. The chief of the family was a 

 colonel of militia, and could at a short notice 

 call together about one hundred men, which is 

 equal to ten or twenty times the number in a 

 well-peopled country. Deserters were well re- 

 ceived by him, and murderers who had com- 

 mitted this crime in the revenge of injuries ; the 

 thief was not accepted, and much less the man 

 who for the sake of pillage had taken the life of 

 another. 



Joam Carlos had received from Lisbon secret 

 instructions to secure the person of this chief of 

 the Feitozas. His first step was to inform the 

 colonel, that he intended on a certain day to visit 

 him at his village, for the purpose of reviewing 

 his regiment. The village is not many leagues 

 from the coast, but is distant considerably from 

 Seara. Feitoza answered, that he should be 

 ready to receive His Excellency on the appointed 

 day. The time came, and Joam Carlos set out, 

 accompanied by ten or twelve persons; the 



