376 COMMANDANT FROM THE SERTAM. 



saulting his ; but the law of itself seldom does 

 any thing. Even in cases of murder the prose- 

 cutor, or accuser as he is called, has it at his 

 option to bring the trial forwards or not ; if he 

 can be bribed or otherwise persuaded to give up 



ithe accusation, the matter drops to the ground. 

 Thus the spirit of law is changed, from the 

 principle of bringing an offender to justice for 

 the general good of society, to that of prose- 

 cuting in revenge for the crime which he has 

 committed against an individual. 



Soon after my return to Jaguaribe, I was one 

 evening surprised at the arrival of a white man, 

 who was habited in uniform of blue and red, and 

 accompanied by a great number of loaded horses, 

 and of men, who were dressed in leather after 

 the manner of the Sertam ; he delivered to me 

 a letter, which I discovered not to be for me, 

 but for an Englishman who was occasionally 

 with me ; however, I of course requested him 

 to stay, and gave directions for the accommoda- 

 tion of his followers. He was a commandant 

 from the interior,' distant ISO leacues. in the 

 back settlements of the province of Paraiba, at 

 the foot of the Serra do Teixiera. He had put 

 on board of jangadas at Paraiba a considerable 

 quantity of cotton, which he had brought down 

 from his estate, and he was now travelling to 

 Recife for the purpose of receiving it, and of 

 purchasing necessaries or rather luxuries for his 



