82 



TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. 



[June, 



Calistro assured me he buys slaves, but never sells any, except 

 as the last punishment for incorrigibly bad conduct. They 

 have holidays on all the principal saints' days and festivals, 

 v^^hich are pretty often, and on these occasions an ox is killed 

 for them, and a quantity of rum given, to make themselves 

 merry. Every evening, as they come round, they prefer their 

 several petitions : one wants a little coffee and sugar for his 

 wife, who is unwell ; another requires a new pair of trousers or 

 a shirt ; a third is going with a canoe to Para, and asks for 

 a milrei to buy something. These requests are invariably 

 granted, and Senhor Calistro told me that he never had cause 

 for refusal, because the slaves never begged for anything un- 

 reasonable, nor asked favours when from bad conduct they did 

 not deserve them. In fact, all seemed to regard him in quite 

 a patriarchal view, at the same time he was not to be 

 trifled with, and was pretty severe against absolute idleness. 

 When picking rice, all had a regular quantity to bring in, and 

 any who were considerably deficient several times, from idleness 

 alone, were punished with a moderate flogging. He told me 

 of one Negro he had bought, who was incorrigibly lazy, though 

 quite strong and healthy. The first day he was set a moderate 

 task, and did not near complete it, and received a moderate 

 flogging. The next day he was set a much larger task, with 

 the promise of a severe flogging if he did not get through it : 

 he failed, saying it was quite beyond his abflity, and received 

 the flogging. The third day he was set a still larger amount 

 of work, with the promise of a much severer flogging if he 

 failed to finish it ; and so, finding that the two former promises 

 had been strictly kept, and that he was likely to gain nothing 

 by carrying out his plan any longer, he completed the work 

 with ease, and had ever since done the same quantity, which 

 was after all only what every good workman did on the estate. 

 Every Sunday morning and evening, though they do not work, 

 they are required to appear before their master, unless they 

 have special leave to be absent : this, Senhor Calistro told me, 

 was to prevent their going to a great distance to other planta- 

 tions to steal, as, if they could go off after work on Saturday 

 evening, and not return till Monday morning, they might go 

 to such a distance to commit robbery as to be quite free from 

 suspicion. 



In f^ct, Senhcr Calistro attends to his slaves just as he 



