84 



TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. 



[Jumf 



acquaintance with the wonders of nature or the triumphs of 

 art, than the mere hearing of them, can exist for one who is 

 the property of another, and can never hope for the Hberty 

 of working for his own hving in the manner that may be most 

 agreeable to him ? 



But such views as these are of course too refined for a 

 Brazihan slaveholder, who can see nothing beyond the physical 

 wants of the slave. And as the teetotalers have declared that 

 the example of the moderate drinker is more pernicious than 

 that of the drunkard, so may the philanthropist consider that 

 a good and kind slave-master does an injury to the cause of 

 freedom, by rendering people generally unable to perceive the 

 false principles inherent in the system, and which, whenever 

 they find a suitable soil in the bad passions of man, are ready 

 to spring up and produce efi'ects so vile and degrading as to 

 make honest men blush for disgraced human nature. 



Senhor C. was as kind and good-tempered a man as I have 

 ever met with. I had but to mention anything I should like, 

 and, if it was in his power, it was immediately got for me. 

 He altered his dinner-hour to suit my excursions in the forest, 

 and made every arrangement he could for my accommodation. 

 A Jewish gentleman called when I was there : he was going 

 up the river to collect some debts, and brought a letter for 

 Senhor C. He stayed with us some days, and, as he would 

 not eat any meat, because it had not been killed according to 

 the rules of his religion, nor any fish that had not scales, which 

 include some of the best these rivers produce, he hardly found 

 anything at table the first day that he could partake of. Every 

 day afterwards, however, while he was with us, there was a 

 variety of scaled fish provided, boiled and roasted, stewed and 

 fried, with eggs, rice, and vegetables in abundance, so that he 

 could always make an excellent meal. Senhor C. was much 

 amused at his scruples, though perfectly polite about them, 

 and delighted to ask him about the rites of his religion, and 

 me about mine, and would then tell us the Catholic doctrine 

 on the same questions. He related to us many anecdotes, of 

 which the following is a specimen, serving to illustrate the 

 credulity of the Negroes. "There was a Negro," said he, 

 "who had a pretty wife, to whom another Negro was rather 

 attentive when he had the chance. One day the husband 

 went out to hunt, and the other party thought it a good 



