120 



A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 



of whom are house-servants ; it includes within its own 

 borders all that would be required by such a population 

 in the way of supplies : it has its drug-shop and its 

 hospital ; its kitchens for the service of the guests and 

 for that of the numerous indoor servants, its church, its 

 priest, and its doctor. Here the church was made by 

 throwing open a small oratory, very handsomely fitted 

 up with gold and silver service, purple altar-cloth, &c., 

 at the end of a very long room, which, though used for 

 other purposes, serves on such an occasion to collect the 

 large household together. The next morning our hostess 

 showed us the different working-rooms. One of the most 

 interesting was that where the children were taught to 

 sew. I have wondered, on our Southern plantations, that 

 more pains was not taken to make clever seamstresses 

 of the women. Here plain sewing is taught to all the 

 little girls, and many of them are quite expert in em- 

 broidery and lace-making. Beyond this room was a store- 

 room for clothing, looking not unlike one -of our sanitary 

 rooms, with heaps of woollen and cotton stuffs which the 

 black women were cutting out and making up for the field 

 hands. The kitchens, with the working and lodging rooms of 

 the house negroes, enclosed a court planted with trees and 

 shrubs, around which extended covered brick walks where 

 blacks, young and old, seemed to swarm, from the withered 

 woman who boasted herself a hundred, but was still proud to 

 display her fine lace-work, and ran like a girl, to show us 

 how sprightly she was, to the naked baby creeping at her 

 feet. The old woman had received her liberty some time 

 ago, but seemed to be very much attached to the family 

 and never to have thought of leaving them. These are the 

 things which make one hopeful about slavery in Brazil ; 



