114 



NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



Other causes of the change which has been noticed might be found, 

 I have often thought, in an obstinate adherence to unsuitable customs. 

 The shrunk and furrowed appearance of the brow seems to me to arise, 

 in a great measure, from following European fashions under the burning- 

 sun of the torrid zone, " where the full tide of day is poured." Even 

 the white and genteel females of Brazil wear no covering on the head, no 

 shade for the eye ; hence the brow and pupil contract themselves as much 

 as possible, to shield the tender organ from the superabundance of light. 

 The walls of the houses too, both within and without, are universally 

 whitened, heightening, by reflection, the mid-day glare, and sometimes 

 producing an almost intolerable uneasiness in the eyes of persons possessed 

 of the strongest sight. Is it wonderful that the forehead and eyes of 

 delicate females should gradually assume an habitual contraction, which 

 overclouds many a fair face with appearances that sometimes misrepresent 

 the real turn of the mind ? Premature age is owing partly to climate, 

 partly to a constitution enfeebled and ruined by inactivity, most of all 

 to the unnatural and shamefully early age at which females are allowed 

 to marry. 



Their early good humour, or the show of it, soon wears away ; they 

 often become the very reverse of what they were, and exhibit the alteration 

 too plainly. This change may be attributed principally to the childish cere- 

 mony, and more foolish flattery, with which every woman is treated who 

 ranks above the condition of a slave. They seem to be regarded by the men 

 as dolls, or as spoiled children, whose whims must be gratified, and even 

 anticipated ; and she who has the greatest number obtains the most attention. 

 The generality of ladies, treated in this way, become, almost of course, 

 fretful and peevish, and pour their spleen upon their slaA^es ; and when 

 these resist or neglect the orders given them, endeavour to subdue them 

 by a noisy and boisterous behaviour, not always free from malignity, and 

 by castigation, not the less severe for coming from a lady's hand. Here 

 is exercise, and perhaps the most efficacious that they ever take, quicken- 

 ing the circulation, giving some tone to the muscles, and discharging 



