NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



202 



over it, and passed round the horse's body, the two rings are drawn 

 together by a thong rove through them so forcibly that the Lumbillio 

 cannot possibly move. A dried sheep's skin is usually the upper cover-' 

 ing, and, if the rider be a person of consequence, a skin is selected with 

 long and orderly disposed wool, and dyed with indigo. In this case^ too, 

 the covering is kept in its place by a circingle of white cotton, six irlcbes 

 broad, wdth figures of animals and birds interwoven in colours, most 

 commonly in various shades of blue and red. 



So considerable a part of the population of the South American 

 colonies consisting of slaves, every new district seems to call for some 

 notice of their numbers, occupations, and treatment. It is pleasant to 

 be able to record any favourable modificationSj however small, of a 

 condition intrinsically lamentable. It was usual to transport to St. Pedro, 

 from other parts of Brazil, slaves that were incorrigible ; and certainly I 

 met here with bad slaves as well as bad masters. But I saw nothing 

 which seemed to show any peculiar depravity in the black people of this 

 place ; on the contrary, as they were less numerous than in other parts 

 of the colony, so they appeared to me better and happier. The price 

 paid for slaves was high, and there was great difficulty in procuring 

 them ; this may account, in part, for their lenient treatment ; but I 

 apprehend that a more efficient cause is the moderate temperature of 

 the climate, which enables their white masters to take a share in their 

 labours^. In the town I really thought their situations quite as comfoJt- 

 able as their minds and habits would allow. 



Where many belong to one master, it is usual here, as in Rio de 



Janeiro, to have one of them instructed in the part of a carpenter, 



another taught to make and mend shoes^ and the rest qualified for some 



distinct useful occupation ; and by hiring them out to those who may 



need their services, to make them advantageously repay the cost bestowed 



upon them. As there is a great scarcity of free artizans, not more, I 



believe, than one smith, one shoemaker, and a carpenter or two, with 



not a single farrier, or turner, or professed worker in tin or brass ;— and 



c c 



