08 



THREE YEARS IN THE PACIFIC. 



and kindness, and in many cases are even too much indulged. 

 Those negroes who have just passed us are government slaves, 

 who have become public property through the agency of their 

 own crimes. Every one of them has committed either assault, 

 robbery, or murder. Taking away life is a punishment hardly 

 known in Brazil. When a negro is convicted of any outrage, 

 or infraction of the law, he is usually sentenced to labor in 

 chains for a limited period, at the expiration of which he is re- 

 turned to his master.^^ 



Does the master receive no compensation for the services 

 of the slave in the mean time?" 



No. They say the loss is a just punishment for not having 

 taught the slave better." 



<*Are these convicts hired to individuals by the govern- 

 ment, or is there any public work on which they are em- 

 ployed ?" 



<<The custom house employs many of them, many are em- 

 ployed as scavengers, and some in levelling hills and blasting 

 rocks in the suburbs." 



We walked slowly on, and turned up the "Rua d'Ouvidor," 

 which is lined with fancy stores and shops of the French "mo- 

 distes.^^ Next to the '^Rua Direita," it is perhaps the busiest 

 and most fashionable. It leads to the theatre and opera house. 

 The emperor was wont to dash through it, occasionally driving, 

 with his own imperial hands, four grays of exquisite beauty, 

 headed by his trumpeter, and followed by a cavalry guard ; — 

 then off flew every hat, and every body stood aside to let the 

 imperial coachman pass. 



My attention was attracted by a crowd of negroes in the 

 street, in the midst of which one was dancing to the sound of 

 a rude instrument, accompanied by the voice. What is this ?" 

 I asked my companion. 



Nothing more than a few idle negroes of the neighborhood, 

 assembled together to dance the ' guachambo,' a sort of fandan- 

 go, to the sound of the 'marimba,' which claims Africa as the 

 country of its invention." It is generally made of some light 

 species of wood, and may be compared to the toe part of a 

 shoe. On the flat side, or sole part, are secured nearly in their 



