Slave population. 



Ne«r..c* of UraxiL— St inn* »l»vo» 



RIO JANEIRO. 



Mhrni *Uvet — TmiuoUip. 



The Mundjtil.i. 



IS 



The plantation appeared to our botanical gentlemen 

 in a sickly elate 



The great and distinctive characteristic of Rio 

 may Ihj said to be its slaves nnd .slavery. This 

 evil I'ontinvmily present* itself to the observer, and 

 he cannot, if he would, divert lib attention from the 

 inany sights which keep it before his mind. 



The slave jiopulalion us stated at five times the 

 number of that of the whites, and notwithstanding 

 the existing danger of maritime capture, the supply 

 still seems equal to tin- demand. Alihoiigh many 

 slavers are taken by the English cruiser*, brought 

 in ami iried by the mixed commission, agreeably 

 to treaty, yet means are found to introduce the 

 slaves. Two slavers were lying in charge of the 

 English squadron while we were there. On board 

 of them, though quite small vessel*, were two and 

 three hundred negroes. It is difficult to imngine 

 creature* more emaciated and miserable. N-.r 

 will it fail lo excite surprise, that they should be 

 kept thus confined by those who affect to establish 

 their freed" 'in and ameliorate their condition, These 

 vesseln it is understood had obtained their victims 

 on (he eastern enasl of A I tica. 



Slaves are almost the only carriers of burdens in 

 Rio Janeiro. They go almost nuked, and are ex- 

 ceedingly numerous. They appear to work with 

 cheerful u ess, nud go together in gangs, with a 

 leader who carries a rattle made o| tin, ami filled 

 with stones (.similar to a child's rattle). Willi 

 this he keeps time, causing them all lo move on a 

 dog-trot. Kadi one joins in the monotonous churns, 

 the notes seldom varying above a thin! from the 

 key. The words they use are frequently relative 

 to iheir own country; sometimes U> what they heard 

 from their master, as ihey started with their load, 

 but the sound is ihe same, 



These sl'ives are r -quired by iheir masters to 

 obtain a certain sum, according t«. iheir ability, it 

 is said from twenty five to fifty cents a day, and to 

 pay it every evening. The surplus belongs to 

 themselves. In default of not gaining the required 

 sum, castigalion I am told is always indicted. 



It is 6aid that the liberated negroes who own 

 slaves are particularly severe and cruel. The 

 usual load carried is about two hundred pounds 

 weight. 



Vast numbers of slaves have been and are slill 

 imported annually into this market; and as very 

 many of the same tin lion or tribe associate toge- 

 ther, they retain their own language, even after 

 tiny have been in the country for some years. It 

 may be seen by the most cursory examination (fat 

 they are marked in such a manner as to serve to 

 distinguish their different races. Some have little 

 of the distinctive negro character, and others more 

 of it than any human beings we had seen. 



The negroes of Uracil who have been brought 

 from North and South Africa are. divided into two 

 distinct and very dissimilar classes. The natives 

 of that portion of the continent known under tin- 

 general name of Upper Guinea, include the coun- 

 tries in the interior as far as Timhuctoo and H««r- 

 nou, being the whole of that region lately explored 

 by the English expeditions. The slaves from this 

 quarter, though of various nations and languages, 

 have yet a general likeness, which stamps them as 

 one race. In Bray.il they are known under the 

 Uauie of M'tntif. 



The Minus slnves are said to 1ms distinguished 



from otlo-rs by their bodily ami mental qualities. 

 They nre generally above the middle height, and 

 well formed, and betray little of the levity usually 

 ascribed to the negro race. 



In Brazil they occupy the highest position that 

 slaves are allowed to attain, being employed as 

 confidential servants, artisans, and small traders. 

 They look down tqion, and refuse to have any con 

 oe\ioii with, or participation in, the employment 

 of the other negroes. Many of them wiiii and 

 read the Arabic, and all can repeat some sentences 

 of it. The greatest number of slaves who pur- 

 chase their freedom belong to this race. 



There is one singularity which seems to be com 

 mou to the inhabitants of both regions, and which 

 may be compared with the practice of latiouing 

 which prevails throughout the tribes of Polynesia, 

 viz. the custom of cutting or branding certain 

 murks upon the face and body, by which the indi- 

 viduals of one tribe may bo distinguished from 

 those of any other. This practice is general among 

 nil the Minas, nnd also prevails along the Eastern 

 or Mozambique coast of Southern Africa. AflMM 

 the W estern or Congo tribes it does not npjiear lo 

 be universal. It will be readily understood that 

 those marks ore of great service to the slave- 

 traders, and all that have mud] to do with native 

 Africans sunn learn to distinguish lliem; and the 

 price of a slave is depressed or enhanced accord- 

 ingly. 



The Minas are held in much fear in Brazil. 

 They are extremely numerous at Bahia; and it is 

 understood that during a Into insurrection, they 

 had fully organized themselves, and were deter- 

 mined to institute a regular system of government. 

 They had gone so for as to circulate wri lings in 

 Arabic, exhorting their fellows in bondage to make 

 the attempt to recover their liberty. 



Tattooing, or marking, does not prevail among 

 (he tribes of Lower ' iuima to any gn at e\ieni. 

 The Kambiiidas, who border immediately upon the 

 Minus, appear to have borrowed from them the 

 custom, but employ it rather for the purpose of 

 ornament lhau as a mode of distinguishing their 

 origin. The marks or figures with which they 

 brand themselves ore various, and sometimes orna- 

 mental. 



The Mnndjola, a savage tribe, living in the inte- 

 rior, beyond the Loango district, ore esteemed the 

 least valuable of all the blacks imported into Bra- 

 zil, being stupid, ferocious, and intractable. In 

 Africa they are stigmatized as man-eaters by the 

 other negroes. The Mundjola have the usual 

 negro features, with somewhat of a Tartar expres- 

 sion. 



The Bcnguela blades have a much higher cha- 

 racter as slaves than the oilier nations of Lower 

 Guinea. They are next in estimation to the Minas, 

 being steady, industrious, nnd intelligent. They 

 make excellent husbandmen. They are generally 

 of good height, with features having less of the 

 negro stamp than those of the Congo: the forehead 

 tolerably high, the nose not much depressed, and 

 the lips moderately full. 



Many disgusting objects may he seen among the 

 slave population at Rio, but I do not recollect 

 having met with a beggar. I have understood 

 that they are not suffered to appear in the streets. 

 This is the law in almost all cities, but here it is 

 rigidly observed. 



