shelter; but the rain in these regions comes with a force which is not easily resisted,-the hides were soon soaked and fell down ;the fires were completely extinguished, and Mr. Koster remembering the jaguars, which are numerous in such parts of the country, reminded his people how necessary it was to keep the locks of their fire-arms dry. He had not spoken many minutes before the growl of one of these animals was heard,- —a herd of mares galloped by them, and presently the wild beasts were heard in all directions. They stood back to back for the remainder of the night, in some alarm, and in no inconsiderable danger; the Indians from time to time setting up a sort of howl with the intent of intimidating the jaguars. In the morning they had much difficulty in finding their horses, who had been frightened and scattered by the jaguars, and would probably have perished if the wild cattle had not diverted their pursuers.

On the second day after this dismal night, they halted at noon in St. Luzia, the village where Mr. Koster had refused to shew his passport. He had lain down in his hammock, when the guide told him that a number of people seemed to be assembling, and observed that he ought to remember the quarrel: upon this, with much presence of mind, he rose, opened a trunk, as if searching for something, and taking out the red bag placed it where it might be conspicuously seen, while he continued to search. The sight of the bag produced the desired effect, and the people immediately disappeared, either fearing that their horses would be put in requisition, or rightly perceiving that the traveller was a man whose situation and connections entitled him to respect. In the afternoon of the same day, he reached the river Panema, a narrow but now a rapid stream, and, in consequence of the rains, not fordable. The party therefore were fain to halt in the nearest habitation: here Mr. Koster *had an attack of ague, and when, after five days' delay, the river had fallen so as to be fordable, he was unable to mount on horseback. Though not in immediate danger, he was aware that these disorders frequently end in fever and delirium, and was anxious to reach Açu, that he might be near some priest, on whom he might rely for transmitting any message to his friends in case of the worst.As soon therefore as the stream was fordable, six men were engaged to carry him in his hammock, and having crossed the stream, they entered upon the flooded country. Mahommed, according to Turkish tradition, is said to have declared that a journey is a fragment of hell; Mr. Koster had experienced some of the evils of crossing a dry desert, to which the False Prophet must have alluded, and he had now to feel the discomforts of the opposite extreme. The general depth of the water was somewhat less than knee deep, in parts it was up to the waist. At noon, his hammock was slung between two trees, the pole by which it was carried was

AA 3

placed

placed upon two forked branches, and hides hung over it to shade him from the sun, for the trees were as yet leafless. At dusk, they reached a fazenda, or estate upon dry land, and put up at an unfinished house. They were now ten leagues from Piato:-the civilities which Mr. Koster had received from the commandant there made him look forward towards seeing him as a friend. He sent his convoy forward one day, and following with one of the guidés and Julio on the next, performed the ten leagues on horseback. During the night he was very unwell, and tormented with thirst: water-melons were abundant here and he eat several of them, notwithstanding the remonstrances of the guide, who declared that he would kill himself, but,' says he, 'I thought otherwise, for I liked them. In the morning I awoke quite a changed person, and the ague returned no more.' The guide was then firmly convinced that water-melons were an infallible remedy for the ague.

The river at Açu, which was dry when he crossed its channel on the way out, was now so deep and dangerous that it was necessary to construct a jangada for passing it. From hence to the Searameirim the country was new to him, as he now took the shortest road to Natal. No rain had yet fallen in this quarter, and they were suffering from thirst, when suddenly the dogs struck from the path and ran up the side of a flat rock, the horses stopped and snuffed the air, and Julio, knowing what these indications meant, cried Water! water! and followed the dogs. It was found in the long deep cleft of a rock where neither horses nor dogs could reach it. The rains had begun when they reached the Seara-meirim, and they passed this travessia with all haste, lest the floods should intercept them. Upon reaching Natal all difficulties seemed to have ceased, for the remaining seventy leagues were comparatively through a well-peopled and civilized country. One instance of inhospitality occurred in this part of the journey,―a night's lodging was refused him by a Mulatto planter, it was the only instance during his whole residence in Brazil. On the following night he slung his hammock under the pent-house of a cottage, and was surprized to find that the owner conversed with him from within but did not open the door. Mr. Koster began to suspect that there was some contagious disease in the house, but it appeared the man had been bitten by a snake, and it was a received opinion that the bite of this species would become fatal if the person should see any female creature, and more particularly a woman, for thirty days after the accident. Drinking houses, of which almost every hamlet contained one, became much more frequent when they came into the great cattle road: the weather compelled Mr. Koster and his convoy to halt for the night at one of these houses, and some trifles from their baggage were stolen,-a solitary instance of dishonesty. ****A week only had elapsed after Mr. Koster's return, when letters

from

from England called him away, and he sailed for Maranham. The city of St. Luiz, which, in commercial language, bears the name of the Island and the State, contains about 12,000 inhabitants, including a much greater proportion of Negroes than is to be found at Pernambuco. This is a thriving place, though the port is peculiarly dangerous. Cotton and rice are almost its only articles of export; of the former from 40 to 50,000 bags, averaging about 180 lbs. each, are annually shipped for England. Manuscripts of the latter part of the 17th century say it was the finest cotton at that time known; the Pernambucan is now preferred. It is curious that when the first portion was shipped, some of the inhabitants petitioned that the exportation might not be allowed, lest there should be a want of the article at home; this will appear less extraordinary when it is known that at that time cotton cloth was the common medium of exchange. Sugar was once raised here, and with considerable success; but the planters consumed the stock of Indians within their reach before they were rich enough to purchase Negroes for supplying their place, and thus the Engenhos fell to ruin. An opinion prevails at present that the lands are not adapted for the cane; it has however lately been planted, but as yet melasses only have been made. The Indian slave-trade in this part of America, and the efforts of the Jesuits to mitigate evils which they could not prevent, form an interesting part of Brazilian history. The Indian slavery has long been abolished, but the Jesuits have been abolished also, and the Indians have reason to regret the extinction of an order whose exemplary conduct toward this unhappy race may almost atone for their offences against civil and religious liberty in Europe. Under the administration of Vieyra the Jesuit, (a man who is equally the pride of his Order and his country,) villages of reclaimed Indians were established in every direction,-from Seara to the mouths of the Orellana, up the great river, and its tributary streams. At present the plantations upon the main land are in danger from the savages, who have even crossed to the island and committed depredations upon the houses in the immediate neighbourhood of St. Luiz. The last who were made prisoners were brought into the town stark naked, and put into close prison in that condition, where they died. The people say that conciliatory means would be of no avail and that rigour is the only method; they who maintain this opinion are as inferior to Vieyra and his brethren in policy as in humanity. At this day the inhabitants of Maranham and Para have the character of treating their Negroes more rigorously than the other inhabitants of Brazil, and slaves of refractory character are sold to this worse slavery from Pernambuco- Nothing tends so much to keep a slave in awe as the threat of sending him to Maranham or Para.'

In the other captaincies Mr. Koster had found governors who exerted their power wisely and beneficently, and obtained the love of the people by deserving their esteem and gratitude. Maranham was not so fortunate; nothing was heard there but complaints of oppression, arrogance, and injustice. Every person who passed in front of the palace was to be uncovered, like an undergraduate when the Head of the College happens to be in the quadrangle, but with this difference, that in Maranham the respect was exacted for the mere building. The bells of the cathedral rang whenever the Governor went out in his carriage; and like the Emperor Paul, of magnanimous and whimsical memory, he insisted that all persons who met him should stop till he past. The mulatto driver of a wealthy and high-spirited old planter refused to do this.

"

"The following day an officer came to the old gentleman's house with orders to arrest the man. The colonel sent for him and said, "Go, and I'll take care of you," adding to the officer, "Tell his Excellency I have still several other drivers." To the surprise of every person about the prison, two servants made their appearance in the evening with a tray, covered with a cloth which was handsomely embroidered, and filled with the best kind of victuals; sweetmeats, &c. were not forgotten. All this was for the driver, and was repeated three times every day until the man received an order for his release.'

The plauters of Maranham must not be indiscriminately censured. Among some of them a benevolent as well as generous spirit is to be found: Mr. Koster relates a curious anecdote which indicates in the one party a consciousness of his own good conduct in the capacity of master, and in the other a proper sense of gratitude for it.

"I heard of a mulatto slave who ran away from his master, and in the course of years had become a wealthy man, by the purchase of lands which were overrun with cattle. He had, on one occasion, collected in pens great numbers of oxen which he was arranging with his herdsmen to dispatch to different parts for sale, when a stranger who came quite alone made his appearance, and rode up and spoke to him, saying that he wished to have some private conversation with him. After a little time they retired together, and when they were alone the owner of the estate said, "I thank you for not mentioning the connection between us, whilst my people were present." It was his master, who had fallen into distressed circumstances, and had now made this visit in hopes of obtaining some trifle from him. He said that he should be grateful for any thing his slave chose to give to him. To reclaim him, he well knew, was out of the question-he was in the man's power,. who might order him to be assassinated immédiately. The slave gave his master several hundred oxen, and directed some of his men to accompany him with them to a market, giving out among his herdsmen that he had thus paid a debt of old standing for which he had only now

been

been called upon. A man who could act in this manner well deserved the freedom which he had resolved to obtain.'-(pp. 183, 184.)

"Having sailed from Maranham for England, Mr. Koster remained no longer in his own country than while the fine season continued, and flying once more from our inclement winters, reached Pernambuco again at the close of the year. Even during so short an absence a visible change had taken place; the heavy and sombre lattice work had in many instances given place to glass windows and iron varandas.-Lisbon women had set the example of walking to mass in broad day light, and English ones of walking for the sake of air and recreation toward the close of day. These examples were followed, and both sexes were adopting a more modern form of dress. Many country-houses had been built, brick-making was becoming a lucrative business, lands rose in value; a mile of country which had been covered with brushwood the preceding year had been cleared for building and for garden ground.

In 1812 Mr. Koster rented a sugar plantation at Jaguaribe, four leagues to the north of Recife. Till he could obtain possession of the Great House, he slung his hammock in the vestry of an unfinished church, to the astonishment of the neighbourhood who marvelled at his unconcern respecting ghosts. The place, however, was infested by formidable realities, of infernal appearance and alarming propensities-the vampire bats. His companion, a negro boy, rolled himself up at night like a Bologna saussage in a piece of baize and a mat, and was thus cased securely; the master lay in his hammock, and these real harpies frequently perched upon it, without the previous salutation of fee faw fum, but smelling the blood of a living man, and coming for the chance of a toe or a finger.'

6

During his residence here a motley crew of Indians, mulattos, free negroes and slaves were collected for the season on the lands of the plantation; some of them, free labourers, brought their families; there were mud huts for a few, the others erected hovels of palm leaves. The description which he gives of his dwelling, his feelings, and the situation in which he was now placed is interesting in no common degree.

I had now taken up my abode at the house which was usually inhabited by the owner or tenant; this was a low but long mud cottage, covered with tiles and white-washed within and without; it had bricked floors, but no ceiling. There were two apartments of tolerable dimensions, several small rooms and a kitchen. The chief entrance was from a sort of square, formed by the several buildings belonging to the estate. In front was the chapel; to the left was a large dwelling-house unfinished, and the negro huts, a long row of small habitations, having much the appearance of alms-houses, without the neatness of places of this description in England; to the right was the mill worked by water,

and