Volume I Part 4 (1/2)
You cannot penetrate any great distance into the interior as there are no roads but only little pathways through the woods. The Indians are frequently seen very near the town.
STATE OF SOCIETY.
This part of Brazil offered the curious spectacle of a great evil, which has been long suffered to exist and is now advancing, gradually yet surely, to that state which must entail inevitable destruction on the existing Government of the country. I allude to the immense slave population which, owing to a short-sighted policy, has been allowed to increase so rapidly from the frequent and numerous importations that at the present moment they are in the ratio of 10 to 1 to the white population, to whom they are also, individually, immensely superior in physical strength; the Brazilians being the most insignificant and feeble race of men I have ever yet seen.
DANGERS FROM SLAVE POPULATION.
The blacks are perfectly aware of their own power, and about two years ago had arranged a plan for seizing the town and murdering all the whites with the exception of foreigners; which miscarried only by the affair being discovered a few hours before it broke out. This plan was however so wisely and boldly conceived, both as a whole and in detail, that it alone affords the most conclusive evidence that the slave population in this country are by no means deficient either in mental powers or personal courage.
The Brazilians themselves are aware of the danger which threatens them, and yet evince an extraordinary degree of supineness with regard to it.
They have indeed framed certain regulations as to the slaves being all within their houses at an early hour of the evening, etc. etc., and these they deem sufficient for their protection; yet to an unprejudiced observer it would appear that, unless some much more effective measures are adopted, within a few years from the present time the whole of this fine country will be in the hands of the blacks: and indeed I think one would be justified in concluding that the moment which produces a person sufficiently intriguing again to stir up the slaves, and endowed with the firmness and talent necessary to conduct an emeute of this nature, will be the last of the Brazilian Empire.
POLITICAL CONDITION OF THE STATE.
It is evident from what I have before stated that the only hope the white population can reasonably entertain of retaining their present position must be in the most perfect union and concord amongst themselves, and that, when a unity of design and action ceases to exist between the different provinces, their fate is sealed. Yet this circ.u.mstance never appears to enter into their calculations; and at this instant each state is plotting its separation from the Empire. The inhabitants here openly state their intention of revolting and declaring their independence, and Sunday next is even mentioned as the day for the commencement of the rising.*
(*Footnote. The revolt broke out on the 7th November 1837 but was suppressed the following month. Great alarm existed lest the Negro slaves should be induced to take their part likewise in the conflict between the contending factions. Annual Register for 1837.)
It is really strange to one who stands by, a calm unconcerned spectator, to observe men hurried on by the violence of faction to their own certain destruction, and to behold them so entirely blinded by party spirit as not to see that danger which stares them so openly in the face, that a child could scarcely fail to detect it.
The Slave Trade, though nominally abolished, is actively pursued here, eighty-three slaves having been landed just before my arrival, and another cargo during my stay.
The slaves are not only a very superior race of men in point of physical powers, but, as far as my experience of their habits went, I found them very moral and honest. Their notions of religion were however curious.
Several were Christians nominally, but their Christianity consisted in wearing a string of beads round the neck; and they seriously a.s.sured me that those who wore beads went up to heaven after death, and that those who did not went down under the waters.
I talked to many of them about their own land. None had forgotten it, but they all expressed the most ardent desire to see it again. They call themselves captives, not slaves, and are very punctilious upon this point. They labour very hard here, generally in the town, paying their masters eighteen-pence a day, and keeping the rest of their earnings for themselves. The rate of labour must therefore be high; but they wear scarcely any clothes, and their subsistence, which is jerked beef and beans, costs but little. The slaves in the country are however all obliged to work on their owners' plantations.
All the princ.i.p.al people in the town are concerned in the slave trade, and their chief wealth consists in the number of slaves they possess; therefore there is little chance of the trade being, for many years, totally abolished.
With regard to the execution of the laws this country is much in the same state as certain parts of Ireland. Homicide, and attempts at homicide, by shooting, are frequent; but it is difficult, if not impossible, to convict the offenders, for he who renders himself conspicuous in prosecuting parties concerned in a murder a.s.suredly gets shot at in his turn.
IMPRESSIONS AND OBSERVATIONS AT SEA. REMARKS ON VOYAGE FROM BAHIA TO THE CAPE.
August 25.
Re-embarked in the Beagle and sailed for the Cape of Good Hope.
September 10.
We had yesterday and all last night a gale of wind, succeeded this day by a heavy fall of rain. The wind had raised a very high sea, but when the rain began to fall I heard the captain and several of the officers remark that the rain would lay the sea; for the result of their experience was, ”that a fall of rain always beats the sea down.” What they had stated would occur took place in this instance within two or three hours. This shows forcibly what great results a slight force, continued for a long time, will produce.
September 15.
Whilst standing on the deck of the Beagle this evening we remarked large luminous spots in the water. They appeared to be about 12 inches in circ.u.mference, were very numerous, and perfectly stationary. The light they emitted was phosph.o.r.escent, but far brighter than I had ever before witnessed; it was so vivid as to be distinctly visible for nearly a quarter of a mile.
September 16.
We saw this morning an immense number of fin-backed whales, some of which were quite close to the vessel. In the course of half an hour I counted thirty of them. Could they have been feeding on the phosph.o.r.escent animals we saw last night?
We are today about 600 miles from the Cape, and there is a strange discordance amongst the elements. From the south-west comes a long and heavy swell; a strong breeze is blowing from the east, and threatening clouds spring upwards from the north. These omens have a meaning. Down to the southward, somewhere off Cape Horn, there blows a furious gale. The wind will draw round shortly to the northward. That is the interpretation and the reading.
A swell like this one can only witness off the Cape of Good Hope. It was to me a novel and magnificent sight. Uniform and lofty ridges of waves advancing in rapid succession, and yet with so regular and undisturbed a motion that one might easily fancy these great walls of water to be stationary: yet onward they moved in uniform and martial order; whilst as the s.h.i.+p rose upon their crests she seemed to hover for a moment over the ocean in mid air. And now the wind drew round to the northward and it blew almost a gale. The vessel felt its power and bent before it. It was beautiful to watch the process of hand-reefing topsails and making the vessel snug--the ready obedience to the word of command and the noiseless discipline with which each duty was fulfilled. First had the men cl.u.s.tered on the rigging like bees; then at the word to lay out they fearlessly extended themselves along the yard-arm, and whilst they took in the reefs the s.h.i.+p pitched and rolled so heavily that one felt anxious for their safety: but there they swung securely between high heaven and the sea.
SEA-BIRDS.