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more of selling the mules, which they rear on their own account, to travellers and the small proprietors of the neighborhood, than they do of performing their duty; and not unfrequently they confide the herds to their children, the better to attend to their own speculations. The latter, caring more to bathe themselves, or take their case, than to guard the animals, leave them to the care of the dogs, which last, in turn, find it more agreeable to lie in the shade of the trees. In the mean time cattle, hogs, and sheep stray where chance or their caprice leads them in these bound less pastures, falling down the precipices, getting lost in the forests, or slily stolen by the neighbors; and by and by the fazendeiro, upon reviewing his herds, is astonished to find them diminished by one half. On questioning the keeper in regard to the matter, the response in variably is, 'He peste,' 'he onça, 'he cobra'—it is disease, it is the jaguars, it is the snakes—according to the altitude of the country, the season, the nature of the pasturage, etc.

It must be said, however, that theft is rare among the free classes, either from a remnant of the Portuguese sense of honor, or from the fertility of the soil, which seems of itself to supply every need. But it is not so with the slave. Deprived of every thing, having some times barely sufficient to nourish him, he lays his hands upon every thing with in his reach. He ordinarily chooses the night-time for his excursions. Hence every proprietor looks upon his negroes as so many thieves. Knowing that his own vigilance and that of his feitor are often insufficient, he provides a few extra tapers, and charges his patron saint with the guardianship of his estates. This honor generally falls to the lot of Saint Anthony, the most venerated saint of Brazil. Saint Anthony, too, is believed, throughout South-America, to protect the plantations through the stormy seasons. The swine-herds, who are very numerous in some provinces, overwhelm him with responsibilities. What wonder that a roguish negro should sometimes succeed in eluding the vigilance of a saint with so much on his hands! The planter, however, continues to burn tapers for him, not withstanding these little neglects, satisfied that the evil which escapes is not an hundredth part of that which he prevents.

If, however, the thefts grow too bold, or are renewed, other expedients are resorted to. In the first place, an attempt is made to find out the guilty party, in order to watch him more closely, and give him the bastinado. But if the suspected slave is a cunning old negro, it is necessary to resort to supernatural means. The sorcerer, or feiticeiro, of the neighborhood is then applied to. It is ordinarily a former slave, who has become free, or a half savage, half civilized Indian, who exercises this lucrative profession. During my sojourn in Brazil, a fazendeiro of the province of Minas perceived one morning that his herd of hogs had diminished considerably. Suspecting the negroes, he set a watch during the night, but without success. Not knowing what to do, he called to his assistance an old negro, formerly his slave, who possessed great renown for sorcery in the neighborhood. His strange aspect was in perfect harmony with his profession. Having recovered from a disease that had destroyed his skin in many places, the surface of his body presented only a succession of alternate black and white patches. He might be compared to a monkey disguised as a jaguar, which probably explains the surname of Onça (jaguar) that he bore in that region.

'Hear me, Onça,' said his former master; if you are really a feiticeiro, as they say, find out who steals my hogs. I know you love cachaça, and if you detect the thief I will give you enough to last a year. If you do not find him out