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saint, whom he considers responsible for every thing good or evil that happens in his house. The most powerful of all these patrons is Saint Anthony; at least it is he who is most frequently met with in the oratories, They pledge him tapers, money, and flowers to adorn his niche, if he vouchsafes any desired success or averts evil fortune; but if he turns a deaf ear, farewell tapers, flowers, and caresses. Being responsible, he must of course resign himself to the punishment. For example, if a negro runs away, the master forthwith hastens to the newspaper office and publishes a description of the fugitive, offering a reward for him of from fifty to an hundred milreis, according to his value. He then makes all haste back to his room, pulls his patron from the niche, takes a chicote, or whip, proportioned to his size, and applies it to his back, accompanying the chastisement with the following monologue:

'Ah! filho da . . . . (Ah! you son of . . . .) that's the way you take care of my slaves! that's the way you pay me for the care I've taken of you, and the tapers I've bought for you! I'll teach you a little good manners!'

After this correction he puts him into the most obscure nook in the house, among the dirt and rubbish that abound in most Portuguese dwellings, and declares he shall remain in that kennel till the lost slave is recovered. If the fugitive is not soon returned, the master loses patience, breaks his idol with a kick, and forthwith chooses another patron, more active and powerful; but if the slave reappears, he replaces the saint in his niche, asking pardon for having been so hasty, and buys any number of tapers to make him forget the past, and in order to continue to merit his protection.

The negroes generally choose a patron saint of their own color, Saint Benediet, of whom they give wonderful relations, This Benedict, in his lifetime, was head-cook in a monastery. Naturally led, like all his countrymen, to a contemplative life, he furtively attended all the services of the monks, and sometimes allowed himself to be so carried away in his mental devotions that he forgot his saucepans. The angels, however, touched by his piety, performed his duties for him, so that the community did not suffer from his ecstatic moments. The first time I saw this patron saint of the negroes, I mistook it for an image of the devil, so horrible was the grimace that the artist had imparted to it, doubtless through his excessive regard for truthfulness. When a man is too poor to construct an oratory in his cabin, he mentally adopts the patron saint of his neighbor, and consecrates tapers to him in times of difficuity in order to obtain his intercession.

In a fazenda in the environs of Bahia I saw a poor mulatto bring to the sacrarium of his master ten milreis, (about $5,) which comprised all his earnings, to reward the saint for having enabled him to find his hogs, which he had lost the evening before. I asked him to tell me the particulars of his loss,

'Senhor,' he immediately replied, 'Saint Anthony is very powerful, and very kind to the poor folks. You see, when I went to attend my hogs last night, they were gone. It could only have been through some evil doings, for they never leave their pen. I vowed I would give my protector all the money I had, if he would help me find them, and, full of confidence, went at hazard the first way it struck me, all the time calling the animals. Seeing my search was in vain, I thought this was not the right direction, and turned back to try another. But my patron, he was not deceived; while I was tiring myself in a vain search, he sent the hogs back into the pen; and as soon as they saw me the poor creatures crowded up to meet