Journal of researches into the natural history and geology of the countries visited during the voyage of H.M.S. "Beagle" round the world. / by Charles Darwin, M.A., F.R.S., with a biographical introduction.

Charles Darwin

Date:: [1906]

Credit: Journal of researches into the natural history and geology of the countries visited during the voyage of H.M.S. "Beagle" round the world. / by Charles Darwin, M.A., F.R.S., with a biographical introduction. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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$1832.] morning I walked out an hour before daylight to admire the solemn stillness of the scene; at last, the silence was broken by the morning hymn, raised on high l)y the whole body of the blacks ; and in this manner their daily work is generally begun. On such fazendas as these, I have no doubt the slaves pass happy and contented lives. On Saturday and Sunday they work for themselves, and in this fertile climate the labour of two days is sufficient to support a man and his family for the whole week. A^pril \Afth.—Leaving Socego, we rode to another estate on the Rio Macae, which was the last patch of cultivated ground in that direction. The estate was two and a half miles long, and the owner had forgotten how many broad. Only a very small piece had been cleared, yet almost every acre was capable of yielding all the various rich productions of a tropical land. Con- sidering the enormous area of Brazil, the proportion of cultivated ground can scarcely be considered as anything, compared to that which is left in the state of nature : at some future age, how vast a population it will support! During the second day’s journey we found the road so shut up, that it was necessary that a man should go ahead with a sword to cut away the creepers. 'I'he forest abounded with beautiful objects; among which the tree ferns, though not large, were, from their bright green foliage, and the elegant curvature of their fronds, most worthy of admiration. In the evening it rained very heavily, and although the ther- mometer stood at 65°, I felt very cold. As soon as the rain ceased, it was curious to observe the extraordinary evaporation which commenced over the whole extent of the forest. At the height of a hundred feet the hills were buried in a dense white vapour, which rose like columns of smoke from the most thickly- wooded parts, and especially from the valleys. 1 observed this phenomenon on several occasions ; 1 suppose it is owing to the large surface of foliage, previously heated by the sun’s rays. While staying at this estate, 1 was very nearly being an eye- witness to one of those atrocious acts which can only take place in a slave country. Owing to a quarrel and a lawsuit, the owner was on the point of taking all the women and children from the male slaves, and selling them separately at the public auction at Rio. Interest, and not any feeling of compassion, prevented this act. Indeed, I do not believe the inhumanity of separating thirty families, who had lived together for many years, even occurred to the owner. Yet I will pledge myself, that in humanity and good feeling he was superior to the common run of men. It may be said there exists no limit to the blindness of interest$