is little adapted to the labor of agriculture. This element, therefore, can never be counted on for the colonization of the country. Nevertheless, there are some among these semi-savages who term themselves planters, because they have abandoned the bow of their ancestors and manage to-cultivate a little manioc and maize to sustain their families. As soon as this labor, which lasts but a few days, is finished, they return to their huts of wood and clay, lie down upon their straw mats, and pass the remainder of the year in absolute idleness, occasionally thrumming a miserable guitar which they always keep at their side, to amuse themselves, music being one of their favorite passions.
INSECURITY OF THE FOREST—AN EXPENSIVE BARGAIN.
Though the forests they inhabit have been the time-honored dwelling-places of their ancestors, they are now insecure when in the vicinity of a settlement, for it often happens that the colonist burns down the wood in order to prepare a new field of coffee-plants to replace the exhausted plantations. Our Indian friend then takes his guitar, which constitutes all his personal property, and proceeds to the neighboring mountains to build another hut. Affairs do not always go on so peaceably, however. Not long ago, in the province of Minas, one of these forcible dispossessions came near resulting in tragical consequences, and cost the fazendeiro dearly.
The fazendeiro, one of the wealthiest proprietors of the country, owned immense tracts of virgin forest, which he had never visited except to hunt the tapir or wild ox. One of his neighbors, wishing to establish a coffee plantation, came to him one day and desired him to sell the two declivities of a hill, the situation of which seemed to promise magnificent crops. It was an excellent thing for the proprietor, who, for want of sufficient laborers, had no expectations of realizing a farthing from this portion of his estate. The bargain was therefore soon made, at the price of ten contos de reís, (about forty-five hundred dollars.) As this hill—or rather mountain, for it was very large—had never been explored, the new owner was greatly surprised when his negroes, who had been sent to make a clearing, returned and told him they had found wild men (gente de matto) in the woods, who lived in huts and appeared to regard them with a very unfriendly eye. Our friend forthwith went to the former proprietor, saying he supposed he had bought a virgin forest and not a colony of Indians, and that, being unable to obtain possession, he gave up the purchase. The fazendeiro promised to make his old tenants vacate, and accordingly sent the overseer of his estate to bid the red men to take up their quarters elsewhere. The latter, getting wind of the matter, determined to act in concert, and replied that having been from father to son and from time immemorial children of the forest, they believed themselves the true owners of the soil. As this response was accompanied with menaces and demonstrations not at all encouraging, the messenger, deeming it useless to insist, returned and made known to his employer the result of his mission. It was thereupon determined to hunt the mountain with all the negroes of the plantation, set fire to the cabins of the Indians, devastate their fields of manioc, and thus force them to leave. But the latter had been on their guard since their first summons, and when the negroes arrived they found themselves arrested by formidable barricades, from which issued invisible shafts that soon compelled them to retire. The affair was now becoming serious. The fazendeiro had undertaken to clear the place, and moreover, his personal pride was involved. He therefore had recourse to more extensive measures, and applied to the judge of the district (comarca) to obtain the expulsion of the savage colony through the aid of the authorities of the province. After going through regular legal proceedings on the matter, a bat-
