r by this extravagant parade of public worship, and the strict
observance of saints' days, which, though calculated, no doubt, by the
glare which surrounds the shrine, and decorates the vesture of its
priests, to impress and keep in awe the minds of the lower sort of
people, Indians and slaves, had nevertheless been found to be not without
its evil effects:

A ship from Lisbon, laden chiefly with bale goods, was burnt to the
water's edge, with her whole cargo, and much private property, the fourth
day after her anchoring in the harbour, owing to the intervention of a
sabbath and two saints' days which unfortunately ensued that of her
arrival. All that could be done was, to tow the vessel on shore near the
Island of Cobres, clear of the shipping in the bay, where grounding, she
was totally consumed. One of the passengers, whose whole property was
destroyed with her, came out to fill an high judicial employment, and had
with all his family removed from Lisbon for that purpose, bringing with
him whatever he had valuable in Europe.

At a corner of almost every street in the town we observed a small altar,
dedicated generally to the Virgin, and decorated with curtains and lamps.
Before these altars, at the close of every evening, the negroes assembled
to chant their vespers, kneeling together in long rows in the street. The
policy of thus keeping the minds of so large a body, as that of the black
people in this town, not only in constant employment, but in awe and
subjection, by the almost perpetual exercise of religious worship, was
too obvious to need a comment. In a colony where the servants were more
numerous than the masters, a military, however excellent, ought not to be
the only control; to keep the mind in subjection must be as necessary as
to provide a check on the personal conduct.

The trades-people of the town have adopted a regulation, which must prove
of infinite convenience to strangers, as well as to the inhabitants. We
found the people of one profession or trade dwelling together in one,
two, or as many streets as were necessary for their numbers to occupy.
Thus, for instance, the apothecaries resided in the principal street, or
Rua Direita, as it was named; one or more streets were assigned to the
jewellers; and a whole district appeared to be occupied by the mercers.
By this regulation the labour of traversing from one street to another,
in search of any article which the purchaser might wish to have a ch