ecks strings of green beads, which had either come from the coast of
Africa, bearing the wonderful property of conveying in safety their
possessors through all descriptions of perils, or were charmed by the
Mandingueiros, African sorcerers, who had been brought over to the
Brazils as slaves, and in secret continued the prohibited practice of
imparting this virtue to them. Vincente had been acquainted with some of
the men, and was firmly persuaded of the virtues of the green beads.
When I expressed my doubts of the efficacy of the beads, against a
musket ball well directed, his anger rose; but there was pity mingled
with it."

Labat brings these stones from the Orellana, or river of the Amazons. "I
was informed," says our author, "that _Contas verdas_ came from Africa;
but some have found their way from the Orellana, and been put into
requisition by the _Mandingueiros_." Mr. Southey has also given an
account of the "green stones of the Amazons," in his history of Brazil,
vol. 1. p. 107.

In another place, some traveller presents us with the _Mandingueiros_ in
the new character of charmer of snakes. "The Mandingueiros are famous,
among other feats, for handling poisonous snakes, and can, by particular
noises or tunes, call those reptiles from their holes, and make them
assemble around them. These sorcerers profess to render innoxious the
bites of snakes, to persons who submit to their charms and ceremonies.
One of the modes which is adopted for this purpose, is that of allowing
a tame snake to crawl over the head, face, and shoulders of the person
who is to be _curado do cobras_, cured of snakes, as they term it. The
owner of the snake repeats a certain number of words during the
operation, of which, the meaning, if they contain any, is only known to
the initiated. The rattle-snake is said to be, above all other species,
the most susceptible of attention to the tunes of the Mandingueiros."
The above accounts I should not have related upon the authority of one
or two authors, I have heard them repeated by several individuals, and
even some men of education have spoken of the reputed efficacy of the
tame snakes of the Mandingueiros, as if they were somewhat staggered in
their belief of it. "These men do certainly play strange tricks and very
dexterously." The same writer also observes, "One of the negroes whom I
had hired with the plantation of Jaguaribi, had one leg much thicker
than the other. This was occasioned, as he