"In the _hervaïs_--whether public or private lands--the harvest is farmed out to contractors, who undertake to organize it. They employ a numerous staff. Each contractor constructs a hearth for drying the leaves, and this hearth becomes the centre of the little ephemeral world which lives for a few months in the heart of the forest, leading an isolated and laborious existence. Four or five tons of leaves are often prepared in a day. Some of the workers prune the trees; the others dry the leaves. The gangs are recruited from all over the State, and from the first day of harvest the Polish colonies furnish a good number of recruits. The men alone leave the colony, the women remaining to take care of the allotments. Some of the Poles are simple workmen, while those with more initiative are themselves contractors. All bring from the forests the money representing their wages or their profits, and on this money the colonies have managed to live."[30] * * * * * Here is a picture of the negroes on the sugar-producing lands and elsewhere. "A small proportion of the land belongs to negroes. Small ownership among the negroes dates from before the abolition of slavery. The masters who freed slaves often gave them, with their liberty, a piece of land to ensure their subsistence. The negroes who have inherited these small holdings are to-day the best element of the black agricultural population. They form the majority of a class of peasant proprietors, tilling their land with their own hands, which also comprises mulattoes and even a few whites. This class is unfortunately too restricted. "Taking them all in all, the negroes in the sugar-producing regions like Minas form a type of labourer of very indifferent economic value. The very sun assures them of many alimentary products, obtained without agricultural labour. Fish swarm in the marshes of the coast. A child will catch in one day enough to feed ten men. The fish, indeed, save the blacks from the obligation of regular labour. Although by no means the whole of the soil is under cultivation, certain sugar-producing districts are thus able to support a population of extraordinary density, swarming like ants in an ant-hill.