As labourers, I found that they had usually a great inclination to over-reach; but their schemes were badly made, and consequently easily discovered. I never could depend upon them for any length of time, and to advance money or cloathing to them is a certain loss. If I had any labour which was to be performed by a given time, the overseer would always reckon upon his mulatto and negro free people; but did not mention in the list of persons who were to work, any of the Indians whom I was then employing; and on my speaking of them, he answered “An Indian is only to be mentioned for the present day[44],” meaning that no reliance is to be placed upon them. Like most of the aboriginal inhabitants of the western hemisphere, these people are of a copper colour. They are short, and stoutly made; but their limbs, though large, have not the appearance of possessing great strength, they have no shew of muscle. The face is disproportionately broad, the nose flat, the mouth wide, the eyes deep and small, the hair black, coarse, and lank; none of the men have whiskers, and their beards are not thick. The women, when they are young, have by no means an unpleasant appearance; but they soon fall off, and become ugly; their figures are seldom well shaped. Deformity is rare among the Indians; I do not recollect to have seen an individual of this race who had been born defective; and the well-informed persons with whom I conversed were of opinion, that the Indians are more fortunate in this respect than any other race with whom they were acquainted. All the Indians of Pernambuco speak Portugueze, but few of them pronounce it well; there is always a certain twang which discovers the speaker to be an Indian, although the voice was heard without the person being seen; many of them however do not understand any other language. The Indians seldom if ever speak Portugueze so well as the generality of the creole negroes. It must be perfectly understood, that although there may be some unfair dealings occasionally of the director towards the Indian, still this race cannot be enslaved; the Indian cannot be made to work for any person against his inclination, he cannot be bought and sold. An Indian will sometimes make over his child, when very young, to a rich person to be taught some trade, or to be brought up as a household servant, but as soon as the child is of an age to provide for itself, it cannot be prevented from so doing; it may leave the person under whose care it has been placed if it be so inclined.