I was much surprised in the beginning of the month of February, at the arrival of a mulatto slave, who had absconded in November; he came alone, and without the customary note from some person of my acquaintance, requesting him to be forgiven. He ascended the steps of the place in which I resided, with perfect unconcern, and with his knife in view and a stick in his hand, begged to be pardoned. I desired that some food should be given to him, and he remained in the kitchen during the night. However, I could not help suspecting some evil intentions, for I knew he had been staying upon the estate of a man who bore me no good will. He went off, by my order, in the morning, to assist three free labourers in the work of cutting up some trees that had been felled. I followed him to the ground about ten o’clock, as was my usual custom. I called him to me, under the pretence of wishing to have the curb chain of my bridle loosened; he came, and then I put one hand upon his head, and with the other drew a pistol, at the same time desiring him to throw down his hatchet and his knife, which he did. Then I called to two of the freemen, that they might secure him. The mulatto’s hands were tied behind his back, and I followed him and his conductors to Amparo, from whence I wrote to my new friend at Pillar, forwarding the slave to that village. He was there placed in the stocks, until I could dispose of him, which I immediately entered into measures for effecting. I never saw him again. He was a bad fellow, and had twice attempted the life of the persons under whose orders he was placed. He had run away in November from having drawn his knife, and having threatened to stab the manager with it. There is another road to Pillar, besides that by which the vicar had taken me; it is through a place called Engenho Velho (the old mill). Sugar works were formerly established here; but the lands are poor, and the large red ants upon them are so numerous, as to render their cultivation almost impossible; so much so, that scarcely any persons reside upon them. Many individuals of the lower classes, first obtaining leave from the proprietor, have attempted to rear crops of mandioc and maize upon them; but their exertions have seldom enabled any one to prevent the plantations from being destroyed by the ants. Huts are to be seen, out of which the inhabitants have been driven by these tormentors; the shelter which the roofs afford is convenient to the ants, and under them they like to form the chief entrances to their cities. I never saw any other situation in which this pest of Pernambuco[113] had so completely taken possession of the land. The hillocks under which they had formed their nests were innumerable; some of these were four feet in height, and ten or twelve in circumference; others were of less dimensions, and some of them might be larger.