The regiments of militia which are called mulatto regiments, are so named from all the officers and men being of mixed casts; nor can white persons be admitted into them. The principal officers are men of property, and the colonel, like the commander of any other regiment, is only amenable to the governor of the province. In the white militia regiments, the officers ought to be by law white men; but in practice they are rather reputed white men, for very little pains are taken to prove that there is no mixture of blood. Great numbers of the soldiers belonging to the regiments which are officered by white men, are mulattos, and other persons of colour. The regiments of the line, likewise, (as I have elsewhere said) admit into the ranks all persons excepting negroes and Indians; but the officers of these must prove nobility of birth; however, as certain degrees of nobility have been conferred upon persons in whose families there is much mixture of blood, this proof cannot be regarded as being required against the mulatto or mamaluco part of the population. Thus an European adventurer could not obtain a commission in these regiments, whilst a Brazilian, whose family has distinguished itself in the province in former times, will prove his eligibility without regard to the blood which runs in his veins. He is noble, let that flow from whence it may.[206] The late colonel of the mulatto regiment of Recife, by name Nogueira, went to Lisbon, and returned to Pernambuco with the Order of Christ, which the Queen had conferred upon him[207]. A chief person of one of the provinces is the son of a white man and a woman of colour; he has received an excellent education, is of a generous disposition, and entertains most liberal views upon all subjects. He has been made a colonel, and a degree of nobility has been conferred upon him; likewise the Regent is sponsor to one of his children. Many other instances might be mentioned. Thus has Portugal, of late years from policy, continued that system into which she was led by her peculiar circumstances in former times. Some of the wealthy planters of Pernambuco, and of the rich inhabitants of Recife are men of colour. The major part of the best mechanics are also of mixed blood. It is said that mulattos make bad masters; and this holds good oftentimes with persons of this description, who have been in a state of slavery, and become possessed of slaves of their own, or are employed as managers upon estates. The change of situation would lead to the same consequences in any race of human beings, and cannot be accounted peculiar to the mixed casts. I have seen mulattos of free birth as kind, as lenient, and as forbearing to their slaves and other dependants as any white man.