Marriages between white men and women of colour are by no means rare, though they are sufficiently so to cause the circumstance to be mentioned when speaking of an individual who has connected himself in this manner; but this is not said with the intent of lowering him in the estimation of others. Indeed the remark is only made if the person is a planter of any importance, and the woman is decidedly of dark colour, for even a considerable tinge will pass for white; if the white man belongs to the lower orders, the woman is not accounted as being unequal to him in rank, unless she is nearly black. The European adventurers often marry in this manner, which generally occurs when the woman has a dower. The rich mulatto families are often glad to dispose of their daughters to these men, although the person who has been fixed upon may be in indifferent circumstances; for the colour of the children of their daughters is bettered, and from the well-known prudence and regularity of this set of men, a large fortune may be hoped for even from very small beginnings. Whilst I was at Jaguaribe, I was in the frequent habit of seeing a handsome young man, who was a native of the island of St. Michael’s. This person happened to be with me on one occasion when the commandant from the Sertam was staying at my house. The commandant asked him if he could read and write, and being answered in the negative, said, “then you will not do,” and turning to me, added, “I have a commission from a friend of mine to take with me back to the Sertam a good-looking young Portugueze of regular habits, who can read and write, for the purpose of marrying him to his daughter.” These kind of commissions (_encommendas_) are not unusual.