A stricter discipline is kept up among the slaves on this estate, than on any of the same size I have been on in Brazil, but, at the same time, they are carefully and kindly attended to. There is a hospital for the sick, and Mr. Heath, the manager of the estate, has had great experience in the treatment of those diseases to which negroes are liable. Although there are not so many kinds of venomous snakes in Brazil as is supposed even by the inhabitants, yet accidents frequently occur from their bites to those slaves who are engaged in the plantations. In the whole course of my travels in Brazil, I did not meet with more than half a dozen kinds, which, from examination, were found to have poison fangs. Some of these are, however, very numerous in individuals. In the province of Rio, and in the southern provinces generally, the Jararáca, (_Bothrops Neuwiedii_, Spix.) a genus nearly allied to that which the Rattle Snake belongs to, is perhaps the most common. When full grown it is usually about six feet long. It is frequently met with in plantations, and in bushy and grassy places by the sides of woods, but is scarcely ever found in dense forests. That which is most abundant in the central and northern provinces, is a true Rattle Snake (_Cascavel_), but most probably a distinct species from that of North America. On the day previous to my arrival at Mr. March’s, one of his female slaves, about thirty-two years of age, and the mother of four children, whilst weeding Indian corn on a plantation about eight miles distant from the house, was bitten on the right hand, between the bones of the fore-finger and thumb, by a Jararáca. The accident took place about eight o’clock in the morning, and immediately after she left to return home, but only reached half way, when she was obliged to lie down from excessive pain and exhaustion. At this time she said the feeling of thirst was very great. Some slaves belonging to the estate happening to be near, one of them rode off to inform Mr. Heath. When he arrived, he found the arm much swollen up to the shoulder, beneath which he applied a ligature. From a cottage in the neighbourhood he got a little hartshorn, some of which he applied to the bite, and caused her to swallow about a tea-spoonful in water. Being in a state of high fever, he took about a pound of blood from her, after which she became faintish. She was then removed to the Fazenda, and had two grains of calomel administered to her, and about an hour after a large dose of castor oil.