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Six rare documents depict the terrible daily life on a Brazilian slave farm in the late 19th century.

• 6 handwritten letters and notes from slave-era farmers, likely addressed to a doctor.
  
• 6 pages in total, each document consisting of one page. Four documents have one written page, and one document has three written pages.
• In Portuguese.
• +/- 22 cm x 28.5 cm.
• The documents show some insect bite marks and damaged edges. One of them is more fragile. In general, the paper is delicate and requires great care when handling.
• Unique set.

Excerpts transcribed into modern Portuguese

A slave escaped and is being sought

(...) It concerns the fact that a slave of mine escaped on February 17th of this year. According to information, he headed towards the countryside, perhaps with the intention of going to the Eastern State, influenced by someone. As he has never been to those parts, he might get lost on the way due to being far from my supervision and, therefore, may already consider himself free.

(...) I want to employ all possible means to capture him, and thinking about it, I remembered that you, due to your position and contacts, can recommend to people you trust to be attentive and, if they find him, to apprehend him. To whoever manages to capture him and put him in prison, I offer the sum of one hundred thousand réis. I also request that they inform me immediately, and if they bring the slave to me, I offer two hundred thousand réis. To facilitate identification, I am sending some bulletins with characteristic signs that will allow him to be recognized immediately.

The owner is concerned about a female slave injured by his lashes

(...) The day before yesterday, I gave a female slave some lashes and ended up taking off her skin in two places, but it was a very small thing. This morning, she complained of pain in her head and all over her body, from the waist up. I gave her an elderberry tea and made a bath with mustard, because she said she was cold, but she didn't sweat, just warmed her body more, and now she claims she is no longer cold. She says she feels pain in her hip and left rib. Two days ago, she cut the tip of her little finger while in the kitchen; after treating both injuries as a cut, I burned the area with sweet almond oil. Her tongue is normal.

A slaver pays for his slaves' shackles

Expenses incurred with the slave João da Cruz:

• Amount paid to the Prison: 40,710
• Payment to blacksmiths for placing the shackles: 500

A slave reacted violently, using a knife, after being confronted

(...) During the journey, Compadre went to fetch some cattle that were in another direction, but, at that moment, the slave took the animals back and said that the Master had ordered him to fetch those animals, causing a misunderstanding with Compadre. The latter tried to correct the slave with a whip, but the slave reacted with a knife, which fortunately did not injure him.

(...) Compadre went to the Master's house, where he found the slave, who was insulting him from inside the house. On the way back, he found the slave again, tried to capture him, and for that, he advanced with a sword. However, the slave dismounted his horse, but kept the animal under control, placing himself under the horse's neck. As Compadre was close, he could not reach him, and the slave fled into the bush, uttering new insults.

An inventory details the prices of slaves, the youngest being 3 or 4 years old

Inventory

• Bárbara, mulatto, 38 years old, suffers from chronic rheumatism in her arms which deprives her of almost all service 800,000
• Joaquina, mulatto, 20 years old, regular seamstress 1,400,000
• Manoel, mulatto, 16 years old, carpentry apprentice 1,200,000
• José Mª, ditto, 13 years old 1,000,000
• Isabel, ditto, 8 years old 700,000

(...) There is a Creole woman named Maria do Carmo, who was donated by the deceased before the will and subsequently registered in a deed for the value of 192 or 198 thousand réis, without needing insertion. She is between 3 and 4 years old and, I believe, does not need to be re-evaluated. Otherwise, her value would be between 300 and 350 thousand réis. The slave Bárbara was freed by a deed prior to the will, but the heirs insist that she be considered valuable.

An owner treats the death of an old slave as a bureaucratic matter, devoid of humanity