Note 154 — Chapter XVI

The French friar complains of the rats, and says that there was in his time a chasseur de rats upon every estate. He says that he made his chasseur bring the rats that were caught to him; and he desired to have the whole rat, for if the heads or tails only came, the bodies were eaten by the negroes, which he wished to prevent, as he thought that this food brought on consumption. I know that the negroes in Brazil eat every rat which they can catch, and I do not see why they should not be well tasted and wholesome food, for they feed on sugar-cane and mandioc. I cannot refrain from transcribing the following statement: “Il y a des habitans qui se contentent que le preneur de rats leur en apporte les quëues ou les têtes. C’est une mauvaise methode, parce que les preneurs voisins s’accordent ensemble et portent les quëues d’un côté et les têtes d’autre, afin de profiter de la recompense que les maîtres donnent, sans se mettre beaucoup en peine de tendre les attrapes.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c., tom. iii. p. 358.