A View of a Slave Funeral in Rio, 1845

Daniel Kidder provides a vivid and detailed account of a unique funeral ritual observed among the African slaves in Brazil. The funeral procession, marked by chants and dances, unfolds with a distinctive blend of cultural elements that reflect the continuance of African customs among the enslaved community in Brazil. The author's observations shed light on a fascinating aspect of the cultural tapestry and ritual practices within the African slave community during this period in Rio. 

The funeral ceremonies of Rio have been repeatedly described. They exhibit the same fondness for parade and display which is manifest in other religious ceremonies, and moreover, afford one of the most common occasions of both. They are greatly varied in character, according to the age and condition of the person deceased. In the case of infants and young children, the occasion is considered joyous, and the procession is one of triumph. White horses, gaily caparisoned, and bearing white plumes upon their heads, draw an open coach, in which sits a priest in his most costly robes, with his head uncovered, and holding in his lap, upon an open litter, the remains of the infant, adorned with tinsel, and ribbons, and roses. The torch-bearers, if not dressed in white, have their coats trimmed with silver lace, and all the flambeaux are white.

In the case of adults, the contrast is the greatest imaginable. Night is generally chosen for the procession. On the day preceding, a funeral altar is set up in the house of the deceased. The door is hung in black, — the horses, the hearse, the torch - bearers, are all dressed in black. The driver of the hearse wears black epaulettes on his shoulders, and on his head a chapeau de bras, with a nodding plume. The number of torch-bearers is in proportion to the number of carriages in the train, on either side of which they form a line. They are frequently mounted, and their long black torches, flaming upon the darkness, create an imposing spectacle.

When the coffin reaches the church, it is transferred to a lofty pedestal, called a mausoleum, covered with black cloth, and surrounded with burning candles. Here it rests while the funeral services are performed. The body is then interred beneath some of the marble slabs by which the floor of the church is covered, or walled up in some of the catacumbas that have been constructed in the outer walls of the edifice.

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How different from the funeral of ceremony, with its boasted "sumptuousness and magnificence, " is that of the poor slave. Neither torches nor coffin are borne in his lonely procession. His body is placed in a hammock, the ends of which are fastened to a long pole, which is carried on the shoulders of two of his comrades. These may be seen early in the morning, marching slowly, one after the other, towards the Misericordia. The cemetery connected with that institution consists of a small piece of ground, surrounded by a high wall, on which the figure of a death's head is emblazoned in different places.

Within this enclosure a grave is daily dug, in the form of a pit, seven feet square. In this are placed promiscuously the bodies of those who die in the hospital over night, and of the slaves and poor persons who are brought here to receive gratuitous interment. Thus, in the space of a year, the whole surface is dug over, and in successive years the same process continues to be repeated.

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In connection with this subject, I will allude to another species of funeral, which illustrates the continuance of heathen customs among the Africans in Brazil. Great numbers of slaves are brought together at the Emperor's country seat, where they are permitted to follow the customs they prefer. 

Soon after removing to Engenho Velho, our attention was called from the rear of the house one Sabbath day, by loud and protracted cries in the street. On looking out of the window, a negro was seen bearing on his head a wooden tray, on which was the corpse of a child, covered with a white cloth, decorated with flowers, a bunch of them being fastened to its hand. Behind him, in a promiscuous throng, were about twenty negresses, and a number of children, adorned most of them with flaunting stripes of red, white, and yellow. They were all chanting some Ethiopian dirge, to which they kept time by a slow trot; the bearer of the deceased child pausing, once in one or two rods, and whirling around on his toes like a dancer.

Among the foremost, the mother was distinguished by her excessive gesticulation, although it could hardly be determined by her actions, whether emotions of grief or joy were predominant. Thus they passed on to the churchyard, where the corpse was delivered up to the vigario and his sexton. The procession then returned, chanting and dancing, if possible, more wildly than when they came. This spectacle was often repeated while we remained in that section of Rio, although I never saw it elsewhere.