milreis

Attached to the post-mortem inventory of Felix Alves de Andrade, owner of Engenho Maroim, the ledger registered the significant sum of four milreis (Rs.4$000) paid to Benta, a Brazilian-born (crioula) enslaved woman, for beans and palm oil.

The Portuguese who entered the fleeing boat to arrest Cankli Kumaran, forcefully confiscated the 8,000 milreis (Portuguese currency) found in the boat and ran amok with the royalties in the boat.

The natural mechanism is the following: On the plateau there are certain individuals who, for 10 to 20 milreis, acquire the negroes, who then pass through intermediaries, and eventually arrive on the coast, where they are sold at a higher price.

(90) Wielding pick axes or shovels during the day and sleeping in hammocks and sacks near the jobsite at night, cassacos earned meager salaries for their backbreaking labor--a mere 4 milreis per day (20 American cents )--payable in scrip and redeemable with the unregulated purveyors of food and merchandise.