Espiar a vida alheia, inquirir dos escravos o que se passava no interior das casas, era naquele tempo coisa ta‹  o comum e enraizada nos costumes, que ainda hoje, depois depassados tantos anos, restam grandes vest|¤gios de" s se belo ha¤  bito. Spying on other people's lives, asking slaves what was goingoninsidetheirhouseswasthenso commonandsuch a part of ourcustomsthat today, after so many years have passed, we have many remnants of such a beautiful habit.

-Almeida, Manuel Anto"  nio de
  Memo¤  rias de um sargento de mil|¤  cias (Memoirs of a Militia Sergeant,1959), ch.3.