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Principles Of Financial Accounting Third Edition Ian
Gillespie Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Ian Gillespie
ISBN(s): 027367630X
Edition: 3rd
File Details: PDF, 1.92 MB
Year: 2004
Language: english
 THIRD EDITION THIRD EDITION
Ian Gillespie PRINCIPLES OF THIRD

Richard Lewis FINANCIAL

EDITION
PRINCIPLES OF

PRINCIPLES OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING

Gillespie Lewis Hamilton
Kay Hamilton ACCOUNTING FINANCIAL
This easy-to-read text will give students the grounding they need to understand the principles of financial
accounting. Whilst it provides a sound theoretical foundation of the subject area, this new edition also
emphasises the preparation, analysis and application of accounting statements in the context of the
modern business organisation.
ACCOUNTING
Key Features
• End-of-chapter review questions and exercises with
answers.
• Checkpoint questions throughout, solutions also included.
• Definitions of all key terms and easy-reference glossary.
• New! Greater prominence given to the limitations of the
accounting model.
• New! Additional material on the accounts of charities.
• New! Chapter summarising the preparation of financial
statements.
• New! Chapter on computerised accounting. Ian Gillespie
• New! Expanded coverage of auditing.
• New! Updated section on the recognition of profit. Screen shot reprinted by permission from Microsoft Corporation.
Richard Lewis
Principles of Financial Accounting is ideal for students taking an introductory course or module in financial
accounting. Kay Hamilton
Ian Gillespie was formerly Academic Director of Validation Services at the European Business School,
London and Academic Leader, Regents Business School, London.
Richard Lewis was formerly Professor of Accountancy at the University of Wales and is now Co-Director
of the Centre for Higher Education Research and Information (CHERI) and President of the International
Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE).
Kay Hamilton was formerly Accounting Subject Leader at the European Business School, London.

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Financial Accounting
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Third Edition

Principles of
Financial Accounting

Ian Gillespie
Richard Lewis
Kay Hamilton
Pearson Education Limited

Edinburgh Gate
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Essex CM20 2JE
England

and Associated Companies around the world

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First published 1997

Second edition 2000
Third edition published 2004

© Prentice Hall Europe 1997

© Ian Gillespie, Richard Lewis and Kay Hamilton 2000, 2004

The rights of Ian Gillespie, Richard Lewis and Kay Hamilton to be identified as authors
of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a

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All trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners. The use of
any trademark in this text does not vest in the author or publisher any trademark
ownership rights in such trademarks, nor does the use of such trademarks imply
any affiliation with or endorsement of this book by such owners.

ISBN-10: 0-273-67630-X
ISBN-13: 978-0-273-67630-0

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book can be obtained from the British Library.

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09 08 07 06 05

Typeset in 10/12.5pt Sabon by 25.

Printed by Ashford Colour Press Ltd., Gosport.

The publisher’s policy is to use paper manufactured from sustainable forests.

 Contents in summary

Guided tour xiv

How to use this text xvii

1 The nature of accounting 1

Part I · Preparing financial statements: the basics

2 The accounting equation: balance sheets and profit and
loss accounts 19
3 The extended accounting equation: debits and credits 37
4 Accounting systems and financial statements: the basics 47
5 Accrual accounting 63
6 Fixed assets and depreciation 82
7 Bad and doubtful debts and control accounts 100
8 Cost of goods sold 121
9 Preparation of financial statements 136

Part II · Preparation of financial statements: partnerships

and limited companies
10 Partnership accounts 145
11 Limited company accounts 184
12 Consolidated accounts: an introduction 204

Part III · Special topics in accounting

13 Incomplete records 231
14 Accounts of clubs, societies and charities 248
15 Branch accounts 263
16 Computerised accounting: an introduction 274
17 Auditing: an introduction 280

Part IV · Analysing and understanding financial statements

18 Limitations of the conventional accounting model 289
19 Financial reporting in countries other than the UK 315
20 Cash flow statements 326
21 Analysis of financial statements 1 346
22 Analysis of financial statements 2 358

Appendices
Further reading 385
Glossary 388
Solutions to checkpoint questions 395
Solutions to selected exercises 409
Index 483

v
 Contents in full

Guided tour xiv

How to use this text xvii

1 The nature of accounting 1

Introduction 1
Learning objectives 1
1.1 Purposes of accounting 1
1.2 Users of accounts 4
1.3 Planning and control 5
1.4 Financial and management accounting 6
1.5 Financial accounting for past activities 6
1.6 A brief history of accounting 7
1.7 Conventions 9
1.8 Rules and laws 12
Summary 13
Review questions 13
Exercises 14

Part I · Preparing financial statements: the basics

2 The accounting equation: balance sheets and

profit and loss accounts 19
Introduction 19
Learning objectives 19
2.1 The accounting equation 19
2.2 The balance sheet 22
2.3 The profit and loss account 27
Summary 32
Review questions 33
Exercises 33

3 The extended accounting equation: debits and credits 37

Introduction 37
Learning objectives 37
3.1 The extended accounting equation 37
3.2 Debit and credit 39
3.3 The ledger and T accounts 41
Summary 44
Review questions 44
Exercises 44

vii
Contents in full

4 Accounting systems and financial statements:

the basics 47
Introduction 47
Learning objectives 47
4.1 Accounting systems 48
4.2 The trial balance 54
4.3 The preparation of financial statements from a trial balance 56
Summary 58
Review questions 58
Exercises 59

5 Accrual accounting 63
Introduction 63
Learning objectives 63
5.1 The accruals basis of accounting 63
5.2 Accrual accounting 67
5.3 Preparation of financial statements including accrual accounting
adjustments 70
Summary 74
Review questions 74
Exercises 75

6 Fixed assets and depreciation 82

Introduction 82
Learning objectives 82
6.1 Nature of depreciation and methods of calculation 82
6.2 Bases of calculation 84
6.3 Recording depreciation in the books 88
6.4 What depreciation is not 91
6.5 Preparation of financial statements including depreciation 93
Summary 94
Review questions 95
Exercises 96

7 Bad and doubtful debts and control accounts 100

Introduction 100
Learning objectives 100
7.1 Background, including a note on credit control 100
7.2 Treatment of bad and doubtful debts 101
7.3 Preparation of financial statements including bad and doubtful debts 105
7.4 Control accounts 107
7.5 Bank reconciliations 112
Summary 115
Review questions 115
Exercises 116

viii
 Contents in full

8 Cost of goods sold 121

Introduction 121
Learning objectives 121
8.1 Conventional methods 122
8.2 The replacement cost basis 126
8.3 Preparation of financial statements including stock 128
Summary 131
Review questions 131
Exercises 132

9 Preparation of financial statements 136

Introduction 136
Learning objectives 136
9.1 Adjustments 137
Exercise 142

Part II · Preparation of financial statements:

partnerships and limited companies

10 Partnership accounts 145

Introduction 145
Learning objectives 145
10.1 Capital, current and drawings accounts 147
10.2 The appropriation of profit 147
10.3 Partners’ loan accounts 151
10.4 Lack of a partnership agreement 152
10.5 The peculiar problems of partnerships 152
10.6 Goodwill 154
10.7 Change in the profit-sharing ratio 159
10.8 The death or retirement of a partner 160
10.9 The Partnership Act 1890 163
10.10 Absence of accounts at the date of change in partnership
arrangements 164
10.11 Dissolution of partnerships 164
10.12 Joint ventures 167
Summary 170
Review questions 170
Exercises 171
Appendix: An extended example of partnership accounts 177

11 Limited company accounts 184

Introduction 184
Learning objectives 184
11.1 Structural and legal aspects: the nature of limited liability
companies 184

ix
Contents in full

11.2 Dividends 186

11.3 Share capital 186
11.4 Public and private companies 188
11.5 Limited companies: financial statements 189
11.6 Preparation of financial statements 193
11.7 Taxation in company accounts 196
Summary 197
Review questions 197
Exercises 198

12 Consolidated accounts: an introduction 204

Introduction 204
Learning objectives 204
12.1 The advantages of a group structure 205
12.2 Why consolidate? 206
12.3 Consolidated accounts 207
12.4 Goodwill on consolidation 208
12.5 Goodwill – what to do with it 212
12.6 Partly owned subsidiaries 213
12.7 Consolidated balance sheets 214
12.8 The consolidated profit and loss account 217
12.9 Preference shares in subsidiary companies 221
12.10 Associated companies 222
Summary 223
Review questions 223
Exercises 224

Part III · Special topics in accounting

13 Incomplete records 231

Introduction 231
Learning objectives 231
13.1 Dealing with incomplete records 231
Summary 242
Review questions 242
Exercises 242

14 Accounts of clubs, societies and charities 248

Introduction 248
Learning objectives 248
14.1 Unincorporated clubs and societies 248
14.2 The accounts of charities 254
Summary 260
Review questions 260
Exercises 260

x
 Contents in full

15 Branch accounts 263

Introduction 263
Learning objectives 263
15.1 Purposes and methods of accounting for branches 263
15.2 Branch accounting where the branch maintains full accounting
records 264
15.3 Branch accounting where all transactions are recorded in the
head office books 270
Summary 271
Review questions 271
Exercises 272

16 Computerised accounting: an introduction 274

Introduction 274
Learning objectives 274
16.1 Computers for accounting 275
16.2 Benefits and risks 275
16.3 Important practical issues 277
16.4 The disappearing audit trail 279
Summary 279
Review questions 279

17 Auditing: an introduction 280

Introduction 280
Learning objectives 280
17.1 What is auditing? Private and statutory audits 280
17.2 Audit reports 281
17.3 Notes on other audit roles 284
Summary 286
Review questions 286

Part IV · Analysing and understanding financial

statements

18 Limitations of the conventional accounting model 289

Introduction 289
Learning objectives 289
18.1 The limitations of the model 290
18.2 Income measurement and valuation 292
18.3 Creative accounting 298
18.4 Current value accounting 301
18.5 Replacement cost accounting 302
Summary 310
Review questions 310
Exercises 311

xi
Contents in full

19 Financial reporting in countries other than the UK 315

Introduction 315
Learning objectives 315
19.1 Major differences and their causes 315
19.2 Country studies 319
19.3 Harmonisation 323
Summary 325
Review questions 325

20 Cash flow statements 326

Introduction 326
Learning objectives 326
20.1 The importance of cash 326
20.2 Reasons for the difference between profit and changes in cash
balances 327
20.3 Sources and applications other than from operations 331
20.4 The preparation of cash flow statements 332
20.5 The uses and limitations of cash flow statements 337
20.6 Improvements to cash flow statements 338
Summary 339
Review questions 340
Exercises 340

21 Analysis of financial statements 1 346

Introduction 346
Learning objectives 346
21.1 Cross-sectional and time series analysis 346
21.2 Profitability ratios 347
21.3 Asset turnover rates 349
21.4 Liquidity and solvency ratios 351
21.5 Using the ratios 352
21.6 Limitations 353
21.7 Worked examples 353
Summary 357
Review questions 357

22 Analysis of financial statements 2 358

Introduction 358
Learning objectives 358
22.1 Medium- and long-term measures of solvency 358
22.2 Earnings per share 363
22.3 Return on capital employed 370
22.4 Further comments on limitations 373
Summary 375
Review questions 375
Exercises 375

xii
 Contents in full

Appendices
Further reading 385
Glossary 388
Solutions to checkpoint questions 395
Solutions to selected exercises 409

Index 483

xiii
Guided tour to the book

5 • Accrual accounting

1 The nature of accounting

Key terms ■ To wind up is to close down. In a business context it also implies the sale of the assets
and settlement of the debts of the firm; and also the distribution to the owner or owners
of any balance of cash left over. Another term in use is to liquidate the firm, meaning to
dissolve and realise. However, this term is usually used in connection with limited
Key terms provide
companies, set up under the law, where a liquidator has to be appointed to wind up the
firm. This is a qualified person who takes control of the company in order to realise its definitions of
assets, pay its debts and distribute any cash balance.

We should, of course, have to make adjustments for any further cash introduced or
accounting terms
drawn out by the owner(s). For example, suppose that George had set up a business by
investing £5,000,000 and had not, during the next five years, invested or drawn out
any further cash. If, when the business was wound up, it realised £6,200,000 then the
throughout the
Introduction
In this first chapter we discuss the purposes of accounting, who uses accounting
statements and why they use them. We also explain, briefly, the distinction between
profit for the five years would be:
£000,
text
financial and management accounting. A short history of accounting is included to Amount realised 6,200,000
Original investment w5v,w0w0w0v,w0w0w0
help you to see modern accounting in the context of the way it developed. Perhaps
Profit for the five years w1v,w2w0w0v,w0w0w0
the most important section is the discussion of the conventions of accounting,
because these conventions underlie all the aspects of accounting dealt with in later If, however, George had invested a further £500,000 and had drawn out £600,000,
chapters. then:
£000,
Amount realised 6,200,000
Learning objectives Add: Cash drawn out w v w6w0w0v,w0w0w0
Total cash withdrawn 6,800,000
At the end of this chapter, after completing the checkpoint questions and exercises,
you should be able to: £000,
Original investment 5,000,000
● explain the main purposes of accounting; Further investment w v w5w0w0v,w0w0w0
● describe the main users of accounts and explain why they need accounting w5v,w5w0w0v,w0w0w0
statements; Profit for the five years w1v,w3w0w0v,w0w0w0
● explain what is meant by ‘planning and control’; The problem is that it is not much use to the owner to know that he or she has made
● explain the main difference between financial accounting and management this profit once business has ceased. In order to take action to improve the business he
accounting; or she needs to know the results much more frequently: every year, or every quarter,
● explain what ‘conventions’ are and describe the main ones; month or even every week. Some figures may well be needed daily. In practice most
●
well-run firms have their accounting statements produced at least once a month. This
explain how conventions may conflict with each other;
means that we shall have to divide the firm’s continuous life into arbitrary periods in
● explain what is meant by a ‘firm’;
order to produce the statements. This causes nearly all of the problems we have to face
● describe the sources of the various rules and regulations that govern the prepa- (and much of the interest) in accounting.
ration and publication of financial accounting statements.

? Checkpoint question
5.1 Anna invested £100,000 into a new business. During the next six years she drew out a
1.1 Purposes of accounting total of £66,000 for her living expenses. She also made a further investment in the firm
of £9,000. At the end of the six years, she wound up the business, realising £200,000.
Accounting is not merely a collection of arithmetical techniques but a set of complex Calculate her profit for the six years.
processes depending on and prepared for people.
● Accounting reports are prepared in order to help people make decisions. The first step is to break the time stream into sections. Ideally the periods should be
● Accounting reports are based on activities that have been carried out by people. selected so that the results of one time period can be compared, within reason, with the

1 64

Introduction and learning objectives Checkpoint questions throughout

explain what students will learn on each chapter enable students to check
reading the chapter their progress

3 • The extended accounting equation: debits and credits 5 • Accrual accounting

each pair of columns and that the differences are equal but on different sides. In the
Example 3.2
profit and loss columns the credit total exceeds the debit total by £36,600; this is the
Andrew sold goods, which originally cost £1,000, to Albert for £1,500 on credit. profit for the period as the revenue exceeds the expenses by that amount. The debit
total of the balance sheet columns exceeds the credit total, also by £36,600. This is the
Debit Albert (debtor) £1,500
Credit sales (revenue) £1,500 amount by which the profit has increased the equity; we therefore enter the amount in
the credit column of the balance sheet, thus balancing both sets of columns.
and We may now extract the balances from the two pairs of columns and arrange them
Debit cost of goods sold (expense) £1,000 into the accounting statements shown in Example 5.1 above.
Credit stock (asset) £1,000
Albert Sales ? Checkpoint question
Sales 1,500 Albert 1,500 5.11 Explain the function of accrued and prepaid expenses in the matching process and the
preparation of accounts on an accruals basis.
Cost of goods sold Stock
Stock 1,000 Cost of goods
sold 1,000
Summary
There are no detailed rules in the UK regarding the use of ledger accounts. In general, In this chapter we introduced accrual accounting. After the accounting equations, this
the way they are set up and used depends on the needs of the particular firm.
We end this chapter with a longer example on the use of T accounts (Example 3.3).
is the key chapter in the book, dealing as it does with the basis of accounting used by
virtually all business enterprises and many others, such as universities and hospitals.
Summary at the
We also introduced the twin conventions of realisation and matching which underlie
Example 3.3 the accrual accounting method. Accrual accounting attempts to bring in to an
accounting period all those revenues and expenses which relate to that period and to
end of each chapter
1. Arthur starts a business by paying into the new firm’s bank account the amount of
£100,000. (All entries are in £s.)
Bank Capital
include in the balance sheet those assets, liabilities and equity items which exist at
the end of the period. This should be compared with the cash basis, where revenue is
recognised when the cash is received and the expenses are recognised when the cash
reinforces students’
Capital 100,000 Bank 100,000
is paid. As we shall see in the later chapters, nearly all the problems in accounting
arise from the attempt to make accounting more relevant to the firm’s needs through
the adoption of the accruals basis.
learning
2. Arthur also pays cash into the business to be held to cover small items of expenditure.
(Actual cash on hand, as opposed to the balance in the bank, is called petty cash.) The preparation of financial statements (profit and loss account and balance sheet)
including accruals and prepayments was also explained and demonstrated, including
Petty cash Capital the use of the extended trial balance.
Capital 500 Bank 100,000
Petty cash 500

3. The firm purchases goods for resale for £20,000, on credit.

Stock Creditors Review questions

Creditors 20,000 Stock 20,000
5.1 Explain the main differences between accrual accounting and cash accounting.
4. The firm sells the above goods for £23,000, on credit.
5.2 Explain what is meant by realisation and matching.
Sales Debtors
5.3 We have said that accrual accounting gives rise to most of the difficulties in accounting.
Debtors 23,000 Sales 23,000
Why do you think this is so?
Stock Cost of sales 5.4 What have assets and expenses in common? How do they differ?
Creditors 20,000 Cost of 20,000 Stock 20,000
sales 5.5 Discuss the statement that ‘revenue should not be recognised until it is realised’.

42 74

Illustrative worked examples explain Review questions are ideal for use in
concepts that students often find tutorial discussion and further students’
difficult understanding

xiv
 7 • Bad and doubtful debts and control accounts Further reading

Exercises
Further reading
Solutions to exercises whose number is in colour can be found at the end of the book.

7.1 Dino Faculti started business buying and selling knitting machines on 1 January 20X3.
His debtors’ figures, before writing off any bad debts, were as follows: Chapter 1
31 December 20X3 £30,000 Financial Accounting, 2nd edn, Arnold, J., Hope, T., Southworth, A. and Kirkham, L., Prentice
Hall, Hemel Hempstead (1994), Chapters 1
–
3.
31 December 20X4 £38,100
31 December 20X5 £4,750 Chapters 2
–
4
Bad debts to be written off were as follows: Financial Accounting, 2nd edn, Arnold, J., Hope, T., Southworth, A. and Kirkham, L., Prentice
Hall, Hemel Hempstead (1994), Chapters 4 and 5.
in 20X4 £2,100
in 20X5 £750 Chapter 5
and the required figure for doubtful debts, in each year, is 5 per cent of outstanding debtors. Financial Accounting, 2nd edn, Arnold, J., Hope, T., Southworth, A. and Kirkham, L., Prentice
Hall, Hemel Hempstead (1994), Chapter 5.
Required:
Faculti’s bad debts expense and doubtful debts accounts together with supporting calcu- Chapter 6
lations. Financial Accounting, 2nd edn, Arnold, J., Hope, T., Southworth, A. and Kirkham, L., Prentice
Hall, Hemel Hempstead (1994), Chapter 6.
7.2 Malcolm’s trial balance as at 30 June 20X2 was as follows: Depreciating Assets: An Introduction, Baxter, W.T., Gee & Co., London (1980).
£0,0 £0,0 Chapter 7
Capital account as at 1 July 20X1 29,000 Accounting and Finance: A Firm Foundation, 5th edn, Pizzey, A., Continuum International
Creditors 21,000 Publishing Group, London (2001).
Debtors 22,650
Cost of goods sold 144,000 Chapter 8
Drawings 32,100 Financial Accounting, 2nd edn, Arnold, J., Hope, T., Southworth, A. and Kirkham, L., Prentice
Sales 243,000 Hall, Hemel Hempstead (1994), Chapter 7.
Stock 36,000
Vehicles 21,000 Chapter 10
Wages expense 14,250 Accounting and Finance: A Firm Foundation, 4th edn, Pizzey, A., Cassell, London (1994),
Sundry expenses 3,000 Chapter 11.
Accounting and Finance: A Firm Foundation, 5th edn, Pizzey, A., Continuum International
Rent expense 13,500
Publishing Group, London (2001).
Insurance expense 2,000
Cash at bank w w w4v,w5w0w0 w w w v w w w0 Chapter 11
w2w9w3v,w0w0w0 w2w9w3v,w0w0w0 Accounting Theory and Practice, 7th edn, Glautier, M.W.E. and Underdown, B., Financial
The following information is relevant: Times Prentice Hall, Harlow (2000), Chapter 13.
1. Wages payable but unpaid at 30 June 20X2 amounted to £750. Advanced Financial Accounting, 6th edn, Lewis, R. and Pendrill, D., Pearson Education, Harlow
2. Rent accrued but unpaid at 30 June 20X2 amounted to £3,000. (2000), Chapter 7.
3. The figure of insurance expenses includes a prepayment at 30 June 20X2 of £1,000.
Chapter 12
4. The vehicles are to be depreciated at the rate of 25 per cent per annum. As the vehicles
Making Corporate Reports Valuable, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland,
were purchased at the beginning of the year, no depreciation has yet been charged. A full
Edinburgh (1988).
year’s depreciation is now to be charged.
Advanced Financial Accounting, 6th edn, Lewis, R. and Pendrill, D., Pearson Education, Harlow
5. Bad debts of £2,650 are to be written off and provision is to be made for doubtful debts
(2000), Chapters 8 and 9.
amounting to 10 per cent of the remaining debtors.
Required: Chapter 13
Prepare Malcolm’s profit and loss account for the year ended 30 June 20X2 and his balance Business Accounting 1, 8th edn, Wood, F., Financial Times Prentice Hall, Harlow (1999),
sheet as at that date. Chapter 31.

116 385

Exercises are designed to test students’ Further reading is arranged on a

technical and analytical capabilities chapter-by-chapter basis and encourages
readers to research topics in depth

Glossary Glossary

Glossary Solutions to checkpoint questions Solutions to

Accrued expenses or accruals Expenses which relate to an accounting period but have not yet
checkpoint
Chapter 1
been brought into the books of account.
Aged debtors The aged debtors schedule shows, for each debtor, the length of time the amounts
1.1 To provide information in financial terms for users of accounts to make decisions
concerning resource allocation.
questions
owed by the debtor have been outstanding.
Allocate To allocate revenues and costs is to apportion them to particular accounting periods,
requiring judgement by the person making the allocations.
1.2
1.3
The application of money or other resources to a particular purpose.
Existing and potential shareholders, creditors, analysts, government, Inland
enable students
Assets A right which is of economic value to its owner, i.e. the future net cash flow to the owner
will be greater by virtue of the ownership of the asset. For an asset to be recognised in the
Revenue, employees, society.
● Existing shareholders – includes: sell, keep or increase shareholding; voting annu- to check their
accounting records, it normally must have been acquired for a measurable cost. ally at shareholders’ meetings; deciding whether to call special meetings, e.g. to

Associated company One over which another company has significant influence but not
control.
●
remove directors.
Potential shareholders: whether to buy shares.
answers
● Creditors: whether to lend money
extend credit.
Audit A scrutiny of the accounts by qualified auditors who carry out checks on the figures in ● Investment and credit analysts: basis for advice to clients, i.e. investors and cred-
order to establish whether the accounts show a ‘true and fair view’ of the results and of the itors.
financial position of the entity. ● The government: information for economic policy-making.
● The Inland Revenue: as a basis for taxation.
Audit trail The records and documents used to trace items through the system.
● Employees: assessment of employment prospects and for wage bargaining.
Auditor A person qualified to carry out audits and to report on his
her findings. Solutions to selected exercises

Auditors’ remuneration The amount payable to the auditors in respect of the period of the
accounts. The auditors will carry out a number of checks on the figures in order to establish
whether, in their opinion, the financial statements show a ‘true and fair view’ of the
company’s results for the period and its financial position at the end of the period. Solutions to selected exercises Solutions to
Backing-up The procedure for making security copies of data from the computer system. Back-
up is the copy produced.
Balance sheet minority interest The proportion of the capital and reserves of the subsidiary Chapter 1
selected exercises
companies which relates to the shares in those companies not held by the parent company.
Bank reference A reference obtained from the selling firm’s own bank.
1.1
1.2
(a) iii; (b) ii; (c) i; (d) iii; (e) iii.
(a)
enable students
Branch A subordinate part of a firm which is not a limited company. (Such a company would
be a subsidiary company.) 1. At the start
Assets: bucket
£

5
Conventions
to assess their
Called-up share capital The nominal value of shares issued.
Capital maintenance The financial capital must be maintained to protect the interests of the
creditors. 2. Filled the bucket
cash w3
u8
Objectivity, historical cost
understanding
Code
coding Transactions are given code numbers
letters to guide the bookkeeper
computer
operator in entering the details of the transaction into the books of account. In the United
Assets: bucket
cash £(3 0 2)
water
5
1
w2
Duality demonstrated
Objectivity, verifiability
and progress
Kingdom, this coding is carried out at the discretion of the company itself.
u8
Computerised accounting system A system that relies on the entries reflecting the transactions 3. Jack collides with passer-by
being keyed into preprogrammed software which contains the whole of the accounting Assets: as above 8
system, much of the information being processed automatically following the initial entries.
Liabilities: repairs to glasses w6 Prudence, relevance
u2 (business liability)
388 4. Sold half the water:
Assets: bucket 5 Materiality (no depreciation charged)
cash £(1 ! 10) 11

Glossary collates all key terms

alphabetically in one place

xv
 How to use this text

This text is addressed to you, the student. At all times, when producing this book, we
have been concerned only to help you to understand the principles of financial account-
ing, bearing in mind that you are probably studying it for the first time. Our experience
in teaching the subject over many years has convinced us that you will not fully under-
stand the issues involved unless you learn to actually produce accounting statements
and analyse them. This is the approach which is embodied in this book.
The text provides a comprehensive grounding in the principles of financial account-
ing: the main techniques and underlying concepts involved in the preparation and
analysis of accounting statements, and their application to various forms of business
organisation.
The book is therefore particularly suitable for students specialising in accounting.
However, selective use of the chapters will make the text suitable for others, for
instance students taking business studies degrees.

Teaching and learning features

In writing this text we have, above all, tried to be clear and, as far as possible, to
minimise and simplify the use of technical terms and jargon. We have provided clearly
displayed definitions throughout the text where each key term is first introduced; for
ease of reference and quick revision, all these terms have been collated alphabetically in
a glossary towards the end of the book.
At regular intervals throughout each chapter there are one or more short checkpoint
questions. These are intended to encourage you to interact with the text, answering
each question as you progress through each chapter. They are typically of the kind that
your lecturer might pose during a tutorial to check that you are following and under-
standing a topic. Other questions require you to make calculations to deduce an
answer. For self-assessment, outline answers are given in the appendices. You should
check your answers against these and, if you are not satisfied with your own answer,
you are advised to reread the relevant section before moving on. In addition there are
comprehensive worked examples. We have taken great care to ensure that you will be
able to follow these through by explaining any aspects which we know by experience
are likely to cause students some difficulty.
At the end of most chapters there are two types of question. Review questions are
intended primarily for tutorial discussion, enabling you to focus and expand your
thinking on topics, and to evaluate critically accounting techniques and concepts. If
you are studying on your own, or without tutorial support, you will find it helpful to
write short essays for each question and to check your thinking against the ideas
expressed in this and other texts. Exercises are designed to test both your technical and
analytical capabilities. To enable you to assess your understanding and progress, fully
worked solutions to selected exercises for each chapter (those with the exercise number

xvii
How to use this text

printed in colour) are provided in the appendices. You should check your solution
against that given, ensuring that you understand any differences; essentially, in the case
of numerical questions, you need to understand how every figure is arrived at.
The further reading section contains a chapter-by-chapter listing of other texts to
which you might refer in order to pursue a subject in more depth or for an alternative
perspective.

Content and structure

In Chapter 1 ‘The nature of accounting’, we start with an overview of accounting
which includes the framework of conventions, rules and regulations that govern the
production and publication of financial accounting statements.
This is followed by Part I ‘Preparing financial statements – the basics’. In Chapters 2
to 4 we explain the logic behind financial accounting and the more technical features
of accounting systems. Thereafter, in Chapters 5 to 8, we explain the essentials of
accrual accounting and some of the more important problems that this method raises
in practice. Also, in Chapter 7 we deal with the preparation and uses of control
accounts. The preparation of accounts of sole traders is covered in detail in Chapters 5
to 8. Chapter 9 ‘Preparation of financial statements’ concludes Part I.
Part II deals with the preparation of financial statements of partnerships and limited
companies. Chapter 10 covers partnership accounts, including the recently introduced
category of limited liability partnerships. Chapter 11 deals with the accounts of limited
companies – the most common type of business organisation in the UK and elsewhere.
This chapter also includes the basic structural and legal aspects and the basis of taxa-
tion of limited companies. Part II concludes with an introduction to consolidated
accounts, that is the accounts of groups of companies. Virtually all published accounts
of companies quoted on stock exchanges are for groups of companies.
Part III covers a number of special topics in accounting. Chapters 13 to 17, most of
which are short, deal with incomplete records, accounts of clubs, societies and chari-
ties, branch accounts, computerised accounting and auditing. The section on charities
is new, reflecting the size and importance of charities today. Computerised accounting,
and the linked section in auditing, are also new, reflecting the fact that most account-
ing systems are now computerised.
In Part IV ‘Analysing and understanding financial statements’, we first consider, in
Chapter 18, the limitations of the conventional accounting model. Recent events have
shown how financial statements may, accidentally or deliberately, mislead users.
Further, we make some suggestions as to how financial reporting might be improved.
Thereafter, we provide an overview of financial accounting of countries other than the
UK. A large proportion of financial statements which you will come across as a student
– and more importantly in business – are accounts of companies or groups based
outside the UK. We complete Part IV, and the book, by considering ways of analysing
and understanding a firm’s results. Firstly, we deal with cash flow statements in
Chapter 20, and then devote two chapters to the analysis and understanding of
financial statements, which is, ultimately, the aim of the book.
Please note: all companies discussed in this text are fictitious and are not intended to
bear any resemblance to an existing company.

xviii
1 The nature of accounting

Introduction
In this first chapter we discuss the purposes of accounting, who uses accounting
statements and why they use them. We also explain, briefly, the distinction between
financial and management accounting. A short history of accounting is included to
help you to see modern accounting in the context of the way it developed. Perhaps
the most important section is the discussion of the conventions of accounting,
because these conventions underlie all the aspects of accounting dealt with in later
chapters.

Learning objectives

At the end of this chapter, after completing the checkpoint questions and exercises,
you should be able to:
● explain the main purposes of accounting;
● describe the main users of accounts and explain why they need accounting
statements;
● explain what is meant by ‘planning and control’;
● explain the main difference between financial accounting and management
accounting;
● explain what ‘conventions’ are and describe the main ones;
● explain how conventions may conflict with each other;
● explain what is meant by a ‘firm’;
● describe the sources of the various rules and regulations that govern the prepa-
ration and publication of financial accounting statements.

1.1 Purposes of accounting

Accounting is not merely a collection of arithmetical techniques but a set of complex
processes depending on and prepared for people.
● Accounting reports are prepared in order to help people make decisions.
● Accounting reports are based on activities that have been carried out by people.

1
1 • The nature of accounting

Also, as we shall see later, most accounting reports depend to a large measure on
judgements and estimates made by people.
But what, specifically, is accounting? It is difficult to find an all-inclusive definition,
but we can say that accounting is concerned with the provision of information in finan-
cial terms which will help in decisions concerning resource allocation and in the prepa-
ration of reports in financial terms describing the effects of past resource allocation
decisions. ‘Resource allocation’ means the application of money (or other resources) to
a particular purpose. Examples of resource allocation decisions include the following:
● Should an individual invest money in a company?
● Should a bank lend money to a firm?
● How much tax should a company pay?
● Should a company build a new factory?
Accounting is necessary in any society needing resource allocation. Its usefulness is
not confined to ‘capitalist’ or ‘mixed’ economies; however, business accounting has
developed mainly in such economies. An accountant is concerned with the provision
and interpretation of financial information. He or she does not, as an accountant, make
decisions. Many accountants do of course get directly involved in decision-making, but
when they do they are performing a different function.
Current decisions about resource allocation are concerned with the future, but
accounting is also concerned with reporting on the effects of past decisions. However,
we should consider whether this is done for its own sake or in order to provide infor-
mation which should prove helpful in current and future decisions. Knowledge of the
past is relevant only if it can be used to help make current and future decisions. We can
influence the future by making appropriate decisions but we cannot change the past.
Therefore the measurement of past results is a subsidiary role, but because of the
historical development of accounting and, perhaps, because of the limitations of the
present state of the art, ‘backward’-looking accounting can sometimes seem to be an
end in itself and not a means of helping to achieve better results in the future.

? Checkpoint questions
1.1 Discuss the main purposes of accounting.

1.2 Explain what is meant by ‘resource allocation’.

Key terms ■ A shareholder is a person who owns shares in a limited company. A limited company
is created by law. It is said to be incorporated. Such a company is a legal entity which is
separate and distinct in law from its owners.
■ A creditor is a person or firm to whom money (a debt) is owing.

■ To give credit is to allow a person or firm to purchase goods or services, payment being
due at a date later than the delivery of the goods or the performance of the services.
■ A firm is an organisation set up by its owner or owners to provide goods or services
with a view to making a profit.

2
 Purposes of accounting

The example below illustrates how the growth (and eventual dissolution) of a firm
generates the need for accounting information.

Stages in development How accounting helps

1. Leon, a skilled furniture maker, is made Helps Leon to judge the success of his
redundant by his employer. He decides to business; in particular helps him to decide
start his own business and starts making how much he can withdraw from the firm
furniture for sale at craft fairs and to spend on himself. Provides the basis on
exhibitions. which Leon is taxed.
2. Leon meets Angela, who also makes Provides the basis for dividing the profit
furniture. They decide to become business between the partners.
partners.
3. The business is successful and the firm Helps to establish the creditworthiness of
expands. In order to finance the expansion, the firm.
Leon and Angela borrow money from the
bank and run up large amounts owing to
their suppliers.
4. Leon and Angela can no longer do all the Helps the partners to decide the level of
work themselves so they employ staff. payment to staff. The payments may include
bonuses calculated on the basis of the profit
shown in the accounts of the firm.
5. For taxation and other reasons the The law requires that accounting
partners decide to set up a limited company information is publicly available. The main
to replace the partnership. Instead of being reason for this is that the owners of the
partners in the firm, Leon and Angela hold shares are not personally liable for the
shares in the limited company. company’s debts. Creditors therefore need
to see the accounts in order to judge the
firm’s creditworthiness.
6. The firm is now so large that a number of Reports on the results of the different
different departments are needed and departments.
managers have to be employed to run them.
7. Leon and Angela each sell some of their Helps to arrive at the appropriate price for
shares in the company to friends, thus the shares. Satisfies the stewardship
increasing the number of shareholders. function in respect of the new shareholders,
who do not take part in the management
of the company. Helps to decide how much
should be paid to shareholders each year by
way of dividends.
8. The firm continues to expand. In order Regular accounting information is required
that the company may raise further funds, to ensure that there is a market for the
additional shares are issued. This is done in shares.
such a way that the shares may be traded on
the Stock Exchange.
9. In due course, the business becomes Helps to decide how any cash realised from
insolvent and the company is wound up. the sale of the assets should be distributed.

3
1 • The nature of accounting

1.2 Users of accounts

The main users of accounts are as follows.

Existing shareholders
In larger firms the shareholders take no part in the day-to-day running of the business
and so they have to rely on the information contained in the accounts. The decisions
that these shareholders face include the following:
● whether to sell, keep or increase their shareholding;
● the annual voting on the re-election of directors, acceptance of the accounts, fixing
the remuneration of the auditors, the declaring of the dividend (sometimes called the
consumption decision, i.e. how much of the resources should be taken out of the
business in the form of dividends);
● whether to call special meetings of the shareholders to remove the directors and
bring in new management with more acceptable business policies or abilities.

Potential shareholders
Stock market investors are continually appraising firms whose shares are quoted on a
stock exchange to see if their shares are worth buying. The financial accounts of a firm
provide what is perhaps the most important of the basic information used by investors
in analysing companies. Financial accounts also provide the basic data used in
ascertaining the value to be placed upon unquoted shares.

Creditors
Banks and other lending firms use the data contained in financial accounts to help fore-
cast the future profitability and liquidity of the firm. On the basis of this assessment the
bank or lender can reach decisions as to whether to lend money and on what terms
and conditions. In many cases the bank or lender will be able to get more detailed
accounting information from the firm than is published generally. Trade creditors may
also utilise a firm’s accounts in assessing the firm’s creditworthiness. This is most likely
to happen when a supplier contemplates giving credit to the firm for the first time.

Investment and credit analysts

These analysts work for investors and creditors, hence they use accounts in the same
way as described above. Because the analysts are usually highly trained they are able to
make fairly sophisticated interpretations of accounting information.

The government
The government has a direct responsibility for the control of the economy and, in
carrying this out, requires as much relevant information as possible. The civil service
extracts information from the accounts of companies, and from this various conclu-
sions are reached regarding growth, liquidity, profitability etc., of industrial sectors

4
 Planning and control

and private enterprise industry as a whole. By using these accounting data in conjunc-
tion with other economic information, the government can then make its economic
policies and decisions.

The Inland Revenue

Taxes of business enterprises are based on annual financial accounts, although these
are adjusted to comply with the tax laws.

Employees
Employees, especially through their trade unions, take an interest in the financial
accounts of their firms. The accounts give information which the employees, or their
trade unions, use in assessing employment prospects and whether the firm will be able
to pay increased wages.

Society at large
The financial accounts provide significant information that is made publicly available
by companies. From this and other published information, public opinion may be
turned against or in favour of the firm, and the pressure may be severe enough to make
the company change its policies.

? Checkpoint question
1.3 List the users of accounts for business firms and explain briefly why they need
accounting statements.

1.3 Planning and control

We may describe the making of current decisions as planning and should consider how
the reporting of past activities can help in the planning process. A knowledge of the
past might help in the estimation of future outcomes. For example, a manager wishing
to estimate the costs of manufacturing a new product would find it helpful to know the
cost of manufacturing similar products in the past.
Another purpose in measuring past results is control. Here, past results are compared
with a pre-set target or standard; knowledge of the difference between the actual results
and the target may be used in various ways to improve future performance as follows:
● If past results are not as good as expected then (assuming the expectations are
reasonable) remedial action needs to be taken and this will give rise to a current
(planning) decision.
● The difference between actual and target results may suggest that errors have been
made in past planning decisions, and this knowledge can serve to refine the planning
process.
Thus planning and control are very closely linked; indeed it could be argued that they
are indivisible. Notice that planning and control are both kinds of decision-making.

5
1 • The nature of accounting

In ‘planning’ we make a number of decisions about what we want to do and how we

intend to achieve our objectives; in ‘control’ we make decisions about remedial action
to be taken, changes to be made to the plan, and so on.

1.4 Financial and management accounting

A distinction is often made between financial and management accounting. Financial
accounting consists basically of the preparation of financial statements which cover the
whole of the activities of a business, charity, golf club etc. (or entity) and which are pri-
marily intended for use by people outside the entity. Management accounting, on the
other hand, is usually concerned with parts of the entity as well as the whole, and is
intended to help decision-making by those who are inside the firm.
However, too much can be made of this distinction, for the same basic information
is used for both financial and management accounting, and both insiders and outsiders
have to make decisions which are of the same fundamental nature.
The concept of an entity is important in accounting. Economic activity is carried on
through specific units or entities. The results of the accounting process are expressed in
terms of specific entities, the basic units of economic organisation. Any report should
clearly identify the particular entity involved. It is the entity concept which justifies the
preparation of financial statements which deal only with the business activities of a
sole trader, ignoring the owner’s non-business assets and liabilities, even though the
business entity (the firm) has no separate legal existence.

Key term ■ An entity is something which has a separate and distinct existence (not necessarily a
separate legal existence). In this context ‘entity’ means an organisation set up for some
purpose. In business the main purpose is the making of profit; such an entity is known as
a firm.

? Checkpoint question
1.4 What is meant by an ‘entity’?

1.5 Financial accounting for past activities

In this book we are concerned with financial accounting, concentrating on the report-
ing of past activities. We will concentrate in the first place on accounting for one of the
simpler forms of business entity: the sole trader. Although limited companies now
make up the majority of business enterprises in the UK, dealing with sole traders first
enables us to explain the basic concepts and procedures of accounting without the
complications caused by the law relating to limited companies.

Key term ■ A sole trader is an individual carrying on business on his or her own account, with a
view to profit, without any other persons being involved in the ownership of the
business.

6
 A brief history of accounting

Financial accounting may be seen as consisting of recording, classification, presenta-

tion and interpretation of financial information. In order to understand the sort of
information that is recorded, classified and presented, it will be useful to consider the
immediate aim of the financial accounting process. This is the preparation of balance
sheets and profit and loss accounts. These will be discussed fully later, but it is useful
to outline the main features of a balance sheet at this stage.
A balance sheet is a statement of assets (amounts owned by an entity) and liabilities
(things owed by an entity) at a point in time, with the difference between the assets and
liabilities being known as owner’s equity. The difference between owner’s equity at the
start and at the end of a period gives the profit for the period (if we assume that the
owner does not introduce additional resources or withdraw any resources).

1.6 A brief history of accounting

Ancient accounting records

Some of the earliest written records known to us are accounting records. They come
from the Middle Eastern civilisations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Crete and Mycenae. The
earliest records were in physical quantities only, but the later Greek and Roman
records were expressed in terms of money as well as other goods. The ancient docu-
ments helped people to keep track of their assets and made it easier to exercise control
over those who had been entrusted with other people’s money and property. This latter
purpose is called the stewardship function of accounting.

Key terms ■ A steward is a person employed to manage another’s property. The responsibility for
the other’s property is known as stewardship.

Early accounting statements were based on the charge and discharge principle. A
charge and discharge statement covered a given period of time and was in two parts:
the ‘charge’, showing goods and cash held by the steward on behalf of the owner at the
start of the period, together with cash and goods collected by the steward during the
period; and the ‘discharge’ which showed the cash and goods expended by the steward
on behalf of the owner as well as any assets transferred to the owner. The balancing
figure was the amount owing to the owner at the end of the period.

Renaissance Italy
The Italian city states of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries produced the next
important advance in accounting technique: double entry bookkeeping. The need for
better financial records arose out of the rapid developments in trade, banking and man-
ufacturing during this period. The increased size of firms and the more widespread use
of credit meant that it was more necessary to have a satisfactory method of recording
assets and liabilities. The earliest known textbook describing double entry bookkeep-
ing is Summa de Arithmetica, Geometria, Proportioni et Proportionalita (Everything
about Arithmetic, Geometry and Proportion) by Luca Pacioli, a Franciscan friar and
mathematician, published in 1494 at Venice. The book was mainly a mathematical

7
1 • The nature of accounting

text but it included a section on bookkeeping called ‘De Computis et Scripturis’

(‘Of Reckonings and Writings’) which was translated and imitated in many languages.
In this way the book was largely responsible for the spread of bookkeeping throughout
Europe. However, the method was not universally adopted at that time.

Later developments
Accounting continued to develop in response to the changing needs of business. This
was especially noticeable in Great Britain, firstly following the developments in agri-
culture and trading in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and then, more
importantly, following the Industrial Revolution in the nineteenth century.
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, improved records were needed to keep
track of expanding trade. However, the profit and loss account was not considered
particularly important. Generally, businesses were run by their owners. Profit and loss
statements and the value of the business assets are of little interest to an owner who
works in the business and who is therefore in close contact with the business opera-
tions. Also, at a time when additional funds were needed, the lender was primarily
interested in the balance sheet which gave an indication of the available cover for the
loan.
Technological advances and the rapid expansion of business activities in the nine-
teenth and early twentieth centuries meant that firms needed more funds than the
entrepreneurs could supply from their own resources. The owners therefore needed to
raise funds from outsiders, who would become part-owners of the firm but would not
take part in its management. Few people would be prepared to invest on these terms if
they risked not only the amount invested but also all their personal assets by assuming
responsibility for the whole of the debts of the firm, as do sole traders and partners in
a firm. In order to encourage outsiders to invest, the concept of limited liability was
introduced. This enabled individual investors who bought shares in a limited liability
company to do so without becoming personally liable for the firm’s debts. These new
investors were interested in the profitability of the firm. The profit figure naturally
came to be seen as the main indicator of the profitability of the operation, generating
funds for the payment of dividends to the investors. It seems that from an early date the
profit figure set the upper limit for dividends. This convention is based on the sensible
observation that, if dividends exceeding profit were paid out, the operating funds (the
‘capital’) of the business would be reduced.
It is interesting to note that legal provisions for disclosure in accounts progressed
quite slowly and did not affect the underlying conventions of accounting (see below).
In particular, there was originally no requirement in law for a profit and loss account.
The profit and loss account required by the Companies Act 1948 provided very little
information. The first requirement for a profit and loss account which we would recog-
nise as such today came as recently as 1967, about a century after the introduction of
limited liability. This lack of interest in the profit in early accounting is significant: the
focus was on wealth and therefore on the balance sheet. As we shall see, this led to
problems in measuring profit which are still plaguing us today. The current legal posi-
tion is described later in the chapter.

8
 Conventions

1.7 Conventions
We will be concentrating on accounting based on historical cost (see ‘Objectivity’
below) as this is the basis of accounting used by the majority of companies. An impor-
tant point that must be understood at the outset is that a historical cost balance sheet
is not a statement showing the current economic values of the assets or the current eco-
nomic value of the business as a whole. To see what bases are used in balance sheets
(and profit and loss accounts), it is necessary to study accounting conventions or, as
they are sometimes misleadingly called, principles. These conventions may be viewed as
the rules of the game, but rules which are sometimes broken for the most respectable of
reasons by the most respectable of accountants. Broadly, the rules would be broken if,
by doing so, a more meaningful picture were presented by the accounting statements
(this is known as presenting a ‘true and fair’ view of the results).
There is a good deal of disagreement about conventions. There is no authoritative list
of conventions. Indeed, there is no agreement among authors as to the name to give to
these ideas; they are variously described as ‘conventions’, ‘postulates’, ‘rules’, ‘assump-
tions’ or ‘concepts’. We use the term ‘convention’, i.e. a custom or usage, to stress that
there is nothing fixed and unchangeable about them. They are the ‘rules of the game’
which accountants have generally come to accept over the years. There is, however,
greater consensus as to what is meant by an ‘accounting policy’. As we will see later in
this chapter, an accounting policy is a convention or rule that has been used by an
entity in preparing its financial statements.

? Checkpoint questions
1.5 What do we mean by a ‘convention’?

1.6 Why might accountants, quite properly, break the ‘rules’?

The following is a list of important conventions. The first four (going concern,
accruals, consistency and prudence) were considered sufficiently important for them to
be adopted as Accounting Principles by the Companies Act 1985, giving them the force
of law. It is interesting to note that none of the earlier Acts made any mention of the
principles to be adopted when preparing accounting statements. Also, it is difficult to
see the logic underlying the choice of these particular principles. For example, all
accountants are taught to try to prepare accounts which are ‘objective’, i.e. free from
bias (see below). It is difficult to see why objectivity is not included.

Going concern
Unless there is evidence to the contrary, the entity is viewed as remaining in operation
indefinitely (that is, for a period of time not yet determined, not for ever). On the other
hand, if there is evidence that the entity or a significant part of it has a limited life (for
example where the owner is about to retire and close the business, or where a limited
company is to be liquidated), this should be taken into account and the entity should
not be viewed as remaining in operation indefinitely.

9
1 • The nature of accounting

Accruals
Revenue and expenses are accrued, that is they are recognised in the accounts as they
are earned or incurred, not as the money is received or paid.

Key terms ■ In this context, revenue is ‘earned’ normally when the goods or services sold are
delivered or provided, whether or not they are paid for at that time. Expenses are
‘incurred’ immediately the firm accepts liability for the cost, whether or not the amount
is paid at that time.

The revenue and expenses are matched with each other so as to bring them into the
period to which they relate; thus profit (revenue minus expenses) for the period can be
ascertained. The accruals concept and the realisation and matching conventions are of
particular importance and are dealt with in detail later. The realisation convention –
the idea that revenue should not be recognised in the accounts until realised and
expenses should not be recognised until incurred – could well be said to be the key
convention (or concept) in conventional, historical cost accounting.

Consistency
We will see later that there are numerous instances where an entity can choose between
different accounting methods. In general, the entity should adopt a consistent approach
to similar items within each accounting period and from one period to the next, so that
the results may be compared.

Prudence
Revenue and profits are not anticipated but are recognised in the profit and loss
account only when realised. Faced with a choice, accountants will usually take the
pessimistic view, showing the lowest reasonable figure of current profit; they will
always ensure that all losses are recorded in respect of any period but will not take
account of any profit which is not yet certain. The reasons for this are in part historical,
arising, for example, from the need not to mislead creditors into overestimating the
creditworthiness of a firm. The limitations of the undue exercise of prudence and the
damage that may result are increasingly being recognised.

Objectivity
Accountants seek to prepare accounting statements that are as free as possible from
personal opinion or bias. An important extension of this is that assets are recorded at
their original acquisition cost, or historical cost, rather than at their current values.

Verifiability
So far as possible, figures used in accounting statements should be capable of inde-
pendent verification. It can be seen that objectivity and verifiability are allied to each
other.

10
 Conventions

Unit of measure
Money is the common denominator in terms of which goods and services are mea-
sured. Any report must clearly indicate which currency (for example pounds sterling,
US dollars, the euro) is being used.

Time period
Economic activity is carried on during specific periods of time. Any report should
specify the period of time involved.

Duality
Accounting regards every transaction as having two aspects. For example, if a business
buys machinery for cash, the asset ‘machinery’ is increased and the asset ‘cash’ is
decreased. We do not take the view that cash is ‘converted’ directly into machinery,
which could be said to have only one aspect. The specific technique which reflects the
concept of duality is known as double entry bookkeeping, which will be dealt with in
detail later in the book.

Materiality
The accountant will not necessarily take special notice of a given item if it is not
material in the context of the firm, its business and its size, for example an item of an
unusual nature which would normally require separate display may be included as part
of sundry expenses if the amount involved is insignificant compared with the overall
size of the undertaking.

Relevance
Information which is relevant to the needs of the users should be presented to them,
that is it should be capable of influencing their behaviour through helping them to
make decisions. For instance, the figures in the balance sheets and income statements
should help them to decide whether to invest in a business or to lend money to it.

All of the above conventions and ‘concepts’ apply to all methods of accounting. There
is one additional convention which is particularly relevant to conventional, historical
cost accounting.

Stable money unit

It is assumed that money is a stable measuring unit, i.e. that pounds sterling of different
periods can be added in the same way as last year’s metres can be added to this year’s
metres. (Obviously this is not the case; we shall return later to the problems this causes.)

? Checkpoint question
1.7 List and explain, briefly, the main conventions of accounting.

11
1 • The nature of accounting

Because conventions have no consistent logical basis it is not surprising that they are
often in conflict with each other, as with the following, for instance:
● Deciding to take the conservative or prudent view of results involves making a sub-
jective judgement, which conflicts with objectivity.
● Deciding which items are material involves subjective judgement, conflicting with
objectivity.
● The use of old, historical costs is usually not relevant to current decisions.
● Use of a stable money unit in times of inflation leads to overstatement of profit,
which is not prudent.
It must not be thought that the conventions came first, with accounting practice
being based on them. On the contrary, these conventions may be thought of as being a
rationalisation of what accountants actually do. The situation may be likened to the
painting of road signs stating the speed limits. The equivalent road sign to accounting
conventions would be prepared by someone who has watched the traffic in a built-up
area for a while and eventually paints a sign saying ‘Speed limit about 37 miles per hour
or, sometimes, 60’.

1.8 Rules and laws

This book is concerned with the basic principles of financial accounting as well as the
business environment which accounting serves. It is not about the detailed rules and
laws which govern accounting, but it is necessary from time to time to make some
reference to those who set the rules and laws. Hence it would be helpful to introduce
readers to some of the more important of the rule and law makers who control
accounting in the UK.
There are numerous laws which affect in particular the form and content of the
published financial statements (accounts) of limited companies and these are in the
main to be found in the Companies Acts 1985 and 1989. The European Union (or
Commission) also has a part to play, and the Union’s directives are now incorporated
into UK law.
The rule makers are the various senior professional accountancy bodies, of which
there are six in the UK, who act collectively in this matter through the Accounting
Standards Board (ASB). The ASB publishes the rules in various Financial Reporting
Standards (FRSs). Before issuing an FRS the ASB publishes a draft standard in the form
of a Financial Reporting Exposure Draft (FRED) on which the business community is
invited to comment.
Financial Reporting Standards apply to all forms of business entity, not just limited
companies, but do not have the force of law. In theory the professional accounting
bodies can discipline any of their members who are associated with the preparation of
a set of financial statements which does not comply with the FRSs, but in practice they
are reluctant to take such action.
The current system, established in 1990, is a development of a regime first intro-
duced in 1970. The predecessor of the ASB was the Accounting Standards Committee
(ASC) which worked in much the same way as the Board. The ASC issued Statements
of Standard Accounting Practice (SSAPs). The ASB adopted the SSAPs which remain in

12
 Review questions

force until withdrawn by the ASB, and this normally only happens when the SSAP is
replaced by an FRS.
A more recent development is that of international harmonisation whereby the same
financial reporting standards are used by all countries that subscribe to the programme.
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) works in much the same way as
the ASB in that it issues International Accounting Standards (IASs). As part of the
harmonisation programme the ASB is reviewing all its standards with the intention that
they should correspond to the equivalent IAS. It has not yet proved possible to achieve
full harmonisation, but where there are differences, the UK standard provides a
detailed explanation of the nature of the differences and the reasons why the ASB
disagrees with the position taken by its international colleagues.
Finally, those entities whose shares are traded on a stock exchange are subject to the
exchange’s regulations relating to the publication of financial statements. Given the
importance of financial standards, stock exchange regulations now have a limited
impact on the content of financial statements. The main impact of such rules is the
requirement for the publication of interim financial statements.

? Checkpoint questions
1.8 Explain briefly why conventions may conflict with each other.

1.9 If there is a conflict between conventions, which convention is likely to prevail, if it is

one of those involved?

Summary
In this chapter we have discussed the main purposes of accounting, which may be
summarised by stating that accounting statements are produced to help the users of
accounts make decisions of various kinds. We then went on to list the users of
accounts, explaining how they use the statements. The chapter also included brief
discussions of planning and control and the distinction between financial and
management accounting. This was followed by a brief history of accounting,
intended to help you put modern accounting practice into its historical context.
The part of the chapter on conventions, rules and laws is perhaps the most
important for you to understand as the conventions discussed underlie the whole of
accounting practice and methods.

Review questions

1.1 To whom do you think financial accounting is most useful? Explain why and give examples.
1.2 Explain what is meant by ‘planning and control’ and discuss the role of accounting in this
context.
1.3 Raul, a farm owner, used to employ a farm manager, but when he saw the financial state-
ments for the last year, Raul dismissed the manager. Assuming that Raul is a rational person,
explain in which ways his action in dismissing the manager shows planning and control.

13
1 • The nature of accounting

Exercises

Solutions to exercises whose number is in colour can be found at the end of the book.

1.1 Tick the answer which you consider to be correct.

(a) In accounting, if we give credit to someone it means that
(i) we think that they have done a good job;
(ii) we know that they have money in the bank;
(iii) they will be allowed to pay later for goods or services already supplied;
(iv) we think they are of good character.
(b) Which of the following is not included as one of the conventions of accounting?
(i) materiality
(ii) simplicity
(iii) objectivity
(iv) relevance
(c) The main purpose of management accounting, as distinct from financial accounting, is
(i) to help decision-making within the company;
(ii) to assess the amount of tax a company has to pay;
(iii) to ascertain the value of the company’s shares;
(iv) to assess the company’s creditworthiness.
(d) Financial accounting reports are prepared primarily
(i) to value the property of the company;
(ii) to show managers the results of their departments;
(iii) to help people make decisions about resource allocation;
(iv) to show the value of the shares in the company.
(e) A company had bought some widgets, intended for resale, at a purchase price of £20
each. They can now be sold for only £17 each. In valuing the widgets for the purposes
of preparing the financial accounts, which is the overriding convention?
(i) materiality
(ii) matching
(iii) prudence
(iv) going concern

1.2 Jack and Jill own a bucket which cost them £5. The bucket has not yet been used. They also
have £3 in cash. (Ignore any other assets which they might have.) They have decided to go
into business buying and selling water. They estimate that the bucket will last for 10,000
journeys to the well to fetch water. Jack and Jill found that they had to pay £2 to the water
seller at the well to fill their bucket.
Returning from the well, Jack collided with a passer-by and broke his glasses. He
promised to pay for the damage. The passer-by said that he thought the glasses could be
repaired for between £4 and £6. When Jack and Jill arrived at the bottom of the hill they
found someone who paid them £10 for half the water in the bucket. Other potential cus-
tomers are approaching, and Jack and Jill have heard that the water seller may now be
charging £3 for a bucket full of water. They have also found out that the price of buckets
has doubled since they started business.

14
 Exercises

Required:
(a) List Jack and Jill’s assets and liabilities at this time and work out how much better (or
worse) off they have become since they started business. In doing this, list whichever
accounting conventions you have used and explain why you consider them to be
appropriate.
(b) Work out, from the figures you have produced, a statement of assets and liabilities at
the end of the period for which Jack and Jill have been trading. Also produce a state-
ment showing how the profit (or loss) was made during the period.
(c) Discuss whether or not the statements give a realistic picture of what has happened and
the position of Jack and Jill at the end of the period.

15
Part I

Preparing financial statements:

the basics

2 The accounting equation: balance sheets and profit and

loss accounts 19

3 The extended accounting equation: debits and credits 37

4 Accounting systems and financial statements: the basics 47

5 Accrual accounting 63

6 Fixed assets and depreciation 82

7 Bad and doubtful debts and control accounts 100

8 Cost of goods sold 121

9 Preparation of financial statements 136

2 The accounting equation:
balance sheets and
profit and loss accounts

Introduction
In the first part of this chapter we introduce the accounting equation, showing how
it is built up and how it shows the relationship between assets, liabilities and equity.
We then show that these elements are the basis of a balance sheet, before going on
to demonstrate how business transactions may be analysed in terms of the equation
so as to produce a profit and loss account and a balance sheet.

Learning objectives

At the end of this chapter, after completing the checkpoint questions and exercises,
you should be able to:
● explain what is meant by an ‘entity’ and why we account for its transactions
separately from those of its owner(s);
● explain the logical basis of the accounting equation and why the balance sheet
must balance;
● define ‘assets’ and ‘liabilities’;
● explain what is meant by ‘profit and loss account’;
● analyse transactions in terms of their effects on the balance sheet.

2.1 The accounting equation

The firm
The main purpose of accounting is to report on the success, or otherwise, of a business.
When the business activities are carried out by a legal entity, such as a limited
company, which is separate from its owners in law, then it is clear that we should
report the effects of the transactions entered into by the company. However, many
smaller businesses are not carried out by separate legal entities but by individuals who
often intermingle their ‘private’ transactions with those of the business. For example,
they might use the same car for both private and business purposes. In preparing
accounts in such cases the accountant seeks to treat the business as a separate entity.
As far as possible, a distinction is made between the business and private elements of

19
2 • The accounting equation

the affairs of the owner(s); only those elements that relate to the business are reported
upon.

The accounting equation

In order to start business, the owner or owners of the business will need some assets,
which might include stock and other assets such as machinery and vehicles. In order to
buy such assets, funds are needed. There are two possible sources of funds: the
owner(s) of the business and outsiders. The owner will have to bring in some funds
from his or her own resources in order to start the business; this is called equity. If, as
is often the case, this does not provide enough funds, the business must raise funds
from an outsider, for instance a bank. This source is called a liability. Notice that it is
not possible to have any other source: every provider of resources must be either an
owner (equity) or not an owner (liability) (Figure 2.1).
From these observations we can derive the following relationship (Figure 2.2):
the total of the assets must equal the total of the sources
or
total assets must equal total equity plus total liabilities
This may be expressed in the form of an equation. If total assets equals A, total equity
equals E and total liabilities equals L, then
A=L+E
These elements form the basis of a balance sheet, which is made up of lists of assets,
liabilities and equity arranged into two columns (assets and sources of assets) so that
the balance sheet ‘balances’, that is the totals of the columns are equal. While this may
impress non-accountants, a balance sheet balances because by definition it must. It is

Sources
Assets
Owner’s Outsiders
equity (liabilities)

Figure 2.1 Sources of funds

Sources
Total assets =
Total equity + Total liabilities

Figure 2.2 Total assets must equal total sources

20
 The accounting equation

important in studying accounting to understand why this is so. The reason is that, as
we have shown, each asset owned by the entity has a source; since the amount of the
source must equal the cost of the assets funded by the sources, the balancing of the
balance sheet is ensured.

Key term ■ Stated simply, an asset is owned by its owner and is worth something to its owner.
More formally, an asset is any right which is of economic value to its owner. The right
may be general or specific. If you have cash you may buy goods and services: you have
general power to command resources. An example of a specific right is an insurance
premium, which is always paid in advance; this provides the specific economic benefit of
being insured for the period covered by the payment.

This is a good enough general definition of an asset, but for accounting purposes we
need to be more exact when deciding whether to recognise an asset for inclusion in the
records. The conditions we need to apply are as follows:
● The asset must be acquired for a measurable cost, so that there is an amount in
money which can be entered in the books of account.
● The asset must be capable of yielding future economic benefits. There are two points
here:
(a) the asset must still be of some use, in that it will produce benefits in the future;
(b) the benefits must be of an economic nature such that the cash flow to the busi-
ness would be reduced if the business were deprived of the use of the asset
without compensation.
We return to the question of assets and their relationship to expenses later.

Key terms ■ As explained above, we can see that liabilities are the source of funds from outsiders.
Since the providers of the funds will expect to be repaid in cash or in kind, it follows that
liabilities represent amounts ‘owed’ to people or firms outside the business.
Liabilities can be of different kinds including: amounts owed in respect of goods or
services provided on credit; loans of cash; and obligations to provide a service in future,
e.g. subscriptions to a magazine paid in advance where the liability is the obligation to
deliver future copies of the magazine.
■ On credit means that there is an agreement between the buyer and seller that the goods
or services may be paid for at a date later than that on which they were delivered or pro-
vided to the buyer.
■ A creditor is a person or firm to whom money (a debt) is owing. Where the amount
owed is in respect of goods for resale, the creditor is known as a trade creditor.

Returning to the accounting equation A # L ! E, we can now look at an example.

Before doing so, we want to remind you that we will be dealing with the accounts of
sole traders before going on to deal with the accounts of partnerships and limited com-
panies. This is in order to avoid the complications which arise because of the existence
of more than one owner, in the case of partnerships, and the various legal requirements
which apply to limited company accounts.

21
2 • The accounting equation

Key terms ■ A partnership is a business carried on by two or more individuals, sharing in the
ownership of the business.
■ A limited company is set up by law; it is said to be incorporated. Under the law it is
seen as a ‘legal person’, separate from its owners. The owners, known as shareholders,
have the benefit of ‘limited liability’, that is they can lose only the funds they have
already invested; the creditors cannot proceed against them but only against the
company.

Example 2.1

The owner of a business, Arvin Patel, started a business by paying £10,000 into the business
bank account on 1 March 20X1.

Assets £ Sources £
Cash 10,000 equals Equity 10,000

Suppose the bank lent the business £5,000 on 31 March 20X1, then

Cash 15,000 equals Equity 10,000

plus
w1w5w,w0w0w0 Liability w1w5w,w0w0w0
15,000 15,000

2.2 The balance sheet

The balance sheet and the profit and loss account form the basic accounting statements
of the firm. A balance sheet is a list of the assets, liabilities and equities of the firm. One
of the accepted balance sheet layouts, the ‘horizontal’ form, shows assets, liabilities and
equity in the same way as the basic accounting equation A # L ! E.

Example 2.2

Balance sheet of Patel’s business as at 31 March 20X1

Assets £ Liabilities £
Cash 15,000 Bank 5,000
w w w vw w w Equity w1w0w,w0w0w0
15,000 15,000

As you can see, the assets and the sources of funds for the assets are clearly shown.
This type of layout is widely used in continental Europe but is seldom, if ever, used in
the UK where the ‘vertical’ layout is preferred (see below).
In order to arrive at the figures for the vertical balance sheet we need to rearrange the
equation, as the vertical form shows the liabilities deducted from the assets to show the
‘net asset’ figure.

Key term ■ The net assets figure equals the total assets less the total liabilities.

22
 The balance sheet

Rearranging the equation

A=L+E
we get
A−L=E

that is, total assets less total liabilities (i.e. net assets) equals total equity. Arranging the
equation vertically we get

total assets A
Less: total liabilities wLw w w
wAww w0w wL
equals total equity wE

Rearranging the figures in Example 2.2:

£
Assets
Cash 15,000
Less: Liabilities
Bank w w5v,w0w0w0
w1w0v,w0w0w0
Equity
Patel w1w0v,w0w0w0

This layout has the advantage of showing the net assets clearly, and separating the
equity from the outside liabilities. We will be using the vertical layout throughout the
rest of the text, as it is the preferred layout in the UK.
The balance sheet will not show the specific source of a given asset. For instance, if
the firm then bought stock for £9,000 cash on 4 April 20X1, we would have, as at 4
April 20X1:

Assets
Cash 6,000
Stock w w9v,w0w0w0
15,000
Less: Liabilities
Bank w w5v,w0w0w0
w1w0v,w0w0w0
Equity
Patel w1w0v,w0w0w0

We can see that cash has been exchanged for stock, but not the source of the particular
funds which were eventually spent on stock.

Key term ■ Stock consists of goods intended for resale by the firm. ‘Stock’ is the term usually used
in the UK; in the United States, for example, it is known as ‘inventory’.

23
2 • The accounting equation

If the following transactions then take place, we can analyse them by using a work-
sheet, starting from the balance sheet above:

Assets £ 0 Liabilities £ # Equity £

Cash 6,000 Bank 5,000 Patel 10,000
Stock w w w9v,w0w0w0 w w w vw w w w w w w vw w w
u£u1u5t,u0u0u0 0 u£u5t,u0u0u0 # u£u1u0t,u0u0u0

The firm purchased, on 10 April, some more stock from Igler Trading for £4,500,
payment to be made in one month’s time. In other words, the goods have been bought
‘on credit’.

Assets £ 0 Liabilities £ # Equity £

Cash 6,000 Bank 5,000 Patel 10,000
Stock w w1w3v,w5w0w0 Igler Trading w1w4v,w5w0w0 w w w w vw w w
u£u1u9t,u5u0u0 0 u£u9t,u5u0u0 # u£u1u0t,u0u0u0

This gives the following balance sheet.

Balance sheet as at 10 April 20X1

Assets £
Cash 6,000
Stock w w1w3v,w5w0w0
19,500
Less: Liabilities
Bank 5,000
Igler Trading w4v,w5w0w0 w w w9v,w5w0w0
u£u1u0t,u0u0u0
Equity
Patel u£u1u0t,u0u0u0

Note: For the moment we are reverting to the basic equation A # L ! E so that you can
be sure that you fully understand it.

? Checkpoint question
2.1 Brown started business by paying £20,000 into a business account. He then purchased
goods for resale (stock) for £7,000 cash. Immediately after that he bought £5,000 of
stock from Smith Supplies, on credit.
Analyse these transactions into assets, liabilities and equity, showing that the
equation A # L ! E is satisfied.

The following is a more complex example. We have analysed the transactions using
an analysis sheet (Figure 2.3). The effect of each transaction is shown in the plus and
minus columns for assets, liabilities and equity. Note how, at all times, the equation
A # L ! E is maintained. In the analysis sheet you will see that cumulative columns are
provided for A, L and E. The figures in these columns at any point in time will give the
balance sheet totals.

24
 The balance sheet

Figure 2.3 An analysis sheet for MacKendrick

Example 2.3

1. MacKendrick started a business on 1 January 20X0 with cash of £10,000; he paid this into a
newly opened business bank account.

2. He purchased some goods for resale for £3,000 for cash on 2 January 20X0.

3. On 3 January 20X0 he purchased some more goods for £4,000, but this time his supplier,
Jones, allowed him credit.

4. MacKendrick decided that in order to sell his goods he would need a car. He already owned
a car, and decided that, as from 4 January 20X0 this car should be treated as an asset of the
business instead of being considered a private asset. It would cost about £2,000 to purchase
a car of the same model and condition as MacKendrick’s.

5. On 6 January 20X0 MacKendrick paid Jones £2,500.

6. The original capital contribution of £10,000 had left MacKendrick with too little cash so, on
6 January 20X0, he took £1,500 out of his business bank account for his personal living
expenses.

7. MacKendrick decided that he would need more cash in order to run his business and so
approached his friend Smith and asked him for a loan. Smith agreed and said that he would
give MacKendrick £5,000 in cash and would himself pay Jones £1,000. This he did on
7 January 20X0.

We can see that as at the close of business on 7 January the equation is satisfied, i.e.
A = L + E
£17,000 = £6,500 + £10,500
These figures are merely the balance sheet totals but with some analysis we can prepare
a balance sheet.

25
2 • The accounting equation

MacKendrick
Balance sheet as at 7 January 20X0

£0,
Assets (from columns C and D, Figure 2.3)
Car 2,000
Stock (3,000 ! 4,000) 7,000
Cash (10,000 0 3,000 0 2,500 0 1,500 ! 5,000) w w8v,w0w0w0
u1u7t,u0u0u0
Financed by
Liabilities (from columns F and G)
Trade creditor (Jones) (4,000 0 2,500 0 1,000) 500
Loan (Smith) w w6v,w0w0w0
6,500
Owner’s equity (column K) w1w0v,w5w0w0
£u1u7t,u0u0u0

The analysis sheet is cumbersome and is not used in practice. However, it does
provide clear insights into the workings of the accounting method. You should work
through it carefully, item by item, making sure you understand the treatment of each;
make sure that you know where each figure comes from.

? Checkpoint question
2.2 Show how the following transactions increase or decrease assets, liabilities and equity.
(a) Jones starts a business by paying £100,000 into a new business bank account.
(b) He then purchases goods for resale, on credit from Koslowski, for £3,500.
(c) A freezer is needed in the business. Jones has such a freezer at home, so he decides
to transfer it to the business. He estimates that it would cost £400 to buy a similar
second-hand freezer.

More about liabilities

In Example 2.3 we differentiated between two sorts of liabilities: trade creditors, the
source resulting from suppliers providing goods or services before they are paid for,
and loans where (in general) cash is provided by the outsider in exchange for a promise
that the cash will be repaid (with interest) in the future. Trade credit, which is usually
interest-free, lasts for a comparatively short time (although it is continually being
renewed), whereas loans may be for any length of time, depending on the agreement
between the borrower and the lender.
A liability may be recognised even if the actual sum involved cannot be determined
with accuracy. For example, a business might offer a guarantee when selling goods, and
although it may only be able to make a very rough estimate of the costs that it will have
to incur in carrying out its obligation, it should still recognise the liability. This type of
liability is described as a ‘provision’; it is known to exist but the amount cannot be
determined with any reasonable degree of accuracy.

Comments
At all times, A # L ! E. There are nine ways in which the identity can be manipulated.

26
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
de se percer la lèvre inférieure chez les Américains du sud, notre
série d’articles insérée avec de nombreuses gravures dans le
Magasin pittoresque. T. 18, p. 138, 183, 239, 338, 350, et 390.)

[82] Miarigois, c’est-à-dire gens venus de Miary.

p. 39.
Miarigois est un nom évidemment forgé par notre bon
missionnaire. Rabelais n’eut pas mieux inventé. Les Miarigois
n’étaient autres que des Tupinambas qui s’étaient fixés sur les bords
fertiles de ce Miary, que Cazal prétend avoir donné son nom à la
province. Le Mearim qui offre un cours de 166 lieues n’est navigable
que durant l’hivernage, les grands canots ne peuvent le remonter
alors que jusqu’à 60 lieues, il prend naissance dans la Serra do
Negro et Canella par les 8° 2′ 23″ de lat. et les 2° 21′ de long.,
comptés depuis l’île de Villegagnon (baie de Rio de Janeiro).

[83] Les Tapouis font grand estat de ces pierres.

p. 40.
Le mot Tapuya ou Tapouy a soulevé de grandes discussions, est il
le nom d’un peuple ? (Voy. le Dictionnaire de Gonçalvez Dias.)
Signifie-t-il ennemi ? Ruiz de Montoya se tait sur ce point. Faut-il en
faire une nation distincte de celle des Tupis, à laquelle ces derniers
auraient imposé ce nom. Un écrivain, qui fait autorité, M. Accioli, ne
semble pas hésiter à ce propos. Lorsqu’il a énuméré les principales
divisions de la race Tupique, il dit : « Une autre nation générique,
celle des Tapuias se subdivise conformément à l’opinion d’un grand
nombre en peuplades parlant près de cent langues tels sont : les
Aymorés, les Potentús, les Guaitacás, les Guaramonis, les
Guaregores, les Jaçarussús, les Amanipaqués, les Payeias et un
grand nombre d’autres. » (Voy. le T. XII de la Revista trimensal.
Dissertação historica ethnographica e politica sobre quaes eram as
tribus aborigenes, etc. p. 143.)
 [84] Les battre c’est autant que les tuer. p. 45.
Ce mot était devenu proverbial aux îles et à la Guyane.

[85] Tu ne m’a pas mis la main sur l’espaule en

guerre. p. 45.
Hans Staden fait prisonnier par les Tupinambas en 1550 au sortir
du fort de Bertioga suscite une grande discussion, lorsqu’il faut
savoir définitivement quel est celui qui l’a touché le premier. (Voy. la
Collect. Ternaux Compans.)

[86] Ybouira Pouïtan, c’est-à-dire l’arbre du Bresil.

p. 54.
Ce nom de chef n’a rien d’extraordinaire, mais il faut écrire Ibira
Pitanga pour plus d’exactitude. (Voy. Ruiz de Montoya.) Lery écrit
Araboutan, Thevet Oraboutan. Ce bois célèbre disparaît chaque jour
davantage des grandes forêts où l’allaient chercher nos ancêtres.

[87] Chacun l’environnoit pour l’escouter quand il

alloit au Carbet. p. 55.
C’est un Tabajara qui parle, mais nous ferons observer que le
mot Carbet n’appartient pas à la lingoa geral. Le P. Ruiz de Montoya
ne l’a pas inséré dans son précieux Tesoro de la lingua Guarani. Il
est plus particulièrement en usage parmi les Galibis et d’autres
peuples de la Guyane. Le voisinage de notre colonie se fait sentir
dans le récit du P. Yves, rien que par cette expression. Il faut faire
une certaine différence entre les Carbets et les Ocas ou Tabas, qui
constituaient l’architecture rudimentaire des autres peuples du
Brésil. Ecoutons à ce sujet le P. du Tertre : « Au milieu de toutes ces
cases, ils en font une grande commune qu’ils appellent Carbet,
laquelle a toujours 60 ou 80 pieds de longueur et est composée de
grandes fourches hautes de 18 ou 20 pieds, plantés en terre. Ils
posent sur ces fourches un latanier ou un autre arbre fort droit qui
sert de faist, sur lequel ils ajustent des chevrons qui viennent
toucher la terre, et les couvrent de roseaux ou de fuëilles de latanier,
de sorte qu’il fait fort obscur dans ces Carbets, car il n’y entre
aucune clarté que par la porte, qui est si basse qu’on ne sauroit y
entrer sans se courber. »
Les détails que nous venons de donner ici sont empruntés à un
ouvrage qui date de l’année 1643, et ils se rapportent plus
spécialement à l’architecture rustique des Caraïbes insulaires. Nous
avons choisi cet exemple à peu près contemporain du livre publié
par notre auteur, parce qu’il n’y avait pas en réalité de notables
différences entre les Carbets des îles et ceux du continent. Si l’on
faisait une histoire de ces cases de feuillage si promptement élevées,
on pourrait en constater néanmoins certaines variétés, selon les
usages auxquels on les destinait. (Voy. à ce sujet, le voyage
pittoresque au Brésil de Debret, puis les gravures du livre d’André
Thevet, publ. en 1558.) Il y avait les petits et les grands Carbets,
ceux où les Piayes faisaient leurs jongleries, et ceux où se tenaient
les grands conseils. Ces derniers affectaient la forme d’un de nos
vastes hangars, et pouvaient contenir jusqu’à 150 ou 200 guerriers.
Au XVIIe siècle, dans le langage de nos colonies, parmi les îles ou
sur le continent, tenir un conseil quelconque, c’était Carbeter ; le
terme était consacré et se trouve dans tous les voyageurs. (Voy.
entre autres Biet, Voyage de la France équinoxiale. Paris, 1654, in-
4.)

[88] Il alla de ce pas au fort, accompagné d’un

des principaux truchemens de la compagnie nommé
Migan. p. 60.
David Migan était Dieppois et comme tant de Normands de la fin
du XVIe siècle, il était venu chercher fortune parmi les sauvages du
Brésil. Les chefs de l’expédition le trouvèrent établi depuis nombre
d’années à Jupanaran, sur l’île de Maranham. C’était dans l’étendue
du mot, un truchement de la Normandie et dieu sait de quelle
réputation jouissaient ces interprètes, dans ce qu’on appelait alors le
monde civilisé. On allait jusqu’à les assimiler aux sauvages, dont ils
partageaient disait-on parfois les odieux festins. David Migan eut les
honneurs du Mercure français. (Voy. T. 3, p. 164.) Il revint en France
avec Rasilly, auquel il était particulièrement attaché, lui seul était en
état de bien traduire à la reine la longue harangue d’Itapoucou.
Nous ferons remarquer en passant qu’il a apposé sa signature, dans
la cession que la Ravardière faisait de ses droits à François de
Rasilly. Cela indique sans aucun doute qu’il jouissait d’une
considération exceptionnelle. Le nom de Migan toutefois nous paraît
être un nom de guerre, ce mot en langue tupique, désigne l’épaisse
bouillie que l’on faisait avec la farine de manioc. Malherbe qui se
trouvait aux Tuileries lors de la présentation des Indiens fait
remarquer l’habileté de cet homme. Il y avait un autre interprète
nommé Sébastien, qui avait été attaché à la personne d’Yves
d’Evreux.

[89] Un jour quelques uns me disoient qu’il falloit

que nous fussions bien pauvres de bois en France et
qu’eussions grand froid, puisque nous envoyons des
navires de si loing à la mercy de tant de perilz querir
du bois de leur pays. p. 70.
Il est infiniment curieux de trouver au Maranham en l’année
1612, un sauvage faisant absolument le même raisonnement au P.
Yves, que celui auquel était obligé de répondre Jean de Lery en
1556 : « Que veut dire que vous autres Maïr et Peros (c’est-à-dire
français et portugais) veniez quérir de si loin du bois pour vous
chauffer ? N’en y a-t-il point en vostre pays ? » (Voy. Histoire d’un
voyage en la terre du Brésil. Rouen, 1578, in-8.)

[90] Ils sont fort patiens en leurs miseres et

famine jusques à manger de la terre. p. 76.
 M. de Humboldt a décrit longuement la région des Otomaques et
les amas considérables de terre, que font ces Indiens pour s’en
nourrir, à l’époque où la chasse et la pêche leur font défaut. Selon le
grand voyageur, cette terre séchée au soleil et formant des
pyramides de boulettes rangées symétriquement, n’est si recherchée
par les Sauvages, qu’en raison des particules animalisées qui la
rendent nutritive. Le P. du Tertre prouve que les Indiens des îles
étaient géophages comme ceux du continent, mais il suppose que
c’était uniquement par une aberration du goût. « Tous mangent de la
terre, aussi bien les mères que les enfants, dit-il, la cause d’un si
grand déréglement d’apétit ne peut procéder à mon avis, que d’un
excès de mélancolie. » (Hist. nat. des Antilles, habitées par les
Français. T. 2. p. 375.) Non loin des régions que décrit le P. Yves, sur
les bords du Rio Ucayale, on rencontre encore les indiens Pinacos,
dont le véritable nom est Puynagas. Ces Indiens dédaignés par leurs
compatriotes sont d’intrépides géophages. L’un des plus curieux
opuscules qui aient été publiés sur cette matière, est celui de M.
Moreau de Jonnès. Il est intitulé : Observations sur les Géophages
des Antilles. Paris, An VI, il n’a pas plus de 11 pages.

[91] Le second degré s’appelle Kounoumy miry

petit Garsonnet. p. 79.
Dans cette énumération des divers degrés de l’enfance nous
retrouvons encore l’exactitude du P. Yves ; mais il a confondu la
lettre N avec la lettre R ; le mot enfant s’écrit dans les glossaires
brésiliens : Curumîm. (Voy. Gonçalvez Dias, Diccionario da lingua
Tupy. Leipzig, 1858, in-12.)

[92] Elles sont donnees en mariage, et alors elles

portent le nom de Kougnanmoucou-poire. p. 88.
M. Gonçalvez Dias désigne sous le nom de Cunhã mucú la jeune
vierge. (Voy. Diccionario.)
 [93] Il se couche pour faire la Gésine au lieu de
sa femme. p. 89.
Cet usage étrange dont parlent tous les vieux voyageurs du XVIe
siècle, ne s’était pas, comme on voit, encore modifié. On ne le
retrouve pas seulement chez les Caraïbes des îles, il est en vigueur
chez plusieurs peuples de l’Europe et notamment chez les Basques,
on le désignait jadis sous le nom de la Couvade. Les mélanges
historiques publiés à Orange en 1675, contiennent d’intéressantes
recherches à ce sujet : « C’estoit, y est-il dit, une assez plaisante
coutume que celle qui s’observoit dans le Bearn. Lorsque une femme
estoit accouchée, elle se levoit et son mary se mettoit au lit, faisant
la commère. Je crois que les Bearnais avoyent tiré cette coutume
des Espagnols, de qui Strabon dit la même chose au 3e livre de sa
géographie. La même coutume se pratiquait chez les Tibaréniens, au
rapport de Nimphodore, dans l’excellent scholiaste d’Apollonius le
Rhodien, liv. 2 et chez les Tartares suivant le témoignage de Marc
Paul au chapitre 41 du 2e livre. » Cette conduite si bizarre qu’on ne
saurait expliquer lorsqu’on n’est point descendu assez profondément
dans les replis cachés du caractère indien, était religieusement suivie
par les guerriers Tupinambas les plus forts et les plus renommés ;
elle fait sourire l’homme civilisé, qui en cherche naturellement
l’origine. Elle devient touchante, pour ainsi dire, si l’on fait attention
qu’elle est toujours accompagnée des plus cruelles privations. Non-
seulement l’Indien qui vient d’être père et qui se condamne
volontairement à ce repos ridicule, ne mange pas, mais il s’impose
encore d’autres supplices ; le tout, dans le but d’éviter au petit être
qui vient de naître certains maux qu’il redoute pour lui. Par suite de
son ignorance, et de ses idées superstitieuses, il s’attribue sur
l’enfant une influence physiologique illusoire et il brave stoïquement
de grandes souffrances pour en épargner quelques-unes au
nouveau-né. L’homme policé des villes médiocrement éclairé parfois,
se garde bien d’interroger les idées pleines de dévouement, mobiles
du Sauvage ; avant de juger sa conduite il rit de pitié. La compagne
de l’Indien, cependant partage son étrange superstition, et elle
approuve son mari. Elle se résigne même sans murmure à de vraies
douleurs et à un nouveau travail parfois tres-rude puisque tout le
poids du ménage retombe forcément sur elle. Dans la pensée de
cette pauvre créature le salut du nouveau-né est attaché à la
conduite stoïque que tient son mari. Nous ne saurons jamais quel
était le mobile qui conduisait les anciens lorsqu’ils s’abandonnaient à
ce repos bizarre, il ne différait point probablement de celui qu’on
accorde aux Américains. Carli dont l’ingénieuse érudition explique
tant de choses de l’antiquité américaine n’essaye même pas de
chercher un motif à ce qu’il trouve si burlesque. Il se trompe
certainement lorsqu’il affirme qu’on apportait des aliments
abondants à ces solitaires. (Voy. Lettres Américaines. Boston et
Paris, 1788, T. 1, p. 114.) Il est bon toutefois de lire avec précaution
la version française de ce curieux passage ; le traducteur français le
Febvre de Villebrune n’a pas su rendre aux expressions italianisées
par l’auteur leur valeur réelle. Antoine Biet est plus juste à l’égard
des Indiens et il se montre bien moins enclin que ses prédécesseurs
à la raillerie, lorsqu’il décrit la Couvade chez les Galibis. Il l’avoue, le
pauvre Indien « Jeusne étroitement pendant six semaines ne
mangeant que fort peu, d’où vient que quand sa couche est faite, il
se leve maigre, comme une squelette (sic). » Le même voyageur
nous fait voir son patient Galibi, ne quittant pas le Carbet et n’osant
pas même lever les yeux sur ceux qui l’environnent. (Voyage de la
France équinoxiale, liv. III, p. 390)
En décrivant les coutumes de certains Caraïbes, l’auteur de
l’histoire morale des Antilles ne pouvait oublier la Couvade.
Rochefort en raconte les circonstances et il spécifie son analogie
avec une cérémonie à peu près identique dont il avait été témoin
dans une province de France. Ce repos forcé de l’Indien, lui paraît
souverainement absurde, mais il ne dénie pas au pauvre patient le
mérite du jeûne, il avoue qu’on ne lui donne rien de toute la
journée, qu’un petit morceau de Cassave et un peu d’eau. (Voy.
L’histoire morale, p. 494.) Nous ne pousserons pas plus loin ces
citations, il suffira de dire qu’en ce qui touche les peuples du Brésil,
les Tupiniquins, les Tupinacs, les Tabajares, les Petiguaras et bien
d’autres tribus imitaient les Tupis. Cette nomenclature n’ajoute rien
d’ailleurs au fait en lui-même. Ce qu’il importait ici de faire ressortir
c’était l’amour paternel de l’Indien. On restitue ainsi à la plus bizarre
des coutumes l’origine réelle qu’elle doit avoir.

[94] Grand-peres qu’ils appellent Tamoins. p. 91.

Tamoi veut dire grand-père dans la langue des Tupinambas ; il y
a ici altération du mot produite par une différence dans la
prononciation. On lit dans le Tesoro de la lingua Guarani base de la
lexicographie brésilienne Tamôî, abuelo, Cheramôî, mi abuelo,
Cherúramôîruba, mi bisabuelo, Cherúramôî, el abuelo de mi
padre, etc. Les Tamoyos avaient donc par leur origine une réelle
prééminence sur les autres tribus appartenant à la même race. Vers
le milieu du XVIe siècle ils habitaient les alentours de Nicteroy, ou si
on l’aime mieux les environs de Rio de Janeiro. Alliés fidèles des
Français, ils furent chassés de ce beau territoire par Salema, et les
débris de leurs tribus descendirent vers les régions du nord, où ils
retrouveront leurs anciens amis, qui s’étaient réfugiés surtout dans
les campagnes du Maranham.

[95] J’ay mis cy-dessoubs la forme et maniere

ordinaire de leur pour parler qui est tel. p. 96.
L’espèce de vocabulaire, que donne ici notre missionnaire, n’est
pas d’une importance médiocre. Les lecteurs français peu familiarisés
avec la philologie américaine dédaigneront sans doute ce recueil de
phrases, procédant d’une langue sur laquelle s’est égayé Boileau ; il
n’en sera point de même, dans un vaste Empire, où les lettres sont
aujourd’hui en honneur. Il y a longues années déjà que l’auteur de
l’histoire générale du Brésil a fait ressortir l’importance de l’étude des
langues indigènes dans un mémoire inséré parmi les actes de
l’Institut historique de Rio de Janeiro (août 1840). Si le P. Anchieta,
auquel on doit la première grammaire connue de la lingoa geral ne
parlait pas du Tupi sans une sorte d’enthousiasme, si Figueira l’a
imité dans sa naïve admiration, Laet en s’abstenant de ces formes
admiratives, a vanté son abondance et sa douceur. En cela il a été
suivi par Bettendorf. On peut dire néanmoins que de tous ces
écrivains, c’est le P. Araujo, qui a fait le mieux saisir son importance,
au point de vue philosophique. « Comment se fait-il, dit quelque part
ce religieux, que les peuples par qui elle a été parlée, ayant leurs
idées limitées dans un cercle étroit d’objets tous nécessaires,
cependant, à leur mode d’existence, aient pu concevoir des signes
représentatifs d’idées, capables d’atteindre aux choses dont ils
n’avaient nulle connaissance antérieurement, et cela, non pas d’une
façon telle quelle, mais avec propriété, énergie, élégance, » et il
ajoute aussitôt : « n’ayant aucune idée de religion, si ce n’est de la
religion naturelle. Ils n’en ont pas moins trouvé dans leur propre
langue des expressions pour rendre toute la sublimité des mystères
de la religion de Grâce, sans rien emprunter aux autres idiomes. »
On se tromperait étrangement, si l’on supposait que la langue usitée
parmi les tribus nombreuses, que trouva Pedralvez Cabral au Brésil,
en l’année 1500, est aujourd’hui éteinte. Non-seulement elle a laissé
partout des vestiges dans la géographie du Brésil, mais on la parle
dans une multitude de villages et elle a la plus étroite affinité avec
ce Guarani, qui est la langue en usage dans la plus grande portion
du Paraguay. Cette langue toutefois n’est plus déjà ce qu’elle était au
XVIme siècle. Les idiomes des peuples sauvages se modifient comme
ceux des peuples civilisés et plus encore peut-être, quand un
courant d’idées nouvelles vient les détourner de leur libre allure. Le
Maya, le Quiché, l’Aztèque, le Quichua, l’Aymara, ne sont plus ce
qu’ils étaient du temps de Cortez, d’Alvarado, et de Pizare. Si le
savant Veytia, pouvait, il y a tout près d’un siècle, constater l’énorme
différence que présente le Nahuatl ancien, avec le Nahuatl, que
plusieurs personnes parlaient de son temps, on doit se figurer
aisément ce qui est advenu à l’égard de la langue Tupique et du
Guarani moderne. Cette dernière langue, si usitée au Paraguay, n’est
plus parlée dans sa pureté native, nous dit M. de Beaurepaire
Rohan, que parmi les Cayuas aux sources de l’Iguatiny. Tous les
livres, qui ont envisagé la vieille langue au point de vue grammatical
sont donc précieux. Sous ce rapport même, il le faut bien dire, les
voyages d’Hans Staden, de Thevet et de Lery, le sont plus que les
relations de Claude d’Abbeville et d’Yves d’Evreux. On trouvera tous
les renseignements désirables sur ce sujet dans notre opuscule
publié sous ce titre : Une fête brésilienne célébrée à Rouen en 1550.
Suivie d’un fragment du XVIme siècle roulant sur la Théogonie des
anciens peuples du Brésil et des poésies en langue Tupique de
Christovam Valente. Paris, Techener, 1850, gr. in-8.
Le savant Hermann E. Ludewig n’a pas eu connaissance du
vocabulaire donné par le P. Yves ou du moins il ne le cite point. (Voy.
The literature of American aboriginal languages. London, 1857, in-8.)
De vastes travaux ont été entrepris du reste sur cette langue en ces
derniers temps. Au premier rang nous devons nommer ceux de
l’illustre Martius. Un littérateur éminent du Brésil, M. Gonçalvez Dias,
qui a déjà publié à Leipzig le Diccionario da lingua Tupy (1858), est
allé l’étudier de nouveau dans les forêts profondes de l’Amazonie. La
philologie brésilienne va donc faire encore d’immenses progrès.

[96] Un Pagy Ouassou, c.-à-d. un grand sorcier

pour les maladies et enchanteries. p. 104.
Il y a ici une lacune fâcheuse dans notre texte, puisque il est à
peu près indubitable que notre voyageur allait s’étendre sur une
caste qui joue avec les Morobixaba le rôle principal dans la vie civile
et politique des Brésiliens. Simon de Vasconcellos, dans ses noticias
do Brasil, ne laisse pour ainsi dire rien à désirer sur ce point et nous
y renvoyons. Nous ferons observer toutefois, que les Piayes, Pagé ou
Pagy, n’obtenaient la prodigieuse influence qu’ils exerçaient qu’en se
soumettant à des épreuves et à des jeûnes tels, que leur vie se
trouvait en danger, lorsqu’ils obtenaient le titre, objet de leur
ambition. Depuis l’embouchure de l’Orenoque, jusqu’à celles du Rio
de la Plata, ces épreuves ne variaient guère. Lorsque le récipiendaire
était déjà épuisé par le jeûne, on le livrait à la morsure des fourmis,
on lui ingurgitait d’abominables potions dont le jus de tabac faisait la
base et parfois on l’enfumait jusqu’à ce qu’il tombât privé de
sentiment. S’il résistait à ces supplices, il marchait l’égal des
guerriers et l’emportait parfois sur eux.
Vasconcellos nous a laissé sur ce qu’on pourrait appeler le collége
des piayes (comme on a dit le collége des druides) certains détails
infiniment précieux : ils s’appliquent surtout néanmoins, aux
provinces du sud. Dans le nord c’étaient les Pajes Aybas, qu’on
regardait comme des sorciers, de puissants astrologues, ou si l’on
veut des Tempestaires auxquels rien ne pouvait résister. Non-
seulement ils tenaient les astres sous leur dépendance, mais la lune,
et le soleil lui-même, obéissaient à leurs ordres ; ils déchaînaient les
vents, ils soulevaient les tempêtes. Les animaux les plus terribles,
tels que les jaguars et les jacarés se soumettaient à leurs ordres.
Pour arriver, aux yeux du vulgaire, à ce degré de puissance, les Pajè
Aybas possédaient un moyen qui n’a jamais manqué son effet ; ils
avaient leur herbe aux sorciers bien autrement puissante que celle
de l’Europe, qui l’est déjà beaucoup. C’était la Parica, dont le docteur
Rodriguez Ferreira a laissé la description et a fait connaître les effets
délétères. (Voy. les Mémoires de l’Académie des Sciences de
Lisbonne.) On mâchait la Parica, on en faisait une sorte d’onguent
avec lequel on pratiquait des onctions.

[97] Ils se frottent d’huyles de palme de rocon et

de Junipape. p 112.
Il y a ici une légère erreur typographique que nous rectifions, il
faut lire rocou. Sur toute l’étendue de l’Amérique méridionale, les
tribus sauvages se teignaient la peau en rouge orangé et en noir
bleuâtre au moyen du rocou, Bixia Orellana et du Genipayer (Genipa
Americana). Le P. Yves parle en termes exacts, du fruit de cet arbre,
qui croît en abondance au Maranham ; le jus clair et limpide qu’on en
extrait, tourne au noir intense presque immédiatement après son
application et garde sa fixité inaltérable même dans l’eau durant
neuf jours. (Voy. ce que dit à ce sujet Humboldt, Voyage aux régions
équinoxiales.)
 [98] Elles ne peuvent plus voir à tirer des pieds
les thons ou vers. p. 113.
Yves d’Evreux se sert ici d’une expression impropre, il désigne
par le mot Thon, ce qu’on appelle le bicho do pé, niga, Pulex
penetrans des entomologistes. Il serait possible néanmoins, que le
mot appartînt à la lingoa geral. Il se trouve avec la même acception
dans Thevet, qui a écrit en 1558. (Voy. France antarctique, p. 90.)
Cet insecte est trop connu pour que nous insistions ici sur les maux
dont il peut devenir l’origine. (Voy. entre autres naturalistes l’exact
Auguste de St. Hilaire, Voyage dans l’intérieur du Brésil. T. 1, p. 35
et 36.)

[99] Il faut que vous croyez que ces pays sont

autant fournis d’arbres medicinaux, de gommes
salutaires et d’herbes souveraines, qu’aucun que soit
soubs la voute des cieux. Le temps le fera
cognoistre. p. 118.
La prophétie du bon père s’est complétement réalisée. Il y a peu
de régions sur le globe, qui aient été explorées à un tel point au
profit de la science. Outre les plantes utiles du Brésil dues au
regrettable Auguste de St. Hilaire, on a aujourd’hui la Flora
brasiliensis de l’illustre Martius qui a donné également la materia
medica de ce vaste pays. Nous craindrions de fatiguer l’esprit du
lecteur par une aride nomenclature, en accumulant ici les titres de
livres spéciaux. Nous nous contenterons de faire observer que les
Brésiliens ont apporté eux-mêmes leur large part à cet ensemble de
travaux scientifiques. Il suffit de nommer ici les mémoires publiés en
ces derniers temps par M. Freyre Allemão et l’immense recueil
demeuré malheureusement imparfait, qui porte le titre de Flora
fluminensis.
 [100] Ceste tache est appelee par les indiens
Aïpian, c’est-à-dire la mère pian. p. 120.
Cette funeste maladie, si voisine de la syphilis, si elle n’est la
syphilis elle-même se trouve décrite également dans la France
antarctique d’André Thevet, livre publié à Paris en 1558 (voy. à la p.
86). Jean de Lery en décrit aussi les symptômes. Il est donc évident
qu’on ne saurait attribuer aux noirs de la Guinée une affection si
répandue chez les Américains.

[101] Ils le devalent doucement au fond. p. 126.

Le P. Yves est ici d’une rigoureuse exactitude dans tout ce qu’il
dit sur les funérailles des Indiens. Lery et Thevet se trouvent
complétement d’accord avec lui. Ce dernier a donné une excellente
planche représentant un Tupinamba, qu’on descend au tombeau.
(Voy. p. 82 au verso.)

[102] Cosins du Petun. p. 126.

Il faut lire ici Cofins. Les Tupinambas n’omettaient point en effet
dans leurs singulières prévisions une certaine quantité de tabac
destinée au mort, de même qu’on lui apportait des viandes, du
poisson, des racines de Cara et de la farine de Manioc. Tout ce que
le P. Yves raconte dans ce chapitre est de la plus grande exactitude
et l’on peut examiner sur ce sujet deux images naïves que
reproduisent la France antarctique de Thevet et le Voyage de Lery.

[103] Tapouitapere, Comma et Caietez. p. 130.

Les Tapouïtapères qui empruntaient leur nom à une localité du
Maranham étaient-ils les longs cheveux ? Ils appartenaient à la race
Tupique, puisque Migan, l’interprète Dieppois, entendait leur
langage, il en était de même des Comma, ou Indiens de la bourgade
portant ce nom. Les Cahétes formaient au XVIme siècle, une nation
essentiellement belliqueuse, occupant la plus grande partie du
territoire de la province de Pernambuco. Ce peuple parlait la langue
Tupique ou lingoa geral. On trouvera les plus curieux
renseignements sur son organisation intérieure, dans le Roteiro do
Brazil, ms. de la bibl. imp. de Paris. Il est reconnu aujourd’hui que ce
livre si remarquable, composé en 1587, par Gabriel Soares, est le
travail le plus complet qui existe sur les diverses tribus du Brésil
existant encore à l’époque où vivait le P. Yves. L’Académie des
Sciences de Lisbonne en avait reconnu depuis longtemps
l’importance et l’avait fait imprimer dans ses Noticias das nações
ultramarinas, lorsque M. Adolfo de Varnhagen collationnant entre
eux tous les manuscrits revêtus de titres divers, mais dus au même
auteur, en donna une nouvelle édition bien supérieure à toutes les
autres : elle a paru sous ce titre : Tratado descriptivo do Brazil em
1587, obra de Gabriel Soares de Souza, Senhor de Engenho da Bahia
nella residente dezesete annos, seu vereador da Camara. Rio de
Janeiro, 1851, in-8.

[104] Tous se sauverent en certaines islettes

inhabitees, horsmis un François qui fut emporté en
nageant par les poissons Rechiens. p. 132.
Le P. Yves suit toujours cette vicieuse orthographe pour désigner
le requin. Ou a dû écrire primitivement requiem : S’il est vrai que le
nom imposé à ce squale vorace vienne de la rapidité avec laquelle il
donne la mort.

[105] Les Joueurs de Maraca. p. 133.

Le Maraca dont il a été si souvent question était un instrument
symbolique, dont on faisait usage dans les cérémonies sacrées et
dans les fêtes. Le garde des curiosités du roi, Thevet, en a donné
une description excellente dans ses manuscrits inédits. On ne sera
pas fâché de la retrouver dans ce volume : « Tenant à leur main, un
ou deux Maracas, qui est un fruit gros, fait en ovale, comme un œuf
d’austruche et grand comme une moyenne citrouille, lequel fruict,
n’est pas bon à manger, mais est fort plaisant à veoir, ils en font
certain mystère et superstition la plus estrange qu’on saurait penser.
Car, ayant creusé ce fruict par le mytan, ils vous remplissent de
certaines graines de millet gros comme pois, puis le fichent dans un
bout de bâton, et enrichy qu’il est de beau plumage, ils le plantent
tout de bout en terre. Chaque mesnage en a un ou deux, qu’ilz
reverent comme si c’estoit leur Toupan, le tenant à la main lorsqu’ils
dansent et le faisant sonner : penseriez que c’est Toupan qui parle à
eux. » (Ms. d’André Thevet conservés à la bibl. imp. de Paris.) Hans
Staden, Lery, Roulox Baro ont consacré des pages nombreuses au
Maraca, Malherbe lui-même parle de ceux qu’il entendit à Paris,
lorsqu’on baptisa les trois Indiens dont Louis XIII fut le parrain.
Arrivés à Paris, au couvent de leurs protecteurs, les Tupinambas
revêtus de leurs beaux atours, armés de Maracas firent fureur à la
cour. On se passionna même pour leurs danses, je dirais presque
pour leur musique. Il serait curieux de retrouver aujourd’hui, la
Sarabande que le fameux Gauthier fit en leur honneur. Malherbe
écrivait au célèbre Peiresc qu’il l’envoyait à Marc Antoine et il
ajoutait : « On la tient pour une des plus excellences pièces que l’on
puisse ouïr. » (Voy. Correspondance, p. 285 de l’ancienne édit.)
Douze pages plus loin, Malherbe revient sur la pièce en vogue et sur
son auteur : « Gauthier est tenu le premier du métier ; je ne sais s’il
aura réussi et si le goût de la province se conformera à celui de la
cour. »
On ne se contenta pas d’associer les pauvres sauvages à
d’étranges amusements, on prétendait les fixer en France. Le poëte
dit p. 275 : « Les Capucins pour faire la courtoisie complète à ces
pauvres gens sont après à faire résoudre quelques dévotes à les
espouser à quoi je crois qu’ils ont déjà bien commencé, » mais
tandis que l’on accueillait si bien les guerriers du Maranham, leurs
femmes ne jouissaient pas de la même faveur. Une certaine
princesse dont le poète tait le nom en avait pris une opinion étrange
et nous renvoyons pour ce fait à la p. 264 : « Elle dit que pour eux
elle est bien contente de leur donner à dîner, mais que Mesdames
leurs femmes ne pouvaient être que… vous m’entendez bien et ne
les veut pas recevoir chez elle. »

[106] Du voyage du capitaine Maillar. p. 134.

Il est extrêmement curieux de voir que cette expédition envoyée
en reconnaissance, sur les rives fertiles du Mearim, y constata dès
lors, que les terres y étaient essentiellement propres à la culture de
la canne à sucre, c’est aujourd’hui celle qui emploie tous les bras et
il y a environ 15 ans que cette révolution agricole s’est faite sous
l’influence de M. Franco de Sá. La charrue dédaignée si longtemps
sillonne enfin ce sol admirable.

[107] Des moitons. p. 136.

Il faut lire Mutum (prononcez Moutoum) ; la plus petite espèce
était désignée sous le nom de Mutum Pinima. Voy. le dict. Tupy de
Gonçalvez Dias. Il s’agit ici du Hocco Crax Alector : Gibier fort
recherché. La société impériale d’acclimatation fait en ce moment les
plus louables efforts pour naturaliser cet oiseau du Brésil et de la
Guyane en France.

[108] Des Tonins francs. p. 136.

C’est la jolie espèce de perruche, qu’on connaît au Brésil sous le
nom de Tui. Elle forme parfois des volées si considérables, qu’elle
devient alors un des fléaux de l’agriculture.

[109] Il souffloit la fumee sur ces sauvages,

disant : Prenez la force de mon esprit. p. 137.
Jean de Lery est entré dans les détails les plus curieux sur la fête
solennelle durant laquelle on soufflait l’esprit de courage aux
guerriers, prêts à partir pour une expédition. L’une des planches de
son livre représente même cette cérémonie. Chez toutes les tribus
de la race tupique, le tabac était considéré comme une plante
sacrée. Nous avons réuni tout ce qu’on savait il y a quelques années
sur les origines du Petun, dans notre lettre à M. Alfred Demersay, sur
l’introduction du tabac en France. (Voy. Etudes économiques sur
l’Amérique méridionale. Du Tabac du Paraguay. Paris, Guillaumin,
1851, in-8.)

[110] Des branches de palme piquante

surnommé Toucon. p. 137.
C’est le palmier que les Brésiliens appellent Tucum. On peut
consulter à ce sujet la magnifique monographie des palmiers de
Martius. Le Tucum offre des fibres vertes et tendres, au moyen
desquelles on se procure un fil excellent qui sert à fabriquer des
filets.

[111] Après la procession ils caouinoient jusqu’au

crever. p. 137.
Yves d’Evreux n’hésite pas ici avec sa naïveté habituelle, à
fabriquer un verbe tiré de la langue des Indiens. Des bords de
l’Orénoque jusqu’au Rio de la Plata, le caouin était fabriqué en
quantités immenses. Qu’elle se préparât avec du maïs maché par les
femmes, ou bien avec du manioc, du cajou et même de la
jabuticaba, cette espèce de bière (de cidre si on le préfère), portait
en tout lieu le même nom. Nous retrouvons cette fabrication et le
nom qui la désigne jusque parmi les Araucans. (Voy. l’important
voyage au Chili de M. Claudio Gay.) Le mot caouin a franchi des
espaces immenses, les procédés par lesquels on l’obtient sont en
tout lieu les mêmes, et il atteste une étroite parenté entre les
peuples les plus éloignés les uns des autres. Hans Staden, Lery,
Thevet, en ont signalé l’abus, et nous renvoyons à leurs curieuses
relations. Ce que nos vieux voyageurs appelaient Caouïnage ;
constituait après tout une solennité dont le sens religieux nous
échappe encore. Ces orgies précédaient parfois, les grandes
expéditions ou leur succédaient. Le vin d’Europe s’appelle
aujourd’hui Caouin Pyranga et l’eau-de-vie si fatale à la race
indienne Caouin Tata, boisson de feu.

[112] Des Tapinambos de l’isle, estans allez en

ces quartiers spécialement pour y pescher furent
assaillis des Tremenbaiz. p. 139 et 140.
Le nom de cette nation si peu connue, qui se présente sous la
plume du P. Yves, est un garant de l’exactitude qu’il met dans ses
récits. Il y avait encore en 1817, quelques Tramenbez mêlés à des
cultivateurs de la race blanche au Ciará ; ils s’occupaient de la
culture du manioc et vivaient dans le village de Nossa Senhora da
Conceição d’Almofalla. Il y avait dans le district qu’ils habitaient des
salines abandonnées. (Voy. Ayres de Cazal Corografia brasilica. T. 2,
p. 235.) Le P. Yves vante la valeur et l’industrie de ces Indiens (p.
142), ils étaient ennemis jurés des Tupinambas.

[113] Japy Ouassou fut le conducteur de cette

armee. p. 140.
Nous prenons ce chef fameux au moment où il est revêtu du
commandement. C’est la figure indienne qui domine les deux
relations, celle du P. Claude d’Abbeville et celle du P. Yves. Son nom
signifie le gros troupiale. Dans la lingoa geral le mot japim est la
dénomination de ce joli oiseau à plumage jaune et noir qui va par
bandes nombreuses et qui fabrique de toutes parts des nids si
pittoresques. On pourrait aussi lui trouver une autre signification.
Japy signifie dans la langue indienne parlée au Maranham, le heurt,
le coup. (Voy. Gonçalvez Dias Diccionario.) La première explication
est la seule adoptée. Japy-Ouassou était ce qu’on appelait un
mitagaya, un grand guerrier.

[114] Avec Giropary Ouassou c’est-à-dire le grand

diable prince et roy d’une grande nation de
Canibaliers. p. 141.
Le P. Yves se laisse beaucoup trop aller ici à ses souvenirs de
l’Europe. Giropary Assou, dont il est en effet question dans les
écrivains portugais, n’avait rien de commun avec un prince ou un roi,
tels qu’on se les figurait dans la hiérarchie adoptée alors par presque
tous les états de l’ancien monde. Cette erreur du reste, avait été
déjà répandue bien longtemps auparavant, par André Thevet dans
sa France antarctique et dans sa Cosmographie. L’historien du
Portugal, La Clède, qui vivait au XVIIIme siècle, va plus loin encore
dans l’énumération des titres pompeux qu’il accorde à quelques
pauvres chefs de tribus.

[115] Quelques Couïs. p. 142.

Sous le nom de Couy on désigne journellement au Brésil des
vases légers, obtenus des fruits du calebassier. C’est ce qu’on
appelle au Venezuela des Tutumas (prononcez Toutoumas).
Quelques-uns de ces vases naturels présentent une délicate
ornementation, et des couleurs inattaquables à l’eau, qui sont d’un
grand éclat. (Voy. à ce sujet Claude d’Abbeville, Histoire de la
mission des pères Capucins.)

[116] La troisiesme raison est pour cueillir l’ambre

gris que les Tapinambos appellent Pirapoty, c’est-à-
dire fiante de poisson. p. 143.
Ceci est confirmé par ce que nous apprend Magalhães de
Gandavo, le premier écrivain portugais, qui ait donné une histoire
régulière du Brésil en 1576. Cet ami de Camoens rappelle
l’expression indienne dont se sert ici le P. Yves, mais il ne partage
point son opinion, et suppose que l’ambre est un produit végétal qui
se forme au fond de la mer. Ce qu’il y a de certain c’est qu’au XVIme
et au XVIIme siècle, la rencontre presque toujours fortuite d’énormes
morceaux d’ambre jetés par les vagues sur des plages inexplorées,
enrichissait nombre de gens.

[117] Quant au voyage d’Ouarpy, qui est une

riviere et contree à cent vingt lieues de l’isle. p. 146.
Nous avons inutilement demandé ce nom au livre d’Ayrès de
Cazal et au dictionnaire de M. Millet de St. Adolphe. La région qu’il
désigne ayant pour habitans les Cahetès, nous avons la certitude
qu’il faut la chercher dans la province de Pernambuco. Le mot
Cahetès signifie du reste les grandes forêts et s’appliqua à diverses
localités. C’étaient bien les Cahetès, qui avaient sacrifié et dévoré en
1556, le premier évêque du Brésil D. Pedro Fernandez Sardinha. Ce
savant prélat, né a Setuval et élevé à l’université de Paris, retournait
alors à Lisbonne, où il allait porter ses plaintes contre le gouverneur
de Bahia. On montre encore le tertre sur lequel il reçut la mort. Rien
n’y peut croître à ce qu’affirme la légende populaire. (Voy. Adolfo de
Varnhagen, Historia geral do Brazil.) Le livre de Gabriel Soarez
renferme tous les détails désirables sur les Cahetès, ces Indiens
considérés partout comme des guerriers invincibles, se vantaient
d’être d’habiles musiciens. L’exploration d’Ouarpy dont il est ici
question et qu’entreprit M. de Pezieux est une preuve évidente du
soin qu’on mit à reconnaître cette vaste région, on la fit parcourir du
nord au sud.

[118] Je me suis laissé dire qu’il y a en tous ces

pays-là une grande quantité de mines d’or meslé de
cuivre et d’argent meslé de plomb. p. 146.
Ces mines d’or, que l’on espérait rencontrer au Maranham dès
l’année 1613, et qu’on ne découvrit point alors, existent cependant
dans des montagnes qu’on désigne sous le nom de Maracassumé. Le
métal précieux se rencontre surtout à Piranhas (district de Sancta
Helena) aux sources des Rios Pindaré, de Gurupy, Cabello de Velha
(Cururupu), Prata (Sancta Helena), à Revirada, sur les rives du
Tomatahy etc. etc., mais il est peu abondant. Il y a du cuivre à la
Chapada dans un endroit désigné sous le nom de Fasendinha et
dans le haut Pindaré ; le fer est plus répandu. Il apparaît dans les
montagnes de Tirocambo et à Pastos-boms. On suppose aussi qu’il y
a des mines d’étain dans la province, mais le fait a besoin d’être
vérifié. Un minéral bien précieux dans l’état actuel de l’industrie se
montre au Maranham. Nous voulons parler du charbon de terre ; on
en a trouvé des indices dans le canal d’Arapapahy et l’on affirme
qu’une mine de houille a été ouverte à une demi lieue de Villa de
Codó à la ferme de Sanct Antonio. Les échantillons qu’on en a tirés
sont même, dit-on, d’une qualité supérieure. La même chose
pourrait être affirmée à ce que l’on assure d’un canton appelé
Vinhaes. Il y a également du cristal de roche et des pierres semi
précieuses à San Jozé dos Mattões. Des saphirs se sont montrés sur
le versant de la chaîne de San Bernardo do Parnahyba.
Nous rappellerons en passant, que les premières mines d’or ou
pour mieux dire les premiers lavages aurifères, destinés à enrichir le
Brésil, ne furent découverts à Minas Geraës qu’en 1595. Ce ne fut
pas par les provinces du nord, que la métropole eut alors
connaissance des richesses métalliques de ce vaste territoire : ce fut
par la côte orientale où se rendent le rio Doce et le rio Jiquitinhonha.
On sait que ce dernier fleuve qui prend le nom de Belmonte, au
moment où il se jette dans la mer à peu de distance du premier,
fournit également depuis, une énorme quantité de diamants à la
couronne. Ces pierres, que l’on rencontra vers 1729 surtout dans la
vallée entourée de roches escarpées, que l’on appelait Ivitur et que
les Portugais baptisèrent du nom de Cerro do frio, n’étaient pas
complétement dédaignées par les Indiens : les enfants les
ramassaient et s’en servaient comme de jouets. Il n’y a pas de
diamants au Maranham.

[119] Des singularitez de quelques arbres du

Maranham. p. 158.
 Le P. Yves se montre ici très incomplet, mais il ne faut pas oublier
qu’il était naturaliste, comme l’était un théologien de son temps ; son
prédécesseur a mis d’ailleurs moins de brièveté dans ses
descriptions. Ce qu’il dit de quelques mimosa, indique sa
préoccupation de certains phénomènes naturels. Les qualités
malfaisantes, qu’il reconnaît au suc du Cajou, dont on fait une sorte
de cidre, sont fort exagérées. Nous dirons en passant que le mot
caouïn tire son origine du nom indien de cet arbre. Cajú-y, liqueur
du Cajú.

[120] Il y a des espines que vous diriez estre

creées de Dieu, pour représenter le Mystere de la
Passion. p. 163.
La fleur de la passion (Grenadilla Cærulea) dans l’ensemble de
laquelle une imagination prévenue trouve les saints attributs,
jouissait alors d’une faveur prodigieuse. On la décrivait dans nombre
d’écrits, on la gravait en exagérant les points de similitude qu’elle
pouvait avoir avec les instruments de supplice de Jésus-Christ. Yves
d’Evreux en rencontra de magnifiques dans les campagnes
brésiliennes, et il les signala aux amateurs de fleurs splendides.
Quelques années plus tard, il eût certainement emprunté du poète
populaire du Brésil, Santa Rita Durão, la description poétique que
celui-ci en donne dans son poème intitulé : Le Caramurú. Nous
signalons aux amateurs des flores fantastiques, une gravure du
XVIIme siècle infiniment curieuse, qui reproduit la plante de grandeur
naturelle, elle est figurée dans le volume suivant : Antonii Possevini
Mantuani Societatis Jesu cultura ingeniorum, examen ingeniorum
Joannis Huartis. Expenditur Coloniae Agrippinae, 1610, in-12.

[121] J’ay remarqué une singularité és Courlieus

rouges. p. 164.
Le Guara (Ibis rubra, ou Tantalus ruber) a disparu en partie, des
portions du littoral, où il venait étaler son brillant plumage, soumis
cependant selon l’âge de l’oiseau, à tant de modifications. On voit
dans le curieux voyage de Hans Staden publié en Allemagne dès
l’année 1557, quel rôle le pennage de ce brillant phénicoptère jouait
dans l’industrie indienne. Les Tupinambas entreprenaient à certaines
époques fixes de véritables expéditions pour se procurer ses
dépouilles, toujours trop rares, pour les fêtes que se donnaient les
tribus entre elles. Les plumes du Guara étaient remplacées au
besoin, par celles de la poule commune, qu’on teignait au moyen de
la teinture vermeille de l’Ibirapitanga ou bois du Brésil. De nos jours
le Guara s’est réfugié sur les bords peu fréquentés du Rio São
Francisco, et on le rencontre surtout dans les régions encore
inoccupées que baigne le Rio Negro. On en voit encore beaucoup au
sud, sur les bords de la lagoa dos patos. On en trouve également à
Guaratuba. (Voy. le second voyage d’Aug. St. Hilaire. T. 2, p. 222.)

[122] Le grand Thion tombé malade. p. 169.

Le mot Téon signifie la mort en Tupi.

[123] Je ne sais pas, si ce que Physiologue escrit

de luy est vrai. p. 171.
Il est impossible à ceux qui n’ont pas lu les anciens bestiaires du
moyen-âge de donner un sens à cette phrase. Le livre connu sous le
titre de Physiologus jouissait encore d’un certain crédit au temps du
P. Yves d’Evreux. Nous renvoyons pour les détails précis sur ce
curieux ouvrage au recueil savant publié par les R. P. Cahier et
Martin, sous le titre de Mélanges d’Archéologie, d’Histoire et de
Littérature. 4 vol. in-fol.

[124] Les fourmis du Maragnan ont deux ennemis

mortels specialement les gros fourmis, savoir une
sorte de chiens sauvages puans au possible. p. 176.
 Le prétendu chien, dont parle ici le bon missionnaire est fort
éloigné, par sa nature de la race canine. C’est tout simplement le
fourmilier, connu des indigènes du Brésil sous le nom de Tamandua.
La science lui a imposé celui de Myrmecophaga jubata. Le
naturaliste Watterton, qui a si curieusement étudié les quadrupèdes
du nouveau monde, dans les lieux mêmes, où ils se livrent sans
contrainte à leurs instincts, a donné de cet animal une description
excellente. Il y a au Brésil plusieurs espèces de fourmilier. La grosse
espèce appelée par les portugais Tamandua cavallo est fort rare.
C’est ce surnom qui a probablement induit Claude d’Abbeville en
erreur lorsqu’il affirme que le fourmilier est grand comme un cheval.
Le mot indien qui désigne ce curieux quadrupède vient de deux mots
Tupis : taixi fourmi, et mondé ou mondá prendre.

[125] Ils les prennent encore d’autre façon, et

sont les filles et les femmes lesquelles s’asseans à la
bouche de leur caverne invitent ces grosses fourmis
à sortir. p. 176.
Les femmes Tupinambas, qui chantoient ainsi pour charmer les
fourmis et activer la chasse de ces insectes, ne le faisaient pas dans
le but unique de les détruire ou de préserver leurs champs de maïs
d’une invasion à laquelle rien ne résiste. Les grosses fourmis
torréfiées, étaient regardées par elles comme une des friandises les
plus délicates, et elles ont légué ce mets à quelques colons du sud
auxquels nos modernes Brillat-Savarin ne le disputeront pas. De
même que les Arabes mangent encore des sauterelles conservées
par le sel ou par la dessication, de même, que les Guaraons des
bords de l’Orénoque font leurs délices de la larve du palmier Murichi
(nous omettons ici une friandise créole du même genre), de même
nos Sauvages amassaient des provisions considérables de ces
insectes, et s’en nourrissaient. Le plus véridique des voyageurs, qui
aient parcouru le Brésil, M. Auguste de St. Hilaire a trouvé
persistante encore, la coutume de manger des fourmis rôties. Après
avoir constaté que ce mets étrange est en honneur à Espirito Santo,
et que les habitans de Campos, qui sont dans un état continuel de
rivalité avec ceux de Villa da Victoria, les appellent Tata Tanajuras,
avaleurs de fourmis, il ajoute : « J’ai mangé moi-même un plat de
ces animaux, qui avait été apprêté par une femme Pauliste et ne leur
ai point trouvé un goût désagréable. » (Voy. le second voyage au
Brésil. T. 2, p. 181.)
Martin Soares de Souza, que l’on a appelé avec quelque raison le
Grégoire de Tours des Brésiliens est plus explicite que tous les
voyageurs sur le parti que les Indiens tiraient des fourmis au point
de vue de l’alimentation. Nous copions ici ce curieux passage. Après
avoir parlé de la grosse espèce que l’on désigne sous le nom d’Içans,
il ajoute : « E estas formigas comem os indios, torradas sobre o
fogo, e fazem lhe muita festa ; e alguns homens brancos andan
entre elles, e os mistiços as tem por bom jantar, e o gabam de
saboroso, dizendo que subem a passas de Alicante ; e torradas son
brancas dentro. » Et les Indiens mangent ces fourmis torréfiées sur
le feu leur faisant grande fête, et quelques hommes blancs, les
imitent et les métis regardent ces insectes comme un bon manger
vantant leur saveur et disant qu’elles valent les raisins secs
d’Alicante, et rôties elles sont blanches à l’intérieur.

[126] La chasse des lezards que les Tapinambos

appellent Taroüire (et sont les grands lezards) et
Tyou sont les petits se faict diversement. p. 177.
Il faut écrire Tarauyra, mais ce mot signifie un petit lézard c’est la
seconde dénomination qui s’applique à la grosse espèce. Il s’agit ici
du Tiú (Tupinambis monitor). La chair de ce reptile est en effet
excellente, et la préparation culinaire vantée par Yves d’Evreux, ne
devait pas peu contribuer à l’améliorer. La répugnance du bon père à
goûter de ce mets, n’est nullement partagée par les descendants
d’européens, accoutumés aux meilleures tables. La viande du Tiú
ressemble par sa blancheur et par sa délicatesse, à celle du poulet le
plus délicat. On la sert au Brésil avec raison sur les tables les plus
comfortables.
 [127] J’ay veu des araignes de mer tirans à peu
pres sur la forme des araignes terrestres, mais fort
grandes. p. 181.
Notre auteur veut parler de l’Aranha caranguejeira (Aranea
avicularia), mais ici son sentiment d’observation est en défaut. Il
exagère singulièrement les dimensions de cet insecte vraiment
hideux qu’on peut voir d’ailleurs dans toutes les collections
d’entomologie : il n’est pas exact de dire qu’elles ne filent point de
toile, la piqûre n’en est point mortifère, mais elle est vénéneuse. On
la désigne dans la langue Tupi sous le nom de Nhandu-Guaçu ou de
Jandú.

[128] Maragnan abonde comme ce croy sur

toutes les terres du monde en cigales. p. 183 et 184.
Ce que nous dit ici le bon religieux des bruits de la cigale dénote
un sentiment d’observation en histoire naturelle bien rare pour
l’époque où il écrivait, mais il importe de ne pas confondre ici la
Cigarra brésilienne avec l’insecte que nous désignons sous ce nom.

[129] Le grillon appelé par les sauvages coujou.

p. 187.
Le nom en Tupi s’écrit Okijú. (Voy. Martius, Glossaria ling. bras. p.
465.)

[130] Et pour ce qu’elles ont à converser parmy

les tenebres, la Providence de Dieu les a pourvues
d’un flambeau. p. 191.
Yves d’Evreux se montre ici, il faut en convenir bien inférieur à
son contemporain le P. du Tertre. Tout ce qu’il dit néanmoins sur la
lumière des lampyres est fort exact. L’entomologie était trop peu
avancée alors, pour qu’il établît une classification parmi ces insectes.
Nous sommes à même de réparer cette lacune. On connaît
maintenant au Brésil huit espèces de lampyres : Lampyris
crassicornis, lampyris signaticollis, lampyris concoloripennis, lampyris
fulvipes, lampyris diaphana, lampyris hespera, lampyris nigra,
lampyris maculata. On peut joindre à ces charmants insectes la
lucidote thoracique (lucidota thoracica).

[131] Et cela m’estoit de tant plus aisé à faire que

ces mouches ne vous piquent pas. p. 192.
Ceci est parfaitement exact, et les abeilles du Brésil sont privées
d’aiguillon, voici ce que dit à ce sujet un exact et savant observateur.
Après avoir affirmé comme le P. Yves, que les abeilles ne piquaient
point, Auguste de St. Hilaire continue ainsi : « Une espèce qu’on
nomme Tataira, laisse, à ce qu’on assure, échapper par l’anus, une
liqueur brûlante et c’est ordinairement la nuit qu’on lui enlève son
miel. Les espèces appelées Uruçu boi, Sanharó, Burá, bravo, chupé,
arapua et Tubi, se défendent quand on les attaque, mais il paraît
qu’elles n’ont pas plus d’aiguillon que les autres et qu’elles se
contentent de mordre. » Le miel des diverses espèces est en effet
très liquide. La cire que produisent tous les essaims est d’une teinte
brunâtre fort intense, et l’on n’est pas encore parvenu à lui donner la
blancheur de celle de l’Europe. Spix et Martius fournissent du reste
de précieux renseignements sur ces utiles insectes, ils complétent
ceux de notre grand botaniste. (Voy. Voyage dans les provinces de
Rio de Janeiro et de Minas-Geraes. T. 2, p. 371 et suiv.)

[132] Les Guenons sont de diverse espece en

Maragnan et en ses environs. p. 199.
Il n’y a peut-être pas de région au monde, en effet, qui renferme
une plus grande variété de singes que le Brésil, nous supposons qu’il
est ici question d’abord du Guariba ou Mycetes ursinus, puis, que le
bon missionnaire a voulu ensuite décrire l’alouate surnommée
Stentor. C’est probablement à cette espèce que se rapporte la
description si gracieuse et si animée, que donne ensuite notre vieil
écrivain. Il est bon de faire observer néanmoins, que le P. Yves se
rend dans ce qui précède, l’écho d’une croyance populaire fort
répandue au XVIme siècle. Cette espèce de légende des forêts,
beaucoup plus applicable aux singes de l’Afrique et de l’Asie qu’à
ceux du nouveau monde, n’est pas complétement éteinte dans les
campagnes de l’Amérique méridionale, et l’on montra à M. de
Castelnau, une femme indienne, qu’on prétendait avoir choisi un
époux parmi les singes des grands bois. (Voy. Expédition dans les
parties centrales de l’Amérique du sud, de Rio de Janeiro à Lima et
de Lima au Pará, exécutée par ordre du gouvernement français.
Paris, 1851, partie historique. 5 vols. in-8.)

[133] A une heure presixe. p. 200.

Lisez préfixe. Il suffit d’avoir vécu dans les forêts hantées par les
singes, pour reconnaître ici l’exactitude du P. Yves d’Evreux.

[134] Outre ces aigles vous avez de grands

oyseaux appelez Ouira-Ouassou presques aussi
grands que les autruches d’Affrique etc. p. 203.
Il y a ici erreur évidente, ou plutôt exagération. Le P. Claude
d’Abbeville, qui décrit le même oiseau de proie (p. 232), prétend
qu’il est « deux fois plus gros que n’est un aigle », qu’il a « la jambe
grosse environ comme le bras et la patte en forme de griffon. » —
Ceci pourrait s’appliquer au condor tout au plus et il n’y en a point
dans cette portion de l’Amérique du sud. Au dire du colonel Accioli
cependant le Gavião real est d’une force telle qu’il arrête dans sa
course le cerf le plus vigoureux. La description du P. Yves a quelque
chose de si fantastique, qu’on pourrait supposer au premier abord
qu’elle s’applique à l’autruche américaine le Nandú, qu’on ne
rencontre guère que dans les plaines du Ceará et du Piauhy. Un
écrivain de la même époque, que nous avons plusieurs fois cité,
Gabriel Soares, rétablit les faits en parlant de l’Ura-oaçu. « Ce sont,
dit-il, des oiseaux, comme les milans de Portugal, sans aucune
différence, ils sont noirs et ont de grandes ailes, dont les pennes
sont utilisées par les Indiens pour empenner leurs flèches, ils vivent
de rapine. » (Voy. Tratado descriptivo do Brazil em 1587. Rio de
Janeiro, 1851. 1 vol. in-8. p. 232.)
Rappelons en passant, qu’au point de vue de la science, car la
grâce du style ne fait jamais défaut à notre vieux voyageur, la partie
ornithologique est très imparfaite. Ce que dit par exemple le P. Yves
de l’oiseau mouche ou du colibri est tout-à-fait inexact : il n’y a rien
dans son cri aigu, qui rappelle le chant de l’alouette. Les souvenirs
se sont parfois confondus à distance.

[135] Les perroquets fournissent de plumes à

leurs hostes pour se braver et faire leur fanfare. p.
205.
Yves d’Evreux veut dire ici, que les Indiens se font braves, se
parent avec les plumes des perroquets. Non-seulement les
Tupinambas faisaient avec ces plumes des manteaux, des diadèmes,
des jambières, mais ils hachaient très menues les petites pennes
colorées de ces oiseaux et se couvraient le corps de ce duvet, qu’ils
fixaient au moyen d’une gomme. Cette parure sauvage d’un effet
singulièrement original est encore en honneur dans certaines tribus.
On voit par les récits de Jean de Lery, qu’elle s’est conservée durant
plus de trois siècles. Le voyage pittoresque de Debret en offre un
spécimen.

[136] Voicy ce qu’on dit, et bien baste. p. 209.

Et bien baste, cela suffit bien : Les Espagnols et les Portugais ont
conservé le mot bastar suffire.
 [137] Nous n’aurons eu qu’un mort, sçavoir le R.
P. Ambroise. p. 210.
Nous avons déjà payé un juste tribut de souvenir à ce bon
religieux si zélé, dont la tombe ignorée est au Maranham, dans
l’ancien cimetière du petit couvent. Comme l’indique son surnom de
religion, le P. Ambroise était né dans la capitale de la Picardie, « de
parents fort à leur aise, dit le manuscrit des éloges, et qui lui
donnèrent de l’éducation autant que le traficq (sic) qu’il faisaient leur
en donnait le loisir. » Après avoir étudié en Sorbonne et au moment
où il allait prendre sa licence, il fut touché par les prédications du P.
Pacifique de St. Gervais et entra au couvent en 1575, presque
aussitôt que fut fondé le monastère de la rue St. Honoré. Il acheva
son noviciat en 1599, et il remplit d’abord avec joie, l’office de frère
lai. On l’admit bientôt, comme prédicateur et ce fut alors qu’il acquit
ce renom de charité qui l’avait rendu si populaire. Il aspirait à plus
que cela, « il eût voulu convertir toutes les Indes », dit la notice
qu’on lui a consacrée. Le père Yves d’Evreux a rendu un éclatant
hommage aux soins dont il entourait ses frères, durant le rude
voyage qu’ils avaient à accomplir. Il était à bout de forces, lorsqu’il
tomba malade, dans sa pauvre cabane de feuillage le 26 septembre
1612. Une fièvre ardente le dévorait. Toutefois, même après avoir
reçu l’extrême onction, il conserva sa raison entière et une raison
pleine de fermeté. Transcrivons ici les quelques mots qui font
connaître ce que fut la fin du bon vieillard ; Claude d’Abbeville la
raconte. « Ayant vu tomber sur luy un petit tableau de St. Pierre, qui
estoit au-dessus de sa couche et auquel il avoit une particulière
dévotion il dit : allons grand saint, partons puisque vous me venez
quérir. Ce qu’aiant dit, il tourna les yeux vers le crucifix et agonisant
quelque peu de temps, il rendit sa belle âme à son créateur le 9
octobre 1612, que l’on célèbre la fête du glorieux apôtre de la
France St. Denis évêque de Paris. On l’enterra dans un lieu appelé
de St. François, qui estoit consacré à notre patriarche, comme les
prémices des capucins de France. » (Voy. aussi Eloges historiques de
tous les illustres hommes et tous les illustres religieux capucins de la