Watchful slaves, pretending to peer into the hot sun, would "spice their words" to comment aloud, "Look at that scorching sun" or mix common African words into the vocabulary of slaves with Portuguese as in “Ngoma is coming” to warn their fellow slaves, who immediately set to work industriously. slaves worked to eliminate the need for a break. While the men were out working, the women and children stayed together. James Wood wrote in his article that “mothers carried nursing infants in small woven baskets on their backs or carried them astride on their hips. Those aged four to seven walked with their mother, those aged nine to fifteen nearby." During breaks, mothers breastfed their babies. After half an hour they would be ordered to return to the “sunny hills”. Slaves usually sang while they worked. This allowed them to maintain the rhythm while stroking their hoes. In these songs they sang about their problems with their masters and things like that. The quality of the singing also had a huge effect on their work