132 A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 
be welcomed, like old friends, to an American home.* 
Pernambuco is by no means so picturesque as Bahia or 
Rio de Janeiro. It has a more modern air than either 
of these, but looks also more cleanly and more prosper- 
ous. Many of the streets are wide, and the river running 
through the business part of the city, crossed by broad, 
handsome bridges, is itself suggestive of freshness. The 
country is more open and flat than farther south. In 
our afternoon drive some of the views across wide, level 
meadows, if we could have put elms here and there in 
the place of palms, would have reminded us of scenery at 
home. 
August 2d. Yesterday we left Pernambuco, and this 
morning found ourselves at the mouth of the Parahyba 
do Norte, a broad, beautiful river, up which we steamed 
to within a few miles of the little town bearing the same 
name. Here we took a boat and rowed to the city, where 
we spent some hours in rambling about, collecting speci- 
mens, examining drift formations, <fec. In the course of 
our excursion we fell in with some friends of Major Cou- 
tinho's, who took us home with them to an excellent 
breakfast of fresh fish, with bread, coffee, and wine. The 
bread is to be noticed here, for it is said to be the best 
in Brazil. The flour is the same as elsewhere, and the 
people generally attribute the superiority of their bread to 
some quality of the water. Whatever be the cause, there 
is no bread in all Brazil so sweet, so light, and so white as 
that of Parahvba do Norte. 
/ 
August 5th. -We arrived yesterday at Ceara, where we 
were warmly welcomed and most hospitably entertained 
* Mr. Agassiz was indebted to Mr. Hitch for valuable additions to his 
collections, and for many acts of kindness in behalf of the expedition. 
