182 SANTAREM. Cuap. VIII, 
are very stiff and formal, and the absence of the hearty hospitality met 
with in other places produces a disagreeable impression at first. Much 
ceremony is observed in the intercourse of the principal people with 
each other, and with strangers. The best room in each house is set 
apart for receptions, and visitors are expected to present themselves 
in black dress coats, regardless of the furious heat which rages in the 
sandy streets of Santarem towards midday, the hour when visits are 
generally made. In the room a cane-bottomed sofa and chairs, -all 
lacquered and gilded, are arranged in quadrangular form, and here the 
visitors are invited to seat themselves, whilst the compliments are 
passed or the business arranged. In taking leave, the host backs out 
his guests with repeated bows, finishing at the front door. Smoking is 
not in vogue amongst this class, but snuff-taking is largely indulged in, 
and great luxury is displayed in gold and silver snuft-boxes. All the 
gentlemen, and indeed most of the ladies also, wear gold watches and 
guard chains. Social parties are not very frequent ; the principal men 
being fully occupied with their business and families, and the rest 
spending their leisure in billiard and gambling rooms, leaving wives 
and daughters shut up at home. Occasionally, however, one of the 
principal citizens gives a ball. In the first that I attended, the gentle- 
men were seated all the evening on one side of the room, and the 
Jadies on the other, and partners were allotted by means of numbered 
cards, distributed by a master of the ceremonies. But the customs 
changed rapidly in these matters after steamers began to run on the 
Amazons (in 1853), bringing a flood of new ideas and fashions into the 
country. The old bigoted Portuguese system of treating women, 
which stifled social intercourse and wrought endless evils in the private 
life of the Brazilians, is now being gradually, although slowly, aban- 
doned. 
When a stranger arrives at an interior town in Brazil, with the in- 
tention of making some stay, he is obliged within three days to present 
himself at the Police Office, to show his passport. He is then expected 
to call on the different magistrates, the military commander, and the 
principal private residents. This done, he has to remain at home a 
day or two to receive return visits, after which he is considered to be 
admitted into the best society. Santarem being the head of a comarca 
or county, as well as a borough, has a resident high judge (Juiz de 
Direito), besides a municipal judge (Juiz Municipal) and recorder 
(Promotor publico). ‘The head of the police is also a magistrate, having 
jurisdiction in minor cases; he is called the delegado or delegate of 
police, from being appointed by and subordinate to the chief of police 
in the capital: all these officers are nominated by the Central Govern- 
ment. Ina pretentious place like Santarem, the people attach great 
importance to these matters, and I had to go a round of visiting before. 
I finally settled down to work. Notwithstanding the ceremonious 
manners of the principal inhabitants, I found several most worthy and 
agreeable people amongst them. Some of the older families, who spend 
most of their time on their plantations or cattle estates, were as kind- 
hearted and simple in their ways as the Obydos townsfolk. But these 
are rarely in town, coming only for a few days during the festivals. 
