1056 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1805. 



dcu sister of nearly the same age. — 

 T!ie old man told me he was born 

 near the spot ; that his life had been 

 a series of industry ; and the ingcnio, 

 building, furniture, &c. were almost 

 entirely the work of his own hands. 

 I found him very conversant in the 

 natural history of the country 

 around him, particularly in ornitho- 

 logy ; and I was sorry our momen- 

 tary stay enabled me not to obtain 

 more information. 



" The Vioviingcnio is the Portu- 

 guese distinction of those who have 

 a sugar work : — here very simple, 

 consisting of three rollers of ponde- 

 rous wood, two feet in diameter 

 and three in length, working hori- 

 zontally in a frame : the upper part 

 of the centre roller joins a square 

 beam that ascends thro' i^h the frame 

 work, and to which are affixed cross 

 pieces sufiicionfly low for the har- 

 nesi^ of two horses, that move the 

 whole. The side rollers work by 

 cogs from the centre one. Under- 

 neath tiiis machine is along trough, 

 slanted, that receives the juice of 

 the cane as pressed out by the rol- 

 lers. The juice is thence conveyed 

 to a shallow boiler, of si.\ feci dia- 

 meter, and skimmed from all impu- 

 rities ; after cooling in another ves- 

 sel, they add an alkali of wood ashes, 

 suflor it (o stand some days, pour 

 off the pure liquor, convey it to the 

 same boiler, and evaporate fill the 

 sugar is formed, the settlings, ice. 

 being distilled to a powerful spirit. 

 How v.idely different is this primi- 

 tive sugar making, from the im- 

 mense works, machines, and en- 

 gines employed by our VVesf-Iudia 

 planters 1 



" I found the accowmodatiou of 

 the house far superior to what 1 had 

 expected from the general poverty 

 «i Porto Seguro ; and, in faat, the 



best I met with in this part of I>ra- 

 sil : our weirome was free, provi- 

 sion well cooked (for the country), 

 and tolerably clean. We dined on 

 the ground, mats being first laid, 

 and a clean cloth spread over them. 

 There were plenty of earthen ware 

 (a rarity here), silver spoons, and 

 knives and forks hafted with the 

 same metal. At night, the bedding 

 was decent and comfortable. 



" I arose with the sun next morn- 

 ing, and was charmed with the 

 country surrounding the plantation. 

 The house itself was encircled with 

 bannanas, cotton shrubs, cocoas, 

 and orange trees ; diverging from 

 them, inclosurcs of canes, mandiock, 

 &c. : to the westward lay a large 

 tract of herbage, reserved for graz- 

 ing, irregularly fenced with native 

 woods ; on its descent to the river, 

 the ground, unequal, formed some 

 beautiful hollows, patched Mith 

 groups of trees, which, with the 

 glreaui itself, and cattle on its banks, 

 pictured the most delightful scene. 



" As I skirted the woods, i saw 

 birds of the most brilliant plumage, 

 one nearly the size of a turkey. Of 

 these the moutou was particularly 

 rich, of a deep blue, nearly ap- 

 proaching black, with a head and 

 eye strikingly beautiful : toucans 

 were numerous, and many others 

 elegant indeed. Marraozets, both 

 of the grey and silver lion colour, 

 were in every bush ; but their 

 piercing shriek is disagreeable, and, 

 if near you, penetrates to the very 

 brain. I fancied I heard the distant 

 growl of ounces, which are nume- 

 rous, and fatal in their ravages ; 

 forming, -with snakes, the chief 

 scpurge of the planters. 



" After dinner, we began our re- 

 turn by the same route, passing se- 

 veral scattered plantations, situate 

 ♦ near 



