20 RIO DE JANEIRO. [CHAP. n. 



trived to eke out a subsistence. At length they were discovered, 

 and a party of soldiers being sent, the whole were seized with the 

 exception of one old woman, who, sooner than again be led into 

 slavery, dashed herself to pieces from the summit of the moun- 

 tain. In a Roman matron this would have been called the noble 

 love of freedom : in a poor negress it is mere brutal obstinacy. 

 We continued r'ding for some hours. For the few last miles 

 the road was intricate, and it passed through a desert waste of 

 marshes and lagoons. The scene by the dimmed light of the 

 moon was most desolate. A few fireflies flitted by us ; and the 

 solitary snipe, as it rose, uttered its plaintive cry. The distant 

 and sullen roar of the sea scarcely broke the stillness of the 

 night. 



April 9th. We left our miserable sleeping-place before sun- 

 rise. The road passed through a narrow sandy plain, lying 

 between the sea and the interior salt lagoons. The number of 

 beautiful fishing birds, such as egrets and cranes, and the succu- 

 lent plants assuming most fantastical forms, gave to the scene an 

 interest which it would not otherwise have possessed. The few 

 stunted trees were loaded with parasitical plants, among which 

 the beauty and delicious fragrance of some of the orchideae were 

 most to be admired. As the sun rose, the day became extremely 

 hot, and the reflection of the light and heat from the white sand 

 was very distressing. We dined at Mandetiba ; the thermometer 

 in the shade being 84. The beautiful view of the distant wooded 

 hills, reflected in the perfectly calm water of an extensive lagoon, 

 quite refreshed us. As the venda* here was a very good one, and 

 I have the pleasant, but rare remembrance, of an excellent din- 

 ner, I will be grateful and presently describe it, as the type of 

 its class. These houses are often large, and are built of thick 

 upright posts, with boughs interwoven, and afterwards plastered. 

 They seldom have floors, and never glazed windows ; but are 

 generally pretty well roofed. Universally the front part is open, 

 forming a kind of verandah, in which tables and benches are 

 placed. The bed-rooms join on each side, and here the passenger 

 may sleep as comfortably as he can, on a wooden platform, 

 covered by a thin straw mat. The venda stands in a courtyard, 

 where the horses are fed. On first arriving, it was our custom 

 * Ve'nda, the Portuguese name for an iim. 



