Chap. I. SUBURBS OF PAEA. 13 



suburban roads, the chief of which, the Estrada das 

 Mongubeiras (the Monguba road), about a mile long, is 

 a magnificent avenue of silk-cotton trees (Bombax mon- 

 guba and B. ceiba), huge trees whose trunks taper rapidly 

 from the gi'ound upwards, and whose flowers before 

 opening look like red balls studding the branches. This 

 fine road was constructed under the governorship of 

 the Count dos Arcos, about the year 1812. At right 

 angles to it run a number of narrow green lanes, and 

 the whole district is drained by a system of small canals 

 or trenches through which the tide ebbs and flows, 

 showing the lowness of the site. Before I left the 

 country, other entei^rising presidents had formed a 

 number of avenues lined with cocoa-nut palms, almond 

 and other trees, in continuation of the Monguba road, 

 over the more elevated and drier gi'ound to the north- 

 east of the city. On the high gTound the vegetation has 

 an aspect quite different from that which it presents in 

 the swampy parts. Indeed, with the exception of the 

 palm trees, the suburbs here have an aspect like that of 

 a village green at home. The soil is sandy, and the open 

 commons are covered with a short grassy and shrubby 

 vegetation. Beyond this, the land again descends to a 

 marshy tract, where, at the bottom of the moist hollow^s, 

 the public wells are situated. Here all the linen of the 

 city is Avashed by hosts of noisy negi-esses, and here 

 also the water-carts are filled — painted hogsheads on 

 wheels, drawn by bullocks. In early morning, when 

 the sun sometimes shines through a light mist, and 

 everything is dripping mth moisture, this part of the 

 city is full of life : vociferous negroes and wrangling 



