58 PAEA. Chap. IL 



exists, a state of things produced by the half-mid canoe- 

 life of the people, and the ease with which a mere sub- 

 sistence can be obtained with moderate work, tempt 

 even the best-disposed to quit regular labour as soon as 

 they can. He complained also of the dearness of slaves, 

 owing to the prohibition of the African traffic, telling us 

 that formerly a slave could be bought for 120 dollars, 

 whereas they are now difficult to procure at 400 dollars. 

 Mr. Danin told us that he had travelled in England 

 and the United States, and that he had now two sons 

 completing their education in those countries. I after- 

 wards met with many enterprising persons of Mr. 

 Danin's order, both Brazilians and Portuguese ; their 

 great ambition is to make a voyage to Europe or North 

 America, and to send their sons to be educated there. 

 The land on which his establishment is built, he told us, 

 was an artificial embankment on the swamp ; the end 

 of the house was built on a projecting point overlooking 

 the river, so that a good view was obtained, from the 

 sitting rooms, of the city and the shipping. We learnt 

 there was formerly a large and flourishing cattle estate 

 on this spot, with an open grassy space like a park. 

 On Sundays gay parties of 40 or 50 persons used to 

 come by land and water, in carriages and gay galliotas, 

 to spend the day with the hospitable owner. Since 

 the political disorders which I have already men- 

 tioned, decay had come upon this as on most other 

 large establishments in the country. The cultivated 

 grounds, and the roads leading to them, were now 

 entirely overgi'own with dense forest. When we were 

 ready to depart, Senhor Danin lent a canoe and two 



