Chap. VI A MUDDY VILLAGE. 3S5 



of the principal inhabitants, Senhor Venancio, a house 

 was ready for me on landing. The only recommenda- 

 tion of the dwelling was its coolness. It was, in fact, 

 rather damp ; the plastered walls bore a crop of green 

 mould, and a slimy moisture oozed through the black, 

 dirty floor ; the rooms were large, but lighted by 

 miserable little holes in place of windows. The village 

 is built on a clayey plateau, and the ruinous houses are 

 arranged round a large square, which is so choked up 

 with tangled bushes that it is quite impassable, the 

 lazy inhabitants having allowed the fine open space to 

 relapse into jungle. The stiff clayey eminence is worn 

 into deep gullies which slope towards the river, and 

 the ascent from the port in rainy weather is so slippery 

 that one is obliged to crawl up to the streets on all 

 fours. A large tract of ground behind the place is clear 

 of forest, but this, as well as the streets and gardens, is 

 covered with a dense, tough carpet of shiubs, having the 

 same wiry nature as our common heath. Beneath its 

 deceitful covering the soil is always moist and soft, and 

 in the wet season the whole is converted into a glutinous 

 mud swamp. There is a very pretty church in one 

 corner of the square, but in the rainy months of the 

 year (nine out of the twelve) the place of worship is 

 almost inaccessible to the inhabitants on account of the 

 mud, the only means of getting to it being by hugging 

 closely the walls and palings, and so advancing side- 

 ways step by step. 



I remained in this delectable place until the 2oth of 

 January, 1857. Fonte Boa, in addition to its other 

 amenities, has the reputation throughout the country of 

 vol. ir. , c c 



