WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA 119 



little Tangara to put on mourning to tlie north of 

 the line, and wear scarlet to the south of it. 



For three months in the year the environs of 

 Pernambuco are animated beyond description. 

 From November to March the weather is particu- 

 larly fine; then it is that rich and poor, young 

 and old, foreigners and natives, all issue from the 

 city to enjoy the country, till Lent approaches, 

 when back they hie them. Villages and hamlets, 

 where nothing before but rags was seen, now 

 shine in all the elegance of dress; every house, 

 every room, every shed becomes eligible places for 

 those whom nothing but extreme necessity could 

 have forced to live there a few weeks ago : some 

 join in the merry dance, others saunter up and 

 down the orange-groves ; and towards evening the 

 roads become a moving scene of silk and jewels. 

 The gaming-tables have constant visitors; there, 

 thousands are daily and nightly lost and won; 

 parties even sit down to try their luck round the 

 outside of the door as well as in the room : — 



"Vestibulum ante ipsnm primisque in fancibus aulas 

 Luctus et ultrices, posuere sedilia curge. " 



About six or seven miles from Pernambuco 

 stands a pretty little village called Monteiro ; the 

 river runs close by it, and its rural beauties seem 

 to surpass all others in the neighbourhood; there 

 the Captain-General of Pernambuco resides dur- 

 ing this time of merriment and joy. 



The traveller who allots a portion of his time 

 to peep at his fellow-creatures in their relaxations, 

 and accustoms himself to read their several little 

 histories in their looks and gestures as he goes 



