ELEVEN WEEKS IN NORTH-EASTERN BRAZIL. 247 



powers of my own gun, a double-barrelled central-fire of 16 bore, was 

 immense, a successful shot being invariably greeted with much gesticu- 

 lation of delight and loud remarks of " Espingarda 6oa, espingarda 

 ingleza" &c. 



After a very pleasant week at Parahyba I returned to Eecife by the 

 steamer on the 24th. The * Espirito Santo,' which had come from Para, 

 had on board as miscellaneous an assortment of passengers as I have ever 

 travelled with, and it would be difficult to say whether there were more 

 parrots or slaves on board ; of the latter we had at least 200, on their 

 way south to Kio to be sold for the coffee-plantations. Besides the 

 parrots, chiefly Chrysotis cestiva, there were a lot of other birds and 

 beasts, including a nice and tame Layothrix and some electric eels. Of 

 the birds the most noticeable was an Icterus chrysocephalus, said to have 

 come from the Rio Negro. This I bought, and kept alive in Recife, but 

 unfortunately it died on its way home just as we got to Lisbon. I never 

 saw the species alive in Europe nor elsewhere in Brazil. 



When I left England I hoped to be able to go overland from Eecife to 

 the great waterfall Paulo Affonso, the "Niagara of Brazil," on the" 

 S. -Francisco river. However, the state of the roads up to the present 

 time, as well as the difficulty of getting an interpreter (my own know- 

 ledge of Portuguese being very rudimentary), had prevented my making 

 a start as soon as I had hoped. At length I succeeded in getting hold of a 

 man who would do, and a day or two after my return from Parahyba, started 

 with him from Eecife. I had also endeavoured to get some one to skin 

 and shoot, but in this was unsuccessful, the only man I could hear of 

 wanting terms for his services which were quite unreasonable. The 

 Eecife and S.-Francisco railway runs for about 70 miles in a S.S.W. Ibis, 1881, 

 direction towards the river from which it derives its name. From its p ' 

 terminus at Una (or Palmares) another line of about the same length is 

 now in progress, continuing it on to Garanhuns, which is situated about 

 halfway in a straight line between Eecife and the Paulo Affonso. It was 

 originally intended to have continued the line to the river above the falls 

 near Boa Vista, and so to have brought down all the traffic of the upper 

 part of the S.-Francisco river to the port of Eecife. This, however, has 

 proved too expensive for the government, and the " Prolongamento," as 

 it is called, is now destined to stop at Garanhuns. There is therefore but 

 little chance at present of the Eecife and S.-Francisco railway ceasing 

 to be a misnomer. A line, however, has been made and opened from 

 the river above the falls near Tacaratu to Piranhas, situated below them, 

 so that the traffic that was to have come to Eecife now goes down to 

 Penedo and Maceio at the mouth of the river. 



The line of railway after leaving Cabo passes through a country similar 

 to that which I have described as commencing there. The cultivation of 

 sugar is general, and it is only on the tops of the hills, which are more 



