ELEVEN WEEKS IN NORTH-EASTERN BRAZIL. 251 



by Senhor Doutor Jose Aloes Lima, the Juiz Municipal, who most kindly 



placed an empty house at my disposal, where I slept and kept my 



apparatus. The country round Garanhuns seemed to be rather rich in 



birds ; but partly from the thickness of the scrub, which in some cases 



was nearly impenetrable, and partly, I think, from the recent occurrence 



of a prolonged " Secca? or drought, during which everybody who could 



went out and shot small birds indiscriminately, thereby rendering them 



very shy, I failed to get several species I saw there and did not elsewhere 



meet with. A more prolonged stay would, I feel sure, have added 



numerous species to my lists. I also believe that Garanhuns would 



prove a very rich station for a botanist, judging from what I saw of its Ibis, 1881, 



flora during my rambles after birds or insects. p> 



Garanhuns is the principal town of a considerable district, and every 

 Saturday a fair takes place there, which is largely attended by the 

 "Matutos" or peasants of the country round. I was told this fair 

 would be a capital chance of obtaining animals and birds from the 

 country people who come in to attend it ; and I therefore decided to stay 

 a couple of days to witness it, rather than going on to S. Bento, in the 

 Sertoes, about 35 miles north of Garanhuns, and returning thence by a 

 different route to Macuca, as I had originally intended. However, the 

 fair, though it certainly gave me an excellent chance of seeing " the 

 natives" (and, perhaps I should add, of their seeing me), produced 

 nothing, or next to nothing, in the way of " bichos" a most convenient 

 term used in Brazil for denominating all and any animals from an 

 elephant to a blackbeetle. I managed, however, to pick up a live " Ema " 

 (Rhea macrorhyncha), of which more anon, at Garanhuns, as well as a 

 lot of Tinamus, sundry Hawks, Guans, and other live birds, so that when 

 I left I had a regular caravan of living animals, which necessitated my 

 taking on an extra horse or two and man for their safe conveyance to 

 Palmares. I finally left Garanhuns on September 19th, and returning 

 by the same way as I came, stopped en route a night at Macuca and two 

 days at Quipapa, and reached Recife September 24th. A few days were 

 spent in packing up and settling things generally ; and on September 

 29th I left, with my live animals, which had now increased to about 35 

 in number, in the Royal Mail Steamer * Neva/ and arrived at Southamp- 

 ton October 15th. 



Before concluding this account of my trip, I ought to return my best 

 thanks to the numerous gentlemen in Brazil who did all in their power 

 to help me, and especially to my friends Mr. Wells Hood of Cabo, who 

 most kindly procured me numerous valuable introductions, to Messrs. 

 W. Elliott and C. A. Craven of Eecife, to Mr. Curling of Parahyba, as 

 well as to Messrs. Weaver, Watt, Abel, and the other engineers of the 

 " Prolongamento," and to Dr. Lima of Garanhuns. 



The total number of species of birds of which I obtained or observed Ibis, 1881, 



p. 326. 



