RIDE UP COUNTRY. 69 



being as much as three leagues ; it is densely wooded, and 

 abounds in wild animals. 



This priest interested me much ; I was charmed with 

 him. In fact, the two priests of Cajuru and Sao Gongalo 

 were both most amiable men, though of very different 

 temperaments : the former somewhat jovial, middle aged, 

 and a widower, with a nice little daughter of fourteen ; the 

 latter very young, quiet almost to sadness, and more re- 

 ticent. Both alike are hard workers, very much beloved by 

 their people, and have done much good, very different to 

 that Italian priest I met at Capella Nova, of whom no one 

 said a good word, and whom I disliked, while his conver- 

 sation was the reverse of profitable. 



The priest at Sao Gonalo, Padre Hippolyto de Olivelra 

 Campos, has, besides his large garden (containing a lake, on 

 which he paddles about in a canoe), a large roomy house, 

 with some very break-neck log-steps leading from a veran- 

 dah into the garden. The house is of two stories, and the 

 rooms are large and lofty; most of them are unfurnished, 

 and the remainder have very little furniture to boast of. 

 His bedroom has a ceiling, and whitewashed walls, on which 

 hang some very good sacred oleographs and other devo- 

 tional pictures. He has also a small but comprehensive 

 library of religious books. While sitting in his room, our 

 privacy was invaded by many men and boys, who came in 

 uninvited, as is the custom of the country, and, sitting down, 

 smoked cigarettes in silence. 



Next morning, after breakfast, when we had some 

 delicious " palmita," or boiled cabbage-palm, and " pirao," 

 which was an olha podrida, or untold mixture, we went to 

 bid adieu to our good priest. He was in bed unwell, but 

 received us very kindly, and bade us " boa viagem." We 

 then left at 9.45, and repaired once more to the Fazenda 

 Fructuosa. 



