1 66 A YEAR IN BRAZIL. 



reverent, and most refreshing. There were only two com- 

 municants the good old father of John Baptist, to whom I 

 am very much attached, and one other man. At 6 a.m. 

 there was a procession, headed by a beautiful statue of our 

 Lord, followed by the Host borne by Padre Antonio, the 

 parish priest, in a white and gold cope, under a baldequin. 

 In front of the procession went a boy ringing a bell, and 

 every one in the street knelt as the Host passed. My 

 guests were then, after a short sleep, all up, and making 

 ready to depart. I had prepared my oxen and fatlings for 

 a high breakfast ; however, they would not wait for it, but 

 insisted on my breakfasting with them. Then came all 

 the horses and mules, and also a lot of their friends, male 

 and female, who were to ride in the same direction, and I 

 had to receive them and talk to them. Such a motley crowd 

 you never saw ; there was scarce standing room, even in my 

 large apartment. Finally, after many embraces and con- 

 gratulations, thanks, etc., a cavalcade of some thirty riders, 

 attended by slaves and mules bearing luggage, departed 

 from my mansion. And once more, at 9 a.m., I was left 

 alone and in quietness. 



On the whole, despite much inconvenience, the ex- 

 perience of the last few days is not unmixed with pleasant 

 reminiscences, and I dare say I shall look back upon it 

 with pleasure. 



By way of emphasizing my note on a previous page, I 

 may state that all my guests took an affectionate farewell 

 of my Hebe, and called her " comadre." 



I spent nearly the whole day with the chief engineer of 

 the fourth section, who came in two days since with his 

 left wrist broken by an accident, and his right arm disabled. 



All the numerous visitors who came to the town for 

 the festa and they must have numbered about three 



