86 ELIZABETH GARY AGASSIZ 



our boat was lying. I accordingly returned with him 

 to the house and was already on friendly terms with 

 the Senhoras and the children of the family when 

 Agassiz arrived bringing my bag for the night. At 

 about eight o'clock we were just about to sit down to 

 dinner when we were called to the open door by the 

 sound of angry voices in loud altercation that seemed 

 to threaten blows before long, and were just in time 

 to witness a village comedy that seemed to me more 

 as if it had come off the stage than as if it belonged 

 to real life. The village priest and the village doctor, 

 who was also county judge and administered justice 

 as well as physic, were having a free fight in the square 

 for the entertainment of the neighbors who rushed 

 out to see the fun. The priest's calf had strayed away; 

 he sent his man to catch him; the Doctor of Law and 

 Medicine said nobody should capture live stock in the 

 square without his express consent and permission; 

 and the two physicians of the soul and of the body 

 (who were also, as we found, leaders of the two politi- 

 cal parties in this remote little settlement) were shak- 

 ing their fists in each other's faces and pouring out 

 floods of abuse upon each other. At last some of our 

 party collared the doctor and brought him in by main 

 force to join our dinner and cool down his wrath, 

 which kept exploding in sputtering speeches to the 

 company at intervals for long afterwards. Dinner 

 over, the large sitting-room was prepared for our 

 accommodation, the preparation consisting of two 

 hammocks and a looking glass, and we presently 

 turned in for the night. Our adventures were not over, 



