TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 269 



CHAPTER III. 



JOURNEY FROM RIO DE JANEIRO TO THE CITY OF 



S. PAULO. 



We left Rio de Janeiro on the 8th of December, 

 I8I7. Several of our countrymen and friends 

 accompanicvd us to the distance of half a mile * 

 from the city. The commencement of this expe- 

 dition was not calculated to inspire us with sanguine 

 hopes. Scarcely had we turned into the broad 

 high road of Santa Cruz, when some of our mules 

 lay down, some dispersed among the houses and 

 gardens, and others threw off their loads, and en- 

 deavoured to run away. The confusion increased 

 when Mr. Diirming, the Prussian consul at 

 Antwerp, wlio had arrived at Rio de Janeiro, and 

 who then formed one of our party, was thrown 

 from his mule, which took fright. Mr. Diirming's 

 arm was so seriously hurt, that he was obliged to 

 be taken back to the city. The animals always 

 run wild in this manner at the commencement of a 



* Here, and in the course of the narrative, Portuguese or 

 Brazilian miles are always meant, eighteen of which make a 

 degree. 



