TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. ^79 



use of the court at Rio de Janeiro. Though he 

 was on a royal estate, and employed in his majesty's 

 service, he was obliged to content himself with a 

 miserable clay hut, and with scanty fare. We 

 willingly shared both with our worthy friend ; our 

 conversation about our native country, and many 

 agreeable recollections, made us forget every priv- 

 ation. We roamed, in his company, about the 

 environs of Santa Cruz, consisting chiefly of marshy 

 pasture land, interrupted by single low spots of 

 wood, where we saw, for the first time, the long- 

 legged stork {Jahuru) stalking about in great num- 

 bers. The lapwing ( Vanellus cayennensis) hovered 

 over our heads with uniform note, and spur- winged 

 water-hens {Parra Jacana) ran about in flocks. 

 We were not permitted to go in chase of them, as 

 this is prohibited within a league from Santa Cruz. 

 On another opportunity, we extended our excur- 

 sion to Sabati, where we found an ophisaurus al- 

 most a foot and a half long, on the sandy downs, 

 and between the hairy mimosa bushes. There are 

 in this neighbourhood many soap trees {Sajpindus 

 Saponarid), the fruit of which is brought to the 

 city in large quantities. The poorer class use 

 them instead of soap ; the finer, which is mostly 

 imported from North America, is one of the ex- 

 pensive articles of housekeeping. In many years, 

 one of these trees, which are generally about the 

 size of our nut trees, produces several bushels of 

 this fruit, which contains a great quantity of sa- 



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