134? TRAVELS IN BRAZIL, 



method is properly derived from the negroes and 

 Indians ; and, in fact, the art is chiefly practised by 

 old free negroes and mamelukes. Women on the 

 other hand, who otherwise have the first place in 

 the surgery of the Brazilians, but very rarely un- 

 dertake to cure the bite of serpents ; and a mulatto 

 assured us that they were not qualified to do so till 

 they were fifty years old, because till that age, as 

 he expressed himself, they are themselves poison- 

 ous. We met with many persons who had been 

 saved from imminent death after the bite of ven- 

 omous serpents ; they however always remained 

 weak, and were troubled for life with swelled and 

 ulcerated legs. 



The Rio do Peixe, which is less than its neigh- 

 bour, the Rio Verde, flows also into the Rio Grande, 

 and passes near the Fazenda S. Fe, comes down 

 from the side branches of the Mantiqueira, and is 

 said to have formerly yielded much gold. The 

 few houses which we saw in its vicinity, by no 

 means indicated the opulence of the owners ; yet 

 the inhabitants of this beautiful and healthy country, 

 which is commanded by the romantic summits of 

 the Mantiqueira, appear to find the gratification of 

 their wishes in the produce of their numerous herds. 

 The agreeable coolness and repose which we en- 

 joyed here reminded us of the pastures of our 

 native Alps, and we advanced with increasing 

 pleasure, and more lively interest, the nearer we 

 approached the centre of Minas. 



