248 A YEAR IN BRAZIL. 



half. At last he was allured out by a banana, and then, find- 

 ing I had shut off his retreat, he dashed down the passage 

 leading to the saloon, where he was caught. 



August 8. — Woke at six, slowing down. Lying in my 

 bunk, I could see close to starboard the bare and wondrous 

 looking rocks of St. Vincent. Going on deck, I saw the La 

 France already coaling. At 7. 1 5 the Ruby brought us our 

 first lighters of coal, and the dirty work began, the first sack 

 being shot into the spout with the remark, " One, as the 

 devil said when he had the parson." Meanwhile the cus- 

 tom-house officers came alongside, and, though we had a 

 clean bill of health, quarantined us for coming from Brazil, 

 and set a boat with three dusky youths in it to row round 

 about us with a yellow flag flying ; no one .was, therefore, 

 allowed to go on shore, and the agent not permitted on 

 board. 



Two or three boats came off" with some very expensive 

 shells, a couple of monkeys (from Africa, only £1 each), 

 some very pretty little paroquets (green, with red cheeks), 

 a few bananas, grass mats, baskets, and some poor speci- 

 mens of inlaid woods ; but the vendors did not have much 

 custom. There were also two boys who dived pretty well 

 for sixpences, and swam under the ship nearly amidships 

 for I J. 6d. They kept continually shouting, " Atira prata" 

 (" Throw out some silver"), and I think got about lOJ. be- 

 tween them. The steward bought two large pails full of 

 fish from a fisherman, certainly a wonderful and beautiful 

 variety in shape and size and colouring. They charmed me 

 as a naturalist, and I wish I could have had a ichthyological 

 friend to name them.* 



The little white-housed town of St. Vincent lies in a 



* The price was eight pieces of eight, or Peruvian soft dollars, value 

 3 J. 41/. each. 



