ARRIVAL AT ACUA FRIA. 



Ill 



fall in, and have now worn it quite away ; on 

 the other side, the declivity is less perpendicular, 

 but it is covered with the short stumps of trees, 

 among which there is no possibility of treading 

 safely without a sufficient light. We reached 

 the bottom without accident, and when we 

 entered the village of Beberibi, the rain nearly 

 ceased, and the night likewise was clearer, but 

 the moon had set. We crossed the hill beyond 

 Beberibi very slowly, and arrived at Agua Fria, 

 the residence of one of my friends, distant from 

 Recife two leagues, between one and two o'clock 

 in the morning. If the weather had been fine, we 

 should have arrived between eight and nine 

 o'clock in the evening preceding. The instinct 

 (if I may so call it) which is possessed by the 

 Indians, by a great number of the negroes, and 

 indeed by many individuals of mixed casts in 

 finding out the right roads, often surprised me, 

 but never more than on this occasion. I could 

 not see any thing, but Manoel certainly did feel 

 that he was quite sure of being in the right 

 path, else he would not have spoken so posi- 

 tively ; he had a considerable stock of courage ; 

 but was always cool and collected. 



At Agua Fria I passed some of the pleasantest 

 hoars of my residence in Brazil. The owner of 

 the place is an English gentleman, to whom I 

 owe many obligations ; we were on most intimate 



