IS 



CLIMATE. 



in delivering my letters of introduction. I soon 

 became acquainted with all the English mer- 

 chants, who live in a very respectable style, and 

 have done much good in establishing some 

 customs which the Portuguese have had the 

 sense to follow, preserving at the same time 

 those of their own, which are fitted to the coun- 

 try and the climate. 



As this was the summer season, great num- 

 bers of the inhabitants were out of town ; they 

 remove to small cottages at Olinda, and upon 

 the banks of the rivers, to enjoy a purer air, and 

 the amusement and comfort of bathing, during 

 the months most subject to hot, parching weather. 

 The heat is, however, seldom very oppressive : 

 the sea-breeze, during the whole year, com- 

 mences about nine o'clock in the morning, and 

 continues until midnight. When exposed to it, 

 even standing in the sun, the heat is so much 

 alleviated by its influence, as to make the person 

 so situated forget, for a moment, that in the shade 

 he would be cooler. At the time this subsides 

 the land-breeze rises, and continues until early 

 in the morning, and the half hour in the fore- 

 noon which occasionally passes between the one 

 and the other, is the most unpleasant period of 

 the day. In the rainy season, just before the 

 commencement of a heavy shower, the clouds 

 are very dark, dense, and low ; the breeze is 

 suspended for a short time ; there is then a sort 



