106 



CITY OF NATAL. 



This produced the striking difference between 

 that valley and the burnt lands above it, — be- 

 sides, the misfortunes of other parts made its 

 good luck more apparent. 



I arrived about eleven o'clock in the morn- 

 ing at the city of Natal, situated upon the banks 

 of the Rio Grande, or Potengi. A foreigner, 

 who might chance to land first at this place, on 

 his arrival upon the coast of Brazil, would form 

 a very poor opinion of the state of the popula- 

 tion of the country ; for, if places like this are 

 called cities, what must the towns and villages 

 be ; but such a judgment would not prove cor- 

 rect, for many villages, even of Brazil, surpass 

 this city ; the rank must have been given to it, 

 not from what it was or is, but from the expec- 

 tation of what it might be at some future period. 

 The settlement upon rising ground, rather re- 

 moved from the river, is properly the city, as 

 the parish-church is there ; it consists of a square, 

 with houses on each side, having only the ground- 

 floor ; the churches, of which there are three, 

 the palace, town-hall, and prison. Three streets 

 lead from it, which have also a few houses on 

 each side. No part of the city is paved, 

 although the sand is deep ; on this account, in- 

 deed, a few of the inhabitants have raised a foot- 

 path of bricks before their own houses. The 

 place may contain from six to seven hundred 

 persons. 



