116 JOURNEY FROM NATAL TO AC (J. 



the horses which had come from the sandy soil 

 of Pernambuco ; but we soon entered upon a 

 long, though narrow plain, bounded by brush- 

 wood, over which the road was clear, and the 

 grass burnt up entirely on each side. We over- 

 took a white man on foot, with twelve loaded 

 horses, and a very small poney which carried a 

 saddle ; the loads were all alike, each horse 

 carrying two skins or bags of some kind of pro- 

 visions. I was much surprised at the circum- 

 stance of this man having the management of 

 so many horses, because generally the number 

 of men is nearly equal to that of the beasts. I 

 observed that his horses began to spread upon 

 the plain, and seemedinclinedtotake to thebrush- 

 wood ; I called to my guide to ride to the 

 right, whilst I did the same to the left, and go 

 in quickly between them and the wood, to pre- 

 vent the animals from separating. The man 

 thanked me, which brought on further conver- 

 sation ; he asked the guide where we intended 

 to sleep, and was answered, " At Pai Paulo." 

 The wells at Pai Paulo, he told us, were all dried 

 up, and the inhabitants had deserted their 

 houses. What was to be done : he said, that 

 he intended to remain upon a plain two leagues 

 distant from where we then were, that no water 

 was to be had there, but that for our party and 

 himself, his slave would bring a sufficient quan- 

 tity, who had remained behind to fill a skin at a 



