CUSTOM OF SMOKING. 



137 



in Recife. The colour of the leather, as it is re- 

 presented in the print, is brighter than that of the 

 dresses which are usually to be met with, which 

 is owing to the drawing having been made from 

 a dress that had not been much used. 



At one of the estates I heard an anecdote, which 

 is illustrative of the neglect or the impossibility, 

 on all occasions, of conforming to religious 

 duties. A priest, on passing, was requested by 

 the wife of the owner of the place to stay r for 

 the purpose of baptizing her son ; he consented 

 to this, but after waiting some time, said, that 

 he wished to proceed upon his journey, and 

 therefore desired that the child might be brought 

 to him ; the woman answered, " Pray, wait a 

 short time longer, as the boy has taken the 

 horses to water, and will soon return." The 

 priest was surprised, but was still more astonish- 

 ed, when he was required to christen a fellow 

 of thirteen or fourteen years of age. 



The next day we still proceeded over the 

 same sort of ground, in parts stony, and where 

 stony, it was rather hilly ; but not sufficiently 

 so to form a decided ridge of hills. John was, 

 at night, taken suddenly ill ; he had drank too 

 much water, and would not mix any spirit with 

 it, neither would he smoke. I considered 

 smoking as almost absolutely necessary for the 

 preservation of health on these occasions ; it is 

 generally practised among the people of the 



