

ST. LUZIA. 



161 



him. He asked for some powder, saying that 

 there was still another jaguar in the neighbour- 

 hood. The skins are much valued in Brazil for 

 saddle-cloths ; and from the make of the saddles 

 used in that country, a cloth of some sort, or a 

 skin is required for each. I have the skin of a 

 jaguar in my possession, which measures live feet 

 and three inches. The oiica vermelha, felis con- 

 color, and the onqa preta, felis discolor, are also 

 to be met with ; but the jaguar is more common, 

 and more dreaded than either of these. 



The same day we passed over the dry bed of 

 the Panema ; it was the third river we had 

 crossed since our departure from A911, and all 

 were in the same state. 



St. Luzia stands upon the northern bank of a 

 dry river, in a sandy loose soil. We took up our 

 mid-day station under the roof of a miserable 

 hut ; the ashes of an extinguished fire in its 

 centre, and a bench of twisted twigs, alone de- 

 noted that it had served as a dwelling. Several 

 of the inhabitants of the village soon came to us 

 to enquire for news from Pernambuco ; and 

 among others, a young man, whose accent disco- 

 vered him to be a native of some of the northern 

 provinces of Portugal, and whose manner dis- 

 played the idea which he entertained of his own 

 importance ; he said, that he had orders from the 

 commandant to demand my passport, to which I 

 answered, that if the commandant had wished to 



vol. 1. M 



