

ARACATI. 



171 



Barrozo, a wealthy merchant and landed pro- 

 prietor. On my arrival, I found that the guide 

 had delivered the letter, and that Senhor Barrozo 

 had given to him the keys of an unoccupied 

 house, which I was to inhabit during my stay. 



The town of Aracati consists chiefly of one 

 long street, with several others of minor im- 

 portance branching from it to the southward ; it 

 stands upon the southern bank of the river Ja- 

 guaribe, which is so far influenced by the tide. 

 At the ebb, the stream is fordable, and as it 

 spreads considerably from the main channel, 

 some parts remain quite dry at low water. The 

 houses of Aracati, unlike those of any of the 

 other small places which I visited, have one story 

 above the ground floor ; I enquired the reason 

 of this, and was told, that the floods of the river 

 were sometimes so great, as to render necessary 

 a retreat to the upper part of the houses. The 

 town contains three churches, and a town-hali 

 and prison, but no monasteries ; this captaincy 

 does not contain any such pest. The inhabitants 

 are in number about six hundred. 



The house I was to occupy consisted of two 

 good-sized rooms, with large closets or small 

 bed-chambers leading from each, called alcovas, 

 and a kitchen ; these were all above ; and under- 

 neath there was a sort of warehouse. To the 

 back we had an oblong yard, enclosed by a brick 

 wall, with a gate at the farther end, by which 



