

ARRIVAL AT SEARA. 



17? 



loftier and thicker, but of this there is not much. 

 We passed also some fine varseas, or low marshy 

 grounds, which were now sufficiently dry for 

 cultivation ; and indeed the only land from 

 which any crop could be expected in this parti- 

 cularly severe dry season. The country is, 

 generally speaking, flat, and in some parts the 

 path led us near to the sea shore, but was never 

 upon it. We saw several cottages, and three or 

 four hamlets ; the facility of obtaining fish from 

 the sea has rendered living comparatively easy 

 in these parts. We passed through an Indian 

 village, and the town of St. Joze, each built in a 

 square, and each containing about three hun- 

 dred inhabitants. I understood that the go- 

 vernors of Seara are obliged to take possession of 

 their office at St. Joze. We made the journey 

 in four days, arriving at the Villa da Fortaleza 

 on the 16th December, and might have entered 

 it at noon on the fourth day, but I preferred 

 waiting until the evening. I performed the 

 journey from Natal to Seara, a distance of one 

 hundred and sixty leagues, according to the 

 vague computation of the country, in thirty- 

 four days. The morning after my arrival I sent 

 back to Aracati the men and horses which I 

 had brought with me. 



The town of the fortress of Seara is built upon 

 heavy sand, in the form of a square, with four 

 streets leading from it, and it has an additional 



VOL. I. N 



