THE RIVER PARAIBA. 



25S 



advised to remove to some neighbouring cottage. 

 But the guide explained, saying that the man 

 had been bitten by a snake, and that the bite of 

 this species only became fatal if the man who 

 had received it saw any female animal, and par- 

 ticularly a woman, for thirty days after the 

 misfortune. As the lower orders imagine that 

 all snakes are poisonous, it is not surprising that 

 many remedies or charms should be quoted as 

 efficacious. It is well known that many of those 

 reptiles are innoxious, but as this is not believed 

 by the people in general, it is naturally to be 

 supposed that any cause rather than the true 

 one is ascribed on a recovery from a bite. 



On the morrow we left these good people in 

 expectation of their friend's restoration to health 

 at the allotted period, and proceeded to dine on 

 the banks of the river Paraiba, at a spot which 

 was not far distant from the plantation of 

 Espirito Santo, where we had slept on our way 

 northwards. The river was still as dry as it had 

 been during the drought, that is, the pools or 

 hollows in the bed of it had water in them, but 

 they did not contain a sufficient quantity tp 

 overflow, unite, and form a stream. We arrived 

 upon the banks about ten o'clock, and heard 

 from several persons of a report which had been 

 spread, that the river was filling fast. About 

 twelve o'clock the water made its appearance, 

 and before we left it the river was three feet 



