I 



342 



REACH GOIANA. 



of persons. At night, my hammock was slung 

 under the pent-house ; at a late hour a shower 

 of rain came on ; our host had a vast herd of 

 goats ; these crowded in from the rain, and soon 

 I was obliged, in self-defence, to rise, as I dis- 

 covered that they had very little respect for me ; 

 — my head and some of their's having come in 

 contact, made me look out for better quarters ; 

 and these I found upon a high table, where I 

 remained until the visitors again ventured forth. 

 We proceeded on the morrow, and reached 

 Goiana by the low marshy lands of Catu. The 

 river was scarcely fordable; but we crossed, 

 and on the opposite side the loose mud in the 

 road reached above the horses' knees, and con- 

 tinued along it for more than one hundred 

 yards ; we entered it, and the horses gently 

 waded through ; but mine unfortunately felt 

 that his tail was not quite easy in the mud, and 

 therefore began to move it to and fro on either 

 side ; and as it was long, (much too long on 

 this occasion,) it struck me at every jerk. My 

 dress was a light-coloured nankeen jacket and 

 trowsers, and I came forth, without exaggeration, 

 one cake of mud from head to foot. 



I rode to the residence of a person with whom 

 I had been long acquainted ; he had taken up 

 his quarters at a new mandioc plantation which 

 had been lately established in the outskirts of 

 Goiana ; my friend had removed to this place to 



