42 



WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA. 



On telling him that I was at an Indian settlement a 

 little below the great fall in the Demerara, and that a 

 strange and sudden noise had alarmed all the Indians, 

 he said the same astonishing noise had roused every 

 man in Fort St. J oachim, and that they remained under 

 arms till morning. He observed, that he had been 

 quite at a loss to form any idea what could have caused 

 the noise ; but now learning that the same noise had 

 been heard at the same time far away from the Eio 

 Branco, it struck him there must have been an earth- 

 quake somewhere or other. 



Good nourishment and rest, and the unwearied atten- 

 tion and kindness of the Portuguese commander, stopped 

 the progress of the fever, and enabled me to walk about 

 in six days. 



Fort St. Joachim was built about five-and- 

 Joachim.*' ^^^^J 7^^^^ ago, under the apprehension, it 

 is said, that the Spaniards were coming from 

 the Eio jN'egro to settle there. It has been much neg- 

 lected ; the floods of water have carried away the gate, 

 and destroyed the wall on each side of it ; but the 

 present commander is putting it into thorough repair. 

 When finished, it will mount six nine, and six twelve 

 pounders. 



In a straight line with the fort, and within a few 

 yards of the river, stand the commander's house, the 

 barracks, the chapel, the father confessor's house, and 

 two others, all at little intervals from each other ; and 

 these are the only buildings at Fort St. Joachim. The 

 neighbouring extensive plains afford good pasturage for 

 a fine breed of cattle, and the Portuguese make enough 

 of butter and cheese for their own consumption. 

 • On asking the old ofiicer if there were such a place 



