272 



FOREIGNERS IN BARRA. 



the distance is full a thousand miles ; that this was the first trip ever 

 made up by steam ; that the wood prepared for her had not had time 

 to dry; and that there is nearly three-miles -an-hour current against 

 her for about one-third of the distance, I do not consider a very bad run. 

 The officers did not call to see me or invite me on board their vessel, 

 though I met some of them at the dinner and evening parties of the 

 President. 



Mr. Potter, a daguerreotypist, and watchmaker, who came up in the 

 steamer, and my good friend Enrique Antonii, the Italian, with his 

 father-in-law, Senhor Brandao, a Portugese, make up the list of the 

 foreigners of Barra, as far as I know them. Senhor Brandao, however, 

 has lived many years in the country; has identified himself with it; and 

 all his interests are Brazilian. He is a very intelligent man ; and I 

 observe that he is consulted by the President and other officials in rela- 

 tion to the affairs of the new government. 



Whilst speaking of persons, I should be derelict in the matter of 

 gratitude if I failed to mention Donna Leocadia, the pretty, clever, and 

 amiable wife of Enrique. She exhibited great interest in my mission, 

 and was always personally kind to myself. When our sunrise meal of 

 coffee and buttered toast gave out, she would always manage to send 

 me a tapioca custard, a bowl of caldo, or something nice and comforta- 

 ble for a tired invalid. Unlike most Brazilian ladies, whenever her house- 

 hold duties would permit, she always sat with the gentlemen, and bore 

 an intelligent part in the conversation, expressing her desire to speak 

 foreign languages, and to visit foreign countries, that she might see and 

 know what was in the world. A son was born to her whilst I was in 

 the house, and we had become such friends that the young stranger 

 was to be called Luis, and I was to be compadre, (godfather.) But 

 the church, very properly, would not give its sanction to the assumption 

 of the duties belonging to such a position by a heretic. 



Ijurra left me here, and returned up stream with Williams. He laid 

 out nearly all the money received for his services in such things as 

 would best enable him to employ the Indians in the clearance of the 

 forest, and the establishment of a plantation, which he proposed to 

 "locate" at Caballo-cocha, saying to me that he would have a grand 

 crop of cotton and coffee ready against the arrival of my steamer. 



Ijurra has all the qualities necessary for a successful struggle with 

 the world, save two — patience and judgment. He is brave, hardy, in- 

 telligent, and indefatigable. The river beach and a blanket are all that 

 are necessary to him for a bed ; and I believe that he could live on coffee 

 and cigars. But his want of temper and discretion mars every scheme 



