THE HOLY WEEK 



63 



is delivered in each church. In the middle of it, a scroll 

 is suddenly unfolded from the pulpit, on which is an ex- 

 aggerated picture of the bleeding Christ. This act is 

 accompanied by loud groans, which come from stout- 

 lunged individuals concealed in the vestry and engaged 

 for the purpose. The priest becomes greatly excited, and 

 actually sheds tears. On one of these occasions I squeezed 

 myself into the crowd, and watched the effect of the 

 spectacle on the audience. Old Portuguese men and 

 Brazilian women seemed very much affected — sobbing, 

 beating their breasts, and telling their beads. The negroes 

 behaved themselves with great propriety, but seemed 

 moved more particularly by the pomp, the gilding, the 

 dresses, and the general display. Young Brazilians 

 laughed. Several aborigines were there, coolly looking 

 on. One old Indian, who was standing near me, said, 

 in a derisive manner, when the sermon was over, ' It's 

 all very good ; better it could not be ' (Esta todo bom ; 

 melhor nao pude ser). 



The negroes of Para are very devout. They have built, 

 by slow degrees, a fine church, as I was told, by their 

 own unaided exertions. It is called Nossa Senhora do 

 Rosario, or Our Lady of the Rosary. During the first 

 weeks of our residence at Para, I frequently observed a 

 line of negroes and negresses, late at night, marching 

 along the streets, singing a chorus. Each carried on his 

 or her head a quantity of building materials — stones, 

 bricks, mortar, or planks. I found they were chiefly 

 slaves, who, after their hard day's work, were contributing 

 a little towards the construction of their church. The 

 materials had all been purchased by their own savings. 

 The interior was finished about a year afterwards, and 

 is decorated, I thought, quite as superbly as the other 

 churches which were constructed, with far larger means, 

 by the old religious orders more than a century ago. 

 Annually, the negroes celebrate the festival of Nossa 

 Senhora do Rosario, and generally make it a complete 

 success. 



I will now add a few notes more which I have accu- 

 mulated on the subject of the natural history, and then 

 we shall have done, for the present, with Para and its 

 neighbourhood. 



I have already mentioned that monkeys were rare in 



