CHANGES AT PARA 



509 



that incurable disorders of the Uver and spleen follow 

 ague in this country if the feeling of lassitude is too much 

 indulged. So every morning I shouldered my gun or 

 insect-net, and went my usual walk in the forest. The 

 fit of shivering very often seized me before I got home, 

 and I then used to stand still and brave it out. When 

 the steamer ascended in January, 1858, Lieutenant Nunes 

 was shocked to see me so much shattered, and recom- 

 mended me strongly to return at once to Ega. I took his 

 advice, and embarked with him, when he touched at St. 

 Paulo on his downward voyage, on the 2nd of February. 

 I still hoped to be able to turn my face westward again, 

 to gather the yet unseen treasures of the marvellous 

 countries lying between Tabatinga and the slopes of the 

 Andes ; but although, after a short rest in Ega, the 

 ague left me, my general health remained in a state too 

 weak to justify the undertaking of further journeys. 

 At length I left Ega, on the 3rd of February, 1859, en 

 route for England. 



I arrived at Para on the 17th of March, after an ab- 

 sence in the interior of seven years and a half. My old 

 friends, English, American, and Brazilian, scarcely knew 

 me again, but all gave me a very warm welcome, especially 

 Mr. G. R. Brocklehurst (of the firm of R. Singlehurst and 

 Co., the chief foreign merchants, who had been my cor- 

 respondents), who received me into his house, and treated 

 me with the utmost kindness. I was rather surprised at 

 the warm appreciation shown by many of the principal 

 people of my labours ; but, in fact, the interior of the 

 country is still the * sertao ' (wilderness) — a terra incog- 

 nita to most residents of the seaport, — and a man who 

 had spent seven and a half years in exploring it solely with 

 scientific aims was somewhat of a curiosity. I found 

 Para greatly changed and improved. It was no longer 

 the weedy, ruinous, village-looking place that it appeared 

 when I first knew it in 1848. The population had been 

 increased (to 20,000) by an influx of Portuguese, Madeiran, 

 and German immigrants, and for many years past the 

 provincial government had spent their considerable surplus 

 revenue in beautifying the city^. The streets, formerly 



^ The revenue of the province of Para, derived almost wholly 

 from high custom-house duties, had averaged for some years 

 past about ;^ioo,ooo sterling. The import duties vary from 



