164 



TRAVELS IK BRAZIL* 



imported from North America, or from Europe, 

 will keep five or six months. Even the numerous 

 and dehcate vegetables of Europe, all which might 

 easily be raised here, constitute no important part 

 of the food of the people. On the other hand, 

 they are very fond of oranges, water-melons, and 

 Spanish potatoes. Besides the simplicity of the 

 Brazihan cookery, the health of the inhabitants of 

 so hot a country is especially promoted by their 

 praiseworthy temperance at their meals. The Bra- 

 zihan eats but moderately of his few dishes, drinks 

 chiefly water, and takes everything with the 

 greatest regularity, following that strict order 

 which is observable in all the phenomena of nature 

 between the tropics. In the evening, he very 

 prudently takes scarcely anything, at the most he 

 drinks a cup of tea, or if he has not that, coffee, 

 and avoids, especially at night, eating cool fruits. 

 Only such a regimen, and conforming with the 

 nature of the climate, preserves him from many 

 diseases to which the stranger exposes himselfj 

 through inattention or ignorance. Above all things, 

 therefore, the stranger should be advised to observe 

 the same regimen as the Brazihans ; neither to ex- 

 pose himself to the fatal effects of the sun^s rays, 

 by walking in the open air during the hottest parts 

 of the day, when all the streets are deserted, lior 

 to the dangerous consequences of taking cold in 

 the night dews, and above all, not to indulge in 

 sexual pleasures. Precaution is necessary also in 



