TJIAYELS IN BRAZIL. 



use of the eourt at Rio de Janeiro. Though hp 

 was on a royal estate, and employed in his majesty's 

 service, he was obliged to content himself with a 

 miserable clay hut, and with scanty fare. We 

 willingly shared both with our worthy friend ; our 

 conversation about our native country, and many 

 agreeable recollections, made us forget every priv" 

 ation. We roamed, in his company, about the 

 environs of Santa Cruz, consisting chiefly of marshy 

 pasture land, interrupted by single low spots of 

 wood, where we saw, for the first time, the long- 

 legged stork {Jahuru) stalking about in great num- 

 bers. The lapwing {Vanellus cayennensis) hovered 

 over our heads with uniform note, and spur- winged 

 water-hens {Farra Jacana) ran about in flocks. 

 We were not permitted to go in chase of them, as 

 this is prohibited within a league from Santa Cruz. 

 On another opportunity, we extended our excur- 

 sion to Sabati, where we found an ophisaurus al- 

 most a foot and a half long, on the sandy downs, 

 and between the hairy mimosa bushes. There are 

 in this neighbourhood many soap trees {Sajpindus 

 Saponaria\ the fruit of which is brought to the 

 city in large quantities. The poorer class use 

 them instead of soap ; the finer, which is mostly 

 imported from North America, is one of the ex- 

 pensive articles of housekeeping. In many years, 

 one of these trees, which are generally about the 

 size of our nut trees, produces several bushels of 

 this fruit, which contains a great quantity of sa- 



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