1848.] 



ARRIVAL AT PARA. 



3 



following days we were occupied in walking in the neighbour- 

 hood of the city, presenting our passports and obtaining license 

 to reside, familiarising ourselves with the people and the 

 vegetation, and endeavouring to obtain a residence fitted for 

 our pursuits. Finding that this could not be immediately 

 done, we removed to Mr. Miller's " rosinha," or country-house, 

 situated about half a mile from the city, which he kindly gave 

 us the use of till we could find more convenient quarters. 

 Beds and bedsteads are not wanted here, as cotton woven 

 hammocks are universally used for sleeping in, and are very 

 convenient on account of their portability. These, with a few- 

 chairs and tables and our boxes, are all the furniture we had 

 or required. We hired an old Negro man named Isidora for 

 a cook and servant of all work, and regularly commenced 

 house-keeping, learning Portuguese, and investigating the 

 natural productions of the country. 



My previous wanderings had been confined to England and 

 a short trip on the Continent, so that everything here had the 

 charm of perfect novelty. Nevertheless, on the whole I was 

 disappointed. The weather w^as not so hot, the people were 

 not so peculiar, the vegetation was not so striking, as the 

 glowing picture I had conjured up in my imagination, and had 

 been brooding over during the tedium of a sea-voyage. And 

 this is almost always the case with everything but a single view 

 of some one definite object. A piece of fine scenery, as 

 beheld from a given point, can scarcely be overdrawn; and 

 there are many such, which will not disappoint even the most 

 expectant beholder. It is the general effect that strikes at 

 once and commands the whole attention : the beauties have 

 not to be sought, they are all before you. With a district or 

 a country the case is very different. There are individual 

 objects of interest, which have to be sought out and observed 

 and appreciated. The charms of a district grow upon one in 

 proportion as the several parts come successively into view, 

 and in proportion as our education and habits lead us to 

 understand and admire them. This is particularly the case 

 with tropical countries. Some such places will no doubt strike 

 at once as altogether unequalled, but in the majority of cases 

 it is only in time that the various peculiarities, the costume of 

 the people, the strange forms of vegetation, and the novelty of 

 the animal world, will present themselves so as to form a con- 



