40 



JOURNEY FROM RIO DE JANEIRO 



high ; but the stranger is still more struck with the Buginvilkea 

 Brasilie7isis, a bushy tree, beautifully coloured with a delicate red. 

 It is not the flowers however, but the large floral leaves that cover 

 them, which produce this fine effect. 



The inhabitants of the country, dressed in light jackets of a thin 

 summer stuff, with large round low hats, looked at us with apparent 

 wonder as they rode by our party. The horses of Brazil are very 

 good and light, though rather small ; they are originally of Spanish 

 breed, and have for the most part a well-formed even body and 

 handsome legs. The saddles are still, as in former times, large and 

 heajvy, furnished with cushions covered with velvet, and often cu- 

 riously worked ; they have a pair of old French stirrups of brass or 

 iron, wrought in fillagree : many have even an entire shoe of wood, to 

 receive the foot. The Portuguese are in general much on horseback, 

 and many of them are excellent horsemen. Their favourite pace is 

 an amble, and they fasten pieces of wood to their horses' feet to 

 accustom them to this step. Passing through the village of St. 

 Gonzalves, which has a small church, we arrived in the afternoon on 

 the river Guajintibo, where we halted near a solitary inn, or venda, 

 as these houses are called in the Brazils. 



The Guajintibo is a small stream which meanders in a gentle sandy 

 hollow, through thick bushes. The meadows promised good pasture 

 for our beasts, and the woods were full of birds, which induced us to 

 choose this spot. At day-break, when the hunters dispersed, I has- 

 tened to the bank of the river, which was shaded by lofty old mi- 

 mosas. This tree is very common in the woods of Brazil, as in those 

 of all the tropical regions. It w^as not long before I discovered va- 

 rious birds : amongst others was the tije^ of a brilliant red colour ; 

 the reddish brown cuckoo with its long tail, and other beautiful spe- 

 cies. I soon shot a considerable number, and now began to expe- 

 rience the difficulties which sportsmen have to encounter in this 



