TO VILLA DE ST. SALVADOR. 81 



let, called Rio das Ostras, falls into the ocean. We went about a 

 hundred paces along the bank of the rivulet, unloaded our beasts, 

 and had them ferried over. The water of this rivulet is clear, and 

 the banks pleasant ; for the thickly interwoven branches of various 

 trees hang down to them, and they are overshadowed by slender 

 cocoa-palms. Here dwells a single family, consisting of a Portuguese, 

 married to an Indian woman. The man belongs to the militia, and 

 has the charge of the ferry. This double employment bemg very 

 troublesome, he appeared much dissatisfied with his situation. It 

 would be extremely easy to build a little bridge here, by which 

 travellers would be spared the loss of much time ; for they have 

 scarcely had the trouble of loading a troop of mules at St. Joao in 

 the morning, when they have here, only two leagues off, the whole to 

 unload again. 



On the other side of the rivulet, we found some empty clay huts 

 covered with cocoa-leaves, in which we took shelter from a shower of 

 rain. Before you reach the sea-beach again by this road, you pass 

 over some hills, which are for the most part covered with a species of 

 reed from thirty to forty feet in height, called taquarussii, or the 

 great cane. Its colossal stems, which are as much as six inches in 

 diameter, shoot upwards, and have a gentle bend at the top : the 

 leaves are feathery, and upon the branches are short strong thorns 

 which render such a barrier impenetrable. This kind of bamboo 

 forms extremely intricate thickets, which from their numerous dry 

 leaves and their withered sheaths produce, with the slightest wind, 

 a: peculiar rustling noise. They are extremely welcome to the hunter ; 

 for on cutting off such a reed below the joint, the stem of the younger 

 shoots is found to be full of a cool pleasant liquid, though of a rather 

 flat, sweetish taste, which irnmediately quenches the most burning 

 thirst. This remarkable plant loves mountainous, dry situations ; it 



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