192 



JOUR'TSTEY FROM THE RIO DOCE 



Barra seco, the outlet of a lagoa into the sea, which at certain times 

 is so low that the communication is quite cut ofF, and that close to the 

 beach this spot may be passed dry-shod. At this time however the 

 water was high, and we were obliged to ford this deep rapid channel, 

 which occasioned a long delay. All the beasts of burden were un- 

 loaded ; the Indians and negroes who were acquainted with the 

 water, stripped themselves, and after they had carried the chests 

 upon their heads to the opposite side, we Europeans were also car- 

 ried over. On the other side we found the ruins of the hut of a 

 military station formerly kept up here, near which there was good 

 fresh water. 



Some Indians had passed the night at this place, probably to look 

 for turtles' eggs and for the sake of fishing, as the Barra seca abounds 

 in fish : in the neighbourhood there are extensive campos (open places 

 cleared of wood), which are very well suited to breeding cattle. The 

 huts of the Indians, made of palm-leaves, were still to be seen. At 

 noon we reached a cavern in which there was a spring of clear fresh 

 water ; a discovery that at this time was invaluable to us. The 

 evening and the following night were again passed in a desert on the 

 coast : the remiria littoralis here formed some grassy spots in the deep 

 sand ; but the dwarf-palms were numerous, and behind them, further 

 inland, lofty forests. Nothing but the tracks of beasts of prey in the 

 sand shewed that living creatures at times visited this spot. We had 

 hardly any water to drink, and consequently scarcely any thing to eat. 

 At the approach of night a strong secure hut of cocoa-leaves, which 

 we had all assisted to construct, was completed. We hoped to re- 

 pose in it after the fatigues of the day, but swarms of moskitoes tor- 

 mented us so, that sleep was out of the question. Unfortunately we 

 could not escape from them into the open air, on account of a heavy 

 shower of rain which poured down. Next morning we found that all 

 our mules had gone back in quest of water to the spring where they 



