196 



JOURNEY FROM THE RIO DOCE 



three or four months' stay in these parts, with a view to obtain one of 

 these animals, my hopes were disappointed, and I was forced to con- 

 tent myself with the sight of the stuffed manatis, which I saw on my 

 return from Brazil, in the cabinet of Natural History at Lisbon. 



Besides this singular animal, the river St. Matthew has a great 

 abundance of fish. Many species of a kind called jjiau, especially 

 that which, from its food is called piaii de capim (grass piau) are found 

 at the time of high water, principally on overflowed meadows. Here 

 the civilised Indians row about with their little light canoes, and shoot 

 these fish with arrows. This kind of fish-hunting is met with in 

 many places among the Indians. The bow used for the purpose is 

 from two feet and a half to three feet long, of the size of the bow 

 called bodoc, used for discharging balls ; the arrow, about three feet 

 long, is of reed, and the point of wood or iron, with a barb on each 

 side. 



About half a league from St. Matthew, the little river Guajintiba 

 falls into the sea. It is usual to embark on it, and to proceed three 

 leagues to the fazenda of As Itaiinas, which belongs to Mr. Marcelino 

 da Cunha, high bailiff of the district of Porto Seguro. The banks of the 

 little river, which however was now high, are covered with thick bushes ; 

 the most common, especially towards the sea, are the mangroves, 

 the bark of which is useful for tanning hides. The water of this river 

 is dark-brown, like that of most of the little forest streams in Brazil, 

 and it abounds in fish : some fishermen had taken a whole boatful just 

 as we passed. We landed on a desolate and as it seemed abandoned 

 plantation, where the finest ananas grew wild, large, juicy, and aro- 

 matic. Pine-apples fit to eat are not found wild in Brazil, but they 

 are cultivated in abundance in the plantations, and thrive there as 

 luxuriantly as wild plants, A spirituous liquor is here distilled from 

 this fruit ; and that of the anacardium (cashew-nut) is employed for 

 the same purpose. This tree grows every where in the sandy tracts 



