216 



JOURNEY FROM THE RIO DOCE 



been carried through bushes and thick woods. It was at present in a 

 rough state, a mere path ( picade J, and not very broad : here and 

 there too immense trunks of trees were still lying in it. The leagues 

 had been measured with a line, and inscribed on the fronts of the 

 trees, which were barked and cut smooth for the purpose. In some 

 places m the woods we found the huts yet standing in which the troop 

 of workmen had lodged at night. 



At the last plantation on the river Mucuri, which belongs to Mr. 

 Joao Antonio, the road of the Mineiros approached the bank and the 

 houses erected upon it. We arrived in company with Father Vigario 

 Mendes, and the escrivam of Mucuri; and found there Captain Bento 

 Lourenzo, who with all his people received us with a /ez/ dejoie, on 

 an eminence on which the dwelling stands. It is the general custom 

 in Brazil, M'ith troops of armed men, and with the soldiers, when 

 strangers visit them in the wildernesses of the interior, especially at 

 the military stations, to fire a feu de joie, for which purpose they 

 charge with more than the usual quantity of powder. We passed some 

 hours very agreeably with the honest captain and the kind owner of 

 the fazenda, Mr. Joao Antonio, and then returned by water to the 

 town. On the morning of the 3d of February we set out for our 

 respective destinations. Mr. Freyreiss crossed the Mucuri in a boat 

 on his return to Capitania ; and I embarked, in company with two 

 other boats, to go up the river. When at a considerable distance, we 

 mutually fired another parting salute of guns and pistols, and soon 

 lost sight of each other. The place chosen for the fazenda and saw- 

 mill of the minister, Conde da Barca, lies about a day and a half s 

 journey up the Mucuri, and is named Morro d'Arara from the number 

 of maccaws ( araras ) found there. To this place I proceeded, accom- 

 panied by the escrivam of Belmonte, Capitam Simplicio da Sylveira, 

 who had been particularly serviceable, when an attempt was made 

 to negociate a treaty with the Botocudos on the Belmonte. He and 



