NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



173 



The country, as we advanced towards St. Pedro, and even in the 

 environs of that town, "was not much better than the portion of it already 

 described. When settled, my favourite morning walk was to a Fort upon 

 the summit of the loftiest hillock near the place ; from which, small as 

 the elevation really is, there is a spacious view of the river, and of a 

 region wild and desolate in almost every quarter. To the North lies 

 the fine island of Marinheiros ; to the South a marshy tract, partially 

 covered with vegetation, the ground rising and becoming drier as it 

 approaches the ocean ; to the East, beyond the water, are loose sand hills, 

 their height from a hundred and twenty to a hundred and forty feet ; 

 their tops are usually round ; towards the West, the country is also sandy, 

 gently undulated, and destitute of every thing green. When the wind 

 blows strongly from the South-East, 'as it often does, it brings with it 

 so much sand, which whirls from the tops of the hills like smoke from a 

 volcano, that the eyes must hardly venture to take that direction. 

 Turning the back to the wind for relief, the sand is seen travelling 

 onward like a vast fall of snow ; a portion of which, impeded by the 

 town, is piled against the houses, and sometimes mounts and crushes the 

 roofs. The extent of this desert, however, is not great ; it forms a slip 

 along the edge of the ocean, not more than fifteen miles broad at a 

 medium, though it is three hundred miles long ; and here and there, are 

 scattered rich OaseSj the sites of pleasant farms. The sand evidently 

 comes from the ocean, being first cast upon the coast and then driven 

 farther inland. 



On my landing at St. Pedro, a centinel conducted me to the Gover- 

 nor, Don Diogo da Souza, by whom I was politely received. Having 

 examined my passport, and learned that I was a stranger, he dispatched 

 a soldier for Colonel D'Elbeux, a Gentleman who had served in our 

 Navy, and requested that he would introduce me to my countrymen, and 

 others, whose acquaintance might be pleasant. 



The business which related to the vessel was soon adjusted, she was 

 consigned to an English house already estabhshed ; and when arrange- 

 ments had been made for temporary lodgings, I strolled with a companion, 



