276 



NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



Sepetiva by a new route. After riding four miles we met with a new 

 built hut, which had the appearance of a house of entertainment ; where, 

 making known our want of a breakfast, the host proved less scrupulously 

 Catholic, and set before us some salted pork and eggs. Former disap- 

 pointment and present success "U^ould dispose us, of course, to think 

 well of every thing ; but the hut is really well situated, enjoying a fine 

 view of the village of Camborim, or Camorim, and of the plain in which 

 it stands. The sun was our only guide through the remainder of the 

 wood, and, not properly attentive to his directions, we were separated 

 from each other for two hours. After passing the woods, over a soil 

 sometimes sandy, sometimes wet, we entered on an open rising Down, 

 where, from the peculiar hue of the atmosphere before us, we concluded 

 that it hung over the sea, and determined to make our way to the coast, 

 in order to discover upon what part of it we had stumbled ; from the 

 summit of the hill we observed the Restinga, and, a little to our left, 

 the village of Pedras. The heat of the day was excessive, and to shelter 

 ourselves from the burning beams of the sun, we entered a very narrow 

 venda, where we found such company, and heard such language, as 

 made us careful for our personal safety. Six or seven desperate fellows, 

 all armed in some way or other, and most of them inflamed by liquor, 

 occupied the principal part of the building, while we two Englishmen 

 were confined at the farther end. W e were well armed, however, and 

 had the advantage of communicating our thoughts in a language which 

 none of them understood. The result of our conference was a resolution 

 to withdraw without discovering our suspicions ; and it seems that we 

 acted well, for on relating the occurrence to our host at Sepetiva he 

 shook his head, stamped, and uttered an exclamation which satisfied us 

 that the parties were not unknown to him, nor our suspicions groundless. 



Near the venda is the ruin, or rather the unfinished skeleton, of a 

 Church founded by the Jesuits. In the midst of it grew the largest 

 Mammon tree, which we had ever seen ; we gathered and enjoyed a 

 part of its fruit. Our road now led ns over a sandy plain, formed by 

 the action of the sea, of a sufficient age to produce much good timber, 



