290 



NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



the citizens on days of relaxation, and for their accoipmodation paths 

 have been formed amidst and over the rocks. 



A steep and narrow road leads by the borders of a stream, singu- 

 larly rough, through a pass capable of being defended by a handful of 

 men, to the V ale or Glen of Andrea, not long since an unbroken sylvan 

 scene, now stripped of its honours. The increasing population of the 

 city has occasioned the conversion of most of the wood into charcoal, 

 and the employment of its soil in the production of esculent vegetables, 

 which thrive here most luxuriantly. Near the bottom of this glen are 

 the Water-Mills, which supply Rio with wheaten flour, not only ill 

 managed, but fundamentally defective in their mechanical arrangement. 

 The water, however, is not wasted, but proceeds to supply some of the 

 newly-erected fountains in the city. 



In other excursions to the Westward of the Capital, we turned to 

 the right at the Rio Faria, and keeping along the edge of the bay, with 

 well-clothed mountains on the left, passed by the villages of Nossa 

 Senhora da Penha and Iraja to Pavuna, This, though a pleasant track, 

 and leading through a thickly inhabited district, is not usually taken by 

 travellers in this direction. Their common course is on the other side of 

 the mountain, by the route which branches off from Venda Grande, 

 which has been already mentioned, and through a rich plain, which forms 

 a part of the Campinhos. Among the woods on its borders there is 

 much game, particularly the Paca, (the Wakeful, a sort of Hare) and 

 near the numerous pools are Snipes, Moorhens, and Galinhas d'Agua. 



The small village of Pavuna has in its centre a green where three 

 roads meet. AVhile refreshing at one of the small houses, where provisions 

 and liquor are sold, a black servant announced the approach of his master 

 and a companion. A mat was quickly placed for their reception in the 

 Varan da, together with a table and two chairs ; the latter, at this period, 

 uncommon articles of luxury. The great man on his arrival was assisted 

 to dismount from his mule, threw himself into a chair, and showed off 

 some lordly airs. He called for oranges and farinha, took with his friend 



