304 



NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



with another road, which, at its beginning, passes to the North of Praia 

 Grande, and then turns to the right, to the Fazendo of Barraca. Here 

 are a good house and chapel, fine plantations, and many appearances of 

 wealth ; yet, contrary to the usual spirit of the country, I was refused 

 refreshment here when I called at the house with a tired horse, and 

 bade, by the invalid or splenetic owner of the place, tc^ride on to the 

 next farm,— an order which I did not hesitate to follow. Hence we rise 

 to high and waving ground, and, passing some minor establishments, 

 proceed down a steep, winding, romantic road, to the great establishment 

 of Tokai. The elevation of these mountains is about seven or eight 

 hundred feet, and in the forests with which they are clothed the Ounce 

 is sometimes seen. At their foot, toward the coast, are several fresh 

 water lakes ; one of them, called Taipu, abounding with fish. 



The Farm of Tokai is situated on a fine plain, not much raised 

 above the level of the sea. A small stream, which waters it, falls into 

 the ocean a little East of the Marica Islands, better known by the easily 

 understood name of Contrabandistas. The residence of the proprietor 

 stands on a verdant level, in an extremely hot situation, yet seemingly 

 healthy beyond what might have been expected, In a wide expanse of 

 swampy land the mountains are detached from each other, and look as 

 if they had once been rocky islands ; the intervals are filled with sea- 

 's sand, and water lodges in them. Leaving this Cambridgeshire of Rio, 

 and approaching nearer to the sea, we meet with some broad meadows, 

 and within them a range of shallow lakes, which afford subsistence to 

 great numbers of Water-fowls. There are few sportsmen in the country, 

 or this would be a scene of great attraction to them. 



In the midst of these meadows, on one of the hottest days of the 

 year, I met a small kind of waggon, on low wheels, with a tilt of hide. 

 It was drawn by two negroes, and contained a man in the last stage of 

 disease, whom they had already dragged seven miles, and had to convey 

 as much farther in search of a doctor. So forlorn is the condition of the 

 sick and dying, so destitute the country, that aic^^piust be sought at such 

 desperate risk. Medical men, of science and character, are generally the 

 latest settlers in a country which is comparatively new. 



