414 



NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



appear to me unpleasantly cold, and although the air is finely bracing, 

 and must be salutary to those constitutions which have been debilitated 

 by the heats of the coast, their low temperature renders me unusually 

 susceptible of change, and from twelve to three o'clock I find the sun 

 more oppressive than in situations where the energy of his rays is greater^ 

 and their effects more uniform and steady. 



At a league from the Parahybuna we pass the small village 

 of Rosin ha do Negro, a name which indicates its humble origin. It is 

 situated, like all those in this part of the country which are connected 

 with a large plantation, at the bottom of a deep hollow, and by the 

 side of a stream. For the remainder of the day we took up our 

 residence at Vargem, a small fertile plain surrounded with hills, the owner 

 of which has given us cause, by his civilities, to remember him. He is 

 now an elderly man, and appears to have possessed formerly great spirit 

 and activity, which now and then show themselves still, but, for the 

 most part, they have sunk beneath a load of jealousy and superstition. 

 On seeing me arrive alone at our appointed resting-place, and busily 

 employed in taking off my saddle, and providing comforts for the beast 

 I rode, he, contrary to the usual custom, came across the plain, and 

 invited me to dine with him in the house ; this, however, I declined, 

 partly because I was unwilling to disturb his usual domestic arrange- 

 ments, and partly from a wish of being at perfect liberty myself, 

 showing him, at the same time, that the gun had furnished me with 

 abundant provision ; nevertheless, pleased with his conversation and 

 manners, I spent with him the greater part of the morning. Scarcely 

 had we sat down to dinner, in our usual style, ere his slaves brought 

 several well-dressed dishes, with a request that I would partake of them, 

 and his son-in-law followed to see that the whole was properly delivered. 

 This Brazilian Planter must have displayed many other instances of 

 private goodness, for he possessed, what is very uncommon in his 

 country, the favourable report of his neighbours ; and even the slaves 

 spoke well of him. Through his own estate, a distance of four miles, 

 he had improved the roads with great care, thus setting a good example, 

 which, in this instance, at least, had been followed by his neighbours. 



