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the necessaries of life are cheap, and they have few incentives to 

 curtail their present enjoyments for the sake of improving their fu-^ 

 tm"e fortunes. Near this village is a lovely vale called Picada, 

 thickly studded with white cottages, embosomed in orange-groves 

 and plantations of coffee. The gently-sloping hills which enclose 

 this spot, give a picturesque effect to the bold rugged scenery be- 

 yond them. This valley, and others contiguous to it, form the ex* 

 tremities of the territory habitable by the Portugueze, for on the 

 land to the westward, though at considerable distance, dwell the 

 Anthropophagi, here called Bobgres. These savages live entirely 

 in the woods, in wretched sheds made of palm-branches, inter- 

 woven with bananas. Their occupation is chiefly hunting with 

 bows and arrows, but they frequently employ these weapons in hos- 

 tilities against their neighbours. A party of them will sometimes 

 way -lay a Portugueze, whose residence is solitary ; they have 

 even been known to attack and destroy whole families. No regard 

 to humanity seems indeed to be paid by either party in their en-^ 

 counters ; they are mutually bent on a war of extermination. 



There is much low swampy land in the island, over which cause- 

 ways, supported by piles, are made to a considerable extent. These 

 lands, on account of their humidity, are very favourable to the growth 

 of rice. The palm-trees, seen at intervals in every direction, have a 

 very pleasing effect. 



Our stay at St. Catherine's was prolonged by some unforeseen 

 circumstances, and we had time to take various excursions into the 

 interior of the island and to the adjacent continent. On one of 

 these occasions I happened to be absent, but the adventures which 

 attended it being rather amusing, I am tempted to relate them in 

 the words of one of my friends who formed the party. " Having 

 hired horses and negroes we set out early in the morning for the 

 river Tavarinha. The road for three leagues lay through thick woods, 

 along which we passed without any material accident, and arrived 

 at the end of our journey about two in the afternoon. We dined 



