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upon it, and sleep there. Never did mortal hail day-break with 

 greater satisfaction ; but my agreeable feelings were soon damped by 

 one of those little vexatious accidents which in some states of mind 

 are more hard to bear than real misfortunes. I had placed my 

 thermometer in a wind- door or air-hole (for the aperture was not 

 glazed) ; a stupid fellow, in fastening the bridle of a mule to one of 

 the bars, threw down the instrument and broke it. Luckily I had 

 another, therefore the loss was not so grievous. 



Our soldiers having, with their wonted alacrity, provided mules, we 

 set out at an early hour, and entered upon a much more level road 

 than that of the preceding day. We passed along several valleys, 

 the surface of which presented clay and decomposed granite, in 

 some places more ferruginous than in others. There are numerous 

 sheds all the way for the refreshment of travellers and their cattle. 

 This day's journey being only sixteen miles, we soon completed it, 

 arriving about noon at the ferry of Paraibuna. This river, though as 

 wide as the Thames at Westminster, is unnavigable, by reason of 

 the large rocks which impede its course. The ferry-boat arriving, 

 we got into it with all our mules, and were conveyed with oars and 

 setting poles to the other side, where we found a register for the 

 examination of passengers, their passports, and property. The 

 place is guarded by a few old soldiers, under the command of a 

 lieutenant, who, though in ill health, shewed us every attention. 

 Our soldiers got us a dinner cooked at a vend*, kept by a young 

 man originally from Oporto ; we took tea and supped with the 

 commandant, who assigned to us an apartment in the Register. He 



* This name is given to what we should call a huckster's shop, where various articles, 

 such as liquors, Indian corn, and sometimes sugar, are sold. Though they profess to 

 answer the purpose of inns, they are destitute of conveniences } travellers who carry their 

 beds and cooking utensils with them, generally prefer lodging in a rancho or astallage, 

 Shelter from rain and night air is the only convenience which a lodging in these districts 

 can be expected to afford. 



V 



