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was very civil, and seemed highly pleased to see us, frequently ex- 

 claiming, " Os Ingleses son grande gente,'' (the English are a great 

 nation). We were gratified by this and other national compliments 

 which he paid us, and not less so by the respect which every one 

 who came to visit us testified for our country, as being in alliance 

 with a Prince to whom they were enthusiastically devoted. 



The Register is a substantial edifice of wood, built on posts to pre- 

 serve it from the overflows of the river, which frequently inundate the 

 sandy flat on which it stands. It contains a few rooms, which serve 

 as barracks for the guards, and has a handsome gallery fronting the 

 ferry. The station is low, and in summer is said to be very hot and 

 unhealthy ; a circumstance which, joined to the indolence and 

 poverty of the inhabitants, may suflficiently account for the general 

 appearance of debility observable among them. The little employ- 

 ment they have arises chiefly from the passengers who frequent this 

 great thoroughfare, and from the numerous troops of mules which are 

 continually arriving on their way to, as well as from, the interior. 

 The barges of the ferry are as fine vessels as any I ever saw used for the 

 purpose ; and indeed they ought to be, for a considerable toll is paid, 

 not only for every mule, or other beast of burden, but for every person 

 crossing the river. The annual amount collected yields, no doubt, 

 a handsome profit to the renters ; but it might be considerably aug- 

 mented if a regular road were opened to Canta Gallo, which is only 

 eighteen leagues distant. 



Being informed that our next day's journey would be an arduous 

 one, on account of the hilly district through which we should have 

 to pass, we retired to rest betimes, and were stirring at an early 

 hour. We mounted fresh mules, and proceeded along a good road 

 through a rugged and thinly peopled district ; in the course of five 

 leagues, we passed over seven very high granite mountains, and eight 

 smaller ones, and at length reached the ferry of the Paraiba, a river 

 considerably larger than the Paraibuna. At the Register belonging 

 to it, which is more extensive and better guarded than the formerj 



