Travel^ in the Brazils. 49 



with some long 'mats and wooden benches to sleep on. The canoe 

 with the hunters, who had been delayed by the docks, only Arriv- 

 ed in the morning, and now the passage begun. Whenever a 

 boat**« load was passed, the men in it distributed themselves for 

 the purpose of hunting. Among other things, they shot the ibis, 

 with a red face, ( carao^) and the caracara^ (falco Brasiliensis,) a 

 fine bird. United upon the northern bank, we remained exposed 

 the whole day to a heavy fall of rain, (some of our mules having 

 been led away by some horses,) till, towards the evening, a fisher- 

 man arriving took us into his hut, where we waited for the fugi- 

 tive beasts. We went now, through a small underwood, to the 

 banks of the river Barganza, a discharge from the Lagoa Feia, 

 Here were two miserable fishermen's cabins, where we were well re- 

 ceived. They merely consisted of a cane roof, supported against 

 the ground, containing a couple of small compartments within, 

 our numerous train was, therefore, obliged to sleep in the open 

 air, there being only room for the Europeans, not inured to the 

 chmate. We slept with the families, round about^the huts, upon 

 straw, the fire burning in the centre ; and they treated us with 

 baked fish and mandiocca meal. The good will of these people 

 alleviated a part of the inconveniences to which we were exposed. 

 In the hut in which I slept was a very stout talkative woman, of 

 rather a tawny complexion, who, according to the custom among 

 the Brazilian women of the lower classes, was constantly smoking 

 her pipe. The Brazilians use more frequently segars made of 

 paper, which are carried behind the ear ; which fashion of smok- 

 ing the Europeans learned from the Tupinambas, and other 

 tribes of coast Indians, who used to wrap certain aromatic leaves 

 into a larger one, which they lit at one end, (J. de Lery, Voyage 

 &c. p. lS9). The pipes in use among the lower orders in Brazil, 

 have a small head of burnt clay, of a blackish colour, with a thin 

 smooth tube, made of the stalk of a high fern, (samambaya,) the 

 mertensia dichotoma. The Brazilians, of all ranks of society, are 

 yet more fond of taking snuff than of smoking, the poorest negro 

 slave having his snuff-box, made of horn ©r tin, frequently merely 

 a fragment of a cow-horn, secured with a cork. 



As soon as the morning dawned upon us, our fisherman's fami- 

 ly began saying their prayers, after which they bathed their chil- 

 dren, according to the common practice of the country, !n luke- 

 warm water, v/hich the little ones seemed to anticipate with impa- 

 tience. Cane mats were then spread on the outside of the huts, 

 and we all sat down to a breakfast of boiled fish. Our meal be- 

 ing concluded, the fishermen prepared their canoes to get our 

 mules over the Braganza, which is here filled with reeds, by 

 swimming. Thousands of aquatic birds have their nests here; 

 among others, we saw at times the fine red spoon-heron. Among 



Voyages and Travels, No. 3, Vol III. D 



