50^ Prince Maximüiai^s 



the fishermen that were paSsing our tropa, we were particularly 

 struck with the appearance of one old man, with a Jong beard, 

 and a sword by his side ; a younger one got on horseback, in or- 

 der to be our'guide through the mundated meadows. His dress 

 was peculiar ; he wore a small hood of* cloth, a short coat, and 

 trowsers which left his knees bare, and* spurs on his naked feet. 

 This little man was, however, very good natured and kind, always 

 riding before us, and seeking, not without danger to himself, the 

 best passages. After suffering under the just apprehension of 

 losing our baggage in the water, we at last, under a heavy fall of 

 rain, reached the end of these meadows. 



The last watery spot we crossed in a boat near the church of 

 S. Amaro, and our tropa now proceeded on immensely large green 

 plains, which already make part of those of the Goaytacases^ that, 

 extending as far as the Paraiba, and from which the Villa de S. 

 Salvador is surnamed dos Campos dos Goaytacases. Between 

 the grass of this track of land, as well as'in all pastures along the 

 eastern coast of Brazil, grows the sida carpinifolia, with a shrub- 

 by woody stem and yellow flowers ; it grows very fast, and fre- 

 quently shelters a species of inambu, denominated perdiza, (part- 

 ridge, described by Temminck under the name of tinamus macu- 

 losus). This yet little known bird resembles our quail in colour, 

 but is rather larger, and stays as long before the setting-dog as 

 our European partridge. After having rode over these plains, in 

 which a great many cattle were grazing, till the evening, we ar- 

 rived at the large abbey of S. Bento. This convent, which be- 

 longs to the abbey of S. Bento in Rio de Janeiro^ is possessed of 

 considerable estates. The building itself is large, has a fine church, 

 two court-yards, and a small garden in the interior, in which the 

 beds, walled up with stones, are occupied by balsam ines, tube- 

 roses, &c. In one of the court-yards stood lofty cocoa-nut trees, 

 (cocos nucifera, Linn.) loaded with fruit. The convent possesses 

 fifty slaves, who have built their cottages, in a large square, before 

 it ; in the middle of which a cross is raised, on a pedestal. Be- 

 sides, there are here a large sugar engenhoy and other buildings 

 for agricultural purposes. Besides the large estates belonging to 

 this rich convent, it is possessed of large herds of horses and black 

 cattle, and receives the tythes from some sugar in the vicinity. 



We were here well received, and lodged in rooms with beds, 

 from the large unglazed windows of which we enjoyed a beautiful 

 prosp.ect. In the lower story of the house were the kitchen and 

 mandiocca manufactory, where we dried our collections ; the cot- 

 ton which we wanted for them was freed for us from the grains. 

 We spent our time in shooting ducks, which we found here in im- 

 mense numbers on the large marshes and lagoas. 



A mulatto, with a stiletto in a button-hole, a sword at his side, 

 and spurs on his bare feet, served as our guide on our farther 



