Travels in the Brazils, 87 



also in many disorders *, and is of great use in the preparatioii of 

 rum* The most considerable fazendas have a church, a chapel, or 

 a large room, where, on Sundays and feastdays, mass is read. The 

 traveller ought never to neglect mass^ for the inhabitants set a very 

 high value on it ; they treated us always kindly and politely where 

 we observed this rule, but treated us* with coolness and disgust 

 where we did not attend church. Alter mass we accompanied the 

 host back to the villa, where the same day, we observed a curiosity 

 of this country^ namely the genuine cocoa-palm {cocos nucifera, 

 Lynn.) ~ Farther north this beautiful tree is very common, as the 

 after part of this journey will show, but very scarce in the soutliern 

 countries. On the eastern coast, it bears the name of cocos de 

 bahia. 



On a fazenda in the neighbourhood of Cabo Frio, were, as I 

 have been assured, two date-palms {phcenix dactylipra, Lynn.) 

 which bore fruit; but since they have cut down one of them, the 

 other does not bea r. 



We now made hunting excursions in all parts of the country j 

 and soon obtained different animals, particularly (ruariba, without 

 doubt the species which has been, described under the name of 

 stentor, or mycetes ursims, and whose loud voice is frequently 

 heard in the woods. This wonderful animal is distinguished by 

 the large stimmencapses in the throat, whicli Mr. Humboldt, in his 

 observations on zoology, has assigned in his fourth table to ano» 

 ther species of this genus. On account of the long beard of the 

 male, guariba, he bears on this coast the name of harhado. In St. 

 Paul he is called bujio, and farther north guariba. Besides this 

 ape, we caught the one with two long tufts of hair on its head {si- 

 mia fatuellus^ Linn.), and the small red sahui (simia rosalia. Linn.) 

 Neither are very scarce here, but are not found farther north.* • 



On the bank of the lagoas and marshes, particularly in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the Mangibushes (rhizophora, conocarpus, and.ari- 

 cennia) we found a number of holes in the ground; The dwelling^ 

 of this kind is here called guayamu, it must not be mistaken 

 for another which is taken on the sands of the sea-coast, and bears 

 the name of ciri; both kinds are mentioned by Marcgraf. The 

 guayamu is larger than the cirt, and has an unspotted dark slate 

 blue colour. These animals are difficult to catch, for at the small- 

 est noise they retire to their holes; I therefore resorted to the 

 means of killing them with sparrow-shot. , They form a chief pari 

 of the food of the Brazilians^ whose indolence often goes so far, 

 that they resort, when they are in want of fish, to this, to our ex- 



• On Rio S. Francisea this plant is successfully used in the disease which is called O 

 Largo, the enlargement. Thii disorder is occasioned by an enlargement of the rectum 

 caused by weakness, according to the description of an old Hungarian physician, who 

 lived there, and has described the disorders of the country. The plant should be 

 boilöd, the liquor which is obtained from it be allowed to cool and then taken as 

 clyster and bath. 



