102 



Prince Maodmilian*i 



Japaranan da Praya, very inferior to that at Linhares. The 

 military have some plantations in the vicinity, which pro- 

 duce mandiocca, maize, and fine M^ater-melons (Melancias) ; 

 they also add to their support by fishing and hunting. We 

 here found an old man, named Simon, who had resided 

 many years in perfect seclusion in a small house near this 

 Quartel, and who had not the smallest dread of the savages. 

 He cultivated his plantations himself, is an expert huntsman 

 and fisher, and well acquainted with the surrounding country: 

 we visited him in his hermitage, and found him not only well 

 satisfied with his situation from his circumscribed wants, but 

 also so good-humoured and jolly that his cheerfulness made 

 his acquaintance desireable. He gave us the skin of the great 

 .ant-bear, {Myrmecophaga Jubata of .Linn,) called here Taman- 

 dua Cavallo, which he had lately killed. At Monserra we pro- 

 cured a variety of natural curiosities; and amongst others 

 the Scarabeus Hercules, the largest beetle of the Brazils, which 

 a soldier had caught and brought to us alive. Soon after, 

 four or five heads of this rare beetle w^ere brought, and, upon 

 my complaining of the mangling of this intc i esting rarity, I was 

 told that the ladies in many places w^ore these heads round their 

 necks as ornaments. After taking leave of our two fellow- 

 travellers from Linhares, we proceeded six or seven leagues 

 further on this uniform sea-coast, our t^Vo soldiers, a negro 

 and an Indian, stopt frequently to collect se me beautiful plants 

 which grew on the sands, with which they filled their knap- 

 sficks. The whole territory from Rio Do9e to San Matthseus, 

 is a desolate waste, in most parts destitute of water. To ob- 1 

 tain this indispensible requisite of life, the best, and, indeed, 

 only certain method, is to provide an intelligent guide; but 

 neither of our soldiers had made this journey. We missed 

 the first watering-place, Cacimba da S. Jaod, the second, 

 however, named Piranga, which we arrived at about noon, 

 afforded us refreshment. While collecting drift-wood on the 

 strand, we perceived at a small distance a huge turtle, the 

 Testudo Mydas of Linnceiis, which seemed anxious to lay her 

 eggs. Our presence did not interrupt it ; the animal evinced 

 no other signs of fear at our presence than by a hiss similar to 

 that of a goose. We could even take it up, but its weight re- 

 quired four men to lift up. It then began to work with its 

 hindmost fins, and soon formed a round hole in the bed of 

 sand; and immediately began to deposit its eggs. One of our 

 soldiers laid down at his whole length on the ground, and with 

 his hand pulled out the eggs continually; by this melns we 

 collected in about ten minutes 100 eggs. 

 As the great weight of the turtle alone would be as much a& 



