IV 
RESIDENCE AT SANTAREM 
evening. While his back was turned, the wench 
put her hand into the box and gripped at a venture 
a quantity of notes, which proved to be of 20 and 
50 milreis, to the value of 470 milreis (nearly ;^55 
sterling). He did not discover his loss until some 
days afterwards, and even then would have taken 
no steps to redeem it, fearing the well-known 
vindictiveness of the Brazilians, and especially of 
the mistress of this girl, who had been drummed 
out of Obidos not long before on account of her 
iniquitous conduct ; but one of his friends men- 
tioned the matter to the Delegado, who immedi- 
ately had the girl brought up and flogged until 
she gave up what still remained in her possession 
of the money, viz. 270 milreis. Twenty milreis 
more were subsequently recovered from another 
mulatto girl, who had received them from the 
actual thief This affair was the talk of the town, 
and the story of the captain's square trunk, contain- 
ing (it was supposed) untold sums of money, excited 
the admiration of every one, and the cupidity of 
probably not a few. It is plain, however, that the 
thief had not known which was the trunk that 
contained the money-box, for the one he actually 
attempted to carry off contained only old clothes. 
It was every one's belief that he had been instigated 
to the crime by the mistress of the sweetmeat girl ; 
but if it were so the accomplice escaped conviction 
as the principal had done. 
I was told of a similar case of stabbing which had 
happened about three years previously. Our friend 
Luiz, the French baker, had a quintal — half yard, 
half orchard — at the back of his house. There his 
oven stood, under a tiled roof, supported by posts. 
