44 
M E S U R I L. 
the plan into effect, out of the ample materials which this fort 
might supply. 
The village of Mesuril, from its vicinity to the Government- 
house, and the security which the fort was supposed to aiFord, 
has been the favourite spot for building among the settlers, and 
many good houses are erected there, which however must neces- 
sarily be unhealthy from being situated in the midst of a cocoa- 
nut wood, where nature is suffered to lavish her bounty in all the 
wild luxuriance of primitive vegetation. Similar to Mesuril, 
though on a smaller scale, are built the villages of Mapeita, 
Cabaceiro, and Soue Souah, in the neighbourhood of which 
plantations are laid out like those I have before described be- 
longing to Signor Montero. A great part of the land still 
remains uncultivated, but it affords grazing to numerous herds 
of cattle, and sustenance to vast droves of swine, the breeding of 
which, from their being reared with little trouble, has been 
greatly encouraged by the inhabitants. 
In our various excursions from Mesuril, we often stopped at 
the houses of the planters to obtain refreshment, and we always 
found them, even when we were alone, civil and attentive, without 
requiring any payment for the articles which they furnished. 
The refreshments which they generally offered us consisted of 
fresh roasted manioca, and the liquor of the cocoa-nut; the former 
resembles in taste the flavour of a yam, and the latter, when the 
nut is about half ripe, affords a very cool and refreshing draught, 
particularly after the fatigue resulting from exercise in a hot 
climate. We saw only a few of their women, and, if those few 
maybe considered as a fair sample of the ladies of the Settle- 
