Chap. I. 
FOEMALITIES. 
5 
very stiff and formal, and the absence of the hearty hospi- 
tality met with in other places, produces a disagreeable 
impression at first. Much ceremony is observed in the 
intercourse of the principal people with each other, and 
with strangers. The best room in each house is set 
apart for receptions, and visitors are expected to present 
themselves in black dress coats, regardless of the furious 
heat which rages in the sandy streets of Santarem 
towards mid-day, the hour when visits are generally 
made. In the room a cane-bottomed sofa and chairs, 
all lacquered and gilded, are arranged in quadrangular 
form, and here the visitors are invited to seat them- 
selves, whilst the compliments are passed, or the busi- 
ness arranged. In taking leave, the host backs out his 
guests with repeated bows, finishing at the front door. 
Smoking is not in vogue amongst this class, but snuff- 
taking is largely indulged in, and great luxury is dis- 
played in gold and silver snuff-boxes. All the gentle- 
men, and indeed most of the ladies also, wear gold 
watches and guard chains. Social parties are not very 
frequent ; the principal men being fully occupied with 
their business and families, and the rest spending their 
leisure in billiard and gambling rooms, leaving wives 
and daughters shut up at home. Occasionally, however, 
one of the principal citizens gives a ball. In the first 
that I attended, the gentlemen were seated all the even- 
ing on one side of the room, and the ladies on the 
other, and partners were allotted by means of num- 
bered cards, distributed by a master of the ceremonies. 
But the customs changed rapidly in these matters after 
steamers began to run on the Amazons (in 1853), bring- 
