Chap. YI. 
A MUDDY YILLAGE. 
385 
of the principal inhabitants, Senhor Venancio, a house 
was ready for me on landing. The only recommenda- 
tion of the dwelling was its coolness. It was, in fact, 
rather damp ; the plastered walls bore a crop of green 
mould, and a slimy moisture oozed through the black, 
dirty floor ; the rooms were large, but lighted by 
miserable little holes in place of windows. The village 
is built on a clayey plateau, and the ruinous houses are 
arranged round a large square, which is so choked up 
with tangled bushes that it is quite impassable, the 
lazy inhabitants having allowed the fine open space to 
relapse into jungle. The stiff clayey eminence is worn 
into deep gullies which slope towards the river, and 
the ascent from the port in rainy weather is so slippery 
that one is obliged to crawl up to the streets on all 
fours. A large tract of ground behind the place is clear 
of forest, but this, as well as the streets and gardens, is 
covered with a dense, tough carpet of shiubs, having the 
same wiry nature as our common heath. Beneath its 
deceitful covering the soil is always moist and soft, and 
in the wet season the whole is converted into a Mutinous 
mud swamp. There is a very pretty church in one 
corner of the square, but in the rainy months of the 
year (nine out of the twelve) the place of worship is 
almost inaccessible to the inhabitants on account of the 
mud, the only means of getting to it being by hugging 
closely the walls and palings, and so advancing side- 
ways step by step. 
I remained in this delectable place until the 25th of 
January, 1857. Fonte Boa, in addition to its other 
amenities, has the reputation throughout the country of 
VOL. ir. c c 
