1852.] STATE OF BARRA. 375 
;i 
1 
police-office, and now, to my surprise, the passport was 
actually made out and given me ; and on paying ano- 
ther twelve vintems (sixpence), I was at liberty to leave 
Barra whenever I could ; for as to leaving it whenever I 
pleased, that was out of the question. 
The city of Barra, the capital of the Province and the 
residence of the President, was now in a very miserable 
condition. No vessel had arrived from Para for five 
months, and all supplies were exhausted. Plour had 
been long since finished, consequently there was no 
bread ; neither was there biscuit, butter, sugar, cheese, 
wine, nor vinegar ; molasses even, to sweeten our coffee, 
was very scarce ; and the spirit of the country (caxa^a) 
was so nearly exhausted, that it could only be obtained 
retail, and in the smallest quantities : everybody was 
reduced to farinha and fish, with beef twice a week, and 
turtle about as often. This state of destitution was 
owing to there having been a vessel lost a month before, 
near Barra, which was coming from Para; and at this 
time of the year, when the river is full, and the winds 
adverse, the passage frequently takes from seventy days 
to three months, — having to be performed almost en- 
tirely by warping with a rope sent ahead in a canoe, 
against the powerful current of the Amazon. It may 
therefore be well imagined that Barra was not the most 
agreeable place in the world to reside in, when, joined 
to the total absence of amusement and society which 
universally prevails there, the want of the common ne- 
cessaries of life had also to be endured. 
Several vessels were leaving for Para, but all were so 
completely filled as not to have room for me or my bag- 
