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i/e next visited he little old town of Ouro Freto (Black Gold) 
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founded 300 years ago by the Bandeirantes, a group of Portuguese slave- 
hunters and gold-seekers who caiae north frox;i Sao I^ulo* There are 16 
inportart large churches in this ancient village, and one of them is 
knoY/n as the Church of Aleiladinho, or the Little Cripple • Aleiiadinho 
c priest VYhO ^\YaS rreatly' wonrlr^fr^-p-u^ini:.- «r.Hh* 
himself was 
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tly' gifted in v/oodcarving anqin painting 
holy subjects for the decoration of his belo-ved church. Then the 
artist contracted leprosy, and first his fingers and then his hands dropped 
off under the ravages of the horrible disease. But finally the disease 
arrested itself, and Aleiiadinho, with but stumps of arms left with which 
to carry on his work, coirmanded his brothers to fasten his brushes and 
his tools to these stumps, had himself hoisted in a blanlcet to the high 
ceiling of the church, and^before death released him, he had finished 
the decorations. His work, of very high artistic merit, is kncAm all 
over Brazil. 
.^fter we had unwillingly tal^n les-ve of this ancient edifice, 
v/e cliinbed up a street paved with uneven blocks of stone and too steep 
for any traffic except donkeys, pigs and schoolbook's. ^is ive followed 
the road leading away from the town, huge old stone walls, the remnants 
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of the early Portuguese settlements, loomed up here and there, sometimes 
the mere shells of rooms, soirjetimes Y/ith mud additions and tiled 
roofs to riiake habitable hoiriss for the poor people* The larger houses 
in the town are painted evero^ imaginable color, — often they begin with 
a band of mai'oon around the bottom, then the outside of the ground floor 
may be painted white, the second storey blue, and perhaps some green 
below the roof, vxhich is of dull yellOY/ tile 
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