50

SAFETY OF THE ROADS.

fact was, he thought I was bringing gold down from the mines, and lifted the saddle-bags to try their weight, so I took an early opportunity to show him that most of the weight was caused by a sketch-book, and a pair of thick boots. The circumstance gave me a favourable impression of the security of the country; for I found it was a common practice to bring gold down in this way, and instances of robbery are very rare.

There is a good deal of coffee grown on the hills about here; but the trees did not look healthy, the leaves having a yellow tinge. They should be dark, like a Portugal laurel. The other crops were milho, or maize, fajão, a sort of bean, mandioca, or cassava, and castor-oil. Birds were not numerous; black parrots, and a few red-breasted toucans being all I saw.

It was late when I arrived at Petropolis, where I remained one day, and returned to Rio the next, descending the Organ Mountains by the old paved road. The mule went very well as far as Fregoza, her home, but beyond that nothing would induce her to move. I reluctantly plied my whip and spurs, but she bore it all patiently, and stood still in the middle of the road. I dismounted, but she would not lead, so I got on again, not knowing what to do. The heat in the wide, flat plain was terrific. At last, a black who was passing, drove on my mule for about a hundred yards; but he went away, and she stood still again. Thus brought up, I should have been too late for the steamer at Porta de Estrella, had not some Englishmen overtaken me; and one of these, by frequent application of a hunting-whip, kept the mule at a canter all the way to the port, where I arrived at last in good time.

There is not much society for a stranger in Rio Janeiro, for the English residents mix but little with the natives; and the Brazilian ladies have none of that ease of manners and fluency of conversation which distinguish those of Spanish descent. Another drawback is, that the English live chiefly in the country, at a distance of four or five miles, and so leave town after business hours and ride home. From my countrymen, however, I experienced the greatest hospitality. I had many letters of introduction, and on presenting them, the recipients, with hardly an exception, put themselves and their houses, not only in words, but literally and truly, at my disposal. Rio is chiefly supplied with flour from the United States, from which they also import another article, almost a necessary of life: I mean ice. In the Rua Dereita is a regular Yankee bar, where a thirsty soul can obtain sherry-cobblers, juleps, and sangarees, compounded in the true New York fashion.

I endeavoured to learn something more about the Falls of San Francisco, but was unsuccessful. Mr. Gardner, a botanist, sent out here to collect plants for Kew Gardens, attempted to ascend the river some years ago, but soon became so ill from fever and ague, that he was obliged to halt at a hut on the river bank, and gave up the project. He published an account of his wanderings in Brazil, and was afterwards appointed curator to the Botanic Gardens in Ceylon, where he died about a year ago. Everybody agreed upon one point, that it would be a rough journey, and some said dangerous; but the reports of dangers are so often exaggerated, that I was not much alarmed, and so prepared to start by the English packet for Bahia. It was some satisfaction to reflect that if I did not succeed in reaching the

52

POSTAL ARRANGEMENTS.

Falls, I should see Bahia, perhaps Pernambuco, and quite a different part of Brazil. I was astonished at the want of communication between the different parts of this immense empire, and the long time required to transmit intelligence from one part to another. When the last mail came in from England to Rio, they had the same dates from London and Parà, about the fifth largest town of the empire, situated at the mouth of the Amazon River. The dates for the upper part of that immense valley must have been nearly a year old.

CHAPTER V.

VOYAGE TO BAHIA-STORY OF A SLAVER-BRAZILIAN FISHING-BOATSSIGNAL FOR PILOTS-MAROIM-ROUTE TO THE FALLS-PROPRIAASCENDING THE RIVER-PORTA DES PIRANHOS.

I LEFT Rio, on the 7th of July, in H.M.S. Petrel,' T. Creser, commander, and had a long but not unpleasant voyage to Bahia.

My friend C--, who had
Mountains, was one of the
On leaving Rio, we had

accompanied me to the Organ passengers, on his way home. contrary winds, which kept shifting about from north to north-east, so that after five days' beating, we were to the south of Rio Harbour instead of the north. As we approached Bahia, we saw two or three of those curious craft, the jangada. They lie so low, that, at a little distance, they look as if the men on them are standing on the surface of the water. They consist of a raft of five logs of light wood bound together, but so loosely, that the water washes up between each log. They are very buoyant, but every wave dashes over them. They have a seat or two for the crew, which consists of two or three men, and there is a little

frame to keep their provisions out of the wet. We passed close to one which had three men and two sails; on the foremast a square sail, and a latteen aft. It was steered by a paddle, and was on a fishing excursion twelve or fifteen miles from the land.

We made Bahia on the evening of the 20th, but the wind dying away at sunset, we were obliged to anchor off the lighthouse. When the land-breeze blew, the odour from the shore was delicious, and the air felt heavy and loaded with the fragrance of flowers. We hung over the bulwarks, inhaling it with a pleasure that none but those who have been some time at sea can appreciate.

Bahia has an excessively pretty appearance from the harbour, which is the mouth of a bay much larger than that of Rio Janeiro. It takes its name from the "Bahia de todos os Santos," the proper name of the city being San Salvador. In the same way the proper title of Rio is San Sebastião, but it is commonly called by the name of its harbour.

C― and I landed, and took up our quarters at the hotel, such as it was, and I went and called on the English Consul, Mr. Porter, and presented my letter of introduction, which had been given me by Mr. Hudson, the English minister at Rio. Mr. Porter received me most kindly, and hearing my wish of proceeding to the Rio San Francisco, took me to the house of a German named Gultzow, to whom I had letters, and who proved to be agent to Mr. Schram's house at Maroim, the nearest town to the river. Of course he knew more about that country than any one, and on my inquiring about the best means of getting there, he told me that a Bremenese schooner now lying in the bay was to sail for Maroim at three