to by slave vessels for the delivery of their cargoes, and it certainly appears to be well suited for such a purpose.
In
the afternoon I took a walk a little way along the banks of the river,
but did not find much to interest me; like all other sandy parts along
the coast, the vegetation here consists of low shrubs mixed with a few
small trees; Schinus terebinthifoh'ttx being by far the most
common. One of the most striking vegetable productions near the
village is a large wild fig-tree growing-close to the river, beneath
the shade of which four large canoes, larger than the one in which I
arrived, were being constructed ; this also forms a rendezvous for the
gossips of the village, who assemble there in the afternoon, beneath
its wide-spreading branches which reach nearly to the ground, thus
shading them from the sun. The leaves of the tree are about six inches
long and three broad, with fruit about the size of a large gooseberry.
In the evening I strolled through the village, and found thai nearly
all the inhabitants had turned out of their houses to enjoy the
beautiful moonlight and the delightfully cool evening breeze; many of
them were squatted on the bare ground, some were lounging on mats,
while others were stretched out on cocoa-nut leaves. In most of these
groups, one or more of the individuals, generally young men, were
amusing the others by playing lively airs on the guitar. As the master
of the canoe belonged to the village, I was invited to sleep at his
house, but as he could not afford me a bed, I was obliged to repose on
a hide in the corner of a small room; scarcely, however, had I fallen
asleep when I was awakened by legions of hungry bugs, that came pouring
out from the cracks in the mud walls; unable to endure this torment I
got up, and taking the materials which formed my bed outside the house,
I shook them well, and spreading them in the open air, I slept there
comfortably till morning. This was the only time during the whole of my
travels that I was annoyed to any extent by this insect, which is not
nearly so common, or so abundant as the flea.
Next day, Feb. 4th, we left Barra de San Antonio Grande about mid-day, and reached Maceio at five o'clock in the evening.
