mango
trees, it has really an enchanting appearance when seen in the
distance. In about an hour afterwards we landed, and as I had brought
no letters of recommendation, I despatched Pedro to look out for a
house where we could remain till morning, but he returned after being
an hour absent, with the intelligence that none was to be obtained.
This did not annoy me much, as we found an old house close to where we
landed, where I proposed to remain, especially as the weather was fine,
the only shelter we required being shade. Just, however, as we were
about to remove our luggage thither, the owner of an adjoining house
perceiving that we were strangers, invited us to take up our quarters
with him, an invitation which we readily accepted, as it would be not
only more comfortable, but would allow us greater freedom to walk
about. Like most other Brazilian cities in which I have been, Alagoas
looks better from a distance than on close inspection ; and as in the
instance of Penedo, it has all the appearance of having once been a
much more flourishing place than it now is, the expulsion of the
Portuguese having given its industry a death blow, from wliich it is
not soon likely to recover. The houses are for the most part built of
stone, and many of them are what are called Sobrados, that is, consist of more stories than one, but many of them are falling into decay; even
the principal streets are overgrown with grass and other weeds, and
have a deserted appearance. The finest buildings are the churches and
convents; of the former there are eight, and of the latter two in
number. It being the seat of the provincial government, the President
resides there, but as Maceio is the chief place of trade, there is also
a government house in that town for his accommodation, when he visits
it, as he frequently does, for the transaction of business. The
population of Alagoas amounts to about 6000. On one or two occasions
that I walked through the principal streets I saw very few people, and
they for the most part were bare-footed, ragged mulatto and Indian
soldiers, two ol whom were keeping guard at the house of the President.
The chief productions of the country around Alagoas are sugar, cotton, and a little mandiocca. At the time of my visit great
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