sumptuously,
as every day in the year a fat ox is killed for his use and that of his
establishment; a day or two before our departure one was killed, and
the flesh dried for our use on the journey, so that with other presents
I received from him, our provision boxes were so well tilled that we
required little in addition till we reached the city of Oeiras.
After
an early breakfast I parted with my kind host, who on account of his
other visitors did not accompany me far, but Dr. Marcos rode with me
for upwards of a league and a half, when we parted with mutual regret,
it being so seldom that one who has a taste for the study of nature,
meets with a kindred spirit in those distant regions; since my return
to England we have kept up a correspondence, and he has sent me
specimens of objects in natural history, many of which are different
from those which my limited stay enabled me to obtain. At the very
outset of our journey, we met with an accident that did not give us a
very favourable idea of the state of the road. At about two leagues
from Boa Esperanca, three of the cargo horses plunged up to the middle
in a swamp; the surface was covered with grass, and appeared perfectly
solid, but the soil beneath had become so saturated with water, that it
was quite a mass of tenacious mud. It was with no small difficulty that
the animals were extricated; in leading them across they often sank
again; all the loads had to be carried over, and as we had to lend a
hand at this work, we shared the same fate as the horses, being
frequently up to the middle in the mud. These spots are called
Atoleiras by the Brazilians, and are very much dreaded, as horses are
occasionally lost in them; during the day we had to pass three more
quagmires, but none so bad as the first.
Our
first stage from Boa Esperanca was the Villa de Santa Anna das Merces,
and when about two leagues from it, we halted under the shade of an
Imbuzeira to dine and to give the horses a rest. The dry rocky places
in this neighbourhood were covered with a little gregarious Melocadus, bearing
very long recurved spines, and in a moist sandy place I found many
pretty annual plants. About sunset we came in sight of the Villa, which
is situated on a slight
