Thanks
to our good fortune, the storm did not then reach us, having been
diverted to the northward : passing over a high Serra which lay in that
direction, it again altered its course, and followed fast upon our
heels. It was quite dark when we arrived at the solitary dwelling, and
when I rorle to the little gate in front of it, the owner came out with
a gun in his hand. He immediately granted us permission to take shelter
for the night in an open shed, and as soon as the luggage had been
arranged in it, and a few large skins had been hung up on the weather
side, the storm broke over the hut in all its fury, accompanied by a
gale of wind which quickly extinguished our lights, and we had reason
to be thankful that the whole building was not carried away before it:
uncomfortable as the place was, we rejoiced in having even such shelter
as it afforded.
The
old man informed me that he lived in constant fear of an attack from
the Cherentes. He had been in this solitary place for three years, but
had now made up his mind to leave it in the course of a few months. His
wife had been dead about a year, and he and three little children were
the only inhabitants of the place. He had two houses, the best of which
was at one end of the shed in which we were stowed, but he had never
lived in it; the reason he assigned was, that the Indians when they
attack a house, immediately set fire to it, and surround it, so that no
one may escape. The hut in which he resided was at some distance from
the other, and in appearance was but Little better than a pigÂsty, but
he said that in case of an attack, he could very easily make his escape
from it to the woods. He had a very small piece of ground cleared by
the side of the river, in which grew some mandiocca, Indian corn,
cotton, and bananas. He possessed no cattle of his own, but I was
afterwards informed that he was very expert in stealing oxen, from the
droves which occasionally pass on their way to the coast.
Three
days after we left this habitation, we arrived at a place where the Rio
Preto divides the Province of Pernambuco from that of Goyaz. The
country we passed through was very similar to the first part of the
Geraes, with the exception of the last
