leagues,
and this in the afternoon we found to be really the case, the road
leading through one continued flat dry sandy plain, thinly covered with
bushes and small trees. "We reached the first watering place a little
before sunset; it is called Riacho, and is about a league from San
Romao; there is no house there, nor could I observe any appearance of
habitation on the whole road from the Urucuya to the Villa. We hoped to
have reached the Villa that evening, but the horses were too much
fatigued to go further; we therefore encamped for the night under some
trees by the side of a limpid rivulet j none of us had had a morsel to
eat, but we had all a large basin of strong warm tea, which made up in
some measure for the want of a more substantial supper. To this Mr.
Walker and the men added a pipe of tobacco, as they were all inveterate
smokers.
At
length, on Sunday morning the 21st of June, we entered the Villa de San
Romao, and having proceeded to the house of the Juiz de Paz, in order
to show him my passport, he very kindly sent a person to look after a
house for our reception. He was not long in finding one, and as soon as
the horses were unloaded, I dispatched a man in search of provisions,
but, strange to say, he could find nothing but farinha. A market had
been held early in the morning, of both fresh and dried beef, but all
had been sold off before our arrival; a most fortunate occurrence,
however, afforded us a better breakfast than we anticipated. Just as we
were preparing some tea, which we intended to take with some farinha, a
little boy came to enquire if I would buy a fish which he had just
caught, and which was lying on the banks of the river. I went there
immediately, and for the value of a few pence, bought the fish, a fine
species of salmon upwards of two feet long, which I need not say was
soon cooked, and formed a most welcome meal for all of us.
The
Villa Resonha de San Romao is situated on the south bank of the Rio de
San Francisco, in the district of Paracatii; it is small, not
containing above one thousand inhabitants, and forms a square of
several long narrow irregular streets; the houses are all of one story,
and without exception, built of wicker-work and
Flickr
Stumbleupon
Scribd
