ARRAYAS TO SAN ROMÃO.
Departure from Arrayas—Reasons for preferring the Route
along the Serra Geral—Passes Gamelleira—Bonita—Reaches San
Domingo—San Joäo—San Bernardo—Curious Fact respecting the
Rio San Bernardo—Passes Boa Vista—Country consists of very
elevated table-lands—Its Natural Productions—Arrives at Capella
da Posse—San Pedro—San Antonio—Dôres—Riachão—Animals greatly
tormented by large Bats—Habits of these Vampires—Reaches
San Vidal—Flight of Locusts—Passes Nossa Senhora
d’Abbadia—Campinhas—Pasquada—San Francisco—Crosses River
Carynhenha and enters the Province of Minas Geräes—Country
described—Habits of the great Ant-eater—Passes Capão de
Casca—Descent of the Serra das Araras—Reaches San Josè—Rio
Claro—Boquerão—Santa Maria—Espigão—Taboca—San Miguel—Crosses
River Urucuya—Passes Riachão—Arrives at San Romão—Town
Described—Its Population—Habits of the People—Rio de San
Francisco—Description of the different varieties of the Salmon
tribe found in it.
The necessary preparations having been completed, we started from
Arrayas on the afternoon of the 6th of May, my object being now to reach
the Villa de San Romão on the Rio de San Francisco; but instead of
proceeding southward along the western base of the Serra Geral as far
as the parallel of San Romão, the road usually followed by the people
of the country, I preferred the less frequented, and consequently the
more difficult route, that leads along the Serra itself. My reasons for
adopting this plan were, in the first place, because the low country to
the westward had already been travelled over by Pohl and Burchell, and
partly by Spix and Martius; and secondly, because I always preferred
elevated regions, on account of the greater diversity of vegetation met
with in such situations. We were accompanied for about half a league
out of the Villa by a few of the more respectable inhabitants. Shortly
after the return of my friends, we descended the Serra on which the Villa
stands, by a very rocky path, but this descent was not nearly so great as
the ascent on the opposite side, and although we now found ourselves in
a comparatively flat country, we were still at a considerable elevation.
After proceeding half a league, we encamped for the night under some
trees by the side of a small stream; here we slung our hammocks, but soon
after midnight the cold became so great, from the wind that blew down
from the Serra, that we could not sleep; and long before daybreak we were
glad to rise, and seat ourselves round a large fire, such as we always
made it a rule to burn every night we slept in the open air.
A journey of four long leagues on the following day, brought us to the
fazenda Gamelleira, where we passed the night under a large fig-tree,
there being only one small house belonging to the vaqueiro. This fazenda
belongs to a widow lady, Dona Maria Rosa, at whose house we spent some
time during the middle of the day. Soon after leaving Gamelleira, we
entered a virgin forest quite unlike any I had seen since leaving the
Province of Rio de Janeiro, and which I little expected to find in the
district where we were now travelling. It contained many large trees,
covered with numerous parasitical _Orchideæ_. The forest was about a
league in length, after which we entered upon an elevated thinly-wooded
tract, where we halted to breakfast under a beautiful shady wild-fig
(Gamelleira). In the afternoon we accomplished another two leagues, and
passed the night at a fazenda called Mangê, the road leading over a
thinly-wooded Chapada.
On the morning of the 9th, after a ride of a league and a half, we rested
on the banks of a small brook under a group of Buriti palms. The first
part of our journey we found to be hilly and stony, with intermediate
well-wooded low tracts, but the latter part of it was through a most
beautiful country of fine open grassy campos, with occasional large
wide-spreading trees. In the afternoon, we travelled a league and a half
through a country even still more beautiful than that through which we
passed in the morning. We ascended a slight elevation that led to a
flat Chapada, rather thinly-wooded, abounding in a rank kind of grass,
a species of _Andropogon_, growing in large isolated tufts, and about
three feet high, after passing through which we entered an open campo
country. From the termination of the Chapada, there is a fine view of a
large Serra, which runs from north to south, but not of great elevation
and almost perfectly level as far as the eye could reach; this is the
western side of the most elevated portion of the Serra Geral. It was
not till some time after sunset, that we could find a convenient place
for encamping, but the moon shone brightly, and we proceeded without
inconvenience. The place where we halted at last was under some small
trees near the side of a wood, but we little anticipated the plague
we were about to encounter; in half an hour we discovered that it was
swarming with the Carrapato Miudo, and so numerous that our bodies were
soon covered with them. As it was now too late to shift our quarters,
our only remedy was to set fire to the grass around our encampment.
This being done we washed ourselves with a strong infusion of tobacco,
which destroyed the Carrapato, and then with tepid water to prevent any
bad effects from the tobacco, a remedy usually adopted by the vaqueiros
whose occupations lead them daily into places infested by these annoying
insects. Having thus secured ourselves from any further attacks from this
pest, we slept soundly, and resuming our journey early next morning, we
travelled three leagues and a half through a flat sandy bushy country,
reaching about mid-day a small fazenda called Bonita, where we remained
till the following day. The small house belonging to the proprietor of
this fazenda is situated on a slight eminence, which commands a fine view
of the surrounding flat country. He formerly lived in a somewhat lower
spot at a little distance, but as his family suffered constantly from
ague, he removed to this place, since which they have been free from
this complaint, although the difference of elevation is not more than a
hundred feet.
In the morning the Juiz de Paz of the district, who lives about two
leagues to the north of Bonita, passed, and learning that we were
strangers, and about to visit the Arraial de San Domingo, a little
village two leagues and a half distant, he told me that he was on the way
thither himself, and that his own house, which he only occupied during
festa times, was much at my service during my stay there. The distance
between Bonita and the village is said to be about two leagues and a
half, but they proved to be very long ones. The road till within a short
distance of the village is pretty level, and generally sandy, but it
afterwards became more hilly and stony; it leads southward along the base
of the Serra Geral, but generally a mile or more to the west of it; the
top of the Serra still continued to be level with a precipitous face, the
rock being of a reddish-yellow. Shortly after leaving Bonita, an elevated
pyramidal peak of the same elevation as the Serra, is descried to the
S.E. presenting a remarkable resemblance to some enormous work of art; it
stands about a quarter of a mile distant from the Serra, and is placed
upon a broad regular base.
We reached the Arraial de San Domingo a little before sunset, and took
up our residence in the house of the Juiz de Paz. Like the rest of
the houses it was built of large unburned bricks, with the partitions
formed of wicker-work, plastered with clay, smoothed by the hand of the
operator, and ornamented all over with the strokes left by his fingers.
The village stands among some small hills about a league to the west
of the Serra Geral; it is very insignificant, containing only about
forty houses, a great many of which, belonging to the fazendeiros,
are untenanted, except during the festas; a small limpid stream runs
near it, which flows with great rapidity, but it contains no fish, as
they are prevented from ascending by a cataract which exists at some
distance below the village. We remained here two days, endeavouring to
hire another man to assist in the management of my troop, but I had much
difficulty in finding one, notwithstanding there were plenty of young
men idling about, who had no disposition to work for a livelihood. It is
a common saying in these parts, that for every ten who work, there are
ninety who do nothing, and maintain a wretched existence by hunting and
robbing their more industrious neighbours. Having heard of a man who had
already made a journey to Minas Geräes, I sent for him, and found him
willing to engage with me; but just as we were concluding the agreement
his wife came up and abused me violently for enticing her husband away
from her. She was a large mulatto woman, old and ugly, and what very much
surprised me, a slave, while he, who was also a mulatto, was a freeman,
and considerably younger. They had done little but quarrel during the six
years they had been married, and he seemed now determined to get rid of
her; he therefore told her, that though she had governed him for a very
long time, she should do so no longer. We could not, however, get rid of
her, till he promised that he would not remain more than a month with me;
when that time expired, he did not feel inclined to return, but went on
with me to the Gold District, when he got employment at one of the mines.
Everything being at length arranged, we started early on the morning of
the 14th, and travelling southward, still keeping on the eastern side
of the Serra, we arrived, on the forenoon of the following day, at a
fazenda called San João, and as our provisions were nearly exhausted,
I determined to obtain a fresh supply here, if possible. On making
enquiries of the owner, he informed me that as he had no cattle near
the house, it would be two or three days, at least, before a cow or ox
could be brought from a pasture, which was seven leagues distant; to this
of course I was obliged to consent, as we were now in a country where
provisions were not easily obtained. In the afternoon, I went down to
bathe in a little stream which passes at some distance from the house,
and, seeing a plant in flower among some bushes on the bank, I went in
among them to collect it, but when I came out again, I found that I had
paid dearly for so doing, as my trowsers and shirt, as well as my hands
and legs, which were bare, were thickly covered with small carrapatos.
As no time was to be lost I again took off my clothes and rushed into
the stream; it caused me much trouble to clear my shirt and trowsers of
these annoying insects, and I afterwards took great care not to walk much
about in this neighbourhood. It was not till the morning of the second
day that a fine fat cow was brought, and although killed immediately,
the flesh was not dry enough to be packed for two days more. The owner
of the fazenda, Captain Faustino Vieira, we found to be of a very
niggardly disposition, and much less hospitable than the fazendeiros I
had generally met with in this province. Although his house was a good
and commodious one, we had during our stay to put up in an open shed,
which served to cover the sugar mill belonging to the farm. He was most
exorbitant in his charges for all we had purchased of him, requiring one
half more for the cow than its usual price in that part of the country;
he charged in like manner for the farinha, and the Indian corn for my
horses.
On the day we left San João, we made a journey of three long leagues,
and put up for the night at the Fazenda de San Bernardo. During the
afternoon, one of the horses in passing between two trees broke his
pack-saddle, and it was necessary to remain here half the following
day, in order to get it properly repaired; in the interval I went out
to botanize near a large marsh, through which a small river runs. This
river, as well as several others about the same size, which we passed
both before and after we left San João, loses itself beneath a low serra
of limestone which runs parallel with the Serra Geral, and nearly two
leagues to the west of it. These rivers take their rise in the Serra
Geral, and are said to enter beneath the range before mentioned, where
they all unite, and at the distance of three leagues still further to the
westward, they again appear above ground in one stream, forming the Rio
de San Bernardo, which afterwards falls into the Rio Parannan. A person
belonging to the fazenda took me down to see the spot where the stream,
that passes this place, disappears in the mountains, when contrary to
what I expected, I found that it did not enter by an open cave, but by an
aperture far below the surface of the water, forming what the Brazilians
call a Soumidouro; the current here runs with considerable rapidity,
strikes against the nearly perpendicular face of the limestone rock, and
forming a few whirlpools is lost in the gulf below. By these streams the
remains of many of the animals of the country must be entombed in the
deep caverns through which they pass, and it is not impossible that such
deposits may, at some distant epoch, form themes for the speculation
of future geologists. As it was late in the afternoon before we left
San Bernardo, we could not complete more than a league of our journey,
through a country very similar to that on the other side of San Domingo.
Next morning after accomplishing a very long league and a half, we rested
to breakfast at a little habitation called Boa Vista, but inappropriately
named, for not only is it situated in a hollow, but is surrounded by
trees. The house had a miserable appearance, but the old woman to whom it
belonged offered us much civility and attention, and gave us some sweet
limes, which we relished exceedingly after our exposure to a burning
sun. The country here is of an undulating character, and rather thickly
wooded, though the soil is poor, being very sandy. During these journeys
my collections were much increased by the addition of many fine shrubs
and herbaceous plants, the dry sandy campos abounding with numerous
species of _Diplusodon_, elegant little shrubs with rose-coloured
flowers; while the moister portions afforded a rich harvest of curious
varieties of _Eriocaulon_, having little resemblance to our humble
British species, being tall and branched, and very remarkable from the
large white balls of flowers which each branch bears at its extremity.
In the afternoon we made another journey of two leagues, the road being
through a hilly elevated country, in which we met with several gradual
ascents, that always terminate in flat, sandy, thinly-wooded chapadas.
After travelling about a league, we came very close to the Serra Geral,
and continued our journey along its base, till we reached a convenient
spot where we encamped under some trees by the side of an open swamp,
in the centre of which grew a large grove of Buriti palms; we had been
gradually ascending, for we were not more than two hundred feet below the
summit of the Serra; our elevated situation, and a smart breeze which
began to blow after sunset, caused us to pass a colder night than we had
done for some time.
Another journey of two long leagues brought us about mid-day to the
little village of Capella da Posse, our route leading us through a
beautiful upland country. It was for the most part of an undulating
character, the road sometimes passing through large open campos,
containing small clusters of Buriti and other palms, at others through
densely wooded hollows, and not unfrequently along the bushy margins of
open sandy marshes, abounding in curious _Eriocaulons_. Within a few
miles of Posse, the mountain range takes a sweep to the S.E., and the
road consequently diverges from the Serra, to gain the village, lying
to the southward, which is surrounded by a flat, arid, and very sandy
country, covered with a few scattered stunted trees and shrubs. The
village we found to be of the most miserable description; it contains
about a dozen small houses, and a very little church; the place is so
poor that it cannot support a priest, for one who came to settle among
the inhabitants about a year before our visit left, because they either
could not or would not pay him more than half the salary he was promised.
It was late on the following day before we left, as I remained to arrange
the large collection made between San Domingo and this place. Hitherto
we had avoided travelling along the upper part of the Serra, on account
of the difficulty of finding water, but beyond Posse, the comparatively
flat sandy country merges into the mountain range, and our course
was therefore now in a S.E. direction. On the second night after our
departure, we arrived at a little hamlet, about five leagues distant,
called San Pedro; it consists of about half a dozen small houses, and
a little chapel. We passed the night in an open shed, between two of
the houses, and on rising in the morning Mr. Walker missed some of his
clothes; it was very fortunate that nothing else had disappeared, for we
were afterwards informed that the whole place was nothing better than
a nest of robbers. The fazendeiro who gave us this information said,
that whenever he had occasion to sleep there, and had money with him,
he always hid it in the bush at some distance until the morning. During
the whole of my travels, I always avoided sleeping in the open air if
possible, whenever two or three houses were seen together, otherwise
some little thing or other was always sure to disappear; indeed, in the
dry season, and where the country suited, it was always preferable to
encamp at some distance from any habitation, especially in the thinly
inhabited districts. Next day we only travelled a league and a half, and
passed the afternoon and night at the fazenda de San Antonio, the owner
of which was a coloured man, and very hospitable. Leaving this place
early in the morning, a journey of two very long leagues brought us to
the next fazenda called Dôres, but we found that for some time it had
been deserted by its inhabitants. The country through which we passed
on our journey there, was nearly one continued elevated sandy plain,
with occasional large open marshy campos, but these only existed where
any slight declivity was seen. About half way we came to a long narrow
valley, in the centre of which was observed a small and very deep river,
with a rapid current, over which we passed by a wretched old bridge,
formed of the trunks of two trees, traversed by smaller branches very
loosely laid together, so that I was glad when I saw the last of the
horses safely across, on account of the great risk of their feet slipping
between the cross sticks. In the afternoon, we went a league further to
a fazenda called Picada, which, like most of the houses we had lately
seen, was very small; it belonged to a mulatto, with a large family, who
seemed to be in no very affluent circumstances. Among the numerous plants
collected on these journeys, was one, the root of which is celebrated
by the inhabitants of these districts, as a cure for the bite of the
rattle-snake. It is a suffruticose species of _Trixis_, about four feet
high, with rather large clammy leaves; the root has a musky smell, and
it is even said that the smell alone is sufficient to kill a snake; they
call it raiz da cobra.
We started from Picada early, but did not proceed more than a league,
being detained on the road by an accident that befell the Indian guide I
had hired at Arrayas: he was walking behind another of the men, who was
mounted on a spirited young horse, when on a sudden, probably from the
sting of some insect, it started, casting up its heels in the air, and
after striking the poor Indian a violent blow in the stomach, set off
at full gallop, throwing its rider, but without doing him any harm. I
sent forward the troop in charge of Mr. Walker, while I remained behind
to attend to the Indian who seemed to be in much pain; he was greatly
relieved by a little water for which we had to wait a long time before it
could be procured, he was then placed on a quiet horse, and led slowly
to the nearest house two miles distant, but by the time we reached it,
he became so weak that his pulse was scarcely sensible. After giving him
a cup of strong warm tea, the only stimulus that was to be procured, his
pulse rose considerably, when I bled him in the arm, which relieved him
greatly; and he gradually recovered, so that we were enabled to resume
our journey in the afternoon of the following day.
We stopped at a place called Riachão, which consisted of three houses,
about a quarter of a mile distant from each other. Here, for the third
time only since I left Arrayas, I was able to purchase some Indian corn
for my horses; they stood in much need of it, as the pastures were
now very poor, consisting of coarse, dry, innutritious grasses. The
inhabitants of this district are so desperately lazy that they scarcely
plant sufficient of anything for their own use, notwithstanding the
unlimited extent of ground that each family possesses. For several nights
before we reached this place, the horses were greatly annoyed by bats,
which are very numerous on this Serra, where they inhabit the caves in
the limestone rocks; during the night we remained at Riachão, the whole
of my troop suffered more from their attacks, than they had done before
on any previous occasion. All exhibited one or more streams of clotted
blood on their shoulders and backs, which had run from the wounds made by
these animals, and from which they had sucked their fill of blood; when
a small sore exists on the back of a horse, they always prefer making
their incision in that place. The owner of the house where we stopped
informed me, that he was not able to rear cattle here, on account of the
destruction made by the bats among the calves, so that he was obliged to
keep them at a considerable distance in a lower part of the country; even
the pigs did not escape their attacks.
The singular creatures which are productive of so much annoyance,
constitute the genus _Phyllostoma_, so named from the leaf-like
appendage attached to their upper lip; they are peculiar to the continent
of America, being distributed over the immense extent of territory
between Paraguay and the Isthmus of Darien. Their tongue, which is
capable of considerable extension, is furnished at its extremity with a
number of papillæ, which appear to be so arranged as to form an organ
of suction, and their lips have also tubercles symmetrically arranged;
these are the organs by which they draw the life-blood both from man
and beast. These animals are the famous vampires, of which various
travellers have given such redoubtable accounts, and which are known to
have nearly destroyed the first establishment of Europeans in the new
world. The molar teeth of the true vampire or spectre bat, are of the
most carnivorous character, the first being short and almost plain, the
others sharp and cutting, and terminating in three and four points. Their
rough tongue has been supposed to be the instrument employed for abrading
the skin, so as to enable them more readily to abstract the blood, but
zoologists are now agreed that such supposition is wholly groundless.
Having carefully examined, in many cases, the wounds thus made on horses,
mules, pigs, and other animals, observations that have been confirmed
by information received from the inhabitants of the northern parts of
Brazil, I am led to believe that the puncture which the vampire makes
in the skin of animals, is effected by the sharp hooked nail of its
thumb, and that from the wound thus made, it abstracts the blood by the
suctorial powers of its lips and tongue. That these bats attack man as
well as animals is certain, for I have frequently been shown the scars of
their punctures in the toes of many who had suffered from their attacks,
but I never met with a recent case. They grow to a large size, and I have
killed some that measure two feet between the tips of the wings.
It was late in the afternoon when we left Riachão, and we halted about
a league beyond it, under some trees, by the side of a small marsh,
having been informed that the next watering place was more than a league
further on. We were now travelling along the Chapada, or flat top of the
Serra, and I observed that the little streams we had been crossing for
some time all flowed to the eastward, to empty themselves into the Rio
de San Francisco. We suffered from the cold during the night, and were
besides much annoyed by a large species of mosquito, the bite of which
was very painful, and on the following morning our hands and faces were
greatly swollen in consequence. We did not get away from this place
till about mid-day, owing to one of the horses having strayed to some
distance, but this loss of time was compensated by successful botanizing
made in the neighbourhood. We now passed through a rather dense wood
in a hollow, the road being dreadfully bad in consequence of the great
number of large rocks of limestone abounding there. The remainder of this
morning’s journey, of a league and a half, was through a flat, open,
and rather sandy country, when we halted for a short time by the side
of another marsh, which afforded both water and good pasturage for the
horses. In the afternoon we accomplished a further distance of two very
long leagues, and spent the night at a small fazenda called San Vidal.
Two leagues beyond this place, we reached the banks of a small river,
too deep to allow of the horses passing with their loads. We were told
at San Vidal that we should find a bridge, but we met with only the
remains of one; after much trouble in searching along the swampy banks,
we found at length a spot that answered as a ford, where all the loads
were carried over on the men’s heads, a task which occupied about an hour
and a half. We halted on the other side of the river, under the shade
of a large _Vochysia_, which was then covered with its long spikes of
yellow flowers. During the time we lost in crossing, and for more than
an hour afterwards an immense flight of a large greyish-coloured locust,
passed from south to north. They did not keep continuously on the wing,
but alighted and rose again at short intervals, and thousands of them
which fell into the stream were carried down by the current. They did
not fly above twelve feet from the ground, and their constant rise and
descent gave the air very much the appearance of falling flakes of snow.
The country through which we passed after leaving San Vidal, is nearly
one continued flat, sandy, bushy plain, thinly wooded in some places with
small trees, among which occasionally appeared a fine palm, with a stem
about twelve feet high; large tracts had lately been burned according
to the general custom at this season. In many places these sandy plains
were beautifully adorned with a dwarf species of _Diplusodon_, covered
with rose-coloured flowers, and small leaves, greatly reminding me of the
heather of my native country. A _Vellozia_, with a stem about four feet
high, was also very common, as well as several elegant stemless palms. In
the evening we went on about a league and a half, and passed the night
under some trees by the side of a small river, very similar to that we
crossed in the morning. During the whole of this day’s journey, we were
greatly annoyed by the numerous stragglers of the flight of locusts that
were following their companions, and which sometimes nearly blinded us by
striking against our faces. My little monkey amused herself by catching
them as they passed, and they appeared a favourite food with her; to
prevent their escaping, for she had frequently three at a time in her
possession, she secured them by biting off their heads as soon as they
were caught.
The river on the north side of which we slept, was very deep, and I was
greatly annoyed to find that a small bridge, that had been thrown across
it, had been nearly carried away by the floods, so that we were again
put to the trouble of having all the luggage carried over; this occupied
about an hour, when we lost no time in resuming our journey, in the hope
of reaching some habitation where I could ascertain whether we were on
the right path towards a little hamlet through which I wished to pass,
called Nossa Senhora d’Abadia. After leaving the river, we ascended a
low hill, on the top of which is a somewhat thickly wooded Chapada, and
we spent nearly half an hour in crossing it. Having accomplished this,
we saw at some distance in a hollow, a few small houses with a church,
which proved to be the little hamlet we were in quest of. It consisted
of half a dozen miserable small huts formed of wicker-work and clay, and
thatched with palm leaves, the church being also constructed of the same
materials; the houses were all in a state of decay, and uninhabited,
with the exception of one, in which we found a mulatto woman and a few
children. I had hoped to procure here some corn for my horses, but none
was to be had. I asked the woman if she could direct us to the Arraial
of Formozo, but all the information she could give was that it was three
leagues distant; not only had she never been there, but had never gone
half a league beyond the spot where she lived: she told us, however, that
if we went to the house of the Juiz de Paz of the district, who lived
about half a league from Abadia, he would give us all the information
we wanted. We proceeded there accordingly, and found his house to be
scarcely better than those we had just left, and the Juiz himself, a
little meagre old man, with a grey beard that appeared never to have
felt a razor. When I asked, according to the custom of the country, if
he would allow us to pass the middle of the day with him, he said he was
sorry he could not give us accommodation, as two travelling merchants
from the Rio de San Francisco, occupied the only spare room in his
house. As the day was fine, we took up our quarters beneath the shade
of a large tree, called Pao Parahiba (_Simaba versicolor_, St. Hil.),
which grew before his house. Still wishing to give the horses a feed
of Indian corn, I solicited the old man as a favour to sell me a small
quantity, but he assured me he had not a single grain in his possession;
this however I scarcely believed, as I saw heaps of husks lying about,
and not long after, one of my men was informed by a slave belonging to
the place, that his master had plenty. In the course of the day, having
learned my profession, he came to consult me respecting a complaint of
the chest, under which he had been labouring for about eight days; but
I very coolly told him, that being aware he had plenty of corn, I would
not attend to his complaint until he had sold me as much as would provide
a good feed for all my horses. He now confessed he had a little, and
would try to spare as much as I wanted; in half an hour he sent out about
a bushel, for which I immediately paid him the usual price, about two
shillings. I found him labouring under a slight attack of inflammation of
the lungs, for which I bled him, and left him some medicine to take. I
could not however ascertain his reason for refusing me the corn in the
first instance, but my medical knowledge ultimately acted like a charm in
procuring it.
When we left the house of the Juiz de Paz in the afternoon, he directed
us to Formozo, but as will be seen, not sufficiently clearly. We started
early with the intention of making a long stage, and after travelling
two very long leagues, we arrived at a small house in a hollow, where
two men, a negro and a mulatto, were making Farinha de Mandiocca. From
them we learned we were on the wrong road for Formozo; and when I asked
leave to pass the night here, they assured me we should find much
better accommodation a little way further on. As the hut was small, I
accordingly pushed on towards the place indicated, hoping to obtain good
shelter, as it had been thundering all the afternoon, and seemed likely
soon to rain; but when we had travelled half an hour without meeting
with any signs of a house, we reached a small muddy stream, just as it
was getting dusk, in crossing which one of the horses fell with its load
of specimens of dried plants in large skin boxes, by which the plants
became soaked; this was all the more vexatious, as some of these parcels
were the same that had formerly suffered on the journey from Duro to
Natividade. After passing this stream, we went on pretty quickly for
about another half hour, when we arrived at a small uninhabited house in
a very ruined condition, but as the roof was in great measure entire, we
determined to remain here for the night. We were much incensed against
the men who gave us such wilfully false information, for just as the
luggage was taken off the horses, it began to rain heavily, accompanied
by a strong wind; and notwithstanding that we covered the open patches
in the roof and walls as well as we could with skins, it was two hours
before we could manage to keep a candle lighted. Towards midnight the
storm ceased, when we kindled a large fire in front of the house, which
helped to warm and dry us.
On the following day we examined the collections that had been wetted,
and as the sun shone brightly, we dried them by spreading them out on the
sheets of paper in which they were packed; this task having occupied
nearly the whole day, we passed the following night under the same
shelter. In the afternoon I took a walk a little way along the banks of
a small stream which flows into a large marsh, lined on each side with
Buriti palms, and other trees and shrubs, where I collected a number of
fine plants. Next morning before starting, Mr. Walker, in searching for
a ring to fasten into the end of one of our trunks, had a very narrow
escape from being bitten by a rattle-snake: the ring had been laid down
in a corner of the room, and putting his hand to search for it in the
dark, he felt something soft which he was just about to lift, when to his
horror he discovered it to be a rattle-snake. No time was lost in killing
this frightful reptile, which was found to measure nearly five feet in
length; I had slept all night within two feet of it. We left this place
on the morning of the first of June, and after travelling about a league,
came in sight of some houses which were supposed to be Formozo, but were
informed the place was called Campinhas, and that we had left the former
place behind us a little to the westward. Half a league further on, we
halted during the middle of the day, in the house of an Indian, at a
place called Pasquada; when we arrived, the man was absent working in his
plantation, but his wife received us with great hospitality, immediately
sending one of her boys with a large basket of oranges and another of
sweet potatoes, and a few eggs, treating us in a very different manner
from that to which we had been for some time accustomed. From this place
we went on about two leagues, and encamped for the night under a large
tree, called by the inhabitants Folha larga (_Salvertia convallariodora_,
St. Hil.). The nature of the country still continued to be very much the
same as that we had traversed since we had reached the table-land of
the Serra. On the dry grassy flats, I met with a few specimens of the
beautiful Amaranthaceous plant which Martius has described under the name
of _Gomphrena officinalis_, and which is well known to the people of the
country by its vernacular name of Para-todo. It has a large tuberous
root, which is very much used as a purgative, and as its name implies,
is considered good for every complaint. The stem is about a foot high,
hairy and leafy, and bears at its extremity a large compact head of
crimson flowers. We passed a miserably cold night being obliged several
times to get out of our hammocks, in order to warm ourselves at the fire.
Had we proceeded half a mile further, we should have reached a good
sized fazenda, but I was not aware we were so near it, until we heard a
cock crow in the morning. We halted during the middle of the following
day, at a fazenda called San Francisco, about two leagues distant from
where we slept. From the time we left Arrayas, the horses had gradually
fallen off in strength, owing to the want of proper provender, as they
had depended almost entirely on the coarse rank innutritious grasses of
the mountain pastures. They had also been accustomed to a warmer climate
than that we now experienced on the table-land of the Serra, where we
were exposed to a chilly S.E. wind, which at night was particularly
piercing. The heat during the day, especially when unclouded, was very
great, and this rendered us much more susceptible to the cold at night.
At Riachão I was obliged to exchange two of my horses that could proceed
no farther, and finding here that my own horse, which I had constantly
ridden since I left Icó, in the province of Ceará, was with difficulty
kept from lagging behind the others, it became necessary, much against
my inclination, to part with him and procure another. On leaving him
behind me I felt as if parting from an old friend, as we had become so
much accustomed to each other; my chestnut horse was now replaced by
another of a pure white, with a flowing mane and tail; but it did not
remain long in my possession, for it was stolen from me soon after we
crossed the Rio de San Francisco. We left San Francisco in the afternoon,
and passed on our way to the first house from the fazenda, which is
said to be three leagues distant; but as the leagues in this district
were even much longer than those of the more populated parts of Goyaz,
the distance in reality was far greater. Towards dusk we encamped under
some small Tingi trees (_Magonia glabrata_, St. Hil.), from the stems
of which we suspended our hammocks. Some of the large undulating grassy
campos through which we passed, between the fazenda and the place of our
encampment, had been burned a few weeks before. These were now covered
with numerous herbaceous plants in full flower; and I observed that in
those parts that remained untouched by the fire, the same plants were in
a more backward state, none being yet in blossom; but over the burned
tracts, the new grass was springing up vigorously, promising soon to
yield an excellent pasture for the cattle.
On the following morning, after having proceeded about half a league, we
reached the Rio Carynhenha, which forms the boundary line between the
province of Pernambuco, through the south-west corner of which we had for
a few days been passing, and that of Minas Geräes, so that on crossing
it we at length entered the latter province. After travelling a further
distance of two leagues, we halted to breakfast under a wide-spreading
Piki tree, on the margin of a Buriti swamp. The first part of our day’s
journey was through an open campo country, the greater part of which
had been lately burned; but the latter half was through a hilly and
thinly-wooded tract. The day being cloudy, and the wind blowing freshly
from the S.E., made us all complain much of the cold. In the afternoon it
was my intention to reach the next house, said to be three leagues from
that we had passed in the morning, but after travelling till dark without
seeing it, we encamped for the night near some bushes on the banks of a
small river; and as there were no trees here from which to suspend our
hammocks, we contented ourselves with sleeping on hides spread on the
ground.
In passing through a wooded campo (Taboleira coberta) we came upon a
large ant-eater (_Myrmecophaga jubata_), which Mr. Walker followed with
the intention of shooting, but his gun missed fire: we all pursued it on
foot with sticks, as none of our guns happened to be loaded. I was the
first to come up with it, and being well aware of the harmless nature of
its mouth, I seized it by its long snout, by which I tried to hold it,
when it immediately rose upon its hind legs, and clasping me round the
middle with its powerful fore paws, completely brought me to a stand;
one of the men now coming up, struck it a blow on the head with a thick
stick, which brought it for an instant to the ground. Notwithstanding
it was frequently stunned by the blows it received, it always raised
itself again and ran off. At last, I recollected the small pistols which
I always carried in my jacket pocket, loaded with ball, when by the
first shot through the breast it fell dead. It was a very large animal,
measuring about six feet without including the tail, which together with
the long hair by which it is covered, measured full four feet more. It
ran very slowly, owing to the peculiar organization of its fore feet,
two of the claws of which are very large and doubled up when it walks or
runs, causing one side of the foot to rest on the ground. The proper, or
rather principal use of these powerful claws, is to assist in obtaining
the white-ant, the food on which he lives. The large clay nests of these
insects are very common in those upland campos; and when the ant-bear
wants a meal, he attacks one of these hillocks with his fore claws, tears
out a portion of the side, and pushes in his long slender tongue, which
is covered with a viscid saliva, to which myriads of the ants adhere, and
opening his little mouth he draws it in; now shutting his lips, pushes it
out a second time, retaining the ants in his mouth till the tongue has
been completely exserted, when he swallows them. We afterwards met with
numbers of these strange-looking animals.
The small river near which we slept, was full of rounded blocks of
limestone, which being very slippery, rendered our passage across it
difficult, but fortunately all the luggage was got over in safety. We
now travelled for a league through a bare, arid, hilly country, in
which almost the only tree that exists, is a small gregarious species
of _Vochysia_, and arrived at the house we expected to reach the night
before, where I remained all day in order to preserve the skin of the
ant-eater, and to arrange some of my other collections. This place is
called Capão da Casca, and consists of but one small miserable hut,
entirely formed of leaves of the Buriti palm. It was inhabited by a
mulatto, his wife, and three children; there were but two very small
apartments, so that we were obliged to sleep on our hide beds spread out
on the ground before the house, where our men had kindled a large fire.
The house is situated in the mouth of a small wooded valley, and the only
cultivated ground I saw was a plantation of mandiocca. The miserable
poverty of the family seemed to be entirely owing to the laziness of the
man, who was a perfect picture of indolence.
We left early on the following morning, with the intention of making a
long journey, as the next house was said to be six long leagues distant,
which I set down as equivalent to ten legal ones. Shortly after leaving
the house we had to cross a small stream, the bed of which was very
boggy, so that one of the horses stuck fast, and in trying to extricate
himself fell, together with his load, into the stream. It was some time
before the boxes could be taken off, by which time they became quite full
of water,—fortunately it was not a load of botanical specimens; but one
of the boxes contained the last remains of my stock of paper for packing
dried plants, as well as a little box full of the skins of bats and other
small quadrupeds, together with some insects, all of which were more or
less destroyed. As this was the first horse that attempted to pass, I
would not allow any of the others to venture across with their loads,
all were unpacked and passed over by the men in safety. By the time
everything was again put into travelling order, and we had gone on about
half a league, it was mid-day, when we halted under a large tree in the
hollow near a wooded marsh. Our first care was to dry all the articles
that had been wetted in the morning, which operation was much favoured by
the sun that shone brilliantly.
Some of the campos we passed through were covered with a large species of
tree-lily, bearing a profusion of beautiful purple flowers. Early in the
afternoon we continued our journey, and halted for the night in a wooded
campo, a little above a large Buriti swamp, sleeping on a hard bed, there
being no place wherein to sling our hammocks, and suffering much from the
cold. Although accustomed daily both to privations and fatigue, there was
an indescribable pleasure in the wild life we had long been leading; it
is true we were deprived of nearly all the comforts of civilized life,
but we were at the same time free from all its restraints. When we rose
in the morning we knew not where our next sleeping place might be, but
the choice was almost always at our command, which however was not made
at random, but constantly regulated by some indispensable requisites,
such as water and grass for the horses, trees from which to suspend our
hammocks, and wood wherewith to make our nightly fire. We had hitherto
met with but little difficulty in finding, all these together; but the
part of the Serra Geral on which we were now travelling called the Serra
das Araras, was in most places so destitute of arboreous vegetation, that
trees were seldom met with in combination with other requisites for an
encampment.
On arriving at a place where we wished to remain, each person had his own
department to attend to. The first thing was to unload the horses, at
which all assisted. Mr. Walker and I always saddled and unsaddled our own
animals: two of the men then took them to the spot that offered the best
pasture, where they were left after fastening their fore legs together
with leathern straps to prevent them from straying during the night;
these men on their return brought with them as much dry wood as they
could carry. Another man was despatched with a large leather bag to fetch
water; while Mr. Walker and I arranged the packages together in such a
manner that they could readily be covered over with skins in the event
of rain; two large trunks put together served as our table, while two
smaller ones supplied us with seats. Generally before the men returned,
Mr. Walker had kindled a fire, and while supper was preparing, which was
also our dinner, for we took only two meals a day, I occupied myself in
preparing and changing the specimens collected on the previous days. By
the time the water was boiled for our tea, the piece of dried beef which
had been put on a wooden spit, and suspended over the hot embers, was
ready for our supper, as it required to be little more than heated. The
tea, dried beef, and farinha de mandiocca constituted our usual fare; and
I am certain that if any of our European friends, who had never seen this
kind of provision, could have been suddenly transported to one of our
meals, he would have concluded, from the appearance of our food, that
we were eating saw-dust and roasted leather. Our greatest comfort was a
large stock of excellent tea, which I laid in before leaving Pernambuco,
and which fortunately lasted till we reached a more civilized place,
where more was procured; this was my only beverage during the whole of
this long and protracted journey, and nothing could be more refreshing at
the end of a day’s ride under a burning sun.
I was told when I arrived in Brazil, that I should find it necessary
to mix either wine or brandy with the water I drank, but a very short
experience taught me, not only that they were unnecessary, but decidedly
hurtful to those whose occupations lead them much into the sun. Whoever
drinks stimulating liquors, and travels day after day in the sun, will
certainly suffer from headache, and in countries where miasmata prevail,
will be far more liable to be attacked by the diseases which are there
endemic. The dried beef of an ox generally lasted us from three weeks
to a month, by the end of which time it was scarcely fit to be eaten,
becoming as hard as a chip of wood. In moist rainy weather it was very
difficult to preserve it, for with the utmost care we could not prevent
the breeding of maggots, from which it required to be freed both before
and after it was roasted. We were seldom, however, more than a fortnight
without provisions of some kind or other, either in the shape of deer,
monkeys, armadillos, large lizards, or birds of various kinds.
We started early from the Buriti swamp where we slept, with the
expectation of reaching the fazenda do Rio Claro about mid-day, but a
little before that time we found, by the direction in which we were
going, that we had taken a wrong road. A little after mid-day we came to
the S.E. termination of that part of the Serra das Araras on which we had
been travelling, whence we had an uninterrupted view of the vast plain
that stretches to the south and east, studded here and there with a few
small lakes. After descending the Serra by an easy path, we rested during
the middle of the day beneath some trees, by the side of a little stream
of cool water that came rushing down from the Serra, not knowing where
we were, nor when we might meet with any one to give us information. We
soon found the track again, and travelling through a flat thinly-wooded
country, on an indifferent path, for about half an hour, we arrived at a
small house, which we found empty; and a little further on we came upon
another in the same state. Following the same path for about an hour, we
met a black man and a boy, from whom we learned that we should arrive at
a fazenda about half a league further on; we likewise ascertained at the
same time that the road we had chosen was a round of about three leagues
and a half to the fazenda do Rio Claro, but that it was much better than
the one usually travelled; this at least was some consolation for the
error we had committed. It was nearly sunset when we reached a small
fazenda, called San José, where we put up for the night; the house was
not only small, but in a wretchedly ruinous condition, and belonged to a
mulatto, who did not seem to be very industrious. The Rio Urucuya, which
runs directly east from the Serra Geral, and empties itself into the Rio
de San Francisco a little below San Romão, passes close to the house, and
is even there of considerable width and depth. On this day’s journey I
collected no new plants, being the only instance of failing to do so in
my travels since I left the coast.
Next morning, after receiving proper directions for the fazenda do Rio
Claro, we left San José, and not long after we started came to a large
rivulet which was so deep and muddy that it became necessary for all the
luggage to be carried over by the men, and owing to the difficulties of
the fording this occupied about two hours. As the stream is narrow, and
the banks high on each side, it would not be difficult, in the course
of a day, to form a good wooden bridge over it at a trifling expense,
for plenty of wood exists close by; but this is scarcely to be expected
from those who will not give themselves the trouble of erecting a decent
house to live in, notwithstanding they are surrounded by an abundance of
materials. When all had been passed over, I found it was then too late
to go on until we had breakfasted, we therefore remained here till the
afternoon. While at breakfast, an elderly white woman and her son arrived
on the opposite side of the stream, and after having crossed it, they
remained during the middle of the day in our encampment. We found this
woman, notwithstanding her age, to be lively and active, qualities not
common among Brazilian women. I learned from her that she was going to
a place at a distance of five days’ journey, to fulfil a vow she had
made to San Antonio, some short time before, when she was suffering from
illness. During our stay at this place, we were greatly tormented with
carrapatos. We started early, and shortly before sunset arrived at last
at the fazenda do Rio Claro, having passed through a flat, thinly-wooded
country, covered with several large coarse kinds of grass.
This fazenda takes its name from a little stream that flows past it, and
falls into the Urucuya, about a league further south. Although the house
was large and commodious, compared with the generality of others in those
parts, the owner, Senhor Manoel Lucas, would not give us accommodation
for the night, but sent us to a small open shed in front of the hut of
one of his slaves, where we slung our hammocks, after having tied up some
hides to keep out a cold wind that blew down from the Serra. The men
slept in the open air, on the ground, by the side of a large fire. As I
had a great many plants to pack up, and as it was necessary to get two
more large hide trunks made to put them in, we remained four days at Rio
Claro for this purpose. During our stay we found the proprietor to be no
less exorbitant than Captain Faustino, of San João, in the extravagant
prices he demanded for the dried hides and Indian corn that I bought of
him, and equally inhospitable in his demeanour.
The whole time we remained here, was spent in the shed before mentioned,
where we were roasted by day, and starved with cold by night. We found
it so extremely cold in our hammocks, for want of a proper supply of
blankets, that we rose several times during the night in order to warm
ourselves by the fire around which the men slept.
It was on the afternoon of the 12th of June that we left the inhospitable
banks of the Rio Claro, and after a journey of two leagues, arrived at
the next fazenda, called Boquerão, from the owner of which we met with
a very different reception from that at the Rio Claro; we were not only
accommodated in his own house, but shortly after our arrival, he prepared
for us an excellent supper of fresh beef, a luxury we had not enjoyed
since we left the fazenda of San João, near San Domingo. I now regretted
very much that I had not delayed my preparations until our arrival at
this place, as we should have found everything more comfortably provided.
The trees since we descended the Serra, I observed to be very different
from those we had there met with, resembling much more those existing in
the Sertão country of Piauhy; they consisted of the Cambaiba (_Caratella
çambaiba_, St. Hil.), the Folha larga (_Salvertia convallariodora_, St.
Hil.), two species of arboreous _Bignonia_, with yellow flowers, and
the Sicupíra (_Commilobium polygalæflorum_, Benth.); there were besides
a fine _Gerascanthus_, bearing large panicles of white flowers, a
silk-cotton-tree (_Bombax_), and a simple leaved _Rhopala_.
Our host, whose name I regret I have neglected to record, would not allow
us to depart on the following morning till we had breakfasted. As our
stock of provisions was again becoming short, he sold me as much dried
beef as I thought would carry us to San Romão, which was not now many
days’ journey distant. We rested during the heat of the day at the next
fazenda, after travelling two leagues and a half; in the afternoon we
went another two leagues, and remained for the night at the fazenda of
Santa Maria. The country still continued flat and dry, partly open and
partly wooded; some of the open places abounded, as far as the eye could
reach, with the large yellow clay nests of the white ant, among which we
saw several ant-eaters, and a large flock of the ostrich of the country,
which, as soon as they saw us, fled with extraordinary rapidity. From
Santa Maria, we went on to a little hamlet called Espigão, half a league
distant; it consisted of a few small houses, at one of which we stopped
to make enquiries about the road; it belonged to a tailor, who was at
work outside the door; as soon as we arrived, about half a dozen young
women, of all colours, and dirty in the extreme, came out to reconnoitre
us. Following the directions, we went on about a league further, and
halted to breakfast at an uninhabited house, by the side of a beautiful
stream of clear water, flowing from a Buriti palm swamp. Resuming our
journey in the afternoon, we crossed the stream, but were puzzled which
road to take of the two that presented themselves, one led to the south,
and another to the east; and as our general direction was easterly, we
followed that course. After travelling about two leagues and a half
through a very arid and barren country, consisting of long flat sandy
tracts, wooded with a few stunted trees and bushes, and large open Buriti
swamps, we arrived at another uninhabited house. During the latter part
of this journey, the road inclined so much towards the north, that I felt
certain we had not taken the right one, and determined to retrace our
steps on the following morning, and take that which led to the south. As
the house was in a very ruinous state, we slept under some trees; and as
the nights had now become too cold for the use of hammocks, we generally
abandoned them, and adopted instead an ox-hide laid on the ground, by the
side of a large fire, with a trunk placed at our heads, and two or three
others alongside; a heap of wood was always collected and laid within
reach, and as the hardness of our beds never allowed us to sleep too
soundly, the fire was always well kept up; the men had another fire to
themselves.
On the following morning we returned to the place where the two roads
separated, and breakfasted under the shade of a large Sicupíra tree.
Fortunately, just as we were about to start, the same old lady and her
son whom we met at the fazenda do Rio Claro, now passed us, on her
return from the fulfilment of her vow; from her we learned that we were
altogether out of our proper course, and that to regain it, it was
necessary to return to Espigão, at which place there were also two roads,
and that we had been directed to the wrong one; we had, therefore, no
alternative but again to retrace our steps, having lost a day and a half
by this erroneous information. On reaching Espigão, we took the other
road without making any further enquiries, and after travelling about a
league and a half, reached the banks of a small river, half an hour after
sunset. We passed the night under some trees on the banks of the stream,
which is called the Riberão de Area; it is only about twenty yards broad,
and shallow enough to allow the horses to pass over with their loads, but
as the bottom was very bad, from the great quantity of smooth rounded
stones, I thought it safer to have all the luggage conveyed over next
morning in a fine large canoe, which we found made fast on the opposite
side, by which means we escaped all risk of damage from the slipping of
the horses’ feet. The country around this place was very pretty, being
flat on each side of the river to a considerable distance, well covered
with grass, and thinly wooded; immediately above the ford, there is a
long rapid, the rushing of the water over which is heard at a great
distance. The canoe being large, we were not long in passing the luggage,
and afterwards we made a journey of about two leagues and a half, through
a slightly undulating, arid, and barren country, consisting chiefly of
bare grassy hills, covered in many places with abundance of ferruginous
stones, and flat, sandy, thinly-wooded Taboleiras. We rested by the side
of a small stream which flowed from a Buriti swamp, and as there were
no large trees, we sheltered ourselves from the burning sun among some
bushes which grew on the margin of the rivulet. In the afternoon, another
journey of two leagues and a half through a similar country, brought
us to a little fazenda called Taboca, which belonged to a mulatto. On
starting next, morning, the owner accompanied us for nearly half a mile,
in order to put us upon the right road, there being several other paths
leading to different places.
A journey of about ten leagues from this place, which occupied two days
and a half, brought us to the banks of the Rio Urucuya, at a place called
San Miguel, little more than a league to the westward of its junction
with the Rio de Francisco, and here we had to cross it; the stream was
about a gunshot in breadth, and very deep. As there was no regular ferry
established here, we hired a small canoe, by means of which all the
packages were safely taken across in two hours. The horses were passed
about a quarter of a mile further up, at a place where they had only
about half the breadth of the river to swim. It was in the morning that
we arrived at this place, and although no corn could be obtained for the
horses, I determined to remain till the following day, in order to give
them a rest, all being in a very exhausted state, in consequence of their
long journey, and the want of nourishing provender. We were now only five
leagues from the Villa de San Romão, and were the more anxious to reach
it as soon as possible, as our stock of provisions had been exhausted the
evening before we reached the ferry. The journey from Boquerão occupied
a longer time than we anticipated, and we were disappointed on finding,
that after leaving that place, we could obtain nothing by purchase at
a few small fazendas we passed. I have everywhere observed during my
travels in Brazil, and the same remark has been made by M. Auguste de
St. Hilaire, that the nearer a traveller comes to a town or village, the
less chance he finds of being able to renew his stock of provisions. The
men had still a few french-beans and a small piece of fat bacon left, but
not more than would suffice them for a single meal; Mr. Walker and I had
now been two days and a half without tasting any solid food, sustaining
ourselves during that time entirely on strong tea, for we had not been
able to meet with a single wild animal of any description; we had often
before suffered severely from thirst, but had never been so long without
food; it was fortunate we had the tea, as it prevented us from suffering
nearly as much from hunger, as I expected we should have done. We stopped
at a house on the south side of the river, which was both miserable and
small, belonging to an old black woman, the only resident there; she had
nothing, not even a fowl to sell. We slept in a part of the house that
wanted a roof, and had only a small portion of the walls entire; a large
fire was kindled in the middle of the floor, by the side of which we
spread out hides for our beds.
As there was some difficulty in finding one of the horses, it was late
next morning before we left the banks of the Urucuya. After travelling
nearly a league, we halted for some time at a place where there are two
small lakes, called As Dus Irmãas. We did not proceed further, having
been informed, before we started, that we should not meet with a drop of
water for the next three 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 Romão; 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; 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 Romão, 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 Romão is situated on the south bank of the
Rio de San Francisco, in the district of Paracatú; 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 clay, there being no stone
in the neighbourhood; the principal streets run parallel with the river,
and the three which are nearest to it, are almost every year inundated by
the overflowing of its waters during the season of the rains. The other
part of the town being somewhat higher, is exempt from this annoyance;
the house we inhabited was one of those exposed to the floods, and
although the floor was at least four feet above the level of the street,
it required to be abandoned annually for some time; during the great
flood of 1838, to which I was witness on my voyage up the Rio de San
Francisco, the water rose five feet above the level of the floor, and the
walls still retained evident marks of the fact. The population consists
chiefly of people of colour, and I do not believe that a dozen white
families exist in the whole Villa. Most of the respectable inhabitants
are shopkeepers, who supply the fazendeiros, and those who reside in the
surrounding country, with European and other goods. The place cannot
be said to have any trade of its own, the principal source of traffic
being fish, caught in the river, which after being salted and dried,
is sold to the inhabitants of the Sertoes, who are remarkably fond of
this food. The better class of the inhabitants are greatly addicted to
gambling, resorting every day for that purpose to the house of an old
captain, who is the owner of a spirit shop; having occasion to call
several times on some of them, with letters of recommendation that I
brought from Goyaz, I seldom found them at home, being always directed
to the above house, where they were sure to be found, in company with
one of the two priests belonging to the place, and this on Sundays, no
less than on other days. This priest, Padre Francisco Fernandes Vianna,
although a man of most benevolent disposition, was far from being a model
of morality to his flock; to him, however, I was indebted for several
acts of kindness, as also to Lieut. Col. Thomas de Conceição, a person
of considerable intelligence, who forms an exception to the general
character I have given of the inhabitants. From this gentleman I received
letters of recommendation to the excellent and learned Padre Antonio
Nogueira Duarte, of Contendas, a small village between the Rio de San
Francisco and the Diamond District, a person who is spoken of in the
highest terms, both by St. Hilaire and by Spix and Martius. I expected to
pass through this village, and to have the pleasure of meeting with one,
who though now a very old man, still takes a delight in the pursuits of
natural history, but when I found that in order to visit him, I should
be obliged to make a round of several leagues, I renounced all idea of
doing so, both on account of the fatigued condition of my horses, and of
the great desire I now had to reach a place where my funds, which were in
a very reduced state, could be renovated. The first evening, as I walked
through the town, I was surprised to hear one or more fiddles playing in
almost every house; this is the instrument almost exclusively used by the
barbers in Rio de Janeiro, and the other large cities and towns along the
coast, but in the interior it is very seldom met with, the guitar being
a greater favourite, and generally used both by ladies and gentlemen. In
San Romão, however, this usual fashion is departed from, no young lady’s
education being considered complete unless she has learned to handle the
bow.
It being now the dry season, the river was many feet below its banks, and
although of great breadth, appeared narrow when compared with what it was
when I first beheld it, in 1838. It abounds in fish, which at this season
are brought in canoes in great plenty, and sold in the Villa at a very
cheap rate. During my residence there, I prepared specimens of most of
the ordinary kinds, which are now in the British Museum. The following
are the names of a few of those which are most esteemed.
1. _Surubím._[13]—This fish, which is a species of sturgeon,
often reaches the length of six feet. It is taken most commonly
in nets, but sometimes also, especially by the Indians,
by being shot at with an arrow, to which a strong cord is
attached. The flesh of this species dried is that principally
sold in the Sertão; I have frequently tasted it, and found it
excellent.
2. _Curumatám._—This, as well as the three following, belongs
to the _Salmonidæ_; it is about two feet in length, and both
in colour and taste its flesh has a very near approach to
our common salmon. It inhabits the bottom of the river, and
is generally taken with a drag-net, but never with the hook.
During my stay in San Romão, several canoes came in every
morning, nearly full of them, and sold at about a halfpenny
each fish. The stomach is very thick and muscular, but in all
those I examined, I never found anything but a large quantity
of fine earth, in hard lumps.
3. _Dourádo._—A beautiful fish, from two to four feet in
length; it is generally taken with the hook, but is not
considered delicate food. We, nevertheless, relished the first
we ate very much, it being this species I bought of the boy on
the day we arrived at San Romão.
4. _Matrixám._—Somewhat similar to the _Dourádo_, but smaller,
and considered a much superior fish.
5. _Piau branco._—From one to two feet long, and with much
larger scales than any of the others; it is taken with the
hook, and its flesh is much esteemed.
6. _Curvínha._—About two feet in length, with a scaly head; it
takes the bait readily, but the flesh, which is soft, is not
considered good.
7. _Traíra._—Also about two feet long and rather slender; it
takes the bait, and is much esteemed.
8. _Pirá._—About two and a half feet long, with a protruded
beak; is only taken with the drag-net, and is considered a
delicate fish.
9. _Mandí._—One of the _Siluridæ_, and perhaps a species of
_Mystus_; from a foot and a half to two feet long, with no
apparent scales, and long barbecels proceeding backwards from
its mouth. It keeps near the bottom of the river, is taken by
the hook, and considered one of the best fish it produces.
10. _Pocomó._—This and the following also belong to
the _Siluridæ_, and are, perhaps, species of the genus
_Hypostomus_. The _Pocomó_ is an ugly black fish, about two
feet long, covered with large hard plates. It keeps near the
bottom, and is taken in great plenty in the nets which are
thrown for other fish. During my visit, the sandy shores of the
river were covered with those which had been thrown out of the
nets. It is seldom eaten, but makes good bait for other fish.
11. _Cascuda._—This species is smaller than the last, and very
much resembles it, except that it is of a yellow colour.
The _Piráuh_ and _Piába_, of both of which I have already spoken,
are as abundant here as they are below the Falls of Paulo Affonso;
besides these, there must be many others which I had not an opportunity
of seeing. During the whole time we remained in San Romão, we lived
principally on fish; indeed, it is so abundant and so cheap, that fresh
beef is rarely offered in the market. The navigation of the river being
uninterrupted from this place to the Falls of Paulo Affonso, many canoes
are continually passing up and down; their principal cargo up is salt,
from the manufactories which exist on the vast saline flats on both sides
of the river below Porto do Salgado; this is partly sold for money, and
partly exchanged for hides, tobacco, &c.
As it was essentially requisite to arrange and pack the large collections
made during our journey from Arrayas, and as our long journey now
began to manifest its effects on the men, as well as on the animals, I
determined to give them a sufficient rest, by remaining a fortnight at
San Romão; accordingly the horses were sent to pasture on a large island
in the river, immediately opposite the town; this island is about half
a league long, and a quarter of a mile broad; the pasture there was not
very good, but the horses remained much safer than in any other place.
Horse stealing is so very common in this quarter, that scarcely a troop
arrives, from any distance, that does not lose one or more animals;
before our arrival, we became aware of this fact, and were advised to
put our troop on the island for safety. As the country was greatly dried
up around the town, by the effects of the long drought, I did not here
add much to my collections; and, indeed, a slight accident that occurred
to me, prevented my walking about so much as I should otherwise have
done. A few days after we arrived, I went to pay a visit to a gentleman,
when in going up a few steps at the door, my foot slipped, and my leg
came with considerable violence against the sharp edge of one of the
brick steps; the wound, although small, troubled me greatly, for owing to
the fatigue I had previously undergone, and the innutritious nature of
our food, my body had evidently fallen into a somewhat scorbutic state.
I did not finally recover from the effects of this accident till nearly
two months afterwards, when I rested several weeks in the house of a kind
friend in the Gold District.