The large collections which I made between Crato and Oeiras, and in the neighbourhood of the latter place, I had intended to send to Maranham to be shipped for England, but this was now impossible, on account of the great distance between Oeiras and Pernambuco or Bahia. There is but little traffic between these places, and had it not been for a fortunate occurrence, there would have been no resource left but to take them with me to Rio. From Pernambuco I brought letters with me to Dr. Casimiro José de Moraes Sarmento, a young advocate, who held a small government appointment in Oeiras, his native place; with this gentleman I formed a very intimate friendship; besides being well educated, I found him possessed of a very superior intelligence, of much moral worth, and of great goodness of heart. He had brought with him from Pernambuco, where he studied, a fine library of Portuguese, French, and English works, of all which he generously allowed me the freest use. The moment I was preparing to leave Oeiras, he suddenly determined to return to Pernambuco, and kindly consented to take my collections with him, which being packed in such a manner as only to form a single load, I despatched on one of my own horses.
As far as I could learn, only one Englishman had visited this part of the country; several of the inhabitants still remembered Drs. Spix and Martius, and the house in which they resided was pointed out to me by the old Barão, who was then, however, a person of but small note in the place. During the four months I passed in this city, I met with the greatest civility and hospitality from all classes of society, much more, indeed, than in any other place in the empire in which I resided for any period. The Barão was particularly obliging, for besides providing a house for me, he sent my horses to one of his fazendas to graze, and I was a frequent guest at his table: he dines quite in the old baronial fashion, his table, which is very long, extending from one end to the other of a large room. He himself sits in a chair at the head of it, and his guests are seated on long forms placed on each side, the lowest places being often filled by his commonest shepherds. Captain Antonio de Moraes, the father of my young friend, and Captain Faria, I particularise among a host of others to whom I am indebted for innumerable services; indeed, I shall ever look back on my stay at Oeiras, as one of the most pleasant portions of my pilgrimage in Brazil.
On the afternoon of the 22nd of July, we bade adieu to the city of Oeiras, and commenced our overland journey to Rio,—a journey which, though both tedious and painful, yielded me a far more abundant harvest of novelties than I anticipated. It was my intention to leave in the morning, but while preparing to do so, one of the men I had engaged to go as far as the southern extremity of the province of Piauhy, came to inform me that he had changed his mind: I instantly applied to the Barão for his assistance in procuring another, and as soon as he learned what had occurred, he sent for the man, who, still refusing to go, was sent to prison. He then kindly informed me, that he would allow me the use of a soldier, and having sent for one, told him that if he served me faithfully, he would give him his discharge on his return. I did not much like the look of this man, his face having one of the most cut-throat expressions I ever saw: I had no help but to accept his services, though in the end I was glad to get rid of him, as he proved to be one of the most insolent, lazy, and sulky fellows I ever had in my service. Captain Moraes and several other of my friends accompanied me for about a league from the city, when, with their hearty wishes for a safe return to my native country, we parted. About a league further we encamped for the night, under some large trees by the side of a small stream.
Our route was now nearly in a southerly direction, and lay through a beautiful country, consisting of diversified and park-like scenery. Many large flat tracts occur, to which the name of Chapada is given; these are but thinly wooded, the trees consisting of the Cashew (Anacardium occidentale), Jatobá (Hymenæa), Parahiba (Simaruba versicolor), and the Folha largo (Salvertia convallariodora),—a beautiful tree with large leaves, and spikes of sweet-smelling flowers, not unlike those of the horse-chesnut. As the weather was now quite settled, we generally slept in the open air at night, slinging our hammocks between trees. At a short distance from Oeiras, we passed through some of the national fazendas, and on one of them had an opportunity of seeing the method adopted by the vaqueiros for catching the cattle, which roam about in large herds nearly in a wild state. In the southern provinces, it is well known that the cattle are caught by the lasso and bolas, the open country of those districts allowing their free use, which is not the case in the north. The instrument used here is a slender pole about nine feet long, a little thicker at one end than at the other; into the thicker end, a quadrangular pointed piece of iron is fixed, projecting only about half an inch; mounted on horseback, with this pole in his hand, the vaqueiro selects with his eye the animal he wishes to take, and pursuing it at full gallop, he soon overtakes it, and striking it on the hip with the armed end of the pole, while it is going at full speed, he easily upsets it, and before it can rise again, the vaqueiro has dismounted, and secured it; in this manner nearly all the cattle are taken in this province. There are no fences between the different properties, but every fazendeiro has a brand, with which all his horses and cattle are marked before they are allowed to roam at liberty, and by which they are, of course, easily recognised. The cattle of Piauhy supply for the most part the markets of Maranham, Bahia, and Pernambuco; droves are also occasionally sent into the province of Minas Geräes; they are generally of a large size, and vary very much in colour, though brown is the prevailing one; their horns are long, pointed, and wide-spreading. We stopped a night at one of these national fazendas, which was entirely devoted to the rearing of horses, and the principal vaqueiro informed me that it produced annually about 400 foals. The horses of Piauhy are in general small, and not long-lived, seldom exceeding ten or twelve years; those used on the cattle farms, owing to the violent exercise of hunting the cattle, do not last so long. The riding horses are broken in with great care, and some of the paces which they are taught are very pleasant; they are never shod, and this is less necessary here than in many of the other provinces, for the roads are generally level and soft. The price of a good working horse, that is, one fit for carrying a load on a journey, is seldom more than three pounds.
We were now in the country to which the name of Campos Agrestes is given in Piauhy. These Campos are partly open, and partly wooded; the open tracts are covered with coarse perennial grasses, and are not entirely destitute of trees, but all are more or less deciduous, with the exception of one which is truly evergreen; this is a species of Zizyphus, known by the name of Joazeira; it is not a large tree, but has wide-spreading branches that give an excellent shade, of which we often took advantage during the heat of the day. The cattle also are very fond of the shade of this tree, as well as of the sweet fleshy fruit, about the size of a small cherry, which it produces in great abundance, and which when ripe falls to the ground; this fruit, called Joá, is also eaten by the inhabitants. Many of the trees of these tracts have a stunted appearance, their branches being gnarled and tortuous. Sometimes large swampy tracts exist in the Campos Agrestes, and in these grow clusters of Buriti palms, the soft fruit of which is the principal food of three beautiful species of Maccaw which frequent them in great numbers. These birds generally fly in pairs, and rend the air with their loud cries of ará, ará, ará, and hence the Indian name of Arára. One of the most common of these is entirely blue (Psittacus hyacinthinus, Lath.); the others are blue also, with the exception of their breasts, which in one of them is orange, while the other has it of a crimson colour. Many of the level Chapadas, where the soil is of red clayey character, are covered with numerous ant-hills, often six or eight feet high, which have the appearance of clay huts when seen at a distance; these are formed by the white ant, and as these insects constitute the principal food of the Ostrich of the country (Rhea Americana), and the great ant-bear, the Tamandúa of the natives (Myrmecophaga jubata), we saw many of them in the neighbourhood of the ant-hills. In the more closely wooded districts, the trees very much resemble the Catingas of the Campos Mimosos, and like them are deciduous in the dry season.
On the afternoon of the 29th of July, we reached a little hamlet called Algodoes, distant thirty-four leagues from Oeiras, where we remained for a day. We halted in the morning, and breakfasted at a fazenda called Pombas, about three leagues from Algodoes; and when we left, a fine large mastiff dog that accompanied us, and which had been presented to me by Captain Moraes, was not to be found: this appeared the more remarkable, as he had become very much attached to us all. I thought he might have gone into the woods after some animal, and would soon follow us, but as he did not appear on the following morning, I sent Mr. Walker back to make enquiries about him, when the vaqueiro told him he had not been seen since we left. I strongly suspected at the time that this man, who was the only person on the farm, had stolen him; nor was I mistaken, as several days afterwards I heard from a person who passed a night there, that he saw the dog tied up, and was told by the vaqueiro that he had been presented to him by an Englishman who was going up to Minas.
At about a league beyond Pombas, we arrived at a large fresh-water lake extending two leagues in length, but not more than a quarter of a league in breadth; it terminates at Algodoes; and nearly all along its whole length, it is bounded by a belt of Carnahuba palms; the road led by the side of it, and we frequently came suddenly upon some large alligators (Jacaré), which were basking in the shallow water by the margin. We also saw many Capibaras (Hydrochærus Capybara), one troop of which, consisting of upwards of fifty individuals, crossed the path about a hundred yards before us, and entered the water; they crossed the lake by swimming, and we saw them land on the opposite side. Many parts of the lake were covered with the large floating leaves of a water lily (Nymphæa), which unfortunately was not in flower. During the night we heard the Capibaras plunging in the lake quite near to the house in which we slept; and I was told they are seldom molested, as their flesh is not good to eat; they are, therefore, very tame in this neighbourhood. Wishing to procure a specimen for the sake of its cranium, I went out early in the morning with my gun, but after walking nearly half a league along the side of the lake, not one was to be seen: we saw, however, plenty of alligators, and a very large one, which was floating like an old log on the surface of the water, at but a little distance from the shore, was too tempting a shot to be passed by: I fired at his head, my gun being loaded with large shot, when making a spring for the deep water, it turned upon its back and floated, apparently dead. Believing it to be so, I sent in Manoel, my Indian servant to bring it out: he waded up to his chin in the water, and attempted to seize the animal by the tail, when it turned suddenly round and disappeared. I know not which of the two was most frightened, for Manoel gave a loud roar, and lost no time in getting to terra firma: the animal had evidently only been stunned by the shot.
In this lake I found some curious aquatic plants, such as a new species of Cabomba (C. Piauhyensis, Gardn.), a fine yellow-flowered Jussiæa (J. sedoides, Humb.), first found by Humboldt in lakes in New Granada; it floats on the water, and the leaves which are small, all reach the surface, and form round the axis of the plant a dense circle, which at a distance appears like a large entire floating leaf. Specimens of a Chara and a Potamogeton were also collected; both interesting, from belonging to genera common to South America and Great Britain.
On the 31st, we left Algodoes early in the morning, and after a ride of about three leagues, over a dry flat Chapada, we arrived at Golfes, a single house situated on a hill near a small marsh, in which grows a great number of Buriti palms; we halted by the side of this marsh, under a large Cashew tree. In the afternoon, another journey of two leagues and a half, brought us to a small uninhabited house, at a place called Retiro Alegre, situated in a beautiful valley, skirted by high hills, and abounding in Buriti palms, the leaves of which afforded shelter to vast numbers of the orange-breasted Maccaw (Canindé). At this place I found a little black fellow, waiting my arrival to act as guide to the next fazenda (Genipapo), which was five leagues and a half distant. He was sent by Captain Valentim Pereira da Silva, whom I met at Algodoes, on his way to visit his son, to whom the country through which we were then passing, belonged. When this old man knew that I was the person who had performed several cures in Oeiras, he was very desirous that I should visit his son, who was in a bad state of health; and as his house was only a few leagues out of our direct course, I consented to do so. About half a league from the fazenda the son himself met us. The estate of Genipapo belongs to him, and we remained there for the night; but he went to another, two leagues further on, called Canavieira, at which he himself resides.
On the following morning we arrived at Canavieira in time for breakfast, and had a very hospitable reception from the captain and his son; upon examination, I found the latter labouring under the incipient symptoms of consumption, and prescribed for him accordingly. It being seldom that a medical man is seen in this part of the country, I had many other patients to prescribe for, some of whom came from a considerable distance. At about a quarter of a mile beyond Genipapo, we arrived at the banks of the Rio Gurgea, which takes its rise in the southern extremity of the province, and falls into the Parnahiba, a little below the parallel of Oeiras. As is generally the case with the rivers in the northern provinces, the banks of this are more densely wooded, and more verdant in appearance, than the rest of the country. I remained with my hospitable friends all that day, and received an invitation to accompany them on the following morning to a fazenda eight leagues distant, belonging to the son’s father-in-law, whither all the family were going, as the Visitador was on his triennial tour, and was expected there about this time. This place also being but little out of our route, I accepted the invitation.