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 pig-sty, 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 Geräes, with the exception of the last four leagues of our journey which lay through an undulating elevated region destitute of arboreous vegetation; the soil was of a white sandy nature, thinly covered with dwarf shrubs, and small dry tufts of grass: it was only here and there that a small stunted tree made its appearance among the bushes: as we approached the river, however, the country became more flat and better wooded. Notwithstanding the arid nature of this tract, its scanty vegetation was, with few exceptions, quite new to me. The moister sandy places afforded me several of those curious Eriocaulons, of which so many exist in my collections, one of these, which I found shortly before we reached the river, was a large branched species about five feet in height; these remarkable forms I afterwards met with in great abundance in the Diamond District, which is the great centre of the Eriocaulons, as it is of the Vellozias, or tree-lily tribe. The river we here found to be about forty feet broad, and not less than from sixteen to twenty feet in depth; the current was still rapid, and the water so limpid, that the bottom could be seen quite distinctly. Several large Buriti palms grow on its banks, and the bridge by which we crossed, was one of these trees cut down, so as to fall across the stream. It was not without considerable trouble, that we got all our luggage taken to the other side, which when accomplished, the horses were swum over a little further up the river. At about two hundred yards from its banks we encamped under a large Myrtle tree (Myrica), where we remained a day, for I found it to be an excellent place for my researches. In a marsh by the side of the river, I collected specimens of an Isoetes, which does not appear to differ from the one (Isoetes lacustris, Linn.) which grows in Great Britain. The sight of this plant recalled pleasing recollections of long past times, and I could not refrain from indulging in a lengthened train of reflections, which ended by comparing it with myself—a stranger in a strange land, and associated with still stranger companions.
Our next journey, which was one of four long leagues, through an arid, undulating, sandy, thinly-wooded country, brought us to the foot of the Chapada da Mangabeira, an elevated level table-land, nearly forty miles broad. On this journey we were dreadfully scorched by a burning sun; not a breath of wind was to be felt, and we all suffered very much from thirst, as not a drop of water was to be met with, and the men had neglected to fill the large leathern bag (boracho) before we started. Shortly after leaving Oeiras, I was obliged to provide myself with one of these necessary articles; it held about two gallons, and when full, was carried between the two side loads of one of the horses. We encamped beneath a large Piki tree, not far from a spring of cool clear water which emptied itself into a large morass. As this is the last watering-place to be met with till the Chapada is crossed, the usual way of proceeding is to leave it about mid-day, and push on without stopping till half of the distance has been performed; and by leaving again early on the following morning, the next watering-place may be gained in the forenoon.
On the day succeeding that on which we arrived at the foot of the Chapada, we started to cross it about one o’clock in the afternoon. The horses were previously allowed to drink freely, and I took care that the leathern bag was not neglected this time. After travelling about half a league, we entered by a gradual ascent upon the Chapada, and at the same time were overtaken by a thunder storm, which, however, passed over without wetting us much. After a journey of five leagues, we arrived at a place where there are a few small trees, and under them we halted for the night. Tor the first league and a half, the Chapada was thinly-wooded with small trees, which became gradually smaller and thinner, till at last not one was to be seen; only a few stunted shrubs, from a foot to a foot and a half high, exist on this barren spot; and the only living thing we saw, was a kind of locust, about two inches long, which rose in clouds before the horses. Many skeletons of horses and oxen lay on both sides of the path no doubt the remains of animals which on crossing this desert tract, had become exhausted, and died from want of water. After the thunder storm passed over, the sky became clear and unclouded and the sunset was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen, its splendour, and the ocean-like plain over which we were travelling, reminded me of those I have so often seen at sea, between the tropics. The atmosphere, too, was delightfully cool, and heavily laden with the rich perfume of one of the small shrubs then in flower, which grew in the greatest profusion; this shrub, which I afterwards found to be the Spiranthera odoratissima of St. Hilaire, grows in small clusters, and bears large corymbs of pure white flowers larger than those of the honeysuckle, but not unlike them in shape, although their odour more resembles that of the Jasmine. Shortly after we reached our resting-place, the sky again became clouded towards the west, and there was much lightning, which made us fear another storm. As usual, we slung our hammocks between the trees, and, contrary to our expectations, passed the night without rain.
We resumed our journey again as early as possible after daybreak, and having accomplished five leagues more, the greater part of which was along one of the worst roads we had yet encountered, we halted under some large trees close to a marsh, on the south-west side of the Chapada. At about half a league from where we slept, the descent of the Chapada begins, and from thence a fine view of a large plain below is obtained, which is almost entirely surrounded by a chain of low hills, several of which to the south are of a conical form; the descent is very rocky, and on both sides of the road stand a great many isolated columnar and wall-like portions, which give the traveller the idea that he is passing through the ruins of a large city, destroyed by some great catastrophe. The rock is a conglomerate, and as many of the rounded stones of which it is composed are of considerable size, this resemblance becomes the more striking. This side of the Chapada is entirely composed of a coarse sandstone, which in some places is much softer than in others, and the ruin-like portions have, no doubt, been formed by the disintegration of those of a softer texture. On the descent, we had often to dismount and lead our horses; one of the pack-horses fell, and rolled over several times before he could regain a footing. As soon as we reached the marsh, the horses rushed into the water to quench their thirst, before they could be unloaded, and although it was still early in the day when we arrived, I determined to remain here till the following morning, so that they might rest. The evening was again cloudy, with thunder and lightning in the distance, which induced us to construct our huts of skins, that we might be sheltered in case of rain; but none, however, fell.
Early on the following morning, we started with the intention of going direct to Duro, an Indian mission about four leagues distant, but when we were within about a league of it, we entered upon a wrong road, and had gone nearly two leagues, before the man who acted as our guide, discovered his mistake; it being then about the middle of the day, we halted to take breakfast under the shade of a large Vochysia, which overhung a spring of limpid water; but we had no sooner taken possession of this spot, than our right to it was called in question by some thousands of a small bee, not so large as a common house-fly; they came buzzing about in all directions, from the hollow stem of the large tree in which they had their habitation; they had no sting, but they annoyed us very much, by flying about the face, and getting entangled in the hair. After kindling a large fire, they soon became less troublesome; the only one of our party who seemed to be much alarmed at them, was my little monkey, who when they came swarming about his head, covered it with his hands, and screaming fearfully, leaped upon me, and hid himself under my jacket.
The country over which we passed before reaching this place, is of an undulating character, consisting generally of large open campos, the soil of which is principally a white sand, and being but scantily covered with herbaceous vegetation, the glare caused by the bright sun-shine was very fatiguing to the eyes. On these campos, as well as on the Chapada da Mangabeira, a dwarf cashew is very abundant, growing gregariously, and not more than a foot high; I found it both in flower and in fruit, but the latter is not much larger than a gooseberry. It seems to be distinct from the arboreous species, and is called by the Brazilians Cajú rasteiro. Although the hilly parts of the country are dry, and have an arid look, the little hollows or valleys which intersect them, have always a small stream of clear and cool water flowing through them, and are generally well wooded. About half a mile from the Aldea of Duro, we overtook an Indian who was returning from the woods, and who conducted us to the house of one of their two captains, of whom we made enquiries about a house to put up in, but he knew of none. After some time, we were permitted to occupy one not yet finished, being open all round, but well roofed; by means of some hides, we, however, contrived to render it somewhat comfortable. As I found it necessary to remain here for several days, I was well pleased to have the use of this habitation, as it was not safe to trust ourselves in the open air, now that the rains were setting in.
The mission of Duro is situated on the Serra of the same name, upon a low flat hill, round the western base of which, flows a small stream, called the Riacho de Sucuriú, which at all seasons, supplies the inhabitants with abundance of excellent water. The Aldea itself contains about twenty houses, all of which are of the most miserable description; the greater part of them are entirely made of a frame-work of poles covered over with palm-leaves, and many of them are so much decayed from the united effects of time and weather, that they no longer form a barrier against wind or rain; others, which are built of wicker-work and clay, are scarcely in a better condition. They are so arranged as to form an irregular square, but two of the sides still remain nearly open; on the west side, there is a small church almost in ruins, with a beautiful large Genipapo tree in front. The mission contains in all twelve square leagues of country, being the grant made to it at its original formation by the Jesuits, and over this space, there are scattered twenty or thirty other houses. The entire population, at the time of my visit, amounted to about 250 souls; although the greater part of them are of pure Indian breed, some of them have mixed with the blacks, who from time to time, have taken up their residence among them, many of these have been runaway slaves. It is very easy, however, to recognise the pure Indian, by his reddish colour, long straight hair, high cheek bones, and the peculiar obliquity of his eyes. Notwithstanding that the present race has been brought up in a comparative state of civilization, they still retain many of the characteristics of the savage state. A few of the more respectable of them dress in the same manner as the Brazilians of the Sertão, viz., in a short pair of cotton drawers, with a shirt of the same stuff hanging loose over them; others make use of the drawers only, which are generally far from being clean, and are made of a very coarse kind of stuff wrought by the women. The dress of the latter is also very simple; a few wear a chemise, and petticoat made of printed calico, but by far the greater number have only a petticoat of the same coarse material that the men wear, tied round their middle, all above which is bare. The girls run about quite naked till they are nine or ten years of age, and the boys till they are from twelve to fourteen. Some of the young girls have very pleasing countenances, which, however, they do not long retain, judging from the looks of the older women.
Although both the soil and climate of the mission are well adapted for the cultivation of the various productions of the tropics, the inhabitants are so indolent, that they are generally in a state of starvation; I could procure neither farinha de mandiocca, rice, yams, sweet potatoes, plantains, nor bananas, and when we arrived, our stock of beef being quite exhausted, it was with the greatest difficulty I succeeded in purchasing a cow. All the cattle which exist in the mission amount only to about forty, and these belong to two individuals. They possess altogether only seventeen horses. The principal part of the food of these people is of a vegetable nature, consisting of wild fruits which they obtain from the woods, such as the nuts of different kinds of palms, the fruit of the Pika, Pusá, Mangába, Jatobá, Pitomba, Guava, Araçá, &c. At the season we were among them, the principal fruit they made use of, was a kind of palm nut, about an inch and a half long, which they called Shódó. They first cut the fleshy substance, which corresponds with the fibrous portion of the cocoa-nut, and a large stone which is generally placed at the door, is used for breaking the nut upon, in order to procure the substance within. Numbers of these Indians used to start early in the morning, being roused by a kind of drum, and go to the woods to the westward to collect these nuts, and during the day nothing was to be heard in the Aldea, but the breaking of them between the two stones. The little animal food they do eat, is procured by hunting, and this is an occupation which the young men are much fonder of, than working in a plantation. A few days after we arrived, thirteen or fourteen of them set off on a hunting excursion to the other side of the Chapada da Mangabeira, and after an absence of eight days, they returned well loaded with the flesh of deer, and of the large kind of Peccary (Queixado), in a half-roasted state, this being the plan they make use of, for preserving it for a few days, having no salt for curing it. On their return to the Aldea, this spoil was divided among their friends; it was all immediately devoured without salt or any kind of vegetable, except a few small capsicums. On the following day, scarcely an Indian was to be seen stirring abroad; like the boa constrictor, they were sleeping away the effects of their over-dose of food. When our cow was killed, I was fearful we should not be allowed to keep any of it to ourselves; for one came begging the head, another the feet, a third the liver, and so on, with all the internal parts; and when these were exhausted, they even began to ask for pieces of the beef itself.
Till within the last ten years, they had a resident priest among them, but since that period, they have been without any; once a year, they have a few days’ visit from one residing in the Villa de Natividade, thirty leagues distant, where their marriages are celebrated, and their children baptized. There is no school in the Aldea, and the only persons who can read and write are the two captains, one of whom is a man about forty years of age; the other, who is called Luiz Francisco Pinto, was then in his seventy-fourth year, and from him I obtained nearly all my information regarding the mission. His wife, who was nearly as old as himself, was confined to bed from dropsy; I visited her frequently during our stay, prescribing such medicines as I thought would be of service to her; but what she most enjoyed, was a small basin of tea which I sent her morning and evening. Part of the wall of the apartment in which she was lying had fallen in, but an attempt had been made to keep out the wind and rain, by placing a few palm leaves in the aperture. All the inhabitants speak Portuguese, but many of them still keep up the language of their forefathers.