The following morning we advanced to Pai Paulo, three leagues further, still crossing the same plain, at the extremity of which we first approached the Seara-meirim, and on the opposite side from that on which we were, stands the village of Pai Paulo, upon rising ground. This was, without exception, the most desolate place I ever beheld; the roofs of some of the cottages were falling in, the walls of others had fallen, but the roofs remained. The course of the river was only marked by the depth of its bed, for the soil around was a loose sand, destitute of any covering, and nothing differing from that in the channel of the river. The trees had mostly lost their leaves. I had now entered upon the Sertam, and surely it deserves the name. We passed Pai Paulo, and about noon reached an open well of brackish water, dug in the bed of the river; our Pernambuco horses at first refused to drink, but the dirt was cleared away, as much as possible, for them, and the water left to settle; however, even then, they did little more than taste it. Here we were to rest, and to give our horses some maize, for there was no grass. The same horse again refused his feed; the guide said that he supposed he was not accustomed to it, and therefore must be taught to like it, otherwise he could not possibly get over this barren track of country. The first operation was to soak the maize in water, until it softened,—then the guide forced some of it down the animal’s throat, closing forcibly its mouth. Whether this had the effect, or hunger, I know not; but at night he performed his part pretty well, taking rather more time than the others to finish his feed. I drank a small portion of the water, mixing it with lemon juice and sugar, which I had with me. We carried some of this water on with us, for at night we should find none. The country presented the same appearance; we crossed the Seara-meirim several times, which in some parts had large rocks in the centre of the bed. At night I was not much inclined to eat, but I made up by smoking. We found a sheltered place behind part of the bank of the river, and slung our hammocks upon sloping ground, as the wind rises about eleven or twelve o’clock in these parts, and renders shelter very requisite; it sometimes blows hard: it is a dry wind, but healthy.
The following day, we proceeded again in the same manner. I had by this time fully entered into the custom of smoking early, and as we could never get any thing cooked until twelve o’clock, I found that this prevented any unpleasant sense of hunger. My people could not have any thing to eat early, as it would have caused delay, therefore it would not have been proper for me to show a bad example. I had become very intimate with my friend the major—he learnt from me that we had horses, and cows, and dogs in England, and he liked me the better for this; at first, he wondered how it happened that I could ride; he thought I must be an apt scholar to have learnt since I had gone over to Brazil. He was also much surprized to hear that we had churches in England, which he had never understood before. He said he should not believe henceforwards that the English were Pagoens, heathens. I told him that one chief point upon which our religion differed from his, was in ours not enjoining us to confess; he thought confession a great annoyance, but he could not doubt its propriety.
We reached another dirty pool or well of water in the river, which we had again crossed several times. Our resting-place at mid-day afforded no shelter, excepting what could be obtained from one small shrub, which was in full leaf. The leaves or branches of it reached to the ground. I lay down upon the sand, and pushed my head in among them, covering the rest of my body with a hide; this was a hot birth, but better than to be completely exposed to the sun. I was astonished at the appearance of this shrub. There are two kinds of trees in certain parts of the Sertam, which are called Pereiro and Yco; both seem to flourish most when the seasons are the driest, and both are particularly dangerous to horses; that is, as they do no mischief to the wild cattle or wild horses, they may be supposed not to possess any pernicious qualities if the animals which eat their leaves are not overheated and fatigued; the latter of these plants kills the travellers’ beasts, and the former has the effect of appearing to produce intoxication, and sometimes also proves fatal. The major said, that this part of the country abounded in these trees, and consequently our horses were tied to those around us, and to each was given a feed of maize. The plant, of which I have spoken above, was very beautiful, the green of its leaves was bright and healthy, and I afterwards saw many more of them upon this travesia or crossing. I particularly observed them on this track of country, as other plants had lost all appearance of life.
We were less unpleasantly situated at night, as the water though brackish was comparatively clear.
The following day we had still the same country and river to cross. The consciousness of having advanced upon our journey alone caused the knowledge of a change of situation, so exactly similar was the face of the country. At mid-day we had again no shelter from the sun. The water was little different from that of the preceding day. I laid down under the shady side of a rock, which afforded sufficient shelter until the sun began to decline, and throw its rays into the quarter under which I had taken up my station. We had often seen cattle about the pools or wells—on this occasion, one miserable cow came down to drink; the major happened to be near the pool at the time. He looked at the mark she bore, and knew it to be that of the cattle upon his own estates. “How can this animal,” he exclaimed, “have strayed so far from its own home?” The want of water had made it stray at least one hundred leagues. This day we overtook a party of Sertanejos, as the inhabitants of the Sertam are called, likewise going our way. They were at the mid-day resting-place, and one of their horses was, at the time of our coming up, tottering from having eaten of the Yco; they were trying to give it maize, in the hope of recovering it, as this is said to have the effect, if it is taken soon after; but at the time we left them, the animal, when he fell, was with difficulty raised, and the major said that he thought him too far gone. I never heard whether these persons returned, or still advanced after this misfortune. I observed in the afternoon several heaps of rocks in the bed of the river, which must form beautiful falls of water when the stream is rapid.
Towards evening my guide began to try me. I found that there had been some conversation between him and the two Indians respecting the journey, and now he sounded me about returning. I told him I had perfectly determined to go on, and that I would most certainly shoot the man who attempted to go back, and that even if he then escaped me, I would follow him until I overtook him. He had not said that he would return, but had hinted at the danger of the undertaking at this season, and that the two lads were afraid of proceeding, but I knew him to be the mover. At night he could not have found his way back, as the only mark of a road that was to be perceived, proceeded from the sand being more worn away, and the banks of the river being broken down at the proper crossings. In fact, the marks were such, that even in the day-time, a man accustomed to this description of road could alone find it out—therefore I was certain that desertion could only take place in the day-time, which was almost impossible, as I always rode in the rear of the whole party. The guide had no fire-arms of his own; besides he never would have made any attempt to murder me, as he knew how little I slept, and that my pistols were always with me in my hammock, besides any thing of this sort could only have been done in concert with Julio, who, in the sequel, proved worthy of the greatest confidence. I found more necessity to be on my guard in returning, when John was no longer with me; however, although this man had sufficient courage he had no watchfulness. The summary manner in which I threatened to treat the guide, can only be justified by the necessity of the case, for had he returned, the two Indians would most probably likewise have deserted me. If a man suffers himself to be trifled with, he cannot possibly succeed under circumstances such as these; however, I made the threat under the conviction of that being sufficient.
We carried water from the resting-place at mid-day, and, as usual, fixed our quarters at night upon the banks of the river.
The next day we advanced again exactly in the same manner, but at noon, to our dismay, there was no water; the pool had dried up, but we rested the horses for a short time, notwithstanding this dreadful disappointment. My thirst was great, for I had not drank the night before. We had still some lemons left, which were distributed, and these afforded much relief. In the afternoon the major told me to follow his example, and put a pebble into my mouth, which was the usual resource of the Sertanejos on these occasions. I did so, and certainly found that it produced considerable moisture. This was a dismal day, and we knew not whether we should be able to reach a well before some of our horses failed. One of those belonging to the major, already ran loose among the others, as he was weak, and his load had been changed to the horse which had carried the maize, the remainder of this being distributed in small portions, that it might be carried by the rest. My horses bore it very well, as those which had been loaded with provisions were, of course, in part relieved, and the largest load, that of my trunk and case of bottles, was carried by each of them in turn, that the hard work might be equally divided. This day we passed some deserted cottages. Our night was very miserable, for some of the horses refused to finish their feeds of maize; the danger of their failing prevented our thinking so much of our own inconvenience—my spirits were kept up by the necessity I felt of keeping up those of others. John was not quite well, and this made me uneasy, as it was as much as we could do to carry ourselves; indeed, had any of the party fallen sick, I know not how we should have proceeded.
The next morning, about nine o’clock, we reached a well to our great joy, but, fortunately for us, the water was so bad, that we could not drink much; it was as usual dirty and brackish, but of the first draught I shall never forget the delight;—when I tried a second, I could not take it, the taste was so very nauseous. On looking round, we saw some goats, Julio went towards them, and then discovered some fowls, proceeded a little farther and found an inhabited cottage. He came and gave us the joyful intelligence; we determined to remain here to rest, if the people could give us any hopes of food for our horses. I found an elderly woman and her two daughters in the hut; the father was not at home. The old woman seemed quite astonished to hear that we had crossed the Seara-Meirim; she said, she did not know how soon she and her family might be obliged to leave their cottage, as many others had done. She directed the major and my people to a dell at some distance, where dry grass and leaves might perhaps still be picked up; she said, that it was the last place which could have any, for travellers did not in general know of it, and she and her husband made a point of not discovering it. But I paved the way, by making her a present of some farinha, throwing maize to the fowls, and by pouring in an immense number of minhas Senhoras. I had purchased a kid and a fowl, and laid down the money immediately. Persons circumstanced as these were, are sometimes robbed in a most unpardonable manner by travellers, who take advantage of their houses, eat their poultry, and leave them without paying; but considering the entire non-existence of law in these regions, I am only surprized that greater enormities are not committed; however, every man feels it to be his own case, if he has a house and family; he is aware that on going from home, those he may leave are in the same helpless state. These persons and their property were at the mercy of any travellers; if they had been murdered, and the cottage from being deserted began to fall, it would have been supposed that its inhabitants, like many others, had decamped, and no enquiry would be made about the direction they had taken, such is the rambling disposition of the people in general, and the state of this part of the country, at the period of which I speak. They have nothing to make them remain upon one spot, neither comfort nor security.
In the afternoon we advanced as usual, and passed some deserted cottages, but towards the close of the day arrived at some that were inhabited, and at dusk put up near to two or three that stood together, after having crossed the Seara-Meirim for the last and forty-second time. This river takes its sources from the mountains to the northward, in the same direction as those of the river Açu, of which I shall have occasion to speak. The Seara-Meirim falls into the Potengi, and perhaps some branches of it bend their course as far as the Paraiba. The face of the country presents one continued flat, from Pai Paulo to the place at which we left the river; the soil is a loose sand, which is sometimes, though rarely, intermixed with black earth. The trees are thinly scattered, and, at the time that I travelled, were without leaves. The river winds like the coils of a serpent, to have followed them would have been endless; it sometimes fills after heavy rain, in the course of a very short time, the water coming down in a torrent, delayed only by the inequality of the depth of the channel, and the walls with which the rocks in some parts oppose its progress. The sand in the bed of the river is little different from that of which the banks are composed, being however on the whole thicker, and approaching nearer to gravel. The water which oozes from it, on digging into the sand, is in all parts brackish, and in some places is too salt for any use to be made of it. This is not, however, peculiar to the Seara-Meirim, for I found that all the beds of the rivers which become dry in the summer contained more or less salt; at best, the water taken from them was never quite sweet.