These plains are the taboleiros, of which there exists also another kind, which are covered with brushwood, of stinted height, from the nature of the soil, but it is close and higher than a man on horseback. The road lies, in many places, through it; but as it does not afford any shade, and prevents the wind from alleviating the intenseness of the heat; it is here that the power of the sun is fully felt. This brushwood is, however, not too thick to prevent cattle from breaking their way through it, and feeding among it. The third description of plains are those of a better kind of soil, which produce good nourishing grass, but upon these no trees grow; small shrubs and briars alone are to be seen, and oftentimes not even these. They are, in parts, stony, and have rising ground upon them, which is not sufficiently high to deserve the name of a ridge of hills; but is enough to break the ocean-like flatness and immensity which these plains sometimes present to the traveller; after proceeding for hours, the same distance still seems to remain for him to traverse. These are the campinas. I passed over some spots covered with high trees, which in our own country would be called woods of considerable extent; but in Brazil, they could not be accounted of sufficient magnitude to compose a distinguishing feature in the naked regions which I traversed. The impression which a recollection of this portion of land left upon my mind, is of a flat uncovered country.
I heard very little of beasts of prey; they had removed to better districts, I suppose; nor were we much troubled with snakes. But my people never failed, in taking up our quarters, to look well around, which proves their frequent appearance, else this cautious behaviour would not have become habitual with them. I merely say, that they are not plentiful in this barren part; for elsewhere, near lakes and large pools of water, in fertile districts, the rattle of the snake, of which this is the distinguishing mark, is often heard. We saw a small kind of rabbit, near rocky ground, which is called moco. The carapato or tick, and the chigua had entirely disappeared, since we left the dry lake, near Natal. The chigua has been so often described, that a minute account of it in this place is unnecessary; it is a very small insect, which lodges itself principally under the nails of the feet. In the country, bordering upon the sea, it is to be found most abundantly in sandy districts; and yet, although the plains of the Sertam appear to be formed of the same kind of sand, the insect is not to be met with in the whole track of country between Natal and Aracati.
We arrived at Açu on the 1st December, having travelled about 340 miles in 19 days. The continual anxiety in which I was kept, prevented me from keeping any regular journal of my proceedings. From Açu to Aracati, I have preserved the names of the places through which I passed. The country is more inhabited, and I was nearer to the coast; I travelled also with more ease; but, between Natal and Açu, excepting the deserted Pai Paulo, I did not pass any settlement which deserved even the name of village; single cottages, much separated from each other, and often uninhabited, contained the whole population of this district. It is a miserable, desolate country.
The town of Açu is built in a square, and consists of about three hundred inhabitants; it has two churches, and a town-hall and prison, at that time building; the governor was the promoter of the work. The place stands upon the great river of Açu, where it runs in two channels for a short distance; it is situated upon the northern bank of the smaller branch. There is an island of sand between the two branches, and the distance from whence the river is divided to where it is again united, is about two or perhaps three miles. We crossed their dry beds, and entered the square, which is not paved, and the sand is deep. Many of the inhabitants were at their doors, for all travellers are objects of curiosity, and our appearance increased it. I rode upon an English saddle, and this particularly attracted the notice of an equestrian people. The houses have only the ground floor; some of them are plastered, and white-washed, but the mud of which others are composed, remains in its natural colour, both within and without, and the floors also are of earth; so that in spite of the greatest care, when water is scarce, their inhabitants cannot keep themselves clean. Though the lower class of Brazilians, of all casts, have many dirty customs, allied to those of savage life, still they are remarkably clean in their persons; one of the greatest inconveniences of a situation, when a Brazilian complains of the place he happens to reside in, is the want of a river or pool of water in the neighbourhood, for the purpose of bathing.
We enquired for the house of a man of colour, a saddler by trade, with whom my guide was acquainted. This person, like many others, had come to his door to see the travellers; he soon recognised his friend, and came forwards to speak to him. He procured a house for us during our stay; it was a small place, upon which neither plaster nor white wash had been bestowed, with two rooms, one opening to the square, and the other to the river. When we were a little settled, and I had dressed myself, I sallied forth to visit the vicar, who resided in the best, or rather least miserable looking habitation in the town; it was about the size of the cottages of labourers, or small farmers in England, but not nearly so comfortable, though the floors were bricked. It is true, that this climate does not demand, as much as those of bleaker regions, that necessary of an English dwelling, of English growth, that undefinable something, called comfort. I told him, I had called upon him, as the first person of the neighbourhood, and that I should always be happy in my proceedings to have the prayers and good wishes of his order, and particularly his, as the governor had spoken so very highly of him. Some further conversation passed between us; but I did not stay long, for I was much tired. I made arrangements for sending my horses towards Piatô, where grass was to be had, and the green stalks of maize, sugar cane, and other plants; but the guide recommended that we should not stay here longer than was necessary. He said, that whilst the horses continued on their journey, they would bear up very well; but if they were suffered to rest, they would become stiff, lose flesh, and be rendered entirely unfit for service, for a considerable time. I did not then quite believe him, but as there was no object in staying, I desired Julio to return with them to Açu the next day at two o’clock, that we and they might have, at any rate, a rest of twenty-four hours. I afterwards learnt, by experience, that the guide was quite right regarding the horses; that regular work is better than a rest of more than one whole day.
Our friend, the saddler, among other stories, mentioned having passed over the same ground which we had traversed from St. Luzia, only a short time before us. He was in company with another man and a boy, and had also a dog with him; they had put up for the night under shelter of one of the rocks, in the vicinity of the lake of which I have spoken. His companion had taken the horses to some little distance to graze; the boy and the dog remained with him; he had made a fire, and was in the act of preparing some dried meat to be cooked, when the boy called out “where is the dog,”—the man answered “here he is, why what is the matter?” the boy said, “what eyes, then, are those?” pointing, at the same time, to the corner of the rock; the man looked, and saw the eyes, for nothing else was to be seen; he called to the dog, took up his fowling-piece, and fired, whilst the dog started up, and darted towards the spot. A jaguar rushed out, and made off; it had been partly concealed under the rock, which, with the dazzle of the fire had prevented its body from being seen; it had crouched, and was ready for a spring, when every thing was quiet, and unprepared.
I learnt, that there are some extensive salt-works at the mouth of the Açu, and that small craft come from different parts of the coast occasionally, to carry away the overplus.
I took an additional guide here, as the man I had brought with me from Goiana was not acquainted with the remainder of the road; but I kept him with me, for although he was not a person I liked, still he was master of his employment; he managed the horses well, for they had, through his attention and knowledge of this business, all arrived here without sore backs, which I found, from the surprise expressed by all those who saw them, was not a usual piece of good fortune, or good management. He was, however, a great bully, when we quartered ourselves in the houses of poor people, with whom he found he could so act with impunity: he was also continually reporting, that I was a great personage, that he might increase his own importance. Of this I said nothing; but on our return, whilst I was unwell, he gave himself out as the chief of the party, which I once caught him in the act of doing; I disconcerted him, by threatening to turn him out of my service; and when I recovered, he took care to draw in, and be more careful who overheard him. The additional man I took with me, was a dark-coloured mulatto, young and stout; his father lived at Açu, and this son had a fair character. He brought with him a beautiful dog, which I afterwards possessed.
The next day, Julio came with the horses; and between three and four o’clock in the afternoon, we left Açu.