Those acquainted with the habits of some of the priesthood in Brazil will not regard this allusion as indelicate, or involving any thing unbecoming.
Though there were servants about the house, the vicar insisted upon doing most that was required for us.
Tuesday, January 2, 1866.
Soon after I arose this morning, my old camarada, Senor Pedro, came in to make the announcement that all was ready for the anticipated voyage, and attributed his failure to go on yesterday to the straying of a mule. But my inference is, that he could not bear the idea of leaving this festa and grand procession, and availed himself of a subterfuge, to quiet my impatience under the delay beyond his time appointed for starting.
I was supplied with a cup of coffee, and gave my old friend, the vicar, a heartfelt expression of my thanks for his kindness; when he gave me his best wishes for a prosperous voyage, and embraced me after the Brazilian manner,[[28]] with a warmth which made me feel that I was leaving a real friend.
In repairing to the house of Senor Pedro, he provided some farina, stew of beef, and big hominy, with bananas, for my breakfast, which were despatched with the aid of a spoon, as knives and forks seemed to be no part of his household furniture. This finished, I found that all the family were preparing to set out with us, as we were to go that day to a place owned by this man some twenty miles distant in the country. The horses for the women were brought through the house and taken into the back yard for them to mount. They soon sallied forth all astride, with their skirts so arranged as to cover their nether extremities, and, having drawers with straps under their feet, they were in regular trim for the expedition.
The old woman and three grown daughters were all mounted after this style, and seemed to use their stirrups and manage their horses as if they had been used to this mode of travelling. Their saddles are somewhat different from those used by the men, having a quilted seat, which serves as a cushion to protect them in riding astride.
Upon going out of town, we fell in with another party of women who had a more genteel appearance, and were seated in the ordinary way upon side-saddles,—one of them being especially well provided with horse and equipments. She was a young lady, very tidily dressed, and rather the best-looking woman seen in this section. One of the women of this party was the wife of a son of my old camarada, and her husband was carrying their only child before him on his mule.
The third member of this party was the mother of the other two women, but they are all of a very different stamp from the family to which they have become connected by marriage, and I could not but think they viewed our party of women astride of their horses as presenting a disgusting aspect. One of the daughters of my escort had a young child, and carried it most of the way in her arms, while her mother, an old woman of fifty years, carried it the rest of the time. These women rode the entire twenty miles astride without dismounting, and did not show any particular fatigue on arrival.
Within half a mile of Paranapanema we entered the forest, and, for three miles, the soil was red, and would certainty produce a fair yield of any thing that might be cultivated.