[23] I may also add their public spirit in resenting injuries done to individuals, and in supporting the cause of the oppressed; a singular instance of which I have often heard related. Some seventy years ago, one of their governors, who was a nobleman, had an intrigue with the daughter of a mechanic. The whole town espoused the cause of the injured female, and compelled the governor, at the peril of his life, to marry her.
[24] Had I approached this city by sea, I might have been enabled to give a more animated description of its aspect; but I feel it incumbent on me to adhere to veracity, the first duty of a traveller, and to describe the impression made on my mind by the view as I approached by land on my route from S. Paulo.
[25] Several have been established since the time when this narrative was written.
[26] By way of experiment, I had some fat ewes killed, and the mutton was acknowledged to be excellent; but the male lambs are never prepared for the table.
[27] A name given to those persons who go about the country seeking gold-washings, and do not give notice, or solicit a grant when they discover any. They are considered and treated as smugglers.
[28] Ere they departed, I saw an instance of that dangerous excess to which the passions of savages are liable when once excited; for, on presenting a few bottles of liquor, there was a general strife for them, and the person, man or woman, who first obtained one, would have drank the whole of its contents, had it not been forcibly taken away. It is very unsafe to give them ardent spirits, for when intoxicated it is necessary to confine them. If preference is given to one, the rest are insolent and unruly until they obtain the same mark of favor.
[29] I was well informed that a few hundred pounds, judiciously employed, would defray the expense of making a good road from Canta Gallo to Porto das Caixas, which loaded mules might travel in two days.
[30] The mode of crossing a river with horses or mules in these parts, is to tie one to the canoe, and drive him into the water; the rest follow.
[31] The little lime which they use here is made of shells, and is brought from Porto das Caixas.
[32] In one part of the road we passed a nest of insects (called marimbondos), which are extremely troublesome to cattle, and cause the mules to be very violent and unruly. They attack with great pertinacity, and pursue to a considerable distance; we took a devious route to get rid of them, but I was followed by some which stung me as painfully as an irritated wasp could have done. There is a singular variety of them, having a horny pointed proboscis, with which they pierce most keenly and give intolerable pain.