cursed Sierra de Espinhaco.

At daylight the superior took his leave, mounted his mule, and we set
forth, passing the guard-house in the narrow road, which I never
expected to pass again. Before noon we were clear of the Sierra, and
once more in the open country. The attendants, with a portion of the
sumpter mules, went in advance, to prepare for the superior's arrival
at the spot where we were to halt.

The weather was excessively sultry, and the glare of the sun was very
distressing. At noon we stopped to take our dinner, and the usual
siesta after it. The attendants in advance had raised a sort of
palanquin for the superior, and every thing was ready. The superior
alighted, and sat down under the palanquin, which protected him from
the rays of the sun; we all sat round at a respectful distance. The
heat was so intense, that to relieve himself, the superior had, when
he sat down, thrown off his long black robe, such as is worn by the
priests of his order. Dinner was served up, and we had a merry party,
notwithstanding the great heat. After our meal, we all shaded
ourselves as well as we could, and took our siesta for about two
hours, when the superior rose up, and gave the signal for resuming our
journey. The horses were soon ready, and the superior's mule being
brought up to the palanquin, he rose up, and one of his attendants was
lifting up his robe for the superior to resume it, when my eye
detected the head of a snake just showing itself out of the
side-pocket of the robe in which he carried his breviary and his
handkerchief. I knew the snake well, for we often found them in the
Sierra de Espinhaco, and some two or three of the slaves had lost
their lives by their bite, which was so fatal, that they died in less
than five minutes afterwards. The superior had his handkerchief in his
hand, and would have undoubtedly put it in his pocket before he
mounted his mule, and if so, would certainly have been bitten, and
lost his life. As the superior was fastening his robe at the throat, I
darted forward, seized it, threw it on the ground, and commenced
stamping upon it with all my force, much to the surprise of the whole
party. Some of them thought me mad, and others, who were horrified at
such treatment of the holy garment, called out, "Heretico maldetto!"
which, Madam, you must know, means, accursed heretic. Having felt the
snake (which is very short, but very thick in the body, with a head
like a toad) several times m