ister of the Interior. We
had now entered the Minas Geraes, or Mine Country, the opposite bank of
the river forming the boundary of the province of Rio de Janeiro. Every
package was examined, and a duty demanded for each article of
merchandize, &c. excepting our personal baggage; after this ceremony, we
proceeded to a house, where they were accustomed to receive, I cannot
say accommodate, travellers, for its appointments and arrangements, were
neither elegant nor convenient; and the host, an old man with a young
wife, was by no means civil: attentive he was, to the most minute point
of etiquette, and somewhat more attentive than agreeable, for he watched
us with a most pertinacious vigilance, in order that we might have no
opportunity of conversing with our pretty hostess, whom he closely
followed about with looks of angry jealousy, while she prepared our
supper. It was truly pitiable to observe the misery the old dotard
endured, every time his wife entered our apartment, constantly
fidgetting at her elbow, and scrutinizing, suspiciously, every look that
passed between her and her guests. His fears served us for a jest,
however, and produced a vein of jocularity, that reconciled us to our
earthen flooring, upon which some of our party were doomed to seek
repose for that night.

We had made the longest journey to-day of any since we left Rio, having
travelled twenty-eight miles. This is also the largest town we entered,
since leaving Rio, and had once been a place of considerable importance.

----------
[50] This was a very pleasant, light, sweet wine, made at Tours, and
which the captain procured at Nantes.

[51] It is worthy of remark, that, notwithstanding the immense number of
sharks in the harbour, the inhabitants are not deterred from bathing;
these animals being so abundantly supplied with food from the offal of
a large and populous city, as to be divested of their natural
ferocity:--accidents caused by them, are absolutely unknown here,
although they are frequently seen swimming near, and even among the
persons bathing in the harbour.

[52] This is a shop, or store, by the road-side, where aqua-dent
(spirits made in the country, and generally strongly flavoured with
aniseed) and sometimes wine can be procured, with provisions, and a few
other common necessaries.

CHAP. XV.

Advantages of early Travelling--Funelle--"A Traveller stopped at a
Widow's Gate"--Bright Eyes and Breakfast--Smiles and Sighs--