h had been left in the best
rooms to dry. There is usually a sofa at each end of the room, and to
the right and left a long file of chairs, which look as if they never
could be moved out of their place. Between the two sets of seats is a
space, which, I am told, is often used for dancing; and, in every house,
I saw either a guitar or piano, and generally both. Prints and pictures,
the latter the worst daubs I ever saw, decorate the walls pretty
generally; and there are, besides, crucifixes and other things of the
kind. Some houses, however, are more neatly arranged; one, I think
belonging to a captain of the navy, was papered, the floors laid with
mat, and the tables ornamented with pretty porcelain, Indian and French:
the lady too was neatly dressed in a French wrapper. Another house
belonging to one of the judges was also clean, and of a more stately
appearance than the rest, though the inhabitant was neither richer nor
of higher rank. Glass chandeliers were suspended from the roof; handsome
mirrors were intermixed with the prints and pictures. A good deal of
handsome china was displayed round the room; but the jars, as well as
the chairs and tables, seemed to form an inseparable part of the walls.
We were every where invited, after sitting a few moments on the sofa, to
go to the balconies of the windows and enjoy the view and the breeze, or
at least amuse ourselves with what was passing in the street. And yet
they did not lack conversation: the principal topic, however, was praise
of the beauty of Bahia; dress, children, and diseases, I think, made up
the rest; and, to say the truth, their manner of talking on the latter
subject is as disgusting as their dress, that is, in a morning: I am
told they are different after dinner. They marry very early, and soon
lose their bloom. I did not see one tolerably pretty woman to-day. But
then who is there that can bear so total a disguise as filth and
untidiness spread over a woman?

_Saturday, 20th._--As the charts of this coast hitherto published are
very incorrect, the captain asked permission from government to sound
and survey the bay: it is refused on the ground of policy; as if it
could be policy to keep hidden rocks and shoals, for one's own as well
as other people's ships.

I walked through the greater part of the town. The lower part extends
much farther than I could see the day I landed; it contains a few
churches, one of which, belonging to the monastery of _A conc