them with "delicious food." They must have
been excessively hungry, or blessed with powerful imaginations, for, on
cross-examination, these "wild turkeys" proved to be TURKEY BUZZARDS, or
carrion vultures, most filthy creatures, which, in many places where the
decay of animal matter is common, act faithfully the part of scavengers,
and their flesh is strongly tinctured with the quality of their food.

St. Louis de Maranham is a large and wealthy city, situated near the
mouth of the Maranham River, about two degrees and a half south of the
equator. The city is embellished with many fine buildings, among which
is the palace of the governor of the province, and many richly endowed
churches or cathedrals. These numerous churches were each furnished with
bells by the dozen, which were continually ringing, tolling, or playing
tunes from morning until night, as if vieing with each other, in a
paroxysm of desperation, which should make the most deafening clamor.
I have visited many Catholic cities, but never met with a people so
extravagantly fond of the music of bells as the inhabitants of Maranham.

This perpetual ringing and pealing of bells, of all sizes and tones, at
first astonishes and rather amuses a stranger, who regards it as a
part of the rejoicings at some great festival. But, when day after day
passes, and there is no cessation of these clanging sounds, he becomes
annoyed; at every fresh peal he cannot refrain from exclaiming "Silence
that dreadful bell!" and wishes from his heart they were all transformed
to dumb bells! Yet, after a time, when the ear becomes familiar with the
sounds, he regards the discordant music of the bells with indifference.
When the Clarissa left the port of Maranham, after having been exposed
for months to such an unceasing clang, something seemed wanting; the
crew found themselves involuntarily listening for the ringing of the
bells, and weeks elapsed before they became accustomed and reconciled to
the absence of the stunning tintinabulary clatter!

The city of Maranham was inhabited almost entirely by Portuguese, or
the descendants of Portuguese. We found no persons there of foreign
extraction, excepting a few British commission merchants. There was not
a French, a German, or an American commercial house in the place.
The Portuguese are a people by no means calculated to gain the kind
consideration and respect of foreigners. They may possess much intrinsic
worth, but it is so covered wi