"In the interior of the island there are farms and plantations where sugar-cane, cacao, cotton, rice, and mandioca are grown, but the greatest industry of Marajo is in the exportation of cattle. The trade is said to reach about ten thousand head every year; horses are scarce, and a good riding animal brings a high price. "We returned from Sourré by the way we went, and reached Para one day before the steamer was due which would carry us down the coast. This letter will go to New York by the next steamer, and so for the present we will say good-bye. "FRANK AND FRED. "P. S.--Our account of Para would be incomplete without an allusion to snakes. In many houses they have snakes of the boa-constrictor family--of the kind we saw on the Amazon--to keep the place clear of rats and mice. They do their work very well, and live on terms of quiet friendship with the biped inhabitants. At Sourré we saw the household snake coiled up in a corner very much as we might see a cat in a New England dwelling; when we manifested a curiosity to look at it one of the servants took the reptile by the neck and held it up to full view until we declared ourselves satisfied with the inspection. The creature did not seem at all angry at his treatment, for as soon as he was released he returned to his corner and resumed his nap. [Illustration: A SNAKE MERCHANT.] "We have just visited Monkey Joe's establishment, which is devoted to the sale of monkeys, parrots, snakes, and other Amazonian live-stock. We made no purchases, in spite of the tempting offers at low prices, as we have found one monkey quite as much as we wish to carry in our travels. Outside of the shop a man was standing with a barrel by his side; when we left the place he followed us a short distance and emptied his barrel on the ground. He was a snake-merchant, with a choice selection of rat-killers that he vainly urged us to buy. We left him and his wares; as he was perfectly at home among the wriggling serpents, and had no fear of them, he was unable to understand why we departed so suddenly. "F. AND F." Before leaving Para our friends had an experience at the custom-house which was the reverse of pleasing. They had bought some curiosities they wished to send to New York; the formalities of the tariff required them to pay an export duty of seventeen per cent. on the cost of the goods at Para prices, and they learned that on some articles the duties were much larger. This is particularly the case with fine cabinet woods, which are abundant in Brazil, but are very little in demand for shipment to foreign countries, in consequence of the high export tariff.