The first few days after my arrival were spent in delivering my letters of introduction. I soon became acquainted with all the English merchants, who live in a very respectable style, and have done much good in establishing some customs which the Portugueze have had the sense to follow, preserving at the same time those of their own, which are fitted to the country and the climate. As this was the summer season, great numbers of the inhabitants were out of town; they remove to small cottages at Olinda, and upon the banks of the rivers, to enjoy a purer air, and the amusement and comfort of bathing, during the months most subject to hot, parching weather. The heat is, however, seldom very oppressive; the sea-breeze, during the whole year, commences about nine o’clock in the morning, and continues until midnight. When exposed to it, even standing in the sun, the heat is so much alleviated by its influence, as to make the person so situated forget, for a moment, that in the shade he would be cooler. At the time this subsides the land-breeze rises, and continues until early in the morning, and the half hour in the forenoon which occasionally passes between the one and the other, is the most unpleasant period of the day. In the rainy season, just before the commencement of a heavy shower, the clouds are very dark, dense, and low; the breeze is suspended for a short time; there is then a sort of expectant stillness, and the weather is very sultry. One afternoon I rode out with several young men to a village in the neighbourhood, for the purpose of delivering a letter to one of the rich merchants. We passed through Boa Vista, and proceeded along a narrow sandy road, formed by frequent passing and repassing; and along the sides of this are many of the summer residences of the wealthy inhabitants of the town, which are small, neat, white-washed cottages of one floor, with gardens in front and at the sides, planted with orange, lemon, pomegranate, and many other kinds of fruit-trees; some few are inclosed partly by low walls, but for the most part they are protected by fences of timber. About half way we came out upon the banks of the Capibaribe; the view is exceedingly pretty; houses, trees, and gardens on each side: the river bends just above, and appears lost among the trees; the canoes going gently down with the tide, or more laboriously forcing their way up against it, formed altogether a delightful prospect. The river is here rather narrower than the Thames at Richmond. Along the sides of the road, at this spot, are several black women selling oranges, other kinds of fruits and cakes, and canoe-men with their long poles, unable to delay, bargaining with them for some of their commodities. This was the first time I had left the town, and I was truly pleased with these first looks of the country of which I had become an inhabitant. We again left the river, continuing along the road, still bordered by cottages of a better or worse