The conversation of the Sertanejos usually turns upon the state of their cattle or of women, and occasionally, accounts of adventures which took place at Recife or at some other town. The merits or demerits of the priests with whom they may happen to be acquainted are likewise discussed, and their irregular practices are made a subject of ridicule. The dress of the men has already been described, but when they are at home a shirt and drawers alone remain. The women have a more slovenly look, as their only dress is a shift and petticoat, no stockings, and oftentimes no shoes; but when they leave home, which is very seldom, an addition is made of a large piece of coarse white cloth, either of their own or of European manufacture, and this is thrown over the head and shoulders; a pair of shoes is likewise then put on. They are good horsewomen, and the high Portugueze saddle serves the purpose of a side-saddle very completely. I never saw any Brazilian woman riding, as is the case occasionally in Portugal, in the manner that men do. Their employment consists in household arrangements entirely, for the men even milk the cows and goats: the women spin and work with the needle. No females of free birth are ever seen employed in any kind of labour in the open air, excepting in that of occasionally fetching wood or water, if the men are not at home. The children generally run about naked until a certain age, but this is often seen even in Recife; to the age of six or seven years, boys are allowed to run about without any cloathing. Formerly, I mean before the commencement of a direct trade with England, both sexes dressed in the coarse cotton cloth which is made in the country; the petticoats of this cloth were sometimes tinged with a red dye, which was obtained from the bark of the _coipuna_ tree, a native of their woods; and even now this dye is used for tinging fishing-nets, as it is said that those which have undergone this process last the longer.