At dinner the great man took the head of the table, and the owner of the house stood by and waited upon him. Every thing was served up in enormous quantities, for the party was large and this is the custom; there was no sort of regularity observed; every man helped himself to the dish which pleased him best, and this was oftentimes done, with the knife which the person had been making use of upon his own plate, and by reaching across two or three of his neighbours for the purpose. A nice bit was not safe even upon one’s own plate, being occasionally snatched up, and another less dainty given in return. Much wine was drank during dinner, and the glasses were used in common. We soon rose from table, and the party, generally speaking, took the accustomed _sesta_ or nap after dinner which is usual in warm climates. My friend and I walked out in the afternoon, but there was nothing to tempt us to go far, for the neighbourhood possessed no natural beauty and the dry weather had burnt up the grass, and had made the face of the country extremely dreary. Early on the morrow about forty persons sallied forth for the village of Bom Jardim. It is distant from Pindoba one league and a half. We arrived there at seven o’clock. This village is built in the form of a square; the houses are low, but the church is large and handsome. Like the huts of Açu and of some other places, those of Bom Jardim are not white-washed, and therefore the mud of which they are composed remains in its original colour. The place contains about 500 inhabitants. We ascended a steep hill to arrive at it, and on the opposite side still another of equal height is to be surmounted in proceeding farther inland. The village is situated upon a break of the hill. The soil is chiefly composed of red earth, approaching in places to a bright scarlet, with veins of yellow running through it; this is the description of soil, which is said to be the best adapted to the growth of cotton. Bom Jardim is a great rendezvous for the hawkers who are proceeding to the Sertam, and for others who merely advance thus far. It is distant from Recife twenty good leagues, in a N. E. direction.