It was upon the borders of this river that the Portugueze and the Dutch were first opposed to each other in that part of Brazil[79]; here commenced that memorable struggle upon which the Pernambucans, with so much reason, pride themselves. The beginning was not propitious, and did not augur well of the result, but time proved the people to be worthy of the beautiful country which they inhabit. The river Tapado, upon the banks of which the Portugueze commander afterwards attempted to rally his men[80], lies between the Doce and Olinda. It is a rivulet or dyke (for it resembles more the latter than the former) without any outlet to the sea, but it is only separated from it by the sands, which are here about twenty yards across. When the rains have been violent the additional waters of the Tapado are discharged over the sands, and sometimes at spring tides, when the wind blows fresh, a few waves will reach over them and fall into the dyke; this being the only manner in which they can communicate with each other. At the Doce likewise landed Pedro Jaques de Magalhaens, the general, and Brito Freire (now known as an historian), the admiral of the fleet which assisted the patriots of Pernambuco in the completion of their long-desired and hardly-earned object,—the re-conquest of Recife and consequent expulsion of the Dutch.[81] But to return,—I arrived upon the banks of the Doce, and asked at a cottage, which was not far distant, if the river was fordable, and being answered in the affirmative, I rode up to its banks and attempted to make my horse enter it, which he refused to do. I made a second and a third trial, when he plunged in swimming; it was with much difficulty that he gained the outermost point of the sand-bank on the opposite side. He had passed a bad night and was not in a proper state to perform this task, nor should I have attempted it if I had known the depth, but I imagined that the tide had sufficiently retreated. My clothes were dry before I arrived at home, but I long felt the consequences of crossing the Doce.