Soon after my return to Jaguaribe, I was one evening surprised at the arrival of a white man, who was habited in uniform of blue and red, and accompanied by a great number of loaded horses, and of men, who were dressed in leather after the manner of the Sertam; he delivered to me a letter, which I discovered not to be for me, but for an Englishman who was occasionally with me; however, I of course requested him to stay, and gave directions for the accommodation of his followers. He was a commandant from the interior, distant 130 leagues, in the back settlements of the province of Paraiba, at the foot of the Serra do Teixiera. He had put on board of _jangadas_ at Paraiba a considerable quantity of cotton, which he had brought down from his estate, and he was now travelling to Recife for the purpose of receiving it, and of purchasing necessaries or rather luxuries for his family; to which he appeared to be extremely attached. We soon became intimate, and when he proceeded to Recife at the close of a few days, he left some of his men and horses at Jaguaribe. It is among the inhabitants of places so remote as the district from which he came, that clanship more particularly exists; he had with him ten persons, most of whom were his _compadres_, that is, the commandant was sponsor to one of the children of each. This relationship is accounted very sacred in Brazil, and I believe in all Roman Catholic countries; it is a bond of brotherhood, which permits the poor man to speak to his superior with a kind of endearing familiarity, and unites them in links of union, of which the non-observance would be sacrilegious. The commandant made me several visits from Recife, and after a delay of two months, he set off on his return homewards. He was a man of most determined spirit, whose name is respected all over the part of the country which he inhabits; and this respect was produced by his wealth and individual character, which brooks no insult; and yet there was a natural goodness in his nature, which broke forth very strongly when he shewed me the letters which he had received from his children, each of them, even to the youngest, having written to him. He had lately lost his wife; his manner of speaking of her was most affectionate. He told me, that he had some intention of taking orders as a secular priest.