When we arrived at the village of Paratibi, night had nearly closed in. I met with Antonio, (the man who was way-laid when I resided at Jaguaribe) and he wished me to stay at his cottage, but I preferred going on, now that we were completely wet through. As we were ascending the hill beyond Paratibi, I was in hopes of a fine night, for the moon was clear, but she did not afford us light for many minutes. In the valley of Merueira the rain again came on, with vivid lightning; and in going through the wood beyond the valley, the darkness was so great, as to prevent me from seeing Manoel’s horse, excepting now and then during the flashes of lightning; although the animal upon which he rode was of a grey colour, approaching to white, and mine was sometimes touching his, for he rode in front. When we arrived near to the hill which descends on the side nearest to Recife, I reminded him to keep to the left, for the precipice is dangerous on the right hand side; but he did not understand me or his horse was restive, and was going too much to the right, when he slipped and fell on one side within a few yards of the place which he was to avoid. I dismounted to assist Manoel, but only saw his situation by the flashes of lightning. I asked him after himself, his horse, and his pistol, and to each question received for answer that all was well. I then said to him “Where is the road;” for I had turned round in different ways so frequently in assisting him, that I had no notion of the direction which we ought to take to find the road; and indeed at one moment I had formed the idea of remaining where we were until the break of day. But on again asking Manoel if he was certain respecting the right direction, his answer was in an angry voice, for he was wet and bruised, “I see the road, don’t be afraid Sir.” He led, and I followed him, each leading his horse; we descended side-ways, for the ground was too slippery owing to the rain to allow us to advance in any other manner. My horse struck me with his head several times, and he too every now and then narrowly escaped falling. The width of the road is about six feet; there is on one side a precipice of great height, which has been formed by the torrents in the rainy season; these have caused the ground to fall in, and have now worn it quite away; on the other side, the declivity is less perpendicular, but it is covered with the short stumps of trees, among which there is no possibility of treading safely without a sufficient light. We reached the bottom without accident, and when we entered the village of Beberibi, the rain nearly ceased, and the night likewise was clearer, but the moon had set. We crossed the hill beyond Beberibi very slowly, and arrived at Agua Fria, the residence of one of my friends distant from Recife two leagues, between one and two o’clock in the morning. If the weather had been fine, we should have arrived between eight and nine o’clock in the evening preceding. The instinct (if I may