We waited upon this gentleman the day after our arrival; my companion had been acquainted with him in Lisbon, when he was an ensign. His parents were respectable people in one of the northern provinces of Portugal; he was placed at some seminary for the purpose of being educated for the church, but he escaped from thence, and enlisted as a private soldier in Lisbon. One of the officers of the regiment in which he was enrolled, soon found out that he was a man of education,—having learnt his story, he was made a cadet, as being of good family. He came over in the same ship with the Princess of Brazil, a captain of infantry; married one of the maids of honour on their arrival at Rio de Janeiro, and in about eighteen months, had advanced from a captaincy to the government of Paraiba, and a commandery of the Order of Christ. We next crossed to the other wing of the building, and paid a visit to the _Ouvidor_, a very affable and good-humoured old gentleman. His chaplain, a jolly little friar, and an old acquaintance of Senhor Joaquim, made his appearance, and was afterwards very civil to us during our stay. The prospect from the windows presents Brazil scenery of the best kind; extensive and evergreen woods, bounded by a range of hills, and watered by several branches of the river, with here and there a white washed cottage, placed upon their banks, and these, though they were situated on higher spots of land, were still half concealed by the lofty trees. The cultivated specks were so small, as to be scarcely perceptible. The lower town consists of small houses, and is situated upon the borders of a spacious basin or lake, formed by the junction of three rivers, which from hence discharge their waters into the sea, by one considerable stream. The banks of the basin are covered with mangroves, as in all the salt water rivers of this country; and they are so close and thick, that there seems to be no outlet. I did not follow the river down to the sea, but I understand that there are in it some fine islands, with good land, quite uncultivated[31]. Paraiba was the scene of much fighting during the Dutch war, and I now regret not having proceeded down the river, to the famous Fort of Cabedello. This war was conducted upon a small scale, but the deeds which were performed by the brave defenders of their country, may rank with those which any other people have displayed in a cause of equal import to the actors.