Distant from Papari, from three to four leagues, is the Indian village of St. Joze, built in the form of a square; this place might contain about two hundred inhabitants, but it had evidently the appearance of falling to decay; the grass in the centre of the square was high, the church neglected, and the whole aspect dull. St. Joze stands upon a dry sandy soil, and the severity of the season might have contributed to its dismal look. This day we experienced the utter impossibility of trusting to the accounts we received of distances, and my guide had no very clever head for recollecting them, although he, like most of these people, possessed a kind of instinct with respect to the paths we were to follow. We were told that Natal was distant from St. Joze three or four leagues, and therefore expected to arrive at that place by dusk, but about five o’clock we entered upon the dismal sand hills, over which lies the road to the city; the whole country is uninhabited, and I may say uninhabitable, between Natal and St. Joze, consequently we had very faint hopes of meeting any one to give us information of the distance; but the guide said he supposed we could not be nearer to it than from two to three leagues, from the recollection he had of these hills, which when once passed over cannot be entirely forgotten. When it was nearly dark, and when our horses were almost giving way, we saw two boys on horseback, coming towards us: we asked them the distance, they answered “two leagues, and all deep sand,” adding, that they belonged to a party, which had come to make _farinha_, upon a spot of land, half a league distant from where we were, upon which mandioc was cultivated. They said, that to go on to Rio Grande the same night was madness, that they were going a short way to water their horses, and that on their return, they would guide us to their party. I agreed to wait for them. When they arrived, they struck soon from the road, down the side of one of the hills,—it was now dark; we followed, entered some high and thick brushwood, and a considerable way into it, found the persons to whom the boys told us they belonged. The implements for making the _farinha_ were placed under a shed, which was thatched with the leaves of the _macaiba_, and other palm trees. These persons had fixed upon this spot, as there was a spring of brackish water hard by, which was, however, only to be reached by descending a precipice; the pitcher was fastened to a cord, and drawn up, and the person who descended to fill it, ascended the precipice by means of the brushwood which grows upon the side. I did not much like the party, therefore we took up our lodgings at some little distance from them, and none of us settled regularly for the night. I now much regretted not having a dog with me. Our horses passed a wretched night, feeding upon the leaves of the shrubs around us.