They then said, that the boy, on going for the milk, had mentioned that there was an Englishman in company, whom they wished much to see, as it was a _bicho_, an animal, they had never seen. I said that he was gone with the horses, and would soon return. I meant John,—however the guide soon told them that I was an Englishman. Their countenances shewed much disappointment, when they were persuaded that this was true; they had expected to see some strange beast. John soon came, and he certainly was a curiosity, for he did not speak Portugueze; and when any thing went wrong, he swore away in English, at which they were all astonishment: they said, “He speaks the negro language[37].” They sat upon the ground near to my hammock, and asked me of the news from Pernambuco, for they cared about nothing more distant. I was acquainted at Recife with the owner of the place, which I made them confident was the case, by describing his house and garden, and they asked me after him, &c. The conversation concluded by an offer of horses to proceed, and, on their return to the house, a present of dried meat was sent. Thus I was in the end a gainer, by offering to pay for the milk; but I was more careful ever after. From St. Luzia, we proceeded across the plain, expecting to reach a lake, of which the guide had some recollection; but when the night had already closed in, we were still upon the same endless plain, over which the track was only marked by the sand upon it being more worn away, consequently, it might easily be lost at night. The lake at which we had entertained hopes of arriving, never becomes entirely dry in the summer; but there was only one place at which it could be crossed, therefore it would be dangerous to reach its borders in the dark. The plain presented no tempting lodging; there were several rocks upon it of different sizes, but no trees, and the wind blew hard. The guide dismounted, to feel if there was any of the long dry grass where we were; on not finding any, he walked to the left of the road, but was not successful; he then tried to the right, and found some. We only discovered his situation by the sound of his voice; he called, and we answered, several times, until at last we joined him; he had also discovered a large rock, under the lee of which we unloaded, and then lighted our fire, and fettered the horses to feed. We soon found, that to cook any victuals was impossible, for the wind scattered our fire, which was only formed of the branches of the small shrubs and briars that grow upon these plains. Water we had by accident, as the guide had brought a small skin of it, in case he should be thirsty during the afternoon, for we had made ourselves quite certain of reaching the lake by night. I slept upon two of our packages, under the lee of the rock, and the whole party did the same, sharing, as equally as possible, our scanty means of accommodation. This afternoon I had seen many rocks of