OUR way was through woodlands for about one league, when we came out upon the borders of the lake Piatô; we proceeded along them for another half league, and unloaded near to the _caza de palha_, or straw cottage, of the commandant of the district. Piatô is a lake of three leagues in length, and about one league in breadth. In the summer its sides become sufficiently dry to enable them to be cultivated, but the centre of it is invariably marshy and impassable. The fertility of its sides is very great, affording most plentifully rice, maize, sugar cane, melons, &c. and I saw some cotton trees planted very near to the edge. The lake is filled from the river in the rainy season, and as the lands around it are much higher than the lake itself, the waters which run down from them wash away all vestiges of cultivation, till these again subside and the same operations are continued the following season. In such dreadfully severe years as that during which I travelled, the people of the district would be starved if this lake did not exist; it enabled the inhabitants of Açu, at the time I was there, to remain in their houses. The appearance of abundance, the bright green, the well fed horses and cattle, which we saw as we travelled along its banks, enlivened us all; there was a look of security, a seeming certainty of at least the necessaries of life let what would happen, which we had not for a long time felt. The parched hills which surround the lake, its beautifully cultivated borders, and the dark and dangerous bogs which compose its centre and prevent the communication of the inhabitants of either bank, formed a very extraordinary scene. No water was to be seen, but the mud was too deep, and not of sufficient consistence for a man to be enabled to wade across; nor could a passage to the other side be effected by means of a raft, for a very trifling weight would make it sink. We unloaded under a small tree on rising ground, with the lake on our right; between us and the house of the commandant, there was a deep ravine, down which, in the rainy season, the waters rush from the hills. This ravine was under cultivation and was inclosed, a narrow path only being left to cross from where we had stationed ourselves to the hut on the opposite hill, which was entirely composed of wood and the leaves of the Carnaùba and other kinds of cabbage trees. This was only a temporary habitation for the summer months, the usual residence of the owner being at Açu. He had a large family, who were all very shy, indeed the females I scarcely saw, though they sometimes did peep at the Englishmen, not knowing until now, that these were truly and _bona fide_ nothing but men.