The road of the next day led us through woodlands, and over loose stony ground; but the woods of this part of the country are not large and luxuriant; they have not the grandeur of the forests of Pernambuco, nor is the brushwood which grows under them so close and thick. We passed through some estates, of which the live stock seemed in good condition; and saw this day a whole drove or lot (_lote_) of cream-coloured mares. I asked for water to drink at one of the houses; some was brought to me by a pretty white girl, who was apparently about seventeen years of age; she talked a great deal, and in a lively manner, so as to show that she had inhabited more civilized regions. There were in the house two children of colour, which she told me were her’s; she was the daughter of a man of small property, who had married her contrary to her wishes, to a wealthy mulatto man. She gave a message to the guide to deliver to her husband, who was superintending the felling of some timber by the road side, along which we were to pass; we met with him, he was of dark complexion, and about forty years of age. I learnt her story from the Açu guide; he said, it had made some noise in these parts at the time. In the afternoon we passed over a salt marsh, surrounded by great numbers of carnàûba trees. We bordered the marsh, looking for a crossing and entered it, where we found the footsteps of others who had recently passed; the mud was from twelve to eighteen inches deep where we crossed; but it was in some parts impassable. The salt had coagulated wherever the footstep of a horse had formed an opening in the mud, and had collected a small quantity of water. The breadth of the marsh might be about two hundred yards in the centre, and its length about one league. After leaving the marsh, we reached the _taboleiro_, upon which we were to sleep. Towards evening, the wind was high. I was riding as if I had been seated upon a side-saddle, with both my legs on the same side of the horse, and with my umbrella over my head to shade me from the heat of the sun; a sudden gust of wind took me and my umbrella, and landed us in the sand, to the no small entertainment of my companions. If the horse had gone off, I should have been awkwardly situated; but he had travelled too many leagues to be frightened at trifles such as these.