St. Luzia stands upon the northern bank of a dry river, in a sandy loose soil. We took up our mid-day station under the roof of a miserable hut; the ashes of an extinguished fire in its centre, and a bench of twisted twigs, alone denoted that it had served as a dwelling. Several of the inhabitants of the village soon came to us to enquire for news from Pernambuco; and among others, a young man, whose accent discovered him to be a native of some of the northern provinces of Portugal, and whose manner displayed the idea which he entertained of his own importance; he said, that he had orders from the commandant to demand my passport, to which I answered, that if the commandant had wished to see the passport, he would certainly have sent one of his officers to ask for it; the young man rejoined, that he was the sergeant of the district. I said that I did not doubt the truth of what he said, but that I could not know him in that capacity, because, instead of being in uniform, he had appeared in the usual dress of shirt and drawers; and I added, that his manner was such, that I had quite resolved not to show it to him at all. He said, I must and should show it; I turned to Julio, and asked him, if he heard what the man said; Julio answered, “Yes, sir, never mind.”[39] The sergeant went off, and we prepared our arms, much to the amazement and amusement of some of the more peaceable inhabitants. I soon saw him again, and he was coming towards us, with two or three other persons; I called to him to keep at a distance, telling him that Julio would fire if he did not. This he judged advisable to do; and as I thought it proper and prudent to advance as soon as possible, we left the place soon after one o’clock, with a broiling sun; therefore we then saw no more of the sergeant. The dry river, upon which this village stands, divides the captaincies of Rio Grande and Seara, consequently there was much reason for the commandant’s demand of my passport; but it was necessary to preserve the high opinion generally entertained of the name of _Inglez_, Englishman, wherever the people possessed sufficient knowledge to understand that the said _Inglezes_, were not _bichos_, or animals; and also to keep up my own importance with the persons about me. It would not have answered, to have thus given way to a man who was inclined to make me feel the consequence which he judged his place would allow him to assume. If I had been invited to the commandant’s house in a civil way, or if the sergeant had come to me in his uniform, all would have gone well. These trifles, though apparently of no importance, weigh very heavily with persons who have made such small advances towards civilization; public opinion is every thing. If the idea of my being a _bicho_ and a heretic had not been counter-balanced by that of rank and consequence, I might have had the whole village upon me, and have been deserted by my own people into the bargain.