The horses were ready, and in the morning I set forth, accompanied by my Goiana guide, and the man whom I had hired for this additional journey; he rode a horse with which he had been charged to take to Seara. He was an old man, half mad, and very amusing. We hailed the ferryman to take us across the river before day-break; but as he did not answer, we took possession of a large canoe which lay empty, and was tied to a post; we got into it, and the Goiana guide paddled us very dexterously to the middle of the river, where the canoe grounded; it had struck upon a sand bank, owing to the man being unacquainted with the navigation of the stream. We were obliged to undress, and get into the water to push the canoe off, which we succeeded in doing, and reached the opposite side in safety. The horses crossed over, tied to the sides of the canoe, swimming or taking the ground according to the depth of the water. The distance between Aracati and the _Villa da Fortaleza do Seara Grande_, is thirty leagues, principally consisting of sandy lands covered with brushwood; in a few places, the wood is loftier and thicker, but of this there is not much. We passed also some fine _varseas_, or low marshy grounds, which were now sufficiently dry for cultivation; and indeed the only land from which any crop could be expected in this particularly severe dry season. The country is, generally speaking, flat, and in some parts the path led us near to the sea shore, but was never upon it. We saw several cottages, and three or four hamlets; the facility of obtaining fish from the sea, has rendered living comparatively easy in these parts. We passed through an Indian village, and the town of St. Joze, each built in a square, and each containing about three hundred inhabitants. I understood that the governors of Seara are obliged to take possession of their office at St. Joze. We made the journey in four days, arriving at the _Villa da Fortaleza_ on the 16th December, and might have entered it at noon on the fourth day, but I preferred waiting until the evening. I performed the journey from Natal to Seara, a distance of one hundred and sixty leagues, according to the vague computation of the country, in thirty-four days. The morning after my arrival I sent back to Aracati the men and horses which I had brought with me.