The Author leaves Pernambuco in a Coasting Vessel—Description of the Voyage—Touches at Cape San Roque—Arrives at Aracaty—Seaport of Province of Ceará—Town described—its Trade—Whole Province subject to great droughts—Commencement of Journey into the Interior—Passes Villa de San Bernardo—Arid nature of the Country—Catingas—Arrives at Icó—Town described—Journey continued—Villa da Lavra de Mangabeira—Gold washings abandoned—Country begins to improve—Reaches the Villa do Crato—Town described—Low state of morals among the Inhabitants—Sugar Plantations—Mode of Manufacture—Coarse kind of Sugar formed into Cakes called Rapadura, in which state it is used throughout the Province—State of Cultivation in the Neighbourhood—Productions of the Country—Serra de Araripe—Different kinds of timber—Wild fruits—Wandering Tribes of Gypsies frequent—Great religious Festival—Climate—Diseases. On my return to Pernambuco from Maceio, Dr. Loudon kindly afforded me the use of his country residence, he having removed into the town, and I remained here from the end of April to the beginning of July. At the time of going there, the rainy season had just set in, when I observed the very striking effect which a few showers had already produced on the vegetation. Three months before, I had left the whole herbage scorched and withered while the trees had a brown and sickly appearance; now all was fresh and verdant; grass and other herbaceous plants were covering the face of the earth, and bursting into bloom; and the shrubs and trees had assumed their summer dress, the deep green of the leaves harmonizing well with their various coloured flowers. The rainy season is here generally expected to commence about the middle or end of April, and continues till about the middle of August. At first, the rains fall in heavy showers, accompanied with thunder and lightning, but ultimately they become more frequent, lasting for half or an entire day, or even several successive days, with but very short intermissions; the longest period I knew it to rain without cessation, being thirty-six hours. At this season from the flatness of the country, the roads are so completely flooded, that it is impossible to move out on foot; and the atmosphere is so thoroughly saturated with moisture, that everything acquires a coating of blue mould; even books get so damp, that, unless exposed to the first sun-shine, they become musty and are spoiled.