annoyed at his loss, and it was fortunate, that previously to leaving Icó I had removed a number of my most useful articles from the box to one of my trunks; I had just discovered my loss, when the owner came down to consult me concerning a complaint under which he laboured, but I was too much exasperated to accede to his wishes; he expressed much regret for our loss, and said it was the first time any traveller had been pilfered who had put up at his house. We had not proceeded on our journey more than a quarter of a league, when Pedro told me he would return to the mill and endeavour to recover his clothes, from which I could not dissuade him; the guide and I, therefore, went on alone, and at a distance of three leagues, halted under the shade of a large tree near some small houses. Pedro returned at two in the afternoon bringing his bag with him, and my botanical box, but not the handkerchief; upon his arrival, he took me aside, and told me that just before returning in the morning, a thought struck him that our guide might have been the thief, and if so, that the things would be hidden somewhere near the sugar-mill; it was this conviction that induced him to return, and the result proved that he was right, for, after an hour’s search, in which he was assisted by the people of the place, he discovered my box hidden among some bushes, and his bag buried under the earth at a little distance. I have no doubt that the guide was the thief of all the articles, and had hidden them until his return to Icó. He looked rather confused when Pedro returned, and my first thought was to give him an immediate dismissal without payment, but upon reflection I resolved to take no notice of the matter, knowing the revengeful nature of these people; I was sorry, however, for the incautious manner in which I had treated the proprietor of the mill. The large tree under which we had rested was the first I had seen of a kind that is very common about Crato; it is called Visgeira by the inhabitants, and is the _Parkia platycephala_ of Bentham; it has a very thick stem, and wide-spreading branches, which in some instances nearly reach the ground; the wood is soft and brittle, and consequently not of much value.