Our host, whose name I regret I have neglected to record, would not allow us to depart on the following morning till we had breakfasted. As our stock of provisions was again becoming short, he sold me as much dried beef as I thought would carry us to San Romão, which was not now many days’ journey distant. We rested during the heat of the day at the next fazenda, after travelling two leagues and a half; in the afternoon we went another two leagues, and remained for the night at the fazenda of Santa Maria. The country still continued flat and dry, partly open and partly wooded; some of the open places abounded, as far as the eye could reach, with the large yellow clay nests of the white ant, among which we saw several ant-eaters, and a large flock of the ostrich of the country, which, as soon as they saw us, fled with extraordinary rapidity. From Santa Maria, we went on to a little hamlet called Espigão, half a league distant; it consisted of a few small houses, at one of which we stopped to make enquiries about the road; it belonged to a tailor, who was at work outside the door; as soon as we arrived, about half a dozen young women, of all colours, and dirty in the extreme, came out to reconnoitre us. Following the directions, we went on about a league further, and halted to breakfast at an uninhabited house, by the side of a beautiful stream of clear water, flowing from a Buriti palm swamp. Resuming our journey in the afternoon, we crossed the stream, but were puzzled which road to take of the two that presented themselves, one led to the south, and another to the east; and as our general direction was easterly, we followed that course. After travelling about two leagues and a half through a very arid and barren country, consisting of long flat sandy tracts, wooded with a few stunted trees and bushes, and large open Buriti swamps, we arrived at another uninhabited house. During the latter part of this journey, the road inclined so much towards the north, that I felt certain we had not taken the right one, and determined to retrace our steps on the following morning, and take that which led to the south. As the house was in a very ruinous state, we slept under some trees; and as the nights had now become too cold for the use of hammocks, we generally abandoned them, and adopted instead an ox-hide laid on the ground, by the side of a large fire, with a trunk placed at our heads, and two or three others alongside; a heap of wood was always collected and laid within reach, and as the hardness of our beds never allowed us to sleep too soundly, the fire was always well kept up; the men had another fire to themselves.