The Villa Resonha de San Romão is situated on the south bank of the Rio de San Francisco, in the district of Paracatú; it is small, not containing above one thousand inhabitants, and forms a square of several long narrow irregular streets; the houses are all of one story, and without exception, built of wicker-work and clay, there being no stone in the neighbourhood; the principal streets run parallel with the river, and the three which are nearest to it, are almost every year inundated by the overflowing of its waters during the season of the rains. The other part of the town being somewhat higher, is exempt from this annoyance; the house we inhabited was one of those exposed to the floods, and although the floor was at least four feet above the level of the street, it required to be abandoned annually for some time; during the great flood of 1838, to which I was witness on my voyage up the Rio de San Francisco, the water rose five feet above the level of the floor, and the walls still retained evident marks of the fact. The population consists chiefly of people of colour, and I do not believe that a dozen white families exist in the whole Villa. Most of the respectable inhabitants are shopkeepers, who supply the fazendeiros, and those who reside in the surrounding country, with European and other goods. The place cannot be said to have any trade of its own, the principal source of traffic being fish, caught in the river, which after being salted and dried, is sold to the inhabitants of the Sertoes, who are remarkably fond of this food. The better class of the inhabitants are greatly addicted to gambling, resorting every day for that purpose to the house of an old captain, who is the owner of a spirit shop; having occasion to call several times on some of them, with letters of recommendation that I brought from Goyaz, I seldom found them at home, being always directed to the above house, where they were sure to be found, in company with one of the two priests belonging to the place, and this on Sundays, no less than on other days. This priest, Padre Francisco Fernandes Vianna, although a man of most benevolent disposition, was far from being a model of morality to his flock; to him, however, I was indebted for several acts of kindness, as also to Lieut. Col. Thomas de Conceição, a person of considerable intelligence, who forms an exception to the general character I have given of the inhabitants. From this gentleman I received letters of recommendation to the excellent and learned Padre Antonio Nogueira Duarte, of Contendas, a small village between the Rio de San Francisco and the Diamond District, a person who is spoken of in the highest terms, both by St. Hilaire and by Spix and Martius. I expected to pass through this village, and to have the pleasure of meeting with one, who though now a very old man, still takes a delight in the pursuits of natural history, but when I found that in order to visit him, I should