ing to dart against our jace s; if we remained in the house,
scorpions, and centipedes, and scolopendras were constantly
crawling over the floor; and a disagreeable, disgusting, but
perfectly harmless insect, a species of cricket (Gryllus Gryl-
lotalpa), as constantly skipped about the plates and into the
glasses during supper. But of all the torments I ever experienced,
in any part of the world, none in my opinion can
be put in comparison with those produced by the stings of the
musquitoes of Rio de Janeiro. I have felt the venom of
their little pointed beaks in many parts of the world, but
never suffered from its virulence any thing like the degree of
pain which their puncture occasioned at this p lace; nor could
the exquisite torment which we suffered be owing to any
extraordinary degree of irritability in the habit of body at the
time, because the whole party, without a single exception,
laboured under the same severity of pain. The eyes, the lips’
the forehead, and the cheeks of every individual who slept
on shore were inflamed and swollen in such a manner as completely
to disfigure the face. Those who had taken the precaution
to furnish themselves with curtains of net-work,
though they might not suffer in an equal degree with the
rest, were not, however, entirely protected. I f a single mus-
quito, by any accident, found itself within the net, the perpetual
humming noise with which it assailed the face, and the
constant expectation of feeling its sting, were nearly as teasing
and as preventive of sleep to those who lay enclosed in
net-work as to those who were exposed to their open attack.
The swarms of these insects and other kinds of vermin may
be attributed rather to the extreme filthiness of the people
than to the heat of the climate. The ground floors of the
houses are rarely swept: they serve as repositories for firewood,
fpr lumber, and for the lodgings of their numerous slaves.
The same want of cleanliness is visible in their dress and in
their persons. Few, if any, are free from a certain cutaneous
disorder, which is supposed in our country to be the joint
effect of poverty of food and filth ; many have confirmed leprosy
; and the elephantiasis is by no means uncommon. A
great part of their diet' consists of fish, fruit, and vegetables,
with the never-failing dish of farinha de pao, or flour of the
maniota root; all their substantial food, whatever it may
be, is first dipped in oil or grease, and then rolled in this
flour and made up into little balls in the'palm of the hand.
Milk, butter and cheese are rarely used. With the utmost
difficulty we procured a little of the first for our tea, and it
was miserably bad. Their beef is lean and very indifferent,
and mutton is scarcely to be had at any rate. Fowls and
turkies are abundant, and tolerably good ; and the market is
well supplied with a great variety of very excellent fish. The
bread which is made of wheaten flour, the produce of the
southern provinces, is exceedingly good. The fruits in general
are not excelled in any part of the woild.
One of the first objects of inquiry to an inquisitive traveller,
on his entering a city or large town, is a booksellers shop.
An Englishman in particular is so accustomed to the convenience
of a printed guide, wherever he moves about in his
own country, that he is very apt to run into the mistake of
expecting to be accommodated with a similar fund of information
abroad. After a long search, and many inquiries, we
N