their great ambition is to make a voyage to Europe or North
America, and to send their sons to be educated there. The land on
which his establishment is built, he told us, was an artificial
embankment on the swamp; the end of the house was built on a
projecting point overlooking the river, so that a good view was
obtained, from the sitting-rooms, of the city and the shipping.
We learned there was formerly a large and flourishing cattle
estate on this spot, with an open grassy space like a park. On
Sundays, gay parties of forty or fifty persons used to come by
land and water, in carriages and gay galliotas, to spend the day
with the hospitable owner. Since the political disorders which I
have already mentioned, decay had come upon this as on most other
large establishments in the country. The cultivated grounds, and
the roads leading to them, were now entirely overgrown with dense
forest. When we were ready to depart, Senor Danin lent a canoe
and two negroes to take us to the city, where we arrived in the
evening after a day rich in new experiences.

Shortly afterwards, we took possession of our new residence. The
house was a square building, consisting of four equal-sized
rooms; the tiled roof projected all round, so as to form a broad
verandah, cool and pleasant to sit and work in. The cultivated
ground, which appeared as if newly cleared from the forest, was
planted with fruit trees and small plots of coffee and mandioca.
The entrance to the grounds was by an iron-grille gateway from a
grassy square, around which were built the few houses and palm-
thatched huts which then constituted the village. The most
important building was the chapel of our Lady of Nazareth, which
stood opposite our place. The saint here enshrined was a great
favourite with all orthodox Paraenses, who attributed to her the