festivals between the interior towns and villages and the
capital; but little or no work was done anywhere whilst they
lasted, and they tended much to demoralise the people. It was
soon perceived that religion is rather the amusement of the
Paraenses, than their serious exercise. The ideas of the majority
evidently do not reach beyond the belief that all the proceedings
are, in each case, in honour of the particular wooden image
enshrined at the church. The uneducated Portuguese immigrants
seemed to me to have very degrading notions of religion.

I have often travelled in the company of these shining examples
of European enlightenment. They generally carry with them,
wherever they go, a small image of some favourite saint in their
trunks, and when a squall or any other danger arises, their first
impulse is to rush to the cabin, take out the image and clasp it
to their lips, whilst uttering a prayer for protection. The
negroes and mulattos are similar in this respect to the low
Portuguese, but I think they show a purer devotional feeling; and
in conversation, I have always found them to be more rational in
religious views than the lower orders of Portuguese. As to the
Indians; with the exception of the more civilised families
residing near the large towns, they exhibit no religious
sentiment at all. They have their own patron saint, St. Thome,
and celebrate his anniversary in the orthodox way, for they are
fond of observing all the formalities; but they think the
feasting to be of equal importance with the church ceremonies. At
some of the festivals, masquerading forms a large part of the
proceedings, and then the Indians really shine. They get up
capital imitations of wild animals, dress themselves to represent
the Caypor and other fabulous creatures of the forest, and act