wo wheels, or rather
two wooden disks, which are often not even hooped with iron to keep
them together. The axle, which is likewise of wood, is never
greased, and thus causes the demoniacal kind of music to which I
alluded.

A peculiarity of dress, very remarkable in this hot climate, is here
prevalent: all the men, with the exception of the slaves, wear
large cloth cloaks, one half of which they throw over their
shoulder; I even saw a great many women enveloped in long, broad
cloth capes.

In St. Paulo there is a High School. Those who study there, and
come from the country or the smaller towns, are exposed to the
inconvenience of being refused lodgings under any one's roof. They
are obliged to hire and furnish houses for themselves, and be their
own housekeepers.

We visited several churches which possess very little worth looking
at, either inside or out, and then concluded by proceeding to the
Botanical Garden, which also contains no object of any interest,
with the exception of a plantation of Chinese teas.

All our sight-seeing did not occupy us more than a few hours, and we
could very conveniently have begun our journey back to Santos the
next morning; but the Frenchman, who, on account of the great
fatigue he had suffered, had not accompanied us in our walk, begged
us to put off our return for half a day longer, and to arrange it in
such a manner, that we should pass the night in Rio Grande. We
willingly acceded to his wish, and set out upon the afternoon of the
17th, after thanking our kind host most cordially for his hospitable
entertainment. In Rio Grande we found an excellent supper,
convenient sleeping apartments, and a good breakfast the next
morning. About 12 o'clock on the 18th of December, we arrived
safely in Santos, and the Frenchman then confessed to us he had felt
so fatigued on arriving at St. Paulo, from his long ride, that he
was afraid of being seriously ill. However, he recovered himself
completely in a few days, but assured us, that it would be some time
before he again accompanied us on one of our trips.

The first question we put to the captain was: "When do you weigh
anchor?" to which he very politely replied, that as soon as he had
cleared out 200 tons of coal, and shipped 6,000 sacks of sugar, he
should be ready to set sail, and in consequence of this we had to
remain three whole weary weeks in Santos.

We were still in Santos when we celebrated New-Year's Day, 1847, and