Page:The Captivity of Hans Stade of Hesse.pdf/152

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

IN EASTERN BRAZIL.

33

came to think that it must be a river, which is called Rio de S. Francisco,^[1] which lies in the same province, for the further we went up it, the longer the river appeared. And we now looked around again and again, to see if we could perceive any smoke, but we saw none. Then we thought that we sighted some huts near a wilderness, and in a ravine. We sailed thither, but they were old huts, and we perceived no men therein; so we went further, till it became evening, and there lay before us in the river a small island, for which we made, in order to pass the night, supposing that there we could best protect ourselves. When we came to the island it was already night, and we could scarcely venture to repair on shore to spend the night there. Some of us went round about the island to see if anybody was in it, but we perceived no one. Then we made a fire, and cut down a palm-tree, and ate the pith of it.^[2] There we passed the night, and early in the morning we sailed further into the country, for our intention was to discover if there were people there, inasmuch as when we had seen the old huts, we thought the land must be inhabited. Now as we so sailed onwards, we saw from afar a piece of wood standing upon a rock, which seemed like a cross. Several of us

↑ This must not be confounded with the great Rio de S. Francisco, further north. Behind the island of S. Francisco is a deep and winding indenture, into which a number of small waters fall, the largest being known as the S. Francisco. It is a disappointing stream. The northern entrance is called the Barra de S. Francisco, and João Dias Point is in S. lat. 26 deg. 6 min. 33 sec. Within the broken bay is now the large German colony of Joinville.
↑ Southey (i, 186) quoting Pedro Cieza de Leon (chap. vi, see the excellent translation by Clements R. Markham, C.B., printed for the Hakluyt Society, London, 1864), informs us that the cabbage-palm would probably have been extirpated had it not been so difficult to fell. "It was the hard work of half a day for a man with an axe to get the tree down and cut off its head." This is not the case in the Brazil, where the young palm is preferred: I have felled half a dozen "palmitos" in half an hour. Almost all the palms, it may be noted, bear an edible cabbage, but some species are much preferred to others.

[1] This must not be confounded with the great Rio de S. Francisco, further north. Behind the island of S. Francisco is a deep and winding indenture, into which a number of small waters fall, the largest being known as the S. Francisco. It is a disappointing stream. The northern entrance is called the Barra de S. Francisco, and João Dias Point is in S. lat. 26 deg. 6 min. 33 sec. Within the broken bay is now the large German colony of Joinville.

[2] Southey (i, 186) quoting Pedro Cieza de Leon (chap. vi, see the excellent translation by Clements R. Markham, C.B., printed for the Hakluyt Society, London, 1864), informs us that the cabbage-palm would probably have been extirpated had it not been so difficult to fell. "It was the hard work of half a day for a man with an axe to get the tree down and cut off its head." This is not the case in the Brazil, where the young palm is preferred: I have felled half a dozen "palmitos" in half an hour. Almost all the palms, it may be noted, bear an edible cabbage, but some species are much preferred to others.

[1]

[2]