Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1872-10-29
ran out Of water, r, and had to think about

0'7And HhaJ IL tnere 10 De seeh Vheto'
asked |.
e why, it's q pretty place ~ look at,
in any case, he replied but the great
thing is, that it's the place where the
II Braziliaus send all tAeir degradados
\ (convicts), and they We got quite a fine
collection now; when you go ashore you
will be able to get a good sight of them.
- But they don't go about loose,
surely2 asked Lin some amazement.
80 The saints forbid they have got a
governor and a guard to take care Of
them. Ali he's q rare man, the Senior
Gobernador; mRny's the cask of rum
\ he's sent me when we've touched here
before" siEkfsf sEal th 1g1
go You seem TO know him pretty well,
said ], laughing lfN ~ ,tl 9liA
" Santos that's not difficult. Hes
as friendly as a contrabandista. Ca
fine definition offriendship, thought l. }
If the noble Senior Inglese will be
pleased TO go ashore with us, the Senior
Gobernador will be sure to invite him to
bis house, and show him all the curiosi-
ties of the island. F3ul'.t
| "And with that he gave such an extra
ordinary grin that all his features seemed
i to change places like agutta-percha face
in toy shop. ] couldn't think at the
time what he was grihning at but /
found out later on, as you'll see. 81 -,,s,
| I've sighted the island next morning,
and by noon we were pretty near the
shore; and it struck me that the degra-
dddos had better berth than they de-
| served, for a sweeter little spot never
I saw. The coast to right and left was
rugged and broken, but just ahead of us
it .elpBed into beautiful little bay, with,
a smooth sandy beach, above which rose
q broad sweep of wooded hillsides, like
q band Of green velvet, dotted here and
there with such flowers as you only see
in the tropics. In the hollow of the bay
was q small Wooden jetty, on which stood
4 man in uniform, while behind him
clustered a dozen blacks in red caps and
white cotton drawers ss,e
HThat's his Excellency's secretary,
said the skipper; " be must have seen
US heading for the shore, and its lucky
those blacks happen to be with him.
for they'll help US to get the water on
board" t.-
II must own that this lucky coinci-
dence Of the negroes presence made me
begin 10 suspect that the worthy skipper
was himself one of the friendly contra
bandistas' of whom he had spoken, and
that his dealings with the Senior Gober-
nador werefot a nature to add little ito
the imperial revenue, bat before could
make up my mind as to whether the
alleged want of water was all sham or
not, the skipper shouted something
through bis speaking-trumpet to the
officer on shore, who thereupon gave
some orders to two of his blacks, which
started them off like grey-hounds.
"They're gone to tell the Senior
Gobernador that we've got Senior
Inglese on board, said the skipper.
and his Excellency will most likely
come to meet you inperson. .,.
| "And, sure enough, in about half an
hour, there came round the elbow of
hill half dogen soldiers, armed with
muskets, followed by three men in uni
| form, the midmost Of whom was on
horseback The moment | touched the
shore the governor (for he it was) dis
mounted, and greeted me with bow
that would haYe made the fortune of a
eourtieF.
"May you live thousand ysars,
most potent Senior Gobernador, said !,
in my best Portuguese.
90 kiss the dust beneath your feet,
noble and valiant senior, replied he,
vita q second bow which almost made
good his words. If his English Ex-
oellency would so fas honGr my poor
house as to come within its walls. i'll
would be my highest pleasure to enter
cain him. Will the noble Sehnor In
gleae ts pleased to mount and follsw
meT' 9aat
81 mounted accordingy-rfor they
had horse all ready for me, just as ifI
/ had been expected-and we rode
round the hill and through small
plantation 20 the prettiest little villa
imaginable like an enlarged dnplicste
Of my humming- birds nest at Petro- |
polls. a.r
a. Noble senior, said the governor,
you will pardon me for leaving you for
few moments, while | see whether all
is ready for the entertainment of your
self and the otiiserp of the colony, who |
do me the honor of dining With ne to- |
day; in the meantime let me beg Of you |
70 consider my house and all that is in
it as your own. .F0E EfFEOE
Well thought ], "this comes of
traveling ] might have waited long
enough before any one would have done |
as much for me in England, 4
"And ] had reason 10 think 50 few
minutes later, when-I found myself
seated at the Governors right hand over
as good dinner as ever ate, with fif-
teen gentlemen in uniform on each side
of the table They weFe 81 strong and
6ne looking men, with brisk business
Ike sir ebQpt them, which | had not re-
marked in the officers | met at Rio (who
we're for the most part as confirmed
loafers as ever lounged about a boule-
vard); but every face at the table wore
{ curious expression which struck me
at onee-z-s yatchful kind of look, like
that of sentinel or gusrd-the result,
as | concluded at the time, OF theif cGl;
stSnt surveillance Of dangerous convicts.
The GoveFsor himself now that got a
good view Of him, was handsome, dig
niGed. looking old fellow with heavy
mustache and beard that gave him al-
most tne air Ot y DniFAonlcff Dut bhtto
was something / didn't like about his
eye-a shifting restless look such as |
have seen once or twice in the eyes of a
vicious horse. Still, nothing could be
more courteous than his manner to. me,
as be helped me to the best Of the good
cheer, and congratulated me at having
arrived o time when the larder was
well stocked, whefeag they had been
woefully straitened about 3 nonth be-
fore, the rough weather preventing the
arrival Of suppliss, and the island itself
according nothing but fish and fruit,
"As to the dinner, I'm not going to
describe it. The old governor took the
lead, keeping up the conversation when
it seemed inclined to Gag and sending
round The wine as If he had the key of
the imperial oeiiaT; and toasts, songs, !
jokes, and stories followed each other IL
InbrOken succession, till ] could almost
have iancied myself at boating supper
st Oxford, At last I began to think it
about time 90 be bioTng, 80 Z turned to
the governor and said, Most illnstgious
Senior Gobernador, you have kindly 10
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