One day, near the Serra de Araripe, I passed an encampment of Gipsies consisting of about a dozen men, women, and children; these people are not uncommon in the interior of Brazil, for I either met with them, or heard of them in almost every town I visited; they are generally disliked by the common people, but are encouraged by the more wealthy, as was the case on thepresent occasion, for they were encamped beneath some large trees near the house of a major in the National Guards, who is the proprietor of a large cane plantation at the foot of the Serra; although of a darker colour, they have quite the same features as the Gipsies of Great Britain, many both of the young men and women being very handsome; they seldom come near the large towns of the coast, preferring more thinly inhabited, and consequently more lawless districts; they wander from farm to farm, and from village to village, buying, selling, and exchanging horses and various articles of jewellery; like those of Europe they are often accused of stealing horses, fowls, or whatever they can lay their hands upon; the old women tell fortunes, in which they are much encouraged by the young ladies of the places they visit. Although they speak Portuguese like the other inhabitants of the country, among themselves they always make use of their own language, always intermarry, are said to pay no attention to the religious observances of the country, nor to use any form of worship of their own; they are called Ciganos by the Brazilians. Just about the time that the Gipsies made their appearance near Crato, one of my horses was missed from its pasturage, and it was strongly suspected they had carried it off, but in this instance at least they were wrongly accused, for I have good reason to believe that the person who made free with it, was a Fazendeiro who was very anxious to purchase it from me only a day or two before it was stolen, just as he was on the eve of returning from Crato to his Engenho many leagues to the westward. As it had my own brand upon one of its hind legs, and as it was well known about the neighbourhood that it had disappeared, I was assured by the justice of the peace that it would ultimately be found, and he was right, for about six weeks afterwards, it was found in a wood about three leagues from the town, but instead of being an animal in fine condition, it was now little better than skin and bone. The person who took it was one Josè Pereira de Hollanda, a man whose character was not held in much estimation, and by whom it had been used to hunt down cattle on his estate.
During my stay in Crato the festival of our Lady of Conceptionwas celebrated; great rejoicings were kept up for nine days previously, the expenses of which were defrayed by the different individuals appointed to conduct it; during the whole period of the Novena, as it is called, the few soldiers stationed in the town kept up an almost continued fire, both day and night; so that with this, and the processions, illuminations, and discharges of fireworks, and of small cannon in front of the church, the Villa was one continued scene of uproar. As the last night was said to be the finest of all, I went about seven o’clock to the church, before which a number of flags were flying on poles, and two large bonfires blazing; on the terrace before the sacred edifice, an immense crowd had assembled, and about half a dozen soldiers were from time to time discharging their muskets; at a little distance, a band of musicians were playing, consisting of two fifers and two drummers, but the music they produced was of the most wretched description; there was also a display of fireworks quite in keeping with the music. The church inside was brilliantly illuminated and almost full, but I was surprised to see that nearly the whole of the congregation consisted of females; they were all dressed in white, or at least with a white kind of mantilla over the head and shoulders. On the following day a little before dusk, a large procession, consisting entirely of men, passed through the various streets, figures of the Virgin and her Son being carried in great pomp; the three priests of the Villa, together with the Visitador, or deputy of the Bishop, who was then on his usual triennial tour through the villages and towns of the province, walked under a scarlet canopy. The whole affair was wound up on the succeeding afternoon (Sunday) by exhibitions on the tight-rope, and a dance of masqueraders, in front of the church.
The mean temperature of Crato is much lower than that of Icó; it is not considered so healthy as the latter place, for the heat of the day is nearly as great, although the nights are much colder. Ophthalmia is truly endemic, and, during some part of the year, few escape its effects: I had an attack which confined me to the house for several days. Many persons suffering from the diseasein its chronic state, consulted me, and I gained no little reputation from having either cured or much alleviated the symptoms in most of the cases that presented themselves, even when the complaint had been of long standing; blindness is a very common result, and nowhere have I seen a greater number of blind people than in this district. Secondary syphilitic complaints are also very common, and many are the miserable wretches which they have here produced; in such cases, mercury is very seldom employed for the primary symptoms, these being generally cured by a species ofCroton, commonly known by the name of Velame; it is used both externally and internally with some effect, but under this treatment sooner or later the secondary symptoms make their appearance, under some one or other of their protean forms. A residence of but a short time in the interior of Brazil, would soon convince those medical men who would cure these complaints without mercury, of the danger of such treatment.