be any partiality observed in the distribution of them. The officers and chiefs were only distinguishable from the rest by a chain round the neck, a white wand, a feather fan, or some such simple peculiarity. There were, and still are, two hospitals for the sick-one for the men, the other for the women; where, as soon as any one is taken ill, he is immediately conveyed, as none remain ill in their own houses. Each hospital has a lay-brother to attend it, who is well skilled in surgery and physic, and has several assistants under him. They have likewise a large room well stored with drugs, both native and European. In fact, nothing is wanting to supply the wants of either the healthy or the sick; and, that no one might be neglected, several of the oldest and most experienced Indians were appointed to superintend the whole, and see that justice was administered in every department and the sick properly attended. How such wise regulations as these should ever be subject to change I must own rather surprises me; but changed they certainly are. Instead of the officers and superintendants being selected by the rector only, they are now made subordinate to the military, who are appointed by the governor of the province; and instead of being commanded by Indian chiefs, they are subjected to a Spanish commandant and fiscal, to whom even the rector is answerable for the conduct of his flock. Many other alterations have been made, which I fancy have gone near to overturn the wise regulations established by the Jesuits, who, in my opinion, understood the true art of governing better than any ether body of men in the universe." By personal observation, and from the confidential communication of the good priest, Mr. Davie now learned the real source of the mission of which he formed a part. It proceeded from the necessity there existed of enquiring into the causes, and means of prevention, of a most dangerous spirit of insubordination and rebellion, which existed at that moment in the presidency, and which soon after exploded, to the temporary subversion at least of the Spanish government. The following remedy for the epidemic disease of the country, which had nearly proved fatal to our author on his arrival at Monte Video, and which it will be remembered was administered to him by a friendly Indian, may be useful. "This morning, during one of our rambles, Father Hernandez imparted several particulars that I was extremely desirous of obtaining, but principally relative to the herbs used in such cases of illness as mine on my first arrival at Monte Video, and which I think may be of essential service in England during most epidemic diseases. I am certain, from experience, that if properly applied, it cannot fail of curing those who may unfortunately have caught the infećtion; for we have herbs in our country that will very nearly work the same effects as those reared in Tucuman, only the process must be different. But observe the following rules, and I will venture my life that not one in a hundred will die : Take of camomile, rosemary, wormwood, rue, and featherfew, of each a large handful; set them on the fire in a large pipkin, or bell-metal pot; cover them with two gallons of water, and let them boil till the strength is entirely drawn out; then take about half a peck of the best unslaked unslaked lime, put some of it in an earthern pan unglazed, pour the herb decoction hot upon it, and as the smoke ascends let the patient's head be held over it in such a position as to inhale the fumes at the mouth, nose, and cars; and as the vapours die away, fresh knobs of lime must be thrown in, and this to be continued as long as the party infected can bear it. In the mean time let some pure strong lime-water be made, of which take a quarter of a pint-more or less, proportioned to the habit of body of the patient: mix with it three table spoonfuls of the herb decoction hot, and give it to the sick person as soon as he or she is placed in a warm bed. Let the body, and particularly the head, be carefully kept warm, so as to prevent any check to the perspiration that will ensue upon this operation; but at the same time preserve a free circulation of air through the apartment, that all effluvia arising from the infected person may pass instantaneously off: in case of thirst, give the patient plentifully to drink of strong green tea warm, but without milk or sugar; and in no stage of the disorder either bleed or blister, for such a measure might be immediately fatal. "This dose and fumigation must be repeated as often as the patient can support it, till an amendment takes place; and in prisons, or other places where a great many may be confined together, it will be necessary to have the room fumigated likewise. This remedy must be applied as soon as possible after the attack of the disorder, which is sently known by a sickness and headach, and which seldom spares any European on his arrival on these shores. It is with some dread pre fully violent in its effects, frequently terminating, if not in death, at least in total insanity; and many of its symptoms partake of the nature of the yellow fever, a species of which was very prevalent in England, I remember, in the year 1779 or thereabout." A short account of the presi dency of Nombre de Dios next follows, whither Mr. Davie accom. panied his reverend friend :—thence, however, they were quickly recalled, by the increasing difficulties of Rio ja Minor, which pressed so hard upon the venerable father Hernandez, the steady, mild, and venerable patron of our traveller, that he died a few days after his return. This event was the signal for universal commotion and revolt. The chara Indians, aided by those of the town, and headed by the disaffected Spaniards, burst like a torrent upon the Spanish government, and massacred, without distinction, every soul, save those whom they conceived well affected to their views. The veneration for the memory of father Hernandez, who seems to have been the best of men, secured not only the life, but a safe retreat to Buenos Ayres for Mr. Davie. And here the narrative terminates. We refer to the advertisement, prefixed to the work, for the further notices respecting the author; and we shall take leave of the subject, with an ac knowledgment of the great variety of entertainment and instruction, we have received at the hands of Mr. Davie. The reasons which we have already assigned, as those which led us to dwell particularly upon such works, as have appeared within this year, relating to South America, apply also in our consideration of the present article. With respect to Brasil, we are nearly as much in the dark, as we are about Peru or Paraguay. In the preface, Mr. Lindley thus delivers himself upon the subject. "Notwithstanding the many voyages and travels that have lately been published, and the addition science has received in geographcial information, Brasil continues in a manner hidden, as to the world in general; all endeavours to gain information respecting it being_industriously repressed by the Portuguese government, both in the colony itself and in Europe. For a century subsequent to its discovery, the Jesuit missionaries were indefatigable in their attempts to gain some knowledge of the interior of Brasil, its animal, vegetable, and mineral productions; and the discoveries they made being annually dispatched to the college of Jesuits in Bahia, were detailed and printed in the chronicles of the order, and were the groundwork of every publication respecting this part of South America that followed. These fathers had the most extensive communication, by means of the correspondence kept up by them in every part of South America, especially with their brethren in Peru and Paraguay; and, through the great body of information possessed in consequence by the different superiors, a most complete and scientific work would finally have been formed; but the project was nipped in the bud by the fatal jealousy of government, who, about the close of the seventeenth century, prohibited its continuance, and would allow no further publication to be made on the subject. Secret communications were however still remitted and recorded by the college; but they are probably lost to the world, as they lie buried indiscriminately amidst numberless other manuscripts, in a room adjoining the late monastery of the order, where they have continued for the last forty years wholly neglected, and are now rapidly decaying and mouldering to dust. "Thus forgotten, and apparently despised, one would suppose that access to them was no difficult task: but this is by no means the case; the approach of the curious even among themselves is impracticable, and the rigour of course is not less as to foreigners. "It is to be lamented, that during the time Holland was in possession of the most central, picturesque, and fruitful provinces of Brasil, which was a space of no less than thirty years, the Dutch never attempted to elucidate the history, or give information respecting the country but the constant war in which they were engaged, either with the regular forces of the Portuguese, or the colonists, gave them perhaps no leisure for the purpose; or, which is more probable, they had no opportunity of penetrating into the interior. "In the year 1730, Rocha Pitta, a most intelligent and well-informed Brasilian, member of the royal academy of history in Lisbon, &c. compiled a quarto history of Brasil, from the chronicles of the Jesuits and other authorities, and some valuable local knowledge of his own. This work is extremely copious in the details of its foundation as a colony. its successive governors, its churches, monasteries, and convents; but in its natural history, productions, commerce, and, in short, every point of useful information, is brief, cramped, and deficient; it is written also in the most bombast and enthusiastic style: ́yet the Portuguese government in a few years publicly prohibited its being read under the severest penalties, and it is now only to be met with (carefully secluded) in the cabinets of the curious. on "Voltaire and the Abbé Raynal have also diffusedly written Brasil; the former in many respects erroneously, while the political and arithmetical calculations of the latter are certainly unfounded, though detailed in the most specious and amusing manner." To remedy, in some degree, this want of information, Mr. Lindley professes to be his motive for the publication of this work, although, we rather think it has been dictated by a spirit of resentment against the Portuguese government, which had condemned his vessel and imprisoned him, for an attempt to engage in a contraband trade, first with the governor, and afterwards with others of the inhabitants of Porto Seguro, one of the most valuable of the Brasilian provinces. In the introduction, the author enters into a long, and, we confess, unsatisfactory statement of the causes of his imprisonment, and tedious detention (with his wife,) in Brasil, whence he at length escaped; but totally failed, on his arrival in Europe, in obtaining from the Portuguese government any restitution or recompence, for what he terms the injuries he had in so many respects sustained, "in his feelings, his health, his time, and his property." The period, however, which Mr. Lindley thus unpleasantly spent, we will not say in unmerited calamity in Brasil, was filled up by the writing his diary, here given to the public; and, by far the most interesting part of the volume before us, a detailed description of the provinces of Porto Seguro, and of St. Salvadore. To relieve the tedious personality of the former part of his work, the author has interspersed it with sketches of the country, its inhabitants and manners, from which we shall make such occasional ex. tracts as may amuse or instruct the reader. Upon the detection of Mr. Lind. ley's commercial projects, his vessel was ordered under detention from Carevellos to Porto Seguro, where, after the usual formalities, he was himself imprisoned. By particular favour, Mrs. Lindley was allowed to accompany him. They were con ducted along the beach and up the hill to the common prison, and were then shewn into an upper room, the trap door of which was opened, ladder put down, and they descend ed to some depth into a dungeon, below the surface of the earth, and which emitted an intolerable stench. Disease of body and distress of mind speedily followed this disaster, and both husband and wife were nearly the victims.-After a fortnight's residence in this wretched hole, they were at length permitted the accommodation of a small deal partitioned apartment, with liberty of walking in a larger one adjoining; each had a window without bars, and free circulation of fresh air, invaluable to them in their miserable situation. On Mr. Lindley's being seized, the commission found in his writing desk a paper containing a small quantity of grain gold, intermixed with gold-coloured sand, which had been brought to him by a native of Porto Seguro, as a sample. This strongly attracted the curiosity of the government, and they insisted on the name and residence of the person from whom he had procured it. This, however, Mr. Lindley positively refused to comply with, alledging his ignorance of both, contrary to the fact, although he added, that he believed him to belong to a distant settlement. In search of this unknown person, Mr. Lindley was compelled to make a journey, which gave him some opportunity of seeing the country, and its particulars are thus detailed. "At six in the morning we mounted our horses, altogether seven of us, and took the beach to the south. After an hour's ride, abruptly turned to the west into the country; and, ascending a steep height, soon arrived at the chapel of Nossa Senhora de Judea, on its summit. The prospect from hence is grand indeed, not only of the surrounding country, but commanding the adjacent ocean, upon which the white walls of the chapel form an excellent sea-mark; and its patroness, the Virgin, is particularly invoked by the neighbouring coasting vessels and fishing smacks, in cases of distress or contrary winds her fame even extends to curing several disorders, if called on with proper faith. The inside of the building is decorated with rude drawings of vessels in distress, and of sick chambers, having inscriptions under cach, of the different cases which they are intended to commemorate. "After eating a biscuit and drinking some of the good vicar's water, we visited several plantations and ingenios in the neighbourhood, at one of which we procured an Indian guide. Taking the course of the river, we had a beautiful ride over a fine champaign country, wanting only cultivation to form the best of meadow land; the soil black mould, at times gravelly, clay patches, and sandy flats. "Leaving the open land, we entered the woods of ages through a narrow path, which admitted only one horseman abreast, and was impenetrably defended from the sun's rays by the overhanging branches, which sometimes were so low as to be very inconvenient. After two hours' smart ride, the country again opened; and we passed several planta. tions of sugar cane, mandiock, &c. with pieces of ground partly cleared, and numberless other spots capable of being converted into fine land, either for pasture or tillage. The scene now changed to a range of low hills, lying east and west, in the direction of the river, to which the land gradually descended; but on the opposite bank it rose precipitately to a high cliff, covered with never-fading verdure. Riding parallel to these hills, about one o'clock arrived at the plantation and ingenio of Joao Furtado. Here we alighted, expecting better accommodation than we might meet with at the Villa Verde, a little further; which, being an extreme settlement, is inhabited only by the vicar (a missionary), three whites. and a few converted Indians. "Our host was an old bachelc of seventy, who resided with a ma |