We Were
Bivouacking Late One Evening Near Coquimbo, In Chile, When
My Servant, Noticing That One Of The Horses Was Very Restive,
Went To See What Was The Matter, And Fancying He Could
Distinguish Something, Suddenly Put His Hand On The Beast's
Withers, And Secured The Vampire.
In the morning the spot
where the bite had been inflicted was easily distinguished
from being slightly swollen and bloody.
The third day
afterwards we rode the horse, without any ill effects.
April 13th. - After three days' travelling we arrived at
Socego, the estate of Senhor Manuel Figuireda, a relation
of one of our party. The house was simple, and, though like
a barn in form, was well suited to the climate. In the sitting-
room gilded chairs and sofas were oddly contrasted with the
whitewashed walls, thatched roof, and windows without
glass. The house, together with the granaries, the stables,
and workshops for the blacks, who had been taught various
trades, formed a rude kind of quadrangle; in the centre
of which a large pile of coffee was drying. These buildings
stand on a little hill, overlooking the cultivated ground, and
surrounded on every side by a wall of dark green luxuriant
forest. The chief produce of this part of the country is
coffee. Each tree is supposed to yield annually, on an average,
two pounds; but some give as much as eight. Mandioca
or cassada is likewise cultivated in great quantity. Every
part of this plant is useful; the leaves and stalks are eaten
by the horses, and the roots are ground into a pulp, which,
when pressed dry and baked, forms the farinha, the principal
article of sustenance in the Brazils.
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