Two days after this pleasant meeting, the Port of
Pernambuco was reached.
Tumbling in before a fresh "trade" wind that in the evening had sprung
up, accompanied with long, rolling seas, our canoe came nicely round the
point between lighted reef and painted buoy.
Spray from the breakers on the reef opportunely wetting her sails gave
them a flat surface to the wind as we came close haul.
The channel leading up the harbour was not strange to us, so we sailed
confidently along the lee of the wonderful wall made by worms, to which
alone Pernambuco is indebted for its excellent harbour; which,
extending also along a great stretch of the coast, protects Brazil from
the encroachment of the sea.
At 8 p.m. we came to in a snug berth near the _Alfandega_, and early
next morning received the official visit from the polite port officers.
Time from Bahia, five days; distance sailed, 390 miles.
Pernambuco, the principal town of a large and wealthy province of the
same name, is a thriving place, sending out valuable cargoes,
principally of sugar and cotton. I had loaded costly cargoes here, times
gone by.
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