At length I left Ega, on the 3rd
of February, 1859, en route for England.
I arrived at Para on the 17th of March, after an absence in the
interior of seven years and a half. My old friends, English,
American, and Brazilian, scarcely knew me again, but all gave me
a very warm welcome, especially Mr. G. R. Brocklehurst (of the
firm of R. Singlehurst and Co., the chief foreign merchants, who
had been my correspondents), who received me into his house, and
treated me with the utmost kindness. I was rather surprised at
the warm appreciation shown by many of the principal people of my
labours; but, in fact, the interior of the country is still the
"sertao" (wilderness)--a terra incognita to most residents of the
seaport--and a man who had spent seven years and a half in
exploring it solely with scientific aims was somewhat of a
curiosity. I found Para greatly changed and improved. It was no
longer the weedy, ruinous, village-looking place that it appeared
to be when I first knew it in 1848.
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