In the month of November I was seriously indisposed for a considerable period.  I suffered, especially in the town, from an oppressive feeling of fatigue and weakness; and to the kindness and friendship of Herr Geiger, the Secretary to the Austrian Consulate, and his wife, who took me with them into the country, and showed me the greatest attention, do I alone owe my recovery.  I ascribed my illness altogether to the unusual dampness of the atmosphere.

The most agreeable season is said to be the winter (from June to October); that, with a temperature of from 63 to 72 degrees, is mostly dry and clear.  This period is generally selected by the inhabitants for travelling.  During the summer, violent thunder-storms are of frequent occurrence:  I myself only saw three during my stay in the Brazils, all of which were over in an hour and a half.  The lightning was almost incessant, and spread like a sheet of fire over the greater portion of the horizon; the thunder, on the other hand, was inconsiderable.

Clear, cloudless days (from 16th September to 9th December) were so rare, that I really could have counted them; and I am at a loss to understand how so many travellers have spoken of the ever beautiful, smiling, and blue sky of the Brazils.  This must be true of some other portion of the year.

A fine evening and long twilight is another source of enjoyment which may be said to be unknown:  at sunset every one hastens home, as it is immediately followed by darkness and damp.

In the height of summer the sun sets at about a quarter past 6, and all the rest of the year at 6 o’clock; twenty or thirty minutes afterwards, night sets in.

The mosquitoes, ants, baraten, and sand-fleas are another source of annoyance; many a night have I been obliged to sit up, tormented and tortured by the bite of these insects.  It is hardly possible to protect provisions from the attacks of the baraten and ants.  The latter, in fact, often appear in long trains of immeasureable length, pursuing their course over every obstacle which stands in the way.  During my stay in the country at Herr Geiger’s, I beheld a swarm of this description traverse a portion of the house.  It was really most interesting to see what a regular line they formed; nothing could make them deviate from the direction they had first determined on.  Madame Geiger told me that she was one night awoke by a horrible itching; she sprang immediately out of bed, and beheld a swarm of ants of the above description pass over her bed.  There is no remedy for this; the end of the procession, which often lasts four or six hours, must be waited for with patience.  Provisions are to some extent protected from them, by placing the legs of the tables and presses in plates filled with water.  Clothes and linen are laid in tightly-fitting tin canisters, to protect them, not only from the ants, but also from the baraten and the damp.