11th April 1832

Rio de Janeiro
Passed through several leagues of a thick wood. I felt unwell, with a little shivering & sickness: crossed the Barra de St Jaôa in a canoe, swimming alongside our horses: could eat nothing at one o'clock, which was the first time I was able to procure anything. Travelled on till it was dark, felt miserably faint & exhausted; I often thought I should have fallen off my horse. Slept at the Venda da Matto, 2 miles S of the entrance of the Rio Macaè into the sea. All night felt very unwell; it did not require much imagination to paint the horrors of illness in a foreign country, without being able to speak one word or obtain any medical aid.