After inquiring for a long time in vain for lodgings, we were directed to a German and a Frenchman, with the remark that both received lodgers out of pure politeness.  We first went to the German, who very bluntly cut us short by saying that he had no room.  From him we proceeded to the Frenchman, who sent us to a Portuguese, and on visiting the latter we received the same answer we had obtained from the German.

We were now greatly embarrassed; the more so, because the wearisome nature of our journey had so fatigued the Frenchman that he was hardly able any longer to sit upright in his saddle.

In this critical position I thought of the letter of recommendation that Herr Geiger had given me in Rio Janeiro, for a German gentleman of the name of Loskiel, who had settled here.  I had intended not to deliver this letter until the next day, but “necessity knows no law,” and so I paid my visit the same evening.

He was kind enough to interest himself for us in the warmest manner imaginable.  He gave one of the gentlemen and myself lodgings in his own house, and our two companions in that of a neighbour of his, inviting all of us to dine at his table.  We now learned that in St. Paulo no one, not even an hotel-keeper, will receive a stranger if he be not provided with a letter of recommendation.  It is certainly a lucky thing for travellers that this strange custom is not prevalent everywhere.

16th December.  After having completely recovered ourselves from the fatigues of our yesterday’s ride, our first thought was to view the curiosities of the town.  We asked our hospitable host for information on this point, but he merely shrugged his shoulders, and said, that he knew of no curiosities, unless, indeed, we chose to look upon the Botanical Garden in the light of one.

We went out, therefore, after breakfast, and first of all viewed the town:  where we found that the number of large and well-built houses was, in comparison to the size of the two places, greater than in Rio Janeiro, although even here, there was nothing like taste or peculiar architectural style.  The streets are tolerably wide, but present an extraordinarily deserted appearance, the universal silence being broken only by the insupportable creaking of the country people’s carts.  These carts rest upon two wheels, or rather two wooden disks, which are often not even hooped with iron to keep them together.  The axle, which is likewise of wood, is never greased, and thus causes the demoniacal kind of music to which I alluded.

A peculiarity of dress, very remarkable in this hot climate, is here prevalent:  all the men, with the exception of the slaves, wear large cloth cloaks, one half of which they throw over their shoulder; I even saw a great many women enveloped in long, broad cloth capes.

In St. Paulo there is a High School.  Those who study there, and come from the country or the smaller towns, are exposed to the inconvenience of being refused lodgings under any one’s roof.  They are obliged to hire and furnish houses for themselves, and be their own housekeepers.