NATIVE HOSPITALITY

Evening Star, Issue 21619, 15 January 1934, Page 9

NATIVE HOSPITALITY

FORGED LANDING IK BRAZIL The approach of night' and the weather, .. which had been . growing steadily worse, obliged us to interrupt our flight with the mails from Rio de Janeiro to Natal and seek an early landing (states a writer in an ■ exchange). The giant Serra d° , > forest clad, was already a black silhouette against the western sky as we passed over the little port of Macahe. When, we turned inland in search of less broken ground the vivid green of the plain had become veiled in a pale bine mist and the first stars shone faintly in the evening sky. About thirty miles from Campos we found what we wanted, a stretch of flat, open country, and, circling, round, landed with nothing worse than a succession of violent’bumps. ~ The news of our arrival spread rapidly among the scattered huts and brought the wondering natives hurrying out of the dusk. In answer to our inquiry as to whether we could get something to eat they led us to the dwelling of an elderly mulatto near at hand. The old man received -us courteously and invited us to ' sit down while his wife prepared a meal of hard-boiled eggs, goats’ milk cheese, and black coffee. With these and some enormous meat sandwiches which Jules, our fat French mechanic, had bedn hoarding for his own exclusive use, we made an excellent supper. ~ , The house was like the majority, of native dwellings in Brazilian districts remote from the towns. Wooden laths, spaced about 6in apart, are fixed to a stout timber frame, and the whole is filled in and. plastered with mud and roofed over with palin’ leaves. Our house comprised two rooms. ' The smaller one was completely filled by a home-made table and two benches. The other, the, sleeping and living room, .contained two ancient; mattresses' laid on the'earth floor, two-derelict chairs, and a couple of packing cases. , The latter served equally the purposes of cupboards, tables, or chairs. .The cooking was done outside in a mud oven shaped like a large beehive. During our meal w© were left politely alone, but when we , adjourned to the other room we found the entire village assembled in front of the house. Women with babies . were crowded tot ether at the two small windows. The oorway was filled with men, 1 black, white, and brown, while children poked their heads into the room- wherever they could, all eager to see these mysterious visitors from the unknown. At first the men were much too shy to talk to us or to answer questions. They gazed at us, nudged each other, tittered and ■ whispered to one another like so many children. 1 v

MUSICIANS. Presently the sound of a distant accordion reminded the sentimental Jules of Bavay, his and a boy was sent to fetch the musician. The latter turned out to be a timid young mulatto. He had to be dragged into the room, 1 and* could not be induced to perform until Jules had played ‘ Mon Petit Quinquin ’ and a couple of polkas. Jules’s rendering of those airs completely restored his confidence. He recaptured his accordion and immediately forgot his audience in tile sad, haunting melodies of the Brazilian interior and the lighter tunes of bygone carnivals. The music put the other natives at their ease also. Gradually the men invaded the room. One was seen to be holding a native violin, a long, narrow instrument with three strings, which is played with the fingers. ' Another sheepishly rattled a hollow gourd filled with pebbles. A third held under his arm a small barrel, from which he produced a mournful sound like the lowing of a cow, by pulling a string in and out through a skin stretched over one end. Here was the native orchestra complete and eager to perform. Seating themselves on the floor, they opened with the songs of the Brazilian countryside; •. ‘ Don’t Cry, Mulatta,’ ‘ The Home I Left,’ and ‘ If You Leave Me I Shall Weep, Mulatta.’ , One of the musicians sang'the words, and all joined in the chorus. Then they played a native dance, the ‘ Catira,’ which brought the women sidling into the room. The movements were .repeated more and more - quickly, until finally the men seized their partners by the waist and whirled them madly about. A BED FOR THREE. At 10 o’clock we sent our visitors away and prepared to turn in on a straw mat spread on the floor, having declihed the use of the family couches. Our host withdrew, promising to call us as soon as the weather improved. ■ There was just room on the mat for three men of normal build. Unfortunately Jules is abnormally fat, and Vallon, the pilot, and I made the mistake of allowing him to occupy the middle position. While .we,poised precariously on the edges of the mat Jules sprawled luxuriously on his back and snored. He snored in my ear until I turned his head round towards Vallon. Then he snored in Vallon’s ear until Vallon awoke and wrathfully , twisted his neck in my direction. - ' It was a distinct relief for Vallon and me when our host entered with cups of steaming black coffee and announced that the weather had cleared. As we stepped outside the natives appeared magically from their huts and merrily assisted iis to build bonfires at the four corners of the field to light us for our take-off. When these burning brightly ' we . climbed; aboard and rose into the night to . a chorus ot good wishes: “ Travellers, go ‘ with God!”- ‘