Being unable to procure a bed at Santos, we were obliged to engage a canoe to convey us up the river to Cubataõ, where we arrived at two in the morning, and were introduced into the guard-house for a lodging. The corporal being called, he accommodated us as well as he was able; we lay down on the softest planks we could find, and made pillows of our portmanteaus, but though much wearied we found ourselves little disposed to sleep on so uneasy a couch. At sun-rise, when we got up, an extraordinary and busy scene presented itself; before the guard-house was a large space of ground enclosed by the storehouse and other out-buildings, and here a hundred mules were in the act of being harnessed and loaded; the gentleness and tractability of these fine large animals pleased us much, and the expertness of their masters, particularly of the negroes, in placing and replacing the burdens, was truly surprising.
From the good corporal, who was commanding officer here, we received every attention, and much more civility than we had reason to expect from having experienced the unaccommodating disposition of the people in Santos, in much better circumstances than himself. He procured us a good breakfast, and furnished us with saddle-mules for our journey, at the rate of ten shillings each, the distance being eight leagues. Having obtained a guide we mounted, and proceeded about half a mile, when we reached the foot of the stupendous mountains we had to cross. The road is good and well paved, but narrow, and, on account of the rugged acclivities, is cut in a zig-zag direction, with very frequent and abrupt turnings, continually on the ascent. The trains of loaded mules which we met on their way to Santos rendered the passage disagreeable, and at times dangerous. In many places the road is cut through the solid rock for several feet, in others along the perpendicular sides, and it leads frequently over the tops of conical mountains, along the edge of precipices, down which the traveller is liable to be thrown into an impervious thicket full thirty yards below. These dangerous places are secured by parapets. After ascending for an hour and a half, during which time we made innumerable turnings, we arrived at a resting place, near which, at a spot a little lower than the road, we found water. This place, as our guide informed us, was only half-way to the summit; we were astonished at the intelligence, as the clouds were already so far below us that they obstructed our prospect. During our progress hither, we observed that the mules travel as quick on an ascent as on level ground; they much excel the horse in uneven roads with sharp turnings, and still more so in bad roads.