This young man, the son of a merchant in Para, was pursuing his studies in the same institution as Benito.

The conformity of their characters and their tastes proved no barrier to their uniting in the closest of friendships, and they became inseparable companions.
Manoel, born in 1832, was one year older than Benito.

He had only a mother, and she lived on the modest fortune which her husband had left her.

When Manoel's preliminary studies were finished, he had taken up the subject of medicine.

He had a passionate taste for that noble profession, and his intention was to enter the army, toward which he felt himself attracted.
At the time that we saw him with his friend Benito, Manoel Valdez had already obtained his first step, and he had come away on leave for some months to the fazenda, where he was accustomed to pass his holidays.
Well-built, and of distinguished bearing, with a certain native pride which became him well, the young man was treated by Joam and Yaquita as another son.