The means of communication, so numerous now, did not then exist, and the journey of Joam Garral would require not less than four months, owing to the conditions under which it was made.
Hence this observation of Benito, while the two friends were watching the river as it gently flowed at their feet: "Manoel, my friend, if there is very little interval between our arrival at Belem and the moment of our separation, the time will appear to you to be very short." "Yes, Benito," said Manoel, "and very long as well, for Minha cannot by my wife until the end of the voyage.".