THE HERMIT'S STORY "My ancestors," began the hermit, "were among the first to land upon Brazil, after the country was taken possession of in the name of the King of Portugal, in the year 1500.

In the first year of the century, Vincent Yanez Pinon, a companion of the famed Columbus, discovered Brazil; and in the next year, Pedro Alvarez Cabral, a Portuguese commander, took possession of it in the name of the King of Portugal.

In 1503, Americus Vespucius discovered the Bay of All Saints, and took home a cargo of Brazil-wood, monkeys and parrots; but no permanent settlement was effected upon the shores of the new continent, and the rich treasures of this great country remained for some years longer buried and unknown to man,--for the wild Indians who lived here knew not their value.
"It was on a dark and stormy night in the year 1510.

A group of swarthy and naked savages encircled a small fire on the edge of the forest on the east coast of Brazil.

The spot where their watchfire was kindled is now covered by the flourishing city of Bahia.