Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil
July 21, 1934
Dearest Margaret,
I suppose this will be my last letter from here, as I should be on the next air-mail myself.  Dr. Soper and Dr. Paul, Dr. Gordilho, and I have just completed a long trip through the interior of Pernambuco and Ceara.  We went in at Recife and came out in Fortaleza.  How good it does seem to have a private shower bath!  We slept in hammocks throughout the trip.  We rode in automobiles, on a rail car, and for a short distance on a train.  We have eaten armadillo, wild duck, dried beef, canned things, and hundreds of eggs.  Nothing seemed to hurt us.
Way in the interior we met an engineer who had found some fossil fish while digging for water, and he gave me one.  I will bring it to Billy if it is not too heavy for the plane.
At Juazeiro we called on Padre Cicero,
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an old priest who was twice Vice-President of the state and once headed a sort of rebellion against the government.  People go on long pilgrimages to see him at his home in Juazeiro far in the interior.  He was 90 years old, but very alert and clear in his mind.  On our return here we learned that he had died.  He was always a supporter of the yellow fever work, which was important for us as his influence in southern Ceara is very great.  On his verandah he had an anvil bird, which sang while we were trying to talk.  Its song is the same as that which would be produced by striking an anvil as hard as possible with a 20-lb. sledge.  It was evidently intended to be heard at a distance of two miles.
I should get my mail in Para in a couple of days.  We are almost completely isolated here.  Dr. Soper received a telegram that Mrs. Soper had been operated on in Kansas and was convalescing satisfactorily.  It was all news to him.
Love to all,
Wilbur