While Mendes Pinto and his book are typically Portuguese of that age, the Historia tragicomaritima, sometimes designated the prose epic of saudade, is equally characteristic of the race of seamen which produced it.
Julio Cesar Machado and Fialho de Almeida made their mark by many humorous publications, and, in the domain of pure literary criticism, mention must be made of Antonio Pedro Lopes de Mendonga, Rebello da Silva, Dr Joaquim de Vasconcellos, Mme Michaelis de Vasconcellos, Silva Pinto, the favourite disciple of Castello Branco, and of Luciano Cordeiro, founder of the Lisbon Geographical Society, whose able monograph, Soror Marianna, vindicated the authenticity of the Letters of a Portuguese Nun and showed Marianna Alcoforado to be their authoress.
How I crossed Africa, by Major Serpa Pinto (English trans., London, 1881), contains a graphic account of the visit paid to the falls by the Portuguese explorer.
During his term of office as president (1876 to 1881) Pinto had to deal first with a severe financial crisis, and then to conduct the struggle with Peru and Bolivia, in which he displayed great coolness of judgment and devotion to duty.
While pinto beans are traditional, you can use red or black kidney beans instead, or a combination.
