Reading Rufin is always such a thrill. And since, I believe, he writes in French, I have to applaud whomever has done the translating to English, perhaps he himself has done so. Every sentence of this man's writing is a pleasure to read and the fact that the sentences weave into such wonderful stories with amusing characters amplifies the bliss of reading his works. The story is sweetened by the fact that it's based on a factual historical account of the early attempts to colonize the area that is present day Rio De Janeiro. Rufin has novelized that story quite well. One thing I particularly liked was the positive light shown on the native population in this story. Another is the courage and coming of age developments of the children that were brought along to act as interpreters (based on the expectation that children were better able to learn a new language quickly). Fascinating cultural practices are fleshed out as well, case in point cannibalism. I want to explain that better but you must read the book for the story does it better.