A half-starved brown horse and a half-starved white horse stood sullen sentry on the road that led to the ruins of old Bento Rodrigues. Founded in 1697, it was named after Cape Benedict Rodrigues, one more greedy gold digger from Portugal. Their heads bowed, their manes were dirty and uncared for, their bodies gaunt from the scant grass that lay around. They hardly moved, even as our driver, Juscelino, blew his horn as he edged forward. Like the land, they had seen enough suffering to be oblivious.