seemed to have come to the end of our path, for there were no signs of a track beyond, and we were not at the summit of Pedra Bonita, that was sure. Fortunately for us, however, we met there a colored man, a tall, slender old fellow, who was hunting his mule. He was barefooted, wore a pair of cotton trousers, a thin undershirt, a low-crowned felt hat, and had in his hands a sharp, brass-hilted artillery saber or broadsword, which I supposed he intended to use in cutting bushes. We learned from him that we were on the right track, and that we could get to the top of Pedra Bonita in about a quarter of an hour. He pointed toward the path we should take, but said it was very bad. We found it so completely overgrown by ferns and bushes that we could make no progress at all. I then proposed that he should accompany us, to show the way, which he did, going ahead and cutting away the bushes so we could get along. The way was difficult and seemed long. I thought no one could have passed that route on horseback for some years. At one time I almost had misgivings lest we were being led into the wilderness; but at length, in less perhaps than half an hour, we reached the top. While yet in the woods, and before we could see anything but light through the branches, we could hear the heavy roar of the We dismounted and tied our horses in a clump of heavy timber, and then walked a few hundred feet out upon the bare, smooth summit of solid rock, where a little monument had been built. We were on the summit of Pedra Bonita.

sea.

The view was superb. In a moment we felt more than rewarded for the difficult and fatiguing ascent. On our right, at the foot of the mountain, was the long Tijuca beach, with the white waves of the ocean, whose

deep murmur we heard, rolling upon it; and back of the beach a flat, dark area of low land, inclosing a fresh-water lake, around which were some fishermen's cottages. Opposite us was the castle-topped Garvea, with its great perpendicular tower of solid rock, distinctly and beautifully prominent. To the left of the Garvea, and partly in front of us, was an extensive view of the ocean and an island near the shore; off to the left, and apparently eight miles distant, was a good view of the Corcovado, its side toward the sea looking extremely precipitous and its summit sharp-pointed. Between the mountains we could see the Bay of Rio, and the Petropolis Mountains beyond; also a little to their right the pinnacles of the Organ Mountains. The prospect was much grander than the "Chinese View "-so called because Chinamen built the road leading to it. Between the Pedra Bonita we were on and the Corcovado, there was a mass of white moving clouds covering the valleys, which made the scene more picturesque. What we had formerly supposed was the Pedra Bonita was, in fact, the slender, sharp-pointed, sugar-loaf eminence, a little way distant on our left, but considerably below us, called the Pitanga. The highest summit of Pedra Bonita has an area only about twenty-five feet square, and the sides are precipitous. Toward the Garvea there is, after a slight descent, a continuation of the summit that is about an acre broad.

After a stay of twenty minutes we started down, bringing with us a piece of the rock. Our guide, who had stayed with us, led the way, still cutting bushes to improve the path. At one place he made a sudden halt, and seemed, by the motion of his arm and knife, to be trying to scare rather than hit a snake which he said was in among the branches of some bushes. Neither of us

saw the reptile, which probably was after birds. It was suggested that it might be an anaconda. The incident afforded a good laugh.

We left our guide where we found him, telling him to come to our house soon for his pay. He gave me a few guavas, which I put in my pocket, and just then I spied a couple of clusters of wild blackberries, which, though small, had the natural taste. They are never seen in Brazil except in some such wild place, but there is no reason why the fruit could not be cultivated.

It was half-past one o'clock in the afternoon when we safely reached home. Where the road was good we galloped rapidly. We had occupied nearly five hours in our excursion, yet felt very well satisfied at what we had accomplished.

CHAPTER VII.

SITUATION, RESOURCES, AND CLIMATE.

A COUNTRY as large as Brazil, having an area equal to that of the United States exclusive of Alaska, must, of course, have a variety of surface and climate. First, there are the hot lowlands bordering the ocean; secondly, the highlands, partly prairie, and on the average three thousand feet above the sea-level, with a salubrious climate; and, thirdly, the great forest-clad river-basins. The vast basin of the Amazon, which occupies the northern part of the empire, and comprises a third of its whole area, is nearly level, although there are occasional bluffs and not very high mountain-spurs on its shores as well as along the banks of its tributaries. This region is mostly covered with forest. The other two thirds of the country are to a great extent mountainous, or at least much elevated and broken. Distinct ranges of mountains extend along nearly the whole of the sea-coast, but they generally are only about four thousand feet high, are covered with a good growth of hard-wood trees, and always have a green appearance. There are only a very few of the mountains in Brazil which have an elevation of six thousand to eight thousand feet. There are some in the mining regions, three hundred miles west of Rio, which are very rocky, and have a naked and black appearance.

Professor Agassiz was of the opinion that the soil which covers Brazil was brought down from the Andes by an immense glacier during the ice period—the “cosmic winter, which may have lasted thousands of centuries." His conclusions on other matters have been so sound that I was disposed to adopt, without question, this theory of his, and was surprised to hear an experienced geologist, who is acquainted with Brazil, throw doubt upon it. His remark to me was, "As the students at college used to say, Agassiz 'balled up' on this matter.' But whatever may have been the origin of the soil-call it "drift" or "deposit" as we may-one thing is certain, that nearly over all the surface of Brazil the soil has a red color; and the darker the shade of red which it has, and the nearer it approaches to a purple color, the more fertile it is found to be. Such soil frequently occurs on the more elevated situations, where it produces a rich growth of vegetation, and, indeed, is found on mountains more frequently than on low land. Mr. Buckle, in his well-known work, says: "Brazil, which is nearly as large as the whole of Europe, is covered with a vegetation of incredible profusion. Indeed, so rank and luxuriant is the growth, that Nature seems to riot in the very wantonness of power. The progress of agriculture is stopped by impassable forests, and the harvests are destroyed by innumerable insects. The mountains are too high to scale, the rivers are too wide to bridge; everything is contrived to keep back the human mind, and repress its rising ambition." This eloquent writer devotes several pages to Brazil, and much that he says of it is true; but he had acquired from travelers, who had made but brief visits to the country, an erroneous impression as to the density and luxuriance of its vegetation. Many of the

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