76 A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 
us at a little cottage, built somewhat in the style of a 
Swiss chalet, and kept by the company for the use of 
their guests or for the directors of the road. An excellent 
dinner awaited us at the little hotel just opposite, the door 
of which is shaded by two stately palms ; and with a ramble 
in the neighboring grounds of Senhor Lage, and a concert 
by a band of German musicians, consisting of employees on 
the road, our day closed, a day full of pleasure. 
The following morning we were indebted to Senhor Lage 
for a walk, as instructive as it was charming, through his 
gardens and orange orchards. Not only has he arranged his 
grounds with exquisite taste, but has endeavored to bring 
together the shrubs and trees most characteristic of the 
country, so that a stroll through his place is a valuable 
lesson to the botanist, the more so if he is fortunate enough 
to have the proprietor as a companion, for he may then 
learn the name and history of every tree and flower he 
passes. Such a guide is invaluable here, for the Brazilians 
seem to remain in blissful ignorance of systematic nomen- 
clature ; to most of them all flowers are " flores," all 
animals, from a fly up to a mule or an elephant, " bixos." 
One of the most beautiful features of Senhor Lage's 
grounds is a plantation of parasites, an extensive walk, 
bordered on either side by a rustic fence, over which are 
trained some of the most exquisite parasitic plants of the 
Brazilian forests. In the midst of this walk is the Grotto 
of the Princesses, so called after the daughters of the Em- 
peror who, on occasion of a visit made by the Imperial 
family to Juiz de Fora, at the opening of the road, were 
exceedingly pleased with this pretty spot, where a spring all 
overhung with parasitic vines, Orchids, &c. flows out from 
the rock. The spring, however, is artificial, and is a part 
