FAZENDA LIFE. 107 
the bugles long before the dawn, twanging the guitar and 
whistling on the peculiar instrument used here to call the 
game. Altogether it is the most novel and interesting 
collection of social elements, mingling after a kind of pic- 
nic fashion without the least formality, and we feel every 
day how much we owe to our kind hosts for admitting 
us to an occasion where one sees so much of what is 
national and characteristic. The next day we went to 
breakfast at a smaller fazenda belonging also to Senhor 
Lage, higher up on the Serra da Babylonia. Again, start- 
ing before sunrise, we went slowly up the mountain, the 
summit of which is over 3,000 feet above the sea level. 
We were preceded by the " liteira," a queer kind of car 
slung between two mules, in which rode the grandmamma 
and the baby ; as carriages are impossible on these moun- 
tain roads, some such conveyance is necessary for those 
who are too old or too young for horseback travelling. 
The view was lovely, the morning cool and beautiful, and 
after a two hours' ride we arrived at the upper fazenda. 
Here we left our horses and went on foot into the forest, 
where the ladies and children wandered about, gathering 
flowers and exploring the wood walks, while the gentle- 
men occupied themselves with fishing and hunting till 
midday, when we returned to the house to breakfast. 
The result of the chase was a monkey, two caititu (wild 
pigs), and a great variety of birds, all of which went to 
swell the scientific collections.* AVe returned to dine at 
* I was especially interested in examining the vegetable productions of a 
little lake, hardly larger than a mill-pond, near this fazenda. It was strange 
to see Potamogeton and Myriophyllum, plants which we associate exclusively 
with the fresh waters of the temperate zone, growing in the shadow of tropical 
forests where monkeys have their home. Such combinations are very puzzling 
to the student of the laws of geographical distribution. L. A. 
