108 A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 
the lower fazenda, and all retired soon after, for the next 
day the great hunt of the week would take place, and we 
were to be early astir. 
At dawn the horses were at the door, and we were mount- 
ing the Serra before sunrise. We were bound to a fazenda 
on the Serra da Babylonia, some two leagues from the one 
at which we were staying, and on higher ground, too high 
indeed for the culture of coffee, and devoted to pasture 
land. It is here that Senhor Lage has his horses and 
cattle. The ride along the zigzag road winding up the 
Serra was delightful in the early morning. The clouds 
were flushed with the dawn ; the distant hills and the for- 
est, spreading endlessly beneath us, glowed in the sunrise. 
The latter part of the road lay mostly through the woods, 
and brought us out, after some two hours' ride, on the 
brow of a hill overlooking a small lake, sunk in a cup- 
like depression of the mountain, just beyond which was 
the fazenda. The scenic effect was very pretty, for the 
border of the lake was ornamented with flags, and on 
its waters floated a little miniature steamer with the 
American flag at one end and the Brazilian at the other. 
Our host invited us to ride in at the gate of the fazenda, 
in advance of the rest of our cavalcade, a request which 
we understood when, as we passed the entrance, the little 
steamer put into shore, and, firing a salute in our honor, 
showed its name, AGASSIZ, in full. It w r as a pleasant sur- 
prise very successfully managed. After the little excite- 
ment of this incident was over, we went to the house to tie 
up our riding-habits and prepare for the woods. We then 
embarked in the newly-christened boat and crossed the lake 
to a forest on the other side. Here were rustic tables and 
seats arranged under a tent where we were to breakfast ; 
