448 A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 
in the Serra Grande. From his account, this wall resem- 
bles greatly the " Horsebacks ' in Maine, those remarkable 
ridges accumulated by the ancient glaciers, and running 
sometimes uninterruptedly for thirty or forty miles. The 
horsebacks are, however, covered with soil and turf, where- 
as Dr. Felice describes this wall as rough and bare. Mr. 
Agassiz has no doubt that this accumulation or dike of 
loose materials, the position and direction of which cor- 
responds exactly with his conjecture based upon the evi- 
dence obtained in the Amazonian Valley, is a portion of 
the lateral moraine, marking the southeastern limit of the 
great Amazonian glacier. Unhappily, it is impossible for 
him to visit it himself, for even could he devote the time 
necessary for so long a journey in the interior, we are 
told that at this season the state of the roads makes it 
almost impossible. He must therefore leave the iden- 
tification of this colossal moraine to some younger and 
more fortunate investigator, and content himself with a 
direct examination of the next link in the chain of evi- 
dence, namely, the traces of local glaciers in the serras in 
the more immediate neighborhood of Ceara. If the basin 
of the Amazons was actually filled with ice, all the moun- 
tains lying outside of its limits in the neighboring provinces 
must have had their glaciers also. It is in search of these 
local glaciers that we undertake our present journey, hoping 
to reach the Serra of Baturit^. 
April 6th. Pacatuba (at the foot of the Serra of Ara- 
tanha). After endless delays and difficulties about horses, 
servants, and other preparations for our journey, we succeed- 
ed in getting off on the afternoon of the 3d. The mode 
of travelling in the interior as well as the character of the 
people, makes it almost impossible to accomplish any journey 
