CEABA. 457 
scended from two depressions spreading right and left on 
the upper part of the serra, and joining below in the main 
valley. A large part of the medial moraine formed by 
the meeting of these two arms can still be traced in the 
central valley. One of the lateral moraines is perfectly pre- 
served, the village road cutting through it ; while the vil- 
lage itself is built just within the terminal moraine, which 
is thrown up in a long ridge in front of it. It is a curious 
fact that, in the centre of the medial moraine, formed by a 
little mountain stream making its way through the ridge of 
rocks and boulders, is a delicious bathing pool, overgrown 
by orange-trees and palms. As Mr. Agassiz came down 
from the serra yesterday, heated with his hunt after glaciers 
under a tropical sun, he stopped to bathe in this pool. He 
said, as he enjoyed its refreshing coolness, he could not but 
be struck with the contrast between the origin of this basin 
and the vegetation which now surrounds it ; to say nothing 
of the odd coincidence that he, a naturalist of the nine- 
teenth century, should be bathing under the shade of palms 
and orange-trees on the very spot where he sought and 
found the evidence of a cold so intense that it heaped the 
mountains with ice. 
April Qth. Yesterday, at seven o'clock in the morning, 
we left Pacatuba for the house of Senhor da Costa, lying 
half-way up the serra, at a height of about eight hundred 
feet above the level of the sea. The path up the serra is 
wild and picturesque, lined with immense boulders, and 
shaded with large trees ; while here and there a little cas- 
cade comes brawling down over the rocks. In this climate, 
a road so broken by boulders is especially beautiful, on ac- 
count of the luxuriance of the vegetation. Exquisite vines, 
shrubs, and even trees spring up wherever they can find the 
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