CEAEA. 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 9th. 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 



20 



