304 To the River Plate and Back 



all the energy it could develop in order to overcome the 

 resistance. We rose from the flat swamp lands and 

 found ourselves after a few moments traveling along 

 the side of a deep ravine, below us the railway terminal 

 and the cottages of the operatives clustered about it. 

 On the opposite side the flanks of the mountains were 

 covered with plantations of bananas. Looking back- 

 ward, we saw the city of Santos, the harbor, the streams 

 which traverse the swamps, all mapped out below 

 us. Overhead were the lowering clouds, gloomy and 

 threatening rain. In every chink and cranny of the 

 rocky walls ferns and mosses were growing, save where 

 the faces of the cuts had been covered with asphalt, no 

 doubt to keep the vegetation from taking hold. Higher 

 and ever higher we rose. Now we ran through a short 

 tunnel and looking down, as we emerged again into the 

 light, we saw that the track was skirting the edge of a 

 steep precipice. We ran through one tunnel after the 

 other ; there must have been a dozen of them before we 

 reached the top of the ascent. We crawled around the 

 jutting shoulders of the mountain. We felt the air 

 grow cooler. Wisps of fog began to float below us in 

 the deep green abyss into which we gazed. We saw 

 that we were rising nearer and ever nearer to the great 

 billowing masses of cloud which hung overhead. We 

 came to them. We entered them. It was dark and the 

 air grew clammy. The fog streamed Into the windows 

 of the train. The landscape was blotted out of sight. 

 Still upward we went, the engine behind us with quick 

 pulsations beating the time of our skyward march. 

 At last it began to grow lighter. Ahead of us the mists 

 seemed to be becoming thinner. The speed of the 

 train was accelerated. We were beginning to run on 

 more level ground. Presently out of the fog loomed up 



