Sao Paulo 305 



a collection of buildings, and we ran into the terminal 

 on the top of the mountain, half a mile higher than 

 Santos, where we had left our shipmates sweltering in 

 the heat. A cool wind from the west began to blow in 

 our faces. The clouds began to disappear. Another 

 locomotive was backed down and attached to the front 

 of the train. We started off at a merry gait, and were 

 presently winding our way across the great upland 

 plateau, upon which the city of Sao Paulo is seated. 

 It does not take long to make the run from the top of 

 the great mountain wall to the city. The sun came out 

 in splendor. The land is rolling. Most of it has been 

 denuded of its original forest growths. Low scrubby 

 thickets and clumps of second growth prevail. The 

 soil is red. The vegetation is very different from that 

 of the tidal plain which we had traversed as we came 

 out of Santos. Everywhere there appeared fields in 

 which cattle and horses were grazing. An occasional 

 palm served to remind us that we were in the tropics. 

 Had it not been for this, and the curious ant-nests, 

 which appeared upon the trees and the sides of the 

 railway cuts and embankments, I might have thought 

 that I was traveling in the western parts of the Caro- 

 linas. Could the blackjack oaks of the Carolinian 

 foothills have been thrown into the picture, the illusion 

 would have been perfect. 



We soon began to realize that we were approaching 

 a large city. Standing on a hill to the left we saw a 

 stately building, which I at once recognized as the 

 Palace of Ypiranga. I knew it from pictures which I 

 recalled having seen. This was my destination, and it 

 was to pay my respects to my friend and correspondent 

 of many years, Dr. Hermann von Ihering, the most 

 famous naturalist in Brazil, who is the Custodian of 



20 



