76 A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 



us at a little cottage, built somewhat in the style of a 

 Swiss chalet, and kept by the company for the use of 

 their guests or for the directors of the road. An excellent 

 dinner awaited us at the little hotel just opposite, the door 

 of which is shaded by two stately palms ; and with a ramble 

 in the neighboring grounds of Senhor Lage, and a concert 

 by a band of German musicians, consisting of employees on 

 the road, our day closed, a day full of pleasure. 



The following morning we were indebted to Senhor Lage 

 for a walk, as instructive as it was charming, through his 

 gardens and orange orchards. Not only has he arranged his 

 grounds with exquisite taste, but has endeavored to bring 

 together the shrubs and trees most characteristic of the 

 country, so that a stroll through his place is a valuable 

 lesson to the botanist, the more so if he is fortunate enough 

 to have the proprietor as a companion, for he may then 

 learn the name and history of every tree and flower he 

 passes. Such a guide is invaluable here, for the Brazilians 

 seem to remain in blissful ignorance of systematic nomen- 

 clature ; to most of them all flowers are " flores," all 

 animals, from a fly up to a mule or an elephant, " bixos." 

 One of the most beautiful features of Senhor Lage's 

 grounds is a plantation of parasites, an extensive walk, 

 bordered on either side by a rustic fence, over which are 

 trained some of the most exquisite parasitic plants of the 

 Brazilian forests. In the midst of this walk is the Grotto 

 of the Princesses, so called after the daughters of the Em- 

 peror who, on occasion of a visit made by the Imperial 

 family to Juiz de Fora, at the opening of the road, were 

 exceedingly pleased with this pretty spot, where a spring all 

 overhung with parasitic vines, Orchids, <fcc. flows out from 

 the rock. The spring, however, is artificial, and is a part 



