woodworth: geological expedition to brazil and chile. 17 



of European settlement such as characterised the period of the first 

 third of the 18th century in the New England states and New York. 

 The topography of this portion of Brazil, its inaccessibility, and the 

 inutility to the older inhabitants of European origin of a large stretch 

 of country along the ragged escarpment of the trap plateau accounts 

 in large part for this lingering of a hostile primitive people in close 

 proximity to the coast; encouraged and abetted by a more or less 

 easy communication for the untrammelled native by larger bodies of 

 indigenous folk in the hinterland of Parana, where, among the Coroa- 

 das savage life remains in yet greater exemption from the restraining 

 influences of advancing civilization. The extension of the railway 

 from Porta da Uniao southward across the trap plateau divides these 

 people and promises to bring to an end a frontier struggle which has 

 endured too long. 



Our pack-train having arrived at Rio Negro, we prepared for the 

 expedition to Lages. The equipment for geological field work in 

 this region is extremely simple. For the four members of our force, 

 one light tent was provided, poles for which were cut from night to 

 night in the forest surrountling our camp sites. The baggage was 

 carried in wicker baskets or panniers lashed on pack-saddles. Our 

 provisions consisted of prepared black beans, boiled rice, farinha 

 meal, broad thin slabs of drief beef Icnown as xarque, and a supply of 

 powdered burnt coffee with which the proper quantity of sugar had 

 been mixed. A few small pots and cooking basins completed the 

 outfit. The business of camp life was equally simple. In the morning 

 before mounting, black coffee and bread were served. Breakfast 

 was eaten between 11 and 12 after a ride of a few hours, and a second 

 substantial meal was prepared at night after establishing camp. 

 Except for small supplies of corn (maize) obtained at long intervals 

 at some farm house, the mules subsisted on the leaves of the bamboo 

 and other tender foliage which they found along the route. Water 

 and wood for the camp fire were everywhere in abundance. 



August 17th. — There was a heavy white frost on the ground at 

 Rio Negro at an early hour this morning. We set out promptly for 

 the south, keeping track of the distance traversed by means of pedo- 

 meters. A mule pace in Brazil is reckoned at 0.72 meters (2.36 ft.). 

 The mule trail from Rio Negro to Lages traversing some thirty-six 

 rivers and streams was cut through the forest in the middle of the 

 18th century as a military necessity (V. da Rosa, 1905, p. 265-266). 

 As far as the Rio liauren^o, the route lies over shales and yellow 

 pebbly sandstones carrying an occasional erratic block. Beyond 



