170 RELATION BETWEEN CLIMATE AND VEGETATION 



The name of Matto-Grosso given to this province Iiad led us 

 to expect a wooded country, but hitlierto we had been disap- 

 pointed. As soon as we had got out of the forests on the E,io 

 Grande and ascended the table-land of Taquara, we again met 

 with the vegetation of the Campos ; some trees which were so 

 common in tlie provinces of Minas and Goyaz had, it is true, 

 disappeared, but others had taken their places, and the character 

 of the country was not very different. Amongst the smaller 

 plants we found some Cacti creeping like serpents over the soil, 

 and covering the white ant liills with spiny crests. Lastly, 

 some new dwarf Palms had been met with since we left Goyaz. 

 The table-land of Taquara, inhabited by the Cayapos Indians, 

 appears to be the most elevated district in the province of Matto- 

 Grosso. Travelling towarfis Cuyaba, viz. towards the basin of 

 the Paraguay and its tributaries, two vast steppes are succes- 

 sively descended : these are the Serra d'Agoa Branca and the 

 Serra de Manoel Antonio. Between these points the Campo is 

 nearly level, and for a considerable extent without a single tree, 

 a very rare occurrence in Brazil, at least in those parts of it which 

 we visited. The highest plants to be seen in this district do 

 not rise more than a few inches above the ground ; there are 

 some shrubs of the family of Myrtle-blooms and Spurge-worts, 

 and a small Lecythis. 



From tlie foot of the Serra de Manoel Antonio to Cuyaba is 

 about 30 miles. The traveller here enters into a new country, 

 called the region of the Pantanals, the soil of which is not more 

 than 150 yards above the level of the sea, and hardly at all above 

 that of the Paraguay and its tributaries, by which it is periodi- 

 cally inundated. As we shall see hereafter, the Pantanals or 

 marshes are most distinct in the Delta formed by the Paraguay, 

 the San-Louren^o, and the Cuyaba. 



At Cuyaba the rainy season overtook us, and rendered any 

 attempt to reach the frontier of Bolivia at that time perfectly 

 useless. 



We determined to visit Paraguay itself, and also Diaman- 

 tino, to the north of Cuyaba. The rain had ceased, and had for a 

 time been succeeded by a scorching sun, when on the 20th of 

 December we started on our new journey. We amused ourselves 

 with ascending the Serra do Tombador, from which there is a 

 succession of lovely panoramic views : we explored the picturesque 

 table-land, where in a forest of Mauritias (Buritisal) are the 

 seven sources of the Rio Paraguay. On our return I saw, near 

 a place called Machada, a fig tree the trunk of which, 3 feet from 

 the ground, measured 30 feet in circumference ; this was by far 

 the largest tree I ever saw in America, and yet it was not half 

 the size of the Baobabs which are met with on the banks of the 



