194 BRANNER 



The soils of the surrounding country are of various shades of 

 red and yellow. 



Before making the trip into Minas along this railway I found 

 one dav in the vicinity of the terminal station at Ponta d'Areia, 

 mingled with pieces of the quartz-monzonite so abundant along 

 the upper Mucury, two fragments of blue limestone about the 

 size of the two fists. These fragments contained the following 

 fossils: Lingala umbonata Cox, Orthetes sp., pieces of cri- 

 noids, one piece of a Pleurotomaria^ and several fragments of 

 shells belonging to the Rhynchoncllacca. Most of these forms, 

 so far as they can be identified, range from the Silurian to the 

 upper coal measures, while the Lingula is found only in the 

 lower and upper coal measures. I made diligent inquiry in 

 regard to the origin of these pieces of limestone and was told 

 that such rocks were common all along the Rio Mucury above 

 Sete de Setembro. It was, therefore, largely in the hope of 

 finding these fossiliferous limestones in place that the trip was 

 made to Thephilo Ottoni. After what has been said of the 

 geology of the region it is hardly necessary to state that these 

 fossiliferous beds were not found, although the most careful 

 lookout for them was kept up from one end of the road to the 

 other, in the natural exposures, in the railway cuts, and in the 

 ballast of the road bed. It may be added also that no other 

 fragments of similar material were found in the stone paved 

 streets and stone walls of the old city of Caravellas, or else- 

 where about Ponta d'Areia or Barra de Caravellas. Of course 

 it cannot be positively stated that these fossils do not come from 

 the Mucury River, but I do not think now that they were found 

 there originally. My opinion is that the fragments in w^hich 

 they were found came to Ponta d 'Areia upon some vessel from 

 some other port. I v/as told of limestone burned for lime west 

 of Theophilo Ottoni, in the belt of decayed schists, but these 

 rocks appear to be marbles. No fossils have been found in 

 this Brazilian schist series, but it has generally been regarded 

 as older Paleozoic, possibly Silurian. 



In regard to the age of the quartz-monzonites and the other 

 fresher looking crystalline rocks nearer the coast, I have no 

 facts upon which to base an opinion. 



