76 Mr Garuneirs Geological Notes on the Interior 



corner of the province at the town of Aracaty, which is situ- 

 ated on the east bank of the Rio Jaguaribe, at three leagues 

 from the coast. The first thing that struck me on my arrival 

 was the flatness of the country around it, reminding one of 

 the descriptions Avhich are given of the pampas of Buenos 

 Ayres. With the exception of a few low sand-hills towards 

 the sea, and a round isolated one about 800 feet high, situ- 

 ated two and a half leagues to the south-west of the town, 

 called the Serra de Arere, these is nothing to interrupt the 

 uniform level. The soil for many leagues around is of a sandy 

 nature, and the characteristic vegetation is a beautiful species 

 of palm called Carnahuba by the Brazilians. It is the Cory- 

 pha cerifera of Martins, and is so abundant that, on my 

 journey south to the Villa do led, I rode for about two 

 days through a forest of almost nothing else. Two and a 

 half leagues to the south of Aracaty, I first met with rocks. 

 This was on crossing the river at a place called the Passagem 

 das Pedras. I found them to consist of thin strata of gneiss, 

 almost in a vertical position. The little inclination which 

 they had was towards the north-west, in the direction of the 

 above-mentioned Serra de Arere. From this place to the 

 villa do San Bernardo, a distance of a little less than eight 

 leagues, the country continues perfectly flat, but the ground 

 among the Carnahuba palms, and in several large open spaces 

 almost destitute of vegetation, called vargims, is covered with 

 abundance of gravel; and this, which extends over large tracts, 

 gives it the appearance of the dried-up bed of an immense 

 river. Intermingled with this gravel, there are numerous boul- 

 ders of various sizes, the largest I saw not being more than 

 four feet high. They are all more or less rounded, and con- 

 sist of granite, gneiss, and quartz. For the next ten leagues 

 the country continues nearly of the same character, with the 

 exception of a low range of gravelly hills, running from east to 

 west, and wooded with shrubs and small trees, the most com- 

 mon of which is a species of Mimosa. During the next ten 

 leagues, a slight but perceptible rise of the country takes 

 place. The soil is generally a yellow-coloured clay, in many 

 places thickly covered with gravel and boulders, while in others 

 gneiss-rocks are seen cropping out, and forming often long 



