of the Province of Ceard in the North of Brazil. 79 



and to the north, by mountains which, in their highest parts, do 

 not rise more than from 1200 to 1500 feet above the level of 

 the town. The country around is very fertile, producing abun- 

 dance of cane, from which an impure sugar, in the form of small 

 square cakes, is made, mandiocca, Indian corn, rice, cotton, 

 and tobacco, besides all the varieties of fruit which are to be 

 met with on the coast. The great cause of this fertility is the 

 numerous springs which exist along the foot of the mountains. 

 The small streams which proceed from these are divaricated 

 in a thousand directions, for the purpose of irrigating the plan- 

 tations. The mountains are branches of the long range which 

 separates the provinces of the coast from that of Pianhy to the 

 west, which here receives the name of Serra de Araripe. Their 

 tops are perfectly level, and extend so for many leagues to the 

 westward and southward, forming what the Brazilians call 

 Taboleiras. I have ascended this range in all directions, and 

 have universally found it to consist of a generally white-coloured 

 sandstone, but in many places it is of a reddish tinge. In the 

 bed of one of the largest streams which proceed from it, where 

 a section of the rocks to a considerable depth is formed, I found 

 a stratum of limestone, about three feet thick, immediateh r 

 below the sandstone, and below it another of an impure coal, 

 two feet thick, resting on another stratum of limestone. No- 

 thing seems to have disturbed the strata, as they all lie in a 

 perfectly horizontal position, and the level nature of the Serra 

 proves that this is general. In the limestone I could meet 

 with no fossil remains. The temperature of two of the springs, 

 which rise at the base of the Serra, I found, on examination, 

 to be 75° Fahrenheit. 



That part of the Serra which lies to the south of Crato is 

 a branch which runs about ten leagues to the eastward. On 

 the south side of it there is another small villa called Barra 

 do Jardim, distant from Crato about fourteen leagues. I went 

 to this place, partly for the purpose of botanizing, and partly 

 to make a collection of fossil fishes, which, I was informed, 

 were found in great plenty in its neighbourhood. The road 

 skirts along the base of the Serra in a south-east direction for 

 about five leagues, at the termination of which it is necessary 

 to ascend it for the purpose of crossing to the other side. The 



