225 



Early the next morning we climbed the serra by a very rough, 

 steep ascent through the woods over loose rocks, and Avorked our 

 Avay with much difficulty nearly to the western end of the moun- 

 tain. The serra is a sharp-crested monoclinal ridge, trending ap- 

 proximately E. S. E., W. N. W., and much longer than Erere. The 

 southern side is exceedingly steep, almost precipitous, and wooded 

 nearly to the top, along which runs a line of low bluffs. The north- 

 ern side slopes off at an angle of 10°-15° in a series of beautiful 

 campos interspersed here and there with trees. This side of the 

 serra is scored deeply with deep parallel gorges that extend in many 

 cases up to and through the crest of the serra, which consequently 

 presents a notched appearance when seen from the south. 



The upj^ermost stratum observed near the crest of the serra was a 

 light bluish, nearly white, tough, not Avell laminated clay-rock, with 

 a large percentage of very fine sand in its composition. Beneath 

 this are beds of fine, clayey sandstone, Avhite, mottled with purplish, 

 and with fucoid (?) casts, alternating with which beds are shaley 

 bands and layers of sandstone, the whole not well exposed. Then 

 follow about 4 inches of red shaley iron-stone, overlying a bed of 

 rather coarse sandstone about 10-15 feet in thickness, which forms 

 a bluff running along the upper part of the southern side of the 

 serra, while underneath are light purplish brown, fine-grained sand- 

 stones poorly exposed. The dip of the Tauajuri beds in the serra 

 is about 10°-lo° towards the N. N. E. or X. E. 



I found the elevation of the serra at its highest point to be 850 

 feet above the level of the sea.* Tauajuri appears to differ entirely 

 from Ererc in its geological structure. It is, indeed, true that I 

 examined only the upper beds of the series, but if the Erere sand- 

 stone were represented lower down, it is hardly possible that it 

 should not have shown itself in bluffs on the mountain side.f 



* I made but a isiiigle observation, and as the mountain looks mucli higher than Erere, 1 

 suspect that the observation may be unreliable. 



tTuajuri is resorted to by the Indians of Monte-Alegre for the pui-pose of gathering the bark 

 of the cumate or cumati tree {Apoeynea -eel Asclepidea follicularis '? v. Mart. &lossarios, p. 393, 

 sub voce cumati), the sap extracted from which is used to varnish the drinking gourds, for the 

 manufiicture of which Monte-Alegre has been so long famed. The name of the tree appears to 

 be derived from kamy'g, milk, sap, and ete, true. Cumati probably more nearly preserves the 

 original form than cumati, but I suspect it is still a corrupt form. The sap is obtained from 

 the bark, I believe, by pounding and squeezing. Tlie ciuas are prepared as follows: The 



BUL. BUF. SOC. NAT. SCI. ("29) JANL'ART, 18T1. 



