in North-eastern Brazil. 323 



railway. From here I went, after a couple of nights, to 

 Macuca, where I found a most hospitable (if somewhat pri- 

 mitive) welcome from Mr. J. Watt, also an English engineer 

 employed on the Prolongamento. The country here much 

 resembles that around Quipapa, but there is less forest and 

 sugar and more capoeira. I continually added new birds to 

 my list, and no doubt it' I had had any assistance could have 

 much increased the number both of species and specimens. 

 But I had to do all my skinning myself; the Brazilians, 

 though they talked much, did little, and that chiefly in snakes 

 and lizards : my interpreter was useless for any purpose but 

 to interpret (I doubt if he had ever fired a gun in his life) , and 

 my English friends Avere too busy with their professional 

 duties to be able to spare much time to shoot; moreover, 

 there were no guns available except those of the natives, 

 and, as I have already said, the capabilities of these weapons 

 as firearms were small. 



After a few days most agreeably spent at Macuca I went on 

 to Garanhuns, the termination of the " Prolongamento,^' 

 distant about 80 miles from Una. Garanhuns is situated in 

 the zone of country called the " Agreste,^^ that intervenes 

 between the forest-clad "Matto,^^ which extends inwards 

 60 to 70 miles from the sea-shore, and the open, elevated 

 country, or Sertoes (pronounced " Sertongs^^), of the interior. 

 The " Agreste " zone participates to some extent in the 

 features of both " Matto " and " Sertao " ; the forests have 

 not altogether disappeared, but are smaller in size and of a 

 different character ; the climate is much drier, and the vege« 

 tation lower and more scrubby in character. 



In the Sertoes, I am told (for I did not actually get into 

 the real Sertoes country), the vegetation becomes still more 

 low and scrubby, and the. aspect of the country generally arid 

 and stony. There is little water, and cultivation is confined 

 chiefly to the ridges of hills that intersect the general level 

 of the plateaux of 3000-5000 feet forming the Sertoes. In 

 the height of the dry season many of the shrubs and trees 

 lose their leaves. The growth of cotton and the raising of 

 stock are the two great industries pursued in the Sertoes, 



