207 



tabatinga to a clayey sand, and are usually more or less deeply 

 tinted, some of the layers being of a rich, purplish red. This bed 

 of clay appears to be the lowest member of the formation of the 

 ridge of Monte- Alegre. If we descend the ravine cut by the above 

 stream, we presently strike a sloping, fan-shaped deposit of loose, 

 white sand occupying the mouth of the ravine and forming a praia 

 or beach along the river. On this sand, the lower town, consisting 

 of a few houses and stores, is built. It is not a flourishing place; 

 everything speaks of decay, and but little business is done in it. 

 I found the people, however, very hospitable, and Senhor Onetti and 

 his partner did everything in their power to aid me. In Mr, Rath- 

 bun's paper, annexed, I shall have an opportunity of recognizing 

 the kindness of Sr. Valente, of the upper town. 



Ascending the Curupatiiba in a montaria, we find the stream to 

 have a width of 400-500 feet,* and a depth during the dry season 

 of 7-8 fathoms, the current of course varying with the season. 



The bluffs, 60-100 feet in height, and covered with woods under- 

 grown with curua palms, continue for a short distance above the 

 town, where they cease, and the highlands trend away from the 

 river. The southern side of the ridge is high, abrupt, and with a 

 steep slope. In the valley of Surubiju,f just west of the town, are 

 swampy grounds, supporting a luxuriant forest with miriti J {Mau- 

 ritiaflexuosa) and assai§ palms {Euterpe oleracea), but the vegeta- 

 tion of the sandy slope is very meagre. In the valley is an isolated 

 hill, on which beds of a white, sandy tabatinga are exposed, and near 

 by, were obtained the irregular, concretionary masses of iron-stone, 

 used in building the new church in the upper village. 



On the opposite side of the Curupatuba are the alluvial campos of 

 the river-bottom, covered with coarse grasses and bordered along 

 the water's edge by a thin line of trees. We soon leave the Curu- 

 patiiba, which bends round to the south-westward, and enter the 

 igarape de Paituna, a little river, that flows eastward past the 



* 260 metres, Penna. 



t Von Martius derives this name from Sorubim {Platystoma. a genus of fislies) and y'g, water, 

 or river. Glossarios, p. 475. 



X Tmyrd. tree, eie, trup. YmyrA was originally ymhyrd, whence the form burii'i (Port) used in 

 Eastern Brazil. 



§ IJasai, lingoa geral, very likely from yinl fruit, and se or see, sAveet. 



