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cipitous front, heaves its back against the horizon, like a giant wave 

 ready to break upon the level plains of Erere, that lie spread out 

 before ns, flecked with open, bright, grassy campos, dark woodland, 

 and coursing cloud-shadows from the glorious sky above. Below 

 us, and beyond a little strip of woodland, is the little village of 

 Erere, with its wdiite church and scattered, thatched houses. 



In the west are the tops of Aroxi and Aracuri, with low lands 

 beyond on the horizon, while, northward from the hills, stretches a 

 belt of low, wooded ridges, skirting the campos on the west and 

 north, and bending round to close the circuit with Tauajuri. And 

 away beyond them, on the fiir-off northern horizon, are table-topped 

 hills, evidently of the same formation as the serras of Parii. To give 

 a clearer idea of the topographical features of the highlands west of 

 the campos and of tlie distant table-topped hills, I have introduced 

 the following little outline sketch taken without alteration from my 

 note-book. 



Sketch looking Northward from Serra of Erer6. 



A mile or more west of the village, a very narrow, angular ridge 

 extends northward from the northern side of the serra of Erere, 

 in a straight line for perhaps a mile, presenting a very even height 

 of about 200 feet, as nearly as I could judge. On the eastern side 

 this ridge is very steep, and near the top there is a line of exposures 

 of a rather compact, not well laminated clay-rock, mottled red and 

 white, and apparently without fossils. This has a decided dip to 

 the westward, and the western slope of the ridge is consequently 

 less steep than the eastern. The ridge is unfortunately covered 

 with small trees, abominable "Devil's fish-hooks" and cactuses, so 

 that it is very difiicult to study it. After running along for a con- 

 siderable distance, it breaks down abruptly, or perhaps more prop- 

 erly speaking, it is cut through by a broad gap, through which 

 runs the road to Maecuni. 



In the gap, the lower part of the ridge to a considerable height, 

 is seen to be composed of a heavy mass of dioritc ; but whether this 



