IN THE VALLEY OF THE RIO CAMAPUAO. 131 



January 5. This has been our first real day's work 

 in the new year, and I must give you some account 

 of it 



At 6.30 a.m. the weather appeared rather finer, with 

 detached clouds, but no blue sky. At seven it was showery ; 

 but yearning to get out again, we determined to sally forth. 

 The showers soon became settled rain, which fell with 

 scarcely any intermission the whole day. It was fearful 

 work. We were engaged setting out lines through dense 

 forests, mata virgem, capoeira, and undergrowths, on steep 

 side-long ground. After a long morning spent in push- 

 ing and cutting my way, torn by thorns, drenched not only 

 by the rain but by the droppings from the vegetation, 

 I felt somewhat done up, and, as breakfast was very late, 

 was obliged to give over work and sit down at 12.15 to 

 rest. When the food did arrive, the man had forgotten to 

 bring anything to drink, though we had my flask, which I 

 always carry full of water with a dash of cachaga in it. 

 There was no water to be had fit to drink, as every stream 

 and rill was red, and as thick as pea-soup. We breakfasted 

 in the picada, and tried to keep off a little of the rain by 

 having an umbrella held over us, but numerous streamlets 

 kept running off it, either down our necks or on to our 

 plates. 



In the afternoon we reached the mata virgem. Here 

 the undergrowth 'was much less than in the capoeira, 

 where I had been hacking away all morning, sometimes 

 passing through lovely dells carpeted with various ferns ; 

 among which appeared tree-ferns with half a dozen light 

 green fronds, and handsome-leaved plants ; some like 

 dracaena, others with long ovate pale-green leaves, and 

 cycads, but all overhung by and intertwined with a net- 

 work of innumerable thorny creepers ; some very thick, 



