62 



strata, and in time forms deep ravines or street like passages in the 

 rock. When wandering through these passages, the impression is 

 ahnost irresistible that one is in a very old deserted town, or the 

 ruins of some ancient castle. The walls (if we may so term them) 

 of many of the " streets " were covered with orchids. Oncidiian 

 flexuosiim, 0)icidium unicorne, Bifrenaria harrisoniic, Sophronitis rosea, 

 Maxillaria picta, besides many others, were in abundance. None of 

 these species was in flower, but old flower-spikes on the Oncidiuin 

 flexuosiitn showed they had recently blossomed profusely. Right on 

 the top of the rock in one place was a magnificent mass of Epiden- 

 drum ellipticum, which was a blaze of bright pink flowers. We 

 hardly saw any Lepidoptera. One fine large Hesperid was the best 

 of a very small showing. The whole district is not a suitable-looking 

 one for butterflies, there being too little variety of vegetation. Slight 

 frost, also, must occur not infrequently in this exposed and elevated 

 situation of over 3000 feet. Actual observation would be exceed- 

 ingly interesting, for it is almost certain that here there are epiphytal 

 orchids which have to withstand a little frost. 



The night following our visit to these remarkable rocks it rained 

 hard, and for a while we felt the fine rain in our faces as we lay in 

 our tents. A few moments of heavy rain soon soaked our tent 

 material, and we had no more sprinklings inside. The morning 

 broke very fine, but our three horses, which had not been tied up, 

 had vanished. The driver of the cart went off" early to search for 

 them, and eventually found them at the previous night's camping 

 ground, about two miles away. From Villa Velha we journeyed 

 back over the campo to Ponta Grossa, a small town built on the 

 highest ground in Parana, about 3100 ft. high. Here we slept the 

 night, and the next day we broke up our party. 



Mr. Jones and myself took train to Fernandes Pinheiro, which is 

 four hours' distant from Ponta Grossa. About two hours after leaving 

 the latter place one penetrates the forest country. The campo does 

 not abruptly end and the forest region begin, but there is a very gradual 

 transition. The Arattcaria braziliefisis, which largely constitutes the 

 forest, is to be noticed, at first sparsely dotted about the campo, with 

 not a vestige of undergrowth. Then a little scattered undergrowth 

 appears between the trees, and later the forest gets denser with 

 varied growths, including large tree-ferns. The railway, which has 

 only just been opened, passes through an absolutely new country. 

 Traffic is at present limited to three trains a week only, and each 

 train consists of but two passenger coaches. Fernandes Pinheiro is 

 the stopping-place for breakfast on the day's journey to Uniao da 

 Victoria. There is a small restaurant, kept by an Italian, just outside 

 the station. We found everything thoroughly satisfactory, though 

 necessarily primitive, and collecting such as would make any lepidop- 

 terist's heart glad. The Erycinidce and Syfitomid(E, frequenting a 

 creeper in flower from 7.30 to 10.30, formed perhaps the most 

 exciting and interesting part of our collecting. A lane close to our 



