150 N. Plant — The Brazilian Coal Fields. 



little disturbed by eruptive rocks, altbough. basaltic dykes of consider- 

 able width are evident in the surrounding schistose and syenitic hills. 



The second basin lies in the valley of the Sao Sepe, one of the 

 tributaries of the river Jacuahy, in about lat, 30° 20', long. 53° 30'. 

 Two distinct beds of coal, one of 7 feet and the other of 14: feet thick, 

 appear in this locality underlying the same sandstone beds, which 

 in some places have been tilted up and overflowed by trachytic 

 dykes. The Carboniferous deposits in this valley have been traced 

 over an area of about 15 miles. 



The third coal-basin is near the town of the Sao Jeronymo, on the 

 banks of the river Jacuahy, lat. 30°, long. 51° 30'. The coal in this 

 place is being worked by a Lancashire coal-viewer, Mr. James John- 

 son. The sections of two shafts sunk on the edge of the basin shew 

 a supei"position of rocks siniilar to the deposits on the Candiota. At 

 the depth of 19 yards, a bed of highly bituminous coal 6 feet thick 

 was met with ; below this is a bed of iron-stone shale containing 

 fossils of the same genera as those found in the beds at Candiota. 

 The shafts have been carried on to a depth of 61 yards, passing 

 through beds of coal varying in thickness from 2 feet to 6 feet, 

 interstratified with blue clay and ironstone. 



The Carboniferous deposits in the province of Santa Catherina are 

 situated m. the southern extremity in lat. 28-^-°, long. 48° W to 48° 

 44'. About 45 miles N.W. of the sea-port of Lagana the basin is 

 intersected by the river Tubarao and its tributaries. By driving levels 

 and sinking pits, five beds of coal of a thickness varying from one 

 and a half feet to ten feet, have been met with, underlying a sandstone 

 formation. An analysis of specimens from these beds, made by 

 Professor Thomas Eiehardson, gave the following results : — 



Spec. No. 1. 



Spec. No. 2. 





37-67 



35-42 



Fixed Carbon. 



18-33 



21-10 



Gaseous Matter. 



44-00 



43-48 



Ash. 



The specimens were taken from near the outcrop. 



In the Republic of Banda Oriental or Uruguay Carboniferous beds 

 similar to the above, and underlying sandstone of the same character 

 as that found above the coal-beds I have described, can be traced for 

 many miles on the head waters of the Eio Negro, between lat. 31° 

 and 32°, long. 54° and 55"^. Here the sedimentary rocks have 

 undergone considerable displacement from the eruption of the 

 trachytic rocks which characterize the surrounding country. South 

 of this district, as far as the river Plate, no sedimentary rocks occur, 

 except along the banks of the river Uruguay, where limestones are 

 found. In Paraguay, on the head waters of the Tibicuari, I observed 

 the same Sandstone formation, with beds of coal-shale, as that seen 

 in Eio G-rande do Sul and S. Catherina. 



