210 TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 



A dijfference in the character of the diseases must 

 certainly be caused by the great difference in the 

 elevation above the sea (Mariana, according to 

 the calculation of our friend, Mr. Eschwege, 

 Journ. vol. i. p. 37, lies 398^ toises above the level 

 of the sea, which is 23 li lower than Villa Rica), 

 and the confined situation. Among the prevalent 

 diseases, Dr. Godoy mentioned erysipelas, dropsy, 

 slow fevers, diarrhoea, and ischias nervosa ; syphilis 

 is no less common here than in the rest of Minas. 



The sun had not yet risen on the following 

 morning, and all lay buried in profound sleep, 

 when we left our miserable lodging, and continued 

 our journey towards the N. E., over a steep moun- 

 tain, which forms the eastern wall of the valley 

 near the city. It is a projection of the Itacolumi, 

 which is very near, and consists of crumbling iron 

 mica-slate, and granular mica-slate, with scattered 

 layers and nests of mica, in which garnets and 

 octahedrons of magnetic iron-stone are embedded. 

 When we had arrived at the summit of this moun- 

 tain, we saw some single chains joining the Itaco- 

 lumi, irregularly crossing each other, and for the 

 most part covered with woods, between which there 

 are deep and dark valleys ; a gloomy picture, 

 which was rendered still more melancholy by the 

 loneliness of the surrounding scene, and the nu- 

 merous crosses on the way, erected as monuments 

 for those who have been murdered by fugitive 

 negroes. There are only a few plantations, but 



