234 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



which possessed large white and lilac blossoms. On reach- 

 ing the foot of the Serra de Mar, the train stopped for about 

 five minutes at the station at Belem, which is only about 

 eighty feet above the level of the sea, to allow the passengers 

 to obtain refreshments (excellent coffee and a variety of 

 eatables and drinkables being procurable), and then com- 

 menced the ascent, which is extremely steep, averaging one 

 in fifty feet, and in some places considerably exceeding this. 

 The line here pursues an extraordinarily serpentine course 

 along the side of the range of hills, winding to such an extent 

 that at one point six miles have to be traversed to make a 

 mile and a half good, while some of the curves are so sharp as 

 to permit of a stone being thrown from one side of the arc 

 described to the other. The Serra being densely covered 

 with virgin forest, the scenery on either side of this portion 

 of the track is of the most splendid description. After pass- 

 ing through three tunnels, we arrived opposite Dr. Gunning's 

 house ; and, in accordance with a convenient arrangement 

 entered into by the Doctor with the directors of the railway 

 company, we were set down on a small wooden platform at 

 the side of the line, without being carried on to Eodeio, and 

 five minutes' walk sufficed us to reach the house, which is 

 charmingly situated on the crest of the Serra, overlooking a 

 deep densely-wooded valley, and recalled to me a Swiss chalet 

 in its general appearance. Arrived in the veranda in front, 

 the full glory of the magnificent view breaks on the visitor — 

 range after range of hills and of intervening valleys, alike 

 covered with dense wood, stretching away for miles as far as 

 the eye can reach ; the nearer ones exhibiting an infinite 

 variety of shades of verdure, from the snow-white leaves of 

 some trees to the dark glossy green foliage of others, while 

 the more distant, of a deep blue tint, terminate in a long 



