490 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



forth with our folios of drying-paper under our arms, and 

 after ascending to the crest of the ridge, walked a long way 

 down the winding road leading up from the railway terminus. 

 The day was beautifully clear, a comparatively rare event at 

 Petropolis, where it frequently rains, and we had in conse- 

 quence a magnificent view of the harbour, and the flat ground 

 between it and the Serra. The walls, rocks, and banks, were 

 fringed with ferns of many beautiful and curious forms, and 

 a very considerable variety of flowering plants, among which 

 Begonias and Melastomacece prevailed largely, were in bloom. 

 At one spot we followed a beautiful little stream for some 

 distance up the wooded hill-side down which it flowed, pass- 

 ing numerous great boulders covered withBromeliacece, orchids, 

 ferns, and trailing Cacti, including a species of Cereus with 

 lovely rose-coloured flowers. Eeturning to the hotel late in 

 the afternoon, we had dinner, and another charming saunter 

 in the moonlight terminated the evening. ISText morning we 

 were roused at half-past four, and after a slight refection of 

 coffee, and bread and butter, got into a fly, and were driven 

 to the coach-office, from whence the coach to St. Juiz da Fora 

 started. 



It was a bright moonlight morning, and everything was 

 so quiet when we arrived, that we began to speculate on our 

 having mistaken the time, but before long four mules were 

 led out of a neighbouring stable, and harnessed to the dili- 

 gencia, which then drove round to the oflice, where we took 

 our places behind the driver, and soon set out at a rapid pace, 

 being joined by several other passengers before we left the 

 town fairly behind us. By-and-by the sky began gradually 

 to redden, and there was a fine sunrise, followed by a bright 

 clear morning. The road, along which we drove at a rate of 

 from nine to ten miles an hour, is an admirable one, con- 



