TOPOGRAPHY ALONG NATAL A NOVA CRUZ RAILWAY 95 



Northwest from Sape the hills are Tertiary, and seen from .the valley 

 appear to be flat topped. 



After passing Sape the railway ascends the Tertiary hills of horizontal 

 beds, and, passing the watershed, descends to Baldhum (kilometer 52), 

 where there is a long, narrow, flat bottomed valley only about 100 meters 

 wide. 



South of Baldhum the railwa}^ ascends another red Tertiary ridge 

 (kilometer 59), from which one looks out over the broad open Estevao 

 valley. Descending to the valley, at kilometer 60 there is a small lake 

 at Esteves station, and the railway crosses Rio Jacu, a small, sluggish, 

 winding stream, with several small lakes along its course. 



Goyaninha station, at kilometer 63.5, is in a flat valley about 5 kilo- 

 meters in width. Limestone is said to be found west of Goyaninha, at 

 the foot of the hills. It was not possible for the writer to visit the 

 locality, but through the kindness of Mr Samuel H. Agnew, the super- 

 intendent of the railway, some small specimens of the rock have been 

 received from the quarry at that place. The rock contains marine 

 fossils, but the specimens received are small and the fossils so fragment- 

 ary that it is not possible to identify them. They consist of gasteropods 

 and bivalve mollusks. The rock is a very sandy limestone, straw col- 

 ored and streaked with brown and red. 



From the Tertiary hills beyond (south of) Goyaninha one sees in the 

 direction of the coast the sand hills that have been blown inland. 

 Behind and landward of these hills in the valley is a great lake between 

 Tertiary hills. These hills south of Goyaninha form a remarkably flat 

 plateau or taboleiro, having an elevation of 90 meters, and is covered 

 with a very sparse vegetation, chiefly mangabeira rubber trees. 



At kilometer 75 the hills are still Tertiary (?). At kilometer 79 the 

 road descends westward from the plateau-cutting Tertiary (?) beds here 

 and there until Penha is reached on the Rio Pituassu. A little beyond 

 Penha the railway enters a broad, flat, marshy valley and, turning west- 

 ward, follows up it for several kilometers. 



A few kilometers south of Penha station and north of Rio Curimatati 

 there are several limestone quarries. It is said that lime is made half a 

 league east of Pequir)' station. Mr Agnew kindly sent me samples of 

 the rock from one of the quarries south of Penha and east of Pequiry. 

 The specimens received contain no fossils. They are all of a light gray 

 color and on analysis prove to be dolomites. 



