LIFE IN ENTRE RIOS, MINAS GERAES. i8i 



less grand than the Parahybiina, but a dozen picturesque 

 and lovely views meet the eye at every curve in the road. 

 The hours occupied in passing through these two valleys 

 are the most enjoyable of the whole journey. The view, 

 at sunset, just before the last great zigzag — when we are 

 rapidly descending from the mountains to the plain, and 

 see our track a thousand feet below in some places — was 

 even finer than the last time I went down ; then the dark- 

 ness soon hid everything from our sight. At length the 

 lights of the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro are seen, and at 

 7.12, after over fourteen hours of the train, we reach the 

 station, are met by our chief and a friend, and presently 

 whisked off to Carson's Hotel. 



