1883. ] The Naturatist Brazilian Expedition. JII 
Nearly all the country around Sao Jeronymo is open campo, or 
prairie, very similar to the pampas of Uraguay, with which it is 
continuous; it is varied only with strips of forest along the 
streams, and with occasional groves, or capoes, on damp hillsides. 
The landscape is beautifully fresh and park-like; the heat is sel- 
dom oppressive, even in the height of summer, and our long 
horseback explorations were a continual pleasure. f 
From one of the higher elevations, five or six miles south-east 
of Sao Jeronymo, an excellent idea may be obtained of the to- 
pography of this region. The country is seen to be occupied by 
many irregular ridges, which commonly trend east and west, but 
are much broken and excavated ; their tops are generally rounded, 
and rocky ledges are not often seen. Between the ridges are 
branching valleys, and among and on the hills there are innumer- 
able hollows, many of which have no visible outlet. These val- 
leys and hollows are always more or less swampy, and the plants 
which grow in them are different from those of the main prairie; 
the grass is high and rank, mingled often with thorny bushes and 
thick-leaved aquatic plants. In journeying over the prairies one 
may pass thirty or forty of these Janhados in the course of a day. 
The small ones are insignificant, but the larger are dreaded by 
the herdsmen, for in rainy weather they may be almost impass- 
able; at any time the unwary traveler runs the risk of seeing his . 
horse sink to the saddle girths—no pleasant predicament when 
one must dismount in the mud and rescue his steed as best he 
may. The banhados, in their general features, reminded me of 
the flooded meadows of the Lower Amazons during the subsi- 
dence of the river; some of the wading birds are, in fact, of the 
Same species as those seen there. 
The hills themselves are dry but fresh, with many clear streams 
of cold water. The ground is covered with short grass, mingled 
with innumerable flowering herbs; generally there are no bushes 
or trees, but in some places a kind of palm called the pot is 
abundant. This palm grows to a height of thirty or forty feet, 
and has a thick rounded head of brushy pinnate leaves ; it is never 
seen in clumps, but grows singly, scattered over the hillsides ; 
seen from a distance it gives the landscape a curious dotted ap- 
Pearance. The fruit of the potia has a yellow, acid pulp, which 
'S eaten, and after a hot day’s ride over the campos it is very 
refreshing, Many birds and mammals are fond of this fruit, and 
