“1010 The Naturalist Brazilian Expedition. (October, 
9. Sandy shale, one meter. 
10. Impure shaly coal, one meter. 
11. Sandy shales, ten meters. 
12. Coal resembling No. 10, two-thirds meter. 
13. Sandy shales, ten meters. 
These are apparently followed by other layers of sandstone — 
and sandy shales to a thickness of forty or fifty meters. It should — 
be stated that the thicknesses given above are merely approxi- : 
mate and, in part, suppositional, the sections being much ob- — 
scured. w 
The coal at this place, called Dous Passaros, was mined many 
years ago by an Englishman named Johnson, this being pe 
the first coal mine opened in the province. The coal was carried 7 
to Porto Alegre, over fifty miles, in ox-carts or on the backs of 
mules; owing to this difficulty of transport, and to the poor — 
quality of the product, the mine never paid expenses, and it hs — 
long been abandoned. I found the shaft-house in ruins, covered 
with weeds and vines, the shaft itself being nearly full of water. 
The coal appeared near by in the bed of a stream. ae 
Economically the most valuable basin of the three which I 
have mentioned, is the middle one, or that lying between the first 
and second granite ridges, about thirteen kilometers south of et : 
extending about fifteen kilometers from eas a 
greatest width being five kilometers. The rocks strike $ 
E. S. E., the dip being a very slight one to the N. N. E. Lue 
section, in the main, agrees with that which I have just described, 
the position of the sandstone and conglomerate beds, and the 
layer of iron-ore, being the same. Instead of two layers 
there is only one, but this is much thicker and the co 
ter quality than that of the Dous Passaros mine. i n 
In 1870 the “Imperial Brazilian Collieries Company ris 
formed in London, with the object of extracting the coal d ie 
basin; 100,000 pounds sterling of capital was subscribed, an ee 
Brazilian government readily granted permission to exp 
São Jeronymo district and establish mines in any part ae oe 
gineers having reported favorably, work was commeret a om 
over fifty miners being brought over from England. eo 
*By an unfortunate accident my notes of the section at the mine, and of 
other artificial sections, were lost. 
