the Morro de Diogo Velho, and at a height of about seven hundred 

 feet above the level of the Fazenda. It consists of an irregular 

 excavation which penetrates the hill in a direction S. 60° W. 

 (mag.) its axis being considerably inclined so that from the mouth 

 to the end of the cave, the floor offers an ascent. 



The roof and sides of the cavern form together an arch whose 

 curves are sometimes quite regular. In various parts of the grotto 

 there are in the sides and roof more or less deep, rounded exca- 



biing potholes, but which are, however, not due to the action of 

 water. On the eastern side of the cavern is one of these exca- 

 \ath.nswhi,.h is ^ "^tlic axis 



The floor ( ,f the cave before bein- disturbed by the work of ex- 

 ploration consisted of a bed of fragments of ro.-k. fallen from the 



sition of the gneiss, from the dun- of jaguars, bats and other ail- 



ments of these nests, sometimes three feet or more in diameter." 



The cavern measures approximately seventy-live feet in length, 

 twenty-five in breadth at the mouth, forty-two feet in greatest 

 breadth and twelve feet more or less in height. The gneiss in 

 which it is excavated consists of distinct, thin, alternating bands 

 of which some are made up principally of a very black mica 

 in small crystals. Others are, for the most part, composed of 

 little grains of silica with but little feldspar, while yet others con- 

 sist of a mixture of quartz and feldspar rather coarsely crystal- 

 lized. It is noteworthy that the rock contains no garnets. The 

 beds are inclined to the south-southeastward at an angle of 

 40°-45°±, and are full of small, but sharp plications, which, 

 together with the alternation of the white and black bands, give 



an exceedingly beautiful appearance. The second cavern is in 

 this respect perhaps even more noteworthy than the first. 



