AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 



15 



I remained at Januaria till the 19th (ten days in all), having in the 

 meantime sold our big canoe and hired a barca for the descent of the Sao 

 Francisco, discharged our old boatmen and engaged others, repacked our 

 collections for the journey to Bahia, and made several excursions into the 

 neighboring country, which resulted in important accessions to our natural 

 history collection and many pages to my field notes. 



The journey down the Rio Sao Francisco was made comfortably, save 

 for excessive heat (maximum daily temperature 80-98° Fahr.), and without 

 untoward incident beyond frequent delays by heavy head winds and by 

 illness of the boatmen. I decided to terminate the river journey at the 

 village of Chique-Chique, which point we reached in the afternoon of 

 October 8, the descent from Januaria to this point having occupied 18 days. 

 Chique-Chique is 530 miles below Januaria and about 580 miles from Bahia, 

 by the overland route. 



The region about Chique-Chique is excessively arid and the heat intense. 

 It was near the beginning of the rainy season, which had already set in 

 further in the interior, as shown by the slight daily rise of the river during 

 my descent from Januaria. In fact, nearly the whole journey from Lagoa 

 Santa to this point was made just in advance of the rainy season, occasional 

 showers at different points indicating its near approach. 



It was necessary for me to remain several weeks at Chique-Chique for 

 an opportunity to join a pack-train bound for the coast, there being con- 

 siderable traffic between this point and Bahia. The caravans, however, 

 depart infrequently and at uncertain intervals. The route was by way of 

 Jacobina, Arraial do Riacho, Jacuhipe, Villa da Feira da Sta. Anna, and 

 Cachoeira. 



The country between Chique-Chique and the coast at Bahia presents 

 three natural regions, which are plateaus, differing widely from each other 

 in their geological features. The first is excessively arid and extends from 

 the Rio Sao Francisco to Jacobina, a distance of rather more than 200 

 miles. It is a vast limestone plain, practically without inhabitants, so that 

 it was necessary to take with us not only food for the animals as well as the 

 men, but also drinking water, which was carried in large leather water bags, 

 as in parts of the Far East. This plain rises gradually toward the east, 

 culminating in the Taboleira de Jacobina. To the eastward the descent 

 to the Jacobina valley is abrupt, through a narrow precipitous defile known 

 as the Tombador (the tumble-down). Almost vertical walls of rock, nearly 

 a thousand feet in height, surround the head of the valley. 



The second or middle plateau likewise has a breadth of some 200 miles, 

 extending from Jacobina eastward to the Sierra da Terra Dura, a point 

 midway between Jacobina and Cachoeira, at the head of Bahia Bay. The 



