238 



TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 



expensive, the broad leaves of several palms * make 

 a light but tolerably secure roof. The bounty of 

 nature supplies all the necessary materials in abun- 

 dance, and only the lime is brought from Cabo 

 Frio. 



The estate of Mandiocca, of which we have 

 given a drawing, is so called on account of the 

 excellence of the mandiocca roots which are cul- 

 tivated there. It is bounded on the north-west by 

 a chain of mountains, traversed by several narrow 

 dells, and covered with woods, which extend from 

 the valley to the lofty summits of tlie Organ Moun- 

 tain. In the midst of these great forests are the 

 tracts (rossados) v/hich, after burning the felled 

 trees, are planted by the land-owners with man- 

 diocca, maize, beans, coffee, &c. These planta- 

 tions (rossas) are generally abandoned after a few 

 harvests, and in some years are covered again with 

 a thick brushwood {capoeir^, which is particularly 

 distinguished by the absence of large kinds of trees 

 of a slower growth. The primeval forests, which 

 stand as testimonies of the creative energy of the 

 new continent, in all their original wildness, and 

 still unprofaned by human hands, are called, in 

 Brazil, virgin forests (mato virgem). In them, 

 European coolness refreshes the wanderer, and at 

 the same time the image of the most luxuriant 

 profusion : the never-ceasing power of vegetation 



* Particularly in the southern districts the species Geonoma, 



