44 



TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 



riding about in the woods for several hours, we at 

 length met in a side-path with a very friendly per- 

 son, who with great readiness conducted us back 

 to the main road, which was at a considerable dis- 

 tance. He was the priest of S. Roque (the place 

 which we intended to reach to-day), and was going 

 to visit his estate in the evening. In other coun- 

 tries the peaceful preacher of the Gospel would 

 hardly be recognised in the costume of a Paulista, 

 consisting of a wide cloak (^poncho'), a broad- 

 brimmed white beaver hat, and a sabre at his side. 

 In this country it is however necessary to travel in 

 this manner, because in the solitary paths through 

 the forest, you may sometimes meet an ounce, or 

 a venomous serpent, or a thievish runaway slave. 



At S. Roque, an inconsiderable village, the Cabo 

 das Ordenan9as, as the principal person of the 

 place, immediately took care to accommodate us in a 

 small ruined hut, treated us with a frugal meal, and, 

 at last, procured us a frame (girdo) of laths bound 

 together to sleep upon. The prevailing rock in this 

 neighbourhood is a yellowish coarse-grained sand- 

 stone, which alternates here and there with layers 

 of brown iron-stone. On the road, casual fragments 

 of red iron-stone frequently occur. In general, 

 the extensive appearance of iron, though only in 

 fragments, is more remarkable the farther you pro- 

 ceed from the granite to the sandstone formation ; 

 on declivities octahedral crystals of magnetic iron- 

 stone are sometimes found quite detached. On 



