TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 



159 



you approach Villa Rica, alternate with each 

 other ; but we were particularly surprised, as we 

 were ascending the steep Morro de Gravier, a 

 continuation of Serra do Oiro Branco, at seeing 

 some arborescent Ulies, the thick naked stems of 

 which, divided in the manner of a fork in a few 

 branches ending in a tuft of long leaves, and being 

 frequently scorched on the surface by burning of 

 the meadows, are some of the most singular forms 

 in the vegetable kingdom. The two species which 

 have these forms, barbacenia and vellosia *, are 

 called in the country, Canella d'Ema, and, on ac- 

 count of the resin they contain, are much used for 

 fuel, wood being very scarce. They appear to 

 thrive only on quartzy mica-slate, and are consi- 

 dered by the inhabitants as a characteristic mark 

 of the abundance of a country in gold and dia- 

 monds. They are most frequently met with here 

 at an elevation of from 2000 to 4000 feet, always 

 accompanied by a variety of the prettiest shrubby 

 rhexias, eriocaulon, and xyris. 



How different are the feelings of the traveller 

 when he passes from the dark low forests into the 

 free and open tracts ! On these serene and tran- 

 quil heights the noisy inhabitants of the wood are 

 mute : we no longer hear the howling of herds of 

 monkeys, the incessant screams of innumerable par- 

 rots, orioles, and toucans, the far-sounding ham- 



* See Martius, Nov. Genera Plant. Bras. ^to. vol. i. p. 14. 



