FAZENDA LIFE. 



107 



the bugles long before the dawn, twanging the guitar and 

 whistling on the peculiar instrument used here to call the 

 game. Altogether it is the most novel and interesting 

 collection of social elements, mingling after a kind of pic- 

 nic fashion without the least formality, and we feel every 

 day how much we owe to our kind hosts for admitting 

 us to an occasion where one sees so much of what is 

 national and characteristic. The next day we went to 

 breakfast at a smaller fazenda belonging also to Senhor 

 Lage, higher up on the Serra da Babylonia. Again, start- 

 ing before sunrise, we went slowly up the mountain, the 

 summit of which is over 3,000 feet above the sea level. 

 We were preceded by the " liteira," a queer kind of car 

 slung between two mules, in which rode the grandmamma 

 and the baby ; as carriages are impossible on these moun- 

 tain roads, some such conveyance is necessary for those 

 who are too old or too young for horseback travelling. 

 The view was lovely, the morning cool and beautiful, and 

 after a two hours' ride we arrived at the upper fazenda. 

 Here we left our horses and went on foot into the forest, 

 where the ladies and children wandered about, gathering 

 flowers and exploring the wood walks, while the gentle- 

 men occupied themselves with fishing and hunting till 

 midday, when we returned to the house to breakfast. 

 The result of the chase was a monkey, two caititu (wild 

 pigs), and a great variety of birds, all of which went to 

 swell the scientific collections.* We returned to dine at 



* I was especially interested in examining the vegetable productions of a 

 little lake, hardly larger than a mill-pond, near this fazenda. It was strange 

 to see Potamogeton and Myriophyllum, plants which we associate exclusively 

 with the fresh waters of the temperate zone, growing in the shadow of tropical 

 forests where monkeys have their home. Such combinations are very puzzling 

 to the student of the laws of geographical distribution. — L. A. 



