108 



A JOUENEY IN BRAZIL. 



the lower fazenda, and all retired soon after, for the next 

 day the great hunt of the week would take place, and we 

 were to be early astir. 



At dawn the horses were at the door, and we were mount- 

 ing the Serra before sunrise. We were bound to a fazenda 

 on the Serra da Babylonia, some two leagues from the one 

 at which we were staying, and on higher ground, too high 

 indeed for the culture of coffee, and devoted to pasture 

 land. It is here that Senhor Lage has his horses and 

 cattle. The ride along the zigzag road winding up the 

 Serra was delightful in the early morning. The clouds 

 were flushed with the dawn ; the distant hills and the for- 

 est, spreading endlessly beneath us, glowed in the sunrise. 

 The latter part of the road lay mostly through the woods, 

 and brought us out, after some two hours' ride, on the 

 brow of a hill overlooking a small lake, sunk in a cup- 

 like depression of the mountain, just beyond which was 

 the fazenda. The scenic effect was very pretty, for the 

 border of the lake was ornamented with flags, and on 

 its waters floated a little miniature steamer with the 

 American flag at one end and the Brazilian at the other. 

 Our host invited us to ride in at the gate of the fazenda, 

 in advance of the rest of our cavalcade, a request which 

 we understood when, as we passed the entrance, the little 

 steamer put into shore, and, firing a salute in our honor, 

 showed its name, Agassiz, in full. It was a pleasant sur- 

 prise very successfully managed. After the little excite- 

 ment of this incident was over, we went to the house to tie 

 up our riding-habits and prepare for the woods. We then 

 embarked in the newly-christened boat and crossed the lake 

 to a forest on the other side. Here were rustic tables and 

 seats arranged under a tent where we were to breakfast ; 



