116 



A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 



US, as we passed out from the gate, with vivas and 

 waving hats and handkerchiefs. 



The following day we were fortunate in having cool 

 weather with a somewhat cloudy sky, so that our ride of 

 ten hours from Juiz de Fora to Petropolis, on the top of the 

 stage, was delightful. The next morning in driving down 

 the Serra to Mau4 we witnessed a singular phenomenon, 

 common enough, I suppose, to those who live in high re- 

 gions. As we turned the corner of the road which first 

 brings us in sight of the magnificent view below the Serra, 

 there was a general exclamation of surprise and admiration. 

 The valley and harbor, quite out to the sea, were changed 

 to a field of snow, white, soft, and fleecy, as if fallen that 

 night. The illusion was perfect, and though recognized 

 at once as simply an effect of the heavy morning fog, 

 we could hardly believe that it would disperse at our 

 approach and not prove to be the thing it seemed. Here 

 and there the summit of a hill pierced through it like 

 an island, making the deception more complete. The 

 incident was especially interesting to us as connecting 

 itself with our late discussions as to the possible former 

 existence of glaciers in this region. In his lecture a 

 few nights before, describing the greater extension of 

 the ice in former geological ages, when the whole plain 

 of Switzerland between the Alps and Jura must have 

 been filled with glaciers, Mr. Agassiz had said "there is 

 a phenomenon not uncommon in the autumn in Switzer- 

 land which may help us to reconstruct this wonderful 

 picture. Sometimes in a September morning the whole 

 plain of Switzerland is filled with vapor which, when its 

 pure white, undulating surface is seen from the higher 

 sammits of the Jura, looks like a snowy ' mer de glace,' 



