448 



A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 



in the Serra Grande. From his account, this wall resem- 

 bles greatly the " Horsebacks " in Maine, those remarkable 

 ridges accumulated by the ancient glaciers, and running 

 sometimes uninterruptedly for thirty or forty miles. The 

 horsebacks are, however, covered with soil and turf, where- 

 as Dr. Felice describes this wall as rough and bare. Mr. 

 Agassiz has no doubt that this accumulation or dike of 

 loose materials, the position and direction of which cor- 

 responds exactly with his conjecture based upon the evi- 

 dence obtained in the Amazonian Yalley, is a portion of 

 the lateral moraine, marking the southeastern limit of the 

 great Amazonian glacier. Unhappily, it is impossible for 

 him to visit it himself, for even could he devote the time 

 necessary for so long a journey in the interior, we are 

 told that at this season the state of the roads makes it 

 almost impossible. He must therefore leave the iden- 

 tification of this colossal moraine to some younger and 

 more fortunate investigator, and content himself with a 

 direct examination of the next link in the chain of evi- 

 dence, namely, the traces of local glaciers in the serras in 

 the more immediate neighborhood of Ceard. If the basin 

 of the Amazons was actually filled with ice, all the moun- 

 tains lying outside of its limits in the neighboring provinces 

 must have had their glaciers also. It is in search of these 

 local glaciers that we undertake our present journey, hoping 

 to reach the Serra of Baturit^. 



April 6th. — Facatuba (at the foot of the Serra of Ara- 

 tanha). After endless delays and difficulties about horses, 

 servants, and other preparations for our journey, we succeed- 

 ed in getting off on the afternoon of the 3d. The mode 

 of travelling in the interior as well as the character of the 

 people, makes it almost impossible to accomplish any journey 



