ORGAN MOUNTAINS. 



489 



fazenda called St. Louis, belonging to Mr. d'EscragnoUe. 

 The exquisite beauty of the site and the hospitality of its 

 owner have made this fazenda a favorite resort for travel- 

 lers. The grounds are laid out with much taste, and Mr. 

 d'EscragnoUe' s success in raising many of the European 

 fruits and vegetables, as well as those of his own country, 

 makes it the more to be regretted that this beautiful region 

 should be so little cultivated. Pears, peaches, strawberries, 

 thrive admirably, as also do green peas, asparagus, arti- 

 chokes, and cauliflowers. The climate strikes a happy 

 medium between the heat in the neighborhood of Rio de 

 Janeiro, which brings these products to too rapid a de- 

 velopment, drying them up before they have time to 

 mature, and the sharp cold of higher mountain regions. 

 But though at so short a distance from the capital, the 

 transport is so difficult and expensive that Mr. d'Escrag- 

 noUe, instead of sending the produce of his farm to the 

 city market, as he would gladly do, feeds his pigs with 

 cauliflowers. We passed the rest of the day most delight- 

 fully in this charming country place. Mr. Agassiz and 

 Mr. Glaziou ascended one of the near mountain summits, 

 but did not gain so extensive a view as they had hoped, on 

 account of an intervening spur. They were able to distin- 

 guish three parallel ridges, however, separated by interven- 

 ing depressions. Toward evening, while the mountains were 

 still bright with the purple glory of the sunset, though 

 shadows were settling over the valleys, we started on our re- 

 turn, bidding good by with great regret to our kind host, 

 who warmly pressed us to stay. The path we had followed 

 in the morning, without giving a thought to its irregular- 

 ities, seemed quite broken and difficult by night. The 

 slopes along which it ran were changed, in the dim light, to 

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