TO CAPE FRIO. 43 



roller, with two small round openings, forms the wheel, which turns 

 on the axle with the utmost difficulty, and with a loud, harsh, grating 

 noise that is heard at a great distance. Even in Portugal they still 

 make use of these awkward vehicles. The oxen that drew those to 

 which I more particularly allude, were of colossal size and of the 

 finest breed ; I remarked that their horns are very long and thick ; 

 they are generally dri\en by a negro slave, who carries a long stick 

 instead of a whip. 



A chain of mountains next rose before us, which bears the name 

 of Serra de Inua. This wilderness surpassed every thing that my ima- 

 gination had as yet conceived of the grand scenes of nature. On en- 

 tering a deep hollow, we observed several large pools of limpid water, 

 and a little beyond these an immense forest, of which no comparison 

 can give an adequate idea. Palms and all the magnificent trees of 

 the country, were throughout so interlaced with creeping and climb- 

 ing plants, that it was impossible for the eye to penetrate through 

 this species of verdant wall. All of them, even thin low stems, were 

 covered with creeping plants, such as epidendron, cactus^ bromeUa, 

 &c. many of which bear flowers of such beauty, that whoever 

 beholds them for the first time cannot withhold his admiration. I 

 mention only one kind of bromelia with a deep coral-red flower, the 

 leaves of which are tipped with violet ; and the heliconia, a kind of 

 banana resembling the strelitzia, with dark red calyx and white 

 flowers. In these deep shades, near the cool mountain streams, the 

 heated traveller, especially the native of northern regions, finds a 

 temperature that is quite refreshing, and which increased the delight 

 that the sublime scenes presented to our view in this magnificent 

 wilderness incessantly excited. Every moment, each of us found 

 something new that engaged his whole attention. Even the rocks are 

 here covered with lichens and cryptogamous plants, of a thousand 

 various kinds : particularly the finest ferns, which in part hang like 



