48 



JOURNEY FROM RIO DE JANEIRO 



clear the earth from what would otherwise fill the air with noxious 

 exhalations. Their sense of smelling is so acute, that as soon as an 

 animal dies, thej are seen hastening to the spot in great numbers, 

 though just before none were to be perceived even at a distance : 

 they are therefore never pursued, and are equally numerous both in 

 the open and wooded country. The parts near the lake do not seem 

 to be very fruitful, on account of the sandy and marshy soil. All 

 the dry places are either meadows, w^here cattle feed, or mountains, 

 with woods and rocks. Many horses seem to be bred here, but 

 they are bad and mostly of a small size. We saw goats also, with 

 short, shining, yellow red hair, and marked with black spots. Not 

 far from the banks of the lake, there is a sandy road through bushes 

 to the little Villa de Sta. Maria de Marica, the chief town of the 

 parish, consisting of low houses of only one story, and a church, 

 with regular, but unpaved streets. The buildings have no glass win- 

 dows, but merely openings, which, throughout Brazil, are closed by 

 wooden lattices. The people cultivate mandiocca, beans, maize, some 

 coffee, and particularly the sugar-cane, which is said to grow to a 

 considerable height in fertile spots, while it scarcely exceeds three 

 feet in a sandy soil. 



Ever- varying thickets amused us as we proceeded ; the trumpet- 

 flower with the finest blossoms twdned among the shrubs. We also 

 found some fruits of a very singular form : here it should be re- 

 marked that the leguminous plants are by far the most numerous class 

 in Brazil. Notwithstanding the many villas we saw, the country 

 is wild, forming a broad valley enclosed by lofty mountains, with a 

 hilly surface, from which tall forest-trees surrounded with shrubs raise 

 their slender stems. In the summits of all these trees, dark brown 

 masses are seen on the branches, which are the nests of a very small 

 yellow termite, called cupi. Ants and insects of the same kind are 

 extremely injurious to the plantations in Brazil. These animals, for 



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