82 



JOURNEY FROM CAPE TRIO 



therefore abounds particularly in the capitania of Minas Geraes, 

 where drinking- vessels are made out of its stems. 



We proceeded by the sea-side, and found near some scattered 

 habitations another very useful plant, the agave fxtida. Its smooth- 

 edged, stiff leaves, eight or ten feet long, form strong hedges; and 

 from the middle rises a thick stem thirty feet high, which bears at 

 the top yellowish green flowers, and gives the landscape an original 

 appearance. The pith of the stem, called pitta, serves the collector 

 of insects instead of cork. Upon the beach grow also low dwarf 

 palms, bromelias, and other plants, which are kept down by the wind, 

 and form an impenetrable thicket. We came next to the fazenda of 

 Tapebufu, lying on a hill near the sea, and were courteously received 

 by the proprietor, an ensign in the militia. This fazenda is very 

 agreeably situated ; for immediately behind it rise lofty venerable 

 forests, separated from it only by a lake, in which the reflection of 

 the beautiful groupes of trees produces a fine efl^ect. The eminence 

 on which the house stands overlooks a spacious plain, covered with 

 an impenetrable forest, from the middle of which rises the Serra de 

 Iriri, a remarkable insulated ridge, of four or five conical peaks, 

 covered with wood ; more to the left in a southerly direction lies the 

 detached Monte de S. Joao. 



The tract belonging to the estate is a league long, and partly 

 planted with mandiocca and rice ; some coflPee is also cultivated. The 

 lake abounds in fish. About the dwellings are plantations of orange- 

 trees, the rich perfume of which attracts numbers of humming-birds. 

 Our hunters found in the neighbouring woods abundance of game ; 

 they killed parrots, 7naracanas, toucans, pavos, and other beautiful 

 birds ; and our botanical collections were also much enriched here. 

 I found many kinds of cocoa-palms ; among others the airi, the 

 bunches of whose fruit were just ripe, and the prickly marsh palm, 

 tucitju, with a stem about fifteen palms high, which, as well as the 



