NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



165 



running nearly North and South for the distance of four hundred 

 miles, rising gradually as it proceeds, and constituting one of the great 

 abutments of the South American table-land. The Southern extremity, 

 towards the Sea, forms the bold shore of Ponte Negro, which rises, 

 almost perpendicularly, three hundred feet above the water, and 

 terminates in three distinct summits, clearly distinguishing it from 

 every other point in the river. I have seen this ridge chiefly from 

 the East, on which side it displays its jagged heights as far off as fifty 

 miles. Its substance is Granite or Gneise, covered with a good soil, 

 producing little wood except in the more sheltered situations, but 

 furnishing pasture for innumerable herds. To the East and West it 

 sends out many spurs, which divide the numerous streams originating in 

 its elevated parts. These are not so lofty as the ridge itself, still less 

 are they to be classed with mountains ; but they are said to advance in 

 fertility, and to be ^ore clothed with wood, as they recede from 

 the sea. 



Having descended from this height, the traveller towards Monte 

 Video enters upon a plain, intersected by short inconstant streams, 

 which, though destitute of trees, is not unpleasant. He then winds 

 rounds the bay of Santa Rosa, a dangerous bight for vessels, when the 

 wind blows fiercely from the South-east, and pours into it the whole 

 weight of the Southern Ocean. As he approaches the city he is gratified 

 with more interesting views, the country being chequered with the rural 

 abodes of the citizens, and enlivened by agricultural occupations. The 

 mountain, which gives name to the place, and is constantly in view, 

 becomes a more prominent and curious object. It stands close to the 

 water, unsupported by buttresses, unattached to any ridge ; it is of a 

 blackish green hue, of a formal conical shape, and its towering head is 

 crowned with a small building and a signal-staff. It presents itself as 

 the firm guardian of the mighty Plata, and deserves to be accounted one 

 of the finest of military stations, if the water, said to spring upon it, be 

 sufficiently abundant. Possibly it may become,— what it seems fitted to 

 be, — one of the pivots on which the commerce of the world shall here- 



