NOTES ON BPwAZIL. 



345 



the marsh was too soft to walk upon. At and beyond the spot where 

 the hut stood, it was no doubt, more solid. Round about it is a wild 

 screen of mountains, and, among them, the Organ Pipes rose before us, 

 in all their rugged grandeur. 



The seeming impossibility of reaching the house, and of procuring 

 assistance from it, the appi'oach of evening, the ebbing of the tide, and 

 the annoyance of myriads of insects, compelled us to return with our 

 chief object unattained. It was mentioned before, that a fall of water is 

 seen at Rio, descending the face of the Serro, near the Organ mountains. 

 The hill of St. Sebastian is the best station for seeing it, from which its 

 sources must be nearly forty miles distant. Here, to the naked eye, the 

 stream appears like a line of snow, and is frequently mistaken for one. 

 From the height of four thousand feet above the sea, it tumbles down a 

 precipitous bed in a right line, runs apparently four or five miles over a 

 gentle descent, and then falls down a second precipice, in such a manner 

 that from the lower parts of the bay, both appear to constitute one con- 

 tinued fall. It is an object of great curiosity, but I was not fortunate 

 enough to meet with any one who had approached it very nearly and 

 examined it with care. I was disappointed too, in the hope of clearly 

 ascertaining whether the waters of this cataract fall, as we supposed they 

 did, into the marshes on the banks of the Iriri, The small quantity 

 found in the spot where our inquiries prematurely ended, seems to 

 indicate, that this is not their receptacle. Unable to come to any more 

 desirable conclusion, we had to extricate ourselves, as well as we could, 

 from the vile situation in which we were placed. This was no easy task, 

 for we were obliged to turn all hands out of the boat, and use our utmost 

 exertions to lift, as well as push, it into deeper water. 



Afterwards we coasted along the Morro of Piedade, a bold point 

 backed by the heights of the Serro, which here trends considerably to 

 the North, leaving toward the East a large open space of low land. Imme- 

 diately behind the point is a small, snug harbour, the comparatively easy 

 access to which, from the unusual depth of the channel, among the sand 

 banksj renders it of importance. It may be passed too at low water. 



