374 



NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



by an enemy. On the summit of the pass, the heat is said to be gene- 

 rally excessive, but at noon we found it moderated by a strong breeze 

 from the North-East, a circumstance which led me to think that the 

 stratum of the sea-breeze does not always extend to this elevation ; nor 

 does the current refreshing us agree with the theory which maintains that 

 the sea-breeze is produced by cold air rushing in to supply the place of 

 that, which being heated by the land, ascends above it to the upper regions 

 of the atmosphere. Such phenomena deserve investigation, and probably 

 may be accounted for by local circumstances, when these shall be better 

 known than they are at present. 



The soil, as we ascended the hill, consisted chiefly of decomposed 

 granite ; at the summit, which is nearly level, and beyond the end of the 

 paved road, which terminates here, it is composed of red clay, exhibiting 

 a thousand proofs of being very soft and miry, when the weather is wet. 

 To obviate the difficulties which would arise from this circumstance, a 

 road of logs is made over it, and continued, at intervals, through the 

 whole province. Among the minerals near to, and upon the summit, 

 we met wdth iron stone, the quantity of which decreased as we des- 

 cended on the Northern side; and the core of the mountain appeared 

 to be composed of gneiss. 



Having descended at intervals about three hundred feet, we reached 

 Corgo Seco, a miserable Venda, where the people were civil, young, 

 ignorant, and ingenious. We stopped here to collect the mules, which had 

 become fatigued and dispersed in climbing the hill, and appeared to 

 have joined an incipient stream, running through a narrow and depressed 

 bed toward the North. The mountains on either hand were very bold, 

 covered with untouched woods, and rose a thousand feet higher. As 

 we proceeded through a narrow and picturesque valley, the country 

 opened to the right and showed some of the Eastern Peaks, large, smooth, 

 and naked, forming together a rugged and desolate scene. As we still 

 descended, yet passing over ground with considerable undulations, to a 

 place where a small stream flowed to join the principal one on our left, the 

 valley became narrower and close, until the road was only a mide track 



