378 



NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



seemed, in some respects, to be unfit for so hard and harrassing a life. 

 They were going to Sahara, and it gave me pleasure to find that our 

 route, for several days, would lie in the same direction, and that we 

 should not differ greatly in our rate of travelling. I determined, there- 

 fore, as much as possible, to make him my companion. Before the 

 party of chiefs assembled, which, though contrary to their usual custom, 

 I had contrived, by the help of a few Havannah segars and a bottle of 

 Port wine, to bring together for the evening, I enjoyed the luxury of 

 bathing in one of the most charmingly sequestered spots which was ever 

 beheld ; and by this refreshment was qualified to participate in the plea* 

 sures of the cool and shady evening with peculiar satisfaction. We sate 

 until a late hour, and parted mutually pleased with our companions. 

 During this scene my bed, and that of my guide, had been set up 

 within the inclosure of packages ; the mates found a station just with- 

 out the walls, and around us lay the slaves ; they had kindled fires to 

 drive away musquitoes, and placed dogs to protect us from strangers. 



The river, on whose bank we reposed, has assumed the name of 

 Payabuna, the black family of priests, or Piabuna, the trees with black 

 bark. It is about fifty feet broad, has assumed a less tortuous course 

 than it had higher up the mountain, and flows only about forty feet 

 below the general level of the road ; circumstances which seemed, to 

 indicate that we were about to enter upon a broader and more level 

 part of the valley. As we came up the Serro it was remarked that, 

 to the height of two thousand five hundred feet, the plants were gene- 

 rally such as grow upon the lower grounds about Rio de Janeiro. Above 

 this elevation we found some curious lichens ; and as we began to 

 descend toward the North the Brazilian pine, called Tata, became abun- 

 dant. The bank of the river, which, in one place, had been deeply cut 

 by floods, displayed layers of sand mixed with mica an4 feldspar, 

 affording some probability to the opinion expressed by my companions, 

 that the stream has yielded, and still contains, some gold. The bed is 

 full of rounded . masses of gneiss and granite. In the morning some 

 very large Pombas, or doves, settled near us, but the foggy night had 



