NOTES ON BRAZIL. 493 



similar bird, "But more adorned, having a beautiful yellow tuft upon its 

 head, somewhat like, but much richer than the ornament on the head 

 of a peacock. 



Leaving the woods, and the region of accumulation, for so the 

 ground at the foot of mountains may generally be described, we remarked 

 what seemed a singular appearance in the stratification of the Serro, and 

 entered upon a very soft white sand-stone, sometimes displaying great 

 brilliancy, and at others intersected with yellow veins. In this singular 

 tract the feet of horses and mules, ascending and coming down the hill, 

 have worn hollows like trenches or steps, one above another ; nor is the 

 surface absolutely imperviable to the roots of a hardy, and to me 

 unknown plant. These shrubs are thinly scattered, and have conical 

 stems which rise to the height of five feet, resembling, in their 

 bark and texture, some of the Palms They throw out from the top 

 some short branches at small angles, which look like extended fingers, 

 whose tips are crowded with a few spikey leaves. The desolate air of 

 the spot, as may be supposed, was scarcely relieved by such a scanty 

 vegetation, and this was the only kind which it produced. Above and 

 beyond it were large masses of a dark coloured sand-stone, in a tabular 

 form, dipping toward the North ; and, advancing to still higher ground, 

 the usual red clay of the country presented itself, mixed with quartz, 

 and covered, in general, with fine verdure, through which broke large 

 rough stones, overgrown with lichens. The ravines on the summit are 

 frequent, narrow, deep, and almost precipitous, in some instances 

 pleasantly ornamented with brushwood and dwarf timber. 



Not far from the desolate region of our ascent is a Rancho of the 

 first order among establishments of that kind, called, from its situation 

 half way up the hill, the Meyo Serro; It stands upon the brow of a rock, 

 and is surrounded with stones which correspond with none of my precon- 

 ceived geological notions, and which I recommend to the attention of any 

 traveller qualified to explore them. Reclining on one of these stones, I found 

 the companion of our journey from Itamerete to Mathseus Barboza. He 

 was now on his way to the district beyond Sahara, in order to purchase 



