i 150 ) 



rivulets have a great deal of oxide of iron in small grains mixed with 

 the sand in their eddies. In some places the granite is in a decom- 

 posing state, and there are large nodules of what the Germans call 

 griinstein, which appear not unlike basalt. The air in these elevated 

 districts is fresh and cool, except from two to four o'clock in the 

 afternoon, when I found it rather hot. In the evening, while amusing 

 ourselves with shooting, we observed a man in a friar's habit, with a 

 box bearing a picture of the Virgin, fastened to his waist by a belt. 

 His face was overgrown with hair, and his whole appearance exceed- 

 ingly wild and uncouth. On inquiry, we were informed that this 

 extraordinary figure was a hermit ; and that he had embraced this 

 austere way of life by way of doing penance for some great crime. 



Having pursued our diversion while day-light lasted, we returned 

 to the house, where, for the first time since our departure from Rio, 

 we partook of a comfortable meal, and regaled ourselves with a bottle 

 of excellent madeira, which my worthy companion by good fortune 

 had brought with him. 



We set out next day by sun-rise, and proceeded some miles along 

 a tolerable road. The vallies as we advanced were wider, and more 

 easy of cultivation, but the mountains were excessively steep. On 

 even ground our general pace was three or four miles an hour, but 

 on the acclivities we proceeded slowly, and were obliged to observe 

 every step of our mules, and to balance ourselves accordingly. This 

 action of the body produces no perceptible consequences for the first 

 few days, but afterwards it begins to torture the loins with a species 

 of lumbago. 



After a journey of twenty -eight miles, which occupied nine hours, 

 we found ourselves at six in the evening at a small farm-house called 

 Fazenda de Doiia Clara and Dona Maria. These two good ladies 

 honoured us with a more polite reception than we had hitherto ex- 

 perienced on the journey. It being the festival of St. Bartholomew, 

 a great holiday among the Brazilians, they had prepared a more 

 sumptuous dinner than usual, of which they kindly invited us to parr 



