56 Prince Maximilian's 



bitants had built their smiling abodes, heightened the charms 

 of the scene. Immediately under our feet, at the bottom of the 

 steep side of a mountain, there was a small flat spot of meadow 

 ground, where a number of habitations, erected under high 

 palm-trees, formed a delightful group. Our narrow path ran 

 high up the ridge, and then sank down again into the vale, 

 wehere, as we approached each Fazenda, the senses were re- 

 galed by the sweet smelling bloom of the orange-tree. We 

 then arrived at a marsh, over-grown with reeds, and the 

 greyish-white-blossomed bignonia rising from 20 to 30 feet 

 in height. On the branches of the latter a great many birds of 

 the Ardea Nycticorax species, differing only in size from the 

 German Nycticorax, had built their nests, and on every nest 

 the old and young were standing together viewing the stran- 

 gers with curiosity. Our huntsman shot some of them, but 

 could not get them out of the bogs. These marshes, though 

 we did not see any, are said to breed a great number of Ja- 

 care's (Qrocodilus) . After traversing a pleasant diversified 

 country, we arrived about night-fall at the Fazenda do Col- 

 legia, and reached, before it was quite dark, the little Hio do 

 Collegia ; the deep flowing stream of which, though completely 

 drenched, from our cattle having fallen, in consequence of the 

 slipperiness of the footing, we all passed in safety. 



We soon after entered a thick natural wood, on the bank of 

 the river, which extends to S. Fidelis, a distance of half a 

 league. It was now dark night ; the road was very narrow, 

 often rising suddenly over the steep bank, extremely uneven, 

 and blockaded with dry wood and fallen trees. The soldier, 

 who led the way, skilled in the road, dismounted with our 

 people to clear the passage, and we were frequently compelled to 

 lead our horses through considerable tracts of ground. At length 

 a steep and deep ravine, across which a bridge formed by the 

 trunks of three trees had been thrown, presented itself before 

 us. But this obstacle, though it nearly cost us some of our 

 cattle, we however likewise overcame by patience. A number 

 of fluttering insects sparkled in the darkness of the forest, the 

 Caprimulgus screeched, the large Cigararras were apparent at 

 a great distance, and the peculiar cry of a host of frogs, re- 

 sounding through the solitary, nocturnal wilderness. We 

 then arrived at a level meadow on the bank of the river, 

 and suddenly found ourselves among the huts of the, Coroados- 

 Indians at S. Fidelis. Our guide immediately rode up to the 

 house of the Reverend Pater Jodo, and requested, through one 

 of his slaves, quarters for the night, but we received a brief 

 refusal, and had it not been for the kindness of the Officer, in 

 Meiose house ^ve were so well entertained at noon, we must 



