4 f- 
.4 
7;/ 
.r.-.^i..r-iT..w. fv , 4. . , tlB Missouri Botanical aa rden, 
..^iiculixire, tilt, i^ew for^fc iiotaiiicai Cardan, the Gray Herbarium, and 
itii tiia fimncial assistance of tbe United .jtate^ 
s ijepartnent of 
tlie ^^ield Lmseum of Imtural 1:1s torj, 1 ms able last year to realise 
a long~Ci::^risiied dream of a botcinical trit) to 3r^^ 
11 • liliat country 
*5t 
larger tiian tlie United States, excluding Alaska* mm^ a very siiall 
part of it coula be woiiced in a single seas an. I was especially 
desirous of visiting tlie parts of i.inas GeiBes traversed by Martins 
in 1818, and by the few botanists tiiat visited tiie inierior in tiie early 
part of tne lasi. cexxwury. Many species of grasses of Kees and of 
li^rinius were based on imterial collected on tno^^ journeys. Very little, 
at least of grasses, has been collected in that region since. Besides 
Minas Geraes 1 wished to visit Pernambuco ana Bonia. 
I landed in Eio de Janeiro November 1 last ana left 8 days later 
for temambuco in order to reach that region before the dry season 
mis much advanced. l:he strip of sandy coast to north and south and 
tne red clay hills and swainps inland from the city afforded good botan- 
i^ing. 
1 laade a 4-day trip to Bello^Jardim in the sertao, as the arid 
region of the interior is called, fhe country is Mlly (625 meters 
altitude) and covered vdth low scrub. 0?he shrubs, now at the beginning 
of tte season, were mostly leafless, but luany were in bloom, m 
e 
:;oimtry is so closely grained by aoniceys, sheep, and goats that I found 
