162 
The Desert Becomes a Paradise. 
Htimiriacca, and shrubs of the peculiar sweetsmelling Antonia pilosd 
Hook, alternated with the above plants and formed a glorious border 
along the river bank. A Avooded oasis through which one of these moiin- 
ttiin streanjs ran iits coui-se. tempted ns to camp the night — temptation 
to which I gladly yielded all llie more as several new forms unexpectedly 
presented tliemsdves amongst tlie gi'owth along its extensive edge, it 
was heie that 1 saw the Hypth iiiciitbnuiacca Benth.. with its delicate 
light-blue edged petals and its green calyx which, according as they are 
sti-uek by tlie light, become cliauged from green throngli white to a pale 
red. The leaves of this lovely tree, the height of winch varies from 
30 to 40 feet had a strong aromatic scent. Its wood is unusually hard, 
and its bai-k also. Without doulit it is tlie biggest tree-like species of the 
family Lahiatar that is found in (iuiaiia. Mr. Gardner, the well known 
English botanist and traveller, found this Lahiata within the diamond 
ai'eas in the Province of Minas (Jeiaes in the neighbourhood of Cidado 
do Serro as one of the commonest trees : it consequently appears to L'C 
distributed over a large portion of South America, but only at a certain 
height above sea level. I also found upon the banks of this stream yet 
another new species of ^Swartzia and Rhopala, S. capparoides Klotzsch 
and R. suavcolens Klotzsch; the latter however only appeared as a tall 
slender tree, its blooms filling the air with their strong vanilla scent. 
388. On returning to camp from my botanical inspection I was at a 
loss to understand at first the depressed and gloomy looks of our carriers : 
as a matter of fact, the stores were as good as gone and the rations fMvt 
had already been reduced yesterday by one-half, had still to be further 
diminished, so that very little remained for next morning, when we had 
to reach an Arekuna settlement. The night was fairly cool, the 
thermometer at 6 o'clock indicating but 77° Fahr. 
389. At sunrise we continued our journey over the short yellow ii.di 
grass all wet with dew and in between quartz and granite boulders. The 
summit of Pirocaima lay now some 2 to 3 miles north of us. A poor 
sort of vegetation reached up to about a quarter of its height : we only 
saw bleak rock above that. The sensitive cold, made us step out more 
briskly : the sight of an extensive valley that spread itself out below 
arrested our steps on the slope of the ridge. Was it a morbid dream or 
was it magic that had transformed this stony desert into a lovely 
paradise? A slow and equaldy heaving sea of clouds still rested on the 
valley depths: some of the luxuriant tree-tops and low rises were nestling 
in the nebulous bed while others, already freed from its envious covering, 
emerged like islands above its white and woolly surface. Every view 
gave us fresh cause for surprise. Instead of the hitherto steep, pointed 
and cleft summits and peaks, there arose from N.E. to W\ high above the 
sea of clouds, and seeming to enclose the magic vale, a table-topped 
mountain chain, upon which Avas set a 3 to 400 ft. high perpendicular 
crest or stone wall capped by a huge flat stratum of earth — it was the 
sandstone mountain Hurairida. Speechless with delight we gazed down 
at that lovely undulating valley and over the cloudy sea, evei-y moment 
becoming clearer, out of which the still lovelier verdure shone forth in 
the most varying plays of colour. We could see immense flats all fresh 
