THE RIO GRANDE 
point of the railway line in the State of Sao Paulo. We 
were nearing the Rio Grande, or Great River, which, 
flowing in a westerly direction, formed in that region the 
northern boundary of the State of Sao Paulo with the 
State of Minas Geraes. As we came near the river, a 
greater lack of cultivation was noticeable, with more 
extensive zones of wooded country, especially in the 
depressions of the land. The undulations of the landscape 
were more accentuated as we approached the Minas 
Geraes province. Clouds hung low in the valleys, and we 
occasionally went through banks of mist not unlike those 
of Scotland. At Chapadao the ground was more 
ec accidente " — to use an appropriate French expression 
—-with deep depressions and indentations in the surface 
soil caused by erosion. 
The high land on which we had been travelling 
between Franca and Iga^aba, the station after Chapadao, 
gave birth on the west to several important tributaries of 
the Rio Grande, enumerated below, from south to north: 
the Rio Salgado, the Rio do Carmo, Riberao Ponte Nova, 
Riberao Bandeira, Rio da Soledade, Riberao S. Pedro; 
on the east was the Riberao S. Jesus, also a tributary of 
the Rio Grande. 
As the train sped down the incline towards the Rio 
Grande, we were treated to magnificent scenery on our 
right. An isolated hill stood at the bottom of the valley 
with higher mountains on either side of it, and, beyond, 
a high, flat-topped plateau. The railway line skirted 
snake-like along the hillside. The hill-tops were getting 
more rounded and fairly thickly wooded. As we got to a 
lower elevation, the isolated hill assumed the appearance 
of an elephant's back. A grassy valley several miles wide 
opened up before us. 
At Rifaina station we had reached the level of the 
banks of the Rio Grande, that is to say, 1,950 feet above 
the sea level. The valley of the river was formed, in this 
41 
