ACROSS UNKNOWN SOUTH AMERICA 
case also, by erosion, which had left isolated hills in 
terraces, one with as many as six distinct terraces, others 
with rounded backs. All plainly showed in their strati¬ 
fication, which was identical with that of the surrounding 
elevations, that in former days there stood, where the 
valley was now, a plateau which had subsequently been 
gradually eroded by the action of water and wind. 
Having crossed the river, we arrived at Jaguara — 
we were now travelling in the Minas Geraes Province 
•—where a breakfast awaited us of rice, pork, dried beef 
as hard as leather, omelette with shrimps (a much 
cherished dish in those parts), beans, mandioca, and coffee. 
Black railway porters, firemen, and engine drivers all sat 
round the table and ate heartily, the meal costing two 
milreis, or about 2s. 8 d. 
The railway ran almost parallel with the river on the 
north side round the immense curve which the Rio Grande 
describes in that particular section. We passed Sacra¬ 
mento elevation 1,850 feet, and, in numerous curves, the 
railway rose by a gradient of 3^ per cent among hills 
seemingly worn out by torrential rains into rounded 
shapes with huge gaps between. We left the Rio Grande, 
there about a hundred yards wide, with thickly wooded 
banks and islands. At Conquista we had again reached 
an elevation of 2,350 feet, but we still continued to rise by 
a gradient of 2% to 3 per cent, until a pass was reached 
from which two exquisite panoramas were obtained. One, 
particularly interesting, looked over Conquista, with its 
whitewashed houses — some 250 of them — and red-tiled 
roofs against the background formed by the rugged sides 
of the natural cauldron worn in the tableland by erosion. 
At 538 kilometres, 2,700 feet above the sea level, a 
view was obtained of a small coffee plantation, but most 
of the country around was scantily wooded, grassy in 
places, barren in others. 
The railway, having descended to 2,500 feet, rose 
42 
