ACROSS UNKNOWN SOUTH AMERICA 
After rising to an elevation of 2,600 feet, then de¬ 
scending to 2,450 feet, we crossed two streamlets which 
afterwards joined a fairly important torrent. One was 
called the Rio Boa Vista. We then gradually rose to 
2,750 feet on another flat tableland to the east of the 
Serra de Callos, with its sides eroded in two distinct 
terraces, the higher one being almost a straight wall from 
two thirds up the side of the range. In the lower portion 
a number of rounded mounds were to he observed, which, 
by a stretch of the imagination and for the sake of 
comparison, resembled, perhaps, elephants’ heads. 
Northeast of the Serra stood a thickly wooded, 
detached mound, while to the north, as we went along, 
there was displayed before us a magnificent view of the 
flat valley into which we were about to descend. 
Where the country was wooded, many trees and plants 
were to be found, useful for their tanning, medicinal, 
oleiferous, or lactiferous qualities: such as the Dedal, a 
yellowish-leafed shrub from which a yellow dye can be 
obtained; the tall, thin Arariba Amarelho, or Amarelhino 
(Centrolobium robustum), a great number of Lobelia 
trees, with their elongated, light green leaves and clean, 
barked stems, which eject, from incisions, a caustic and 
poisonous juice. The tallest of all the trees in that region 
was perhaps the Jacaranda, with its tiny leaves. . . . 
There were four kinds of Jacaranda — the Jacaranda 
cabiuna , rosa , tan , and violeta technically known as Dal - 
bergia nigra, Machcerium incorruptibile, Machcerium cen - 
copterum, Machcerium Alemanni, Benth. The three 
latter have a specific gravity higher than that of most 
woods in Brazil, except the Pao de ferro ( Ccesalpina 
ferrea) , the very plentiful Barbatimao ( Stryphnodendron 
barbatimao ), a mimosa-like tree, and the Vinhatico 
amarello ( Echyrosperum Balthazarii) , the last of which 
has the highest specific gravity of all. 
Then we found plenty of Sambaiba, an excellent wood, 
66 
