ACROSS UNKNOWN SOUTH AMERICA 
which elevation we crossed the Rio Indio, with a beautiful 
rocky bed; the banks showed strata of red and grey 
clay and the delicious water was crystalline. No fossils 
of any kind were to be seen anywhere, although I looked 
hard in search of them all the time. The country was 
undulating and fairly thickly wooded near streams; 
otherwise it consisted mostly of campos, at the highest 
point of which another beautiful panoramic view of the 
escarpment in the plateau we had left behind could be 
obtained. The elevation was constantly changing between 
1,750 feet and 2,050 feet above the sea level. Burity and 
other palms were plentiful. We crossed that day three 
streams, the last one the Rio Uva. 
In a distance of 38 kilometres we saw only a miserable 
shed, although we passed a site where a ruined house and 
paddock showed that once there must have been quite an 
ancient and important farm. Yes, indeed, Goyaz State 
had seen better days in the time of the Emperor and when 
slavery was legal. With the present lack of population 
and the prohibitive prices of labour, it was impossible to 
carry on farming profitably. 
The landscape was everywhere beautiful, but one 
never saw a bird, never perceived a butterfly, nor any 
other animal life of any kind. I was just remarking 
this fact to Alcides when a snake, eight or nine feet long, 
crossed at a great speed in front of my mule. The mules 
and horses were rather frightened at first of snakes, and 
it was amusing to watch how high they stepped when they 
saw them and tried to escape from them. We were in 
great luck. A flock of six beautiful red araras (macaws) 
passed above our heads. They looked perfectly gorgeous 
as they flapped their wings heavily and shrieked loudly as 
they sped along. 
The formation of the soil in that region was interesting 
enough. Under a greyish white surface layer there were 
thin, sedimentary strata of pebbles, deposited evidently 
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