THE RIVER OF DEATH 
emerging from the cool, dark forest and its refreshing, 
green light, we found ourselves on another plateau with 
a slightly arched summit of beautiful campos. From that 
height we looked over the immense, undulating plain to 
the south. To the southeast we gazed upon a lower, flat- 
topped plateau bounding the valley which, in great, 
sweeping undulations from southeast to northwest, re¬ 
sembled an ocean with waves of colossal magnitude. We 
travelled across the slightly domed, grassy plateau, and 
found on it a cuvette — only slightly depressed this time, 
but with the usual central line of tall trees with luxuriant 
foliage, burity palms and pintahyba trees. There, too, 
we had a surface stratum of red earth and fine, brown 
dust, with an under stratum of grey ashes. Soon after 
we came to a second cuvette, and farther north a third 
could be perceived. In fact, the summit of that particular 
tableland was made up of subsidiary domes dividing 
cuvette from cuvette in succession. 
In going down to 2,550 feet we found a streamlet 
flowing northwest into the Rio das Mortes — or “ River 
of Death.” We were then on the great divide between 
the waters flowing south into the S. Lourenc^o and even¬ 
tually into the Parana, and those flowing north, after 
thousands of kilometres, into the Amazon. This little 
rivulet was therefore interesting to me, for it was the first 
one I had met flowing north since leaving the Araguaya, 
although not the first whose waters eventually flowed in 
a circuitous way into the Amazon. 
That was a day of great domes — all of them with 
perfect curves. On them the grazing was magnificent. 
To the north a wonderful, green dome, larger than the 
others (elevation 2,650 feet), would have been splendid 
for cattle raising. Not a sign of life could be seen any¬ 
where. Seldom have I seen nature so still and devoid of 
animal life. What immensity of rich land wasted! It 
made one’s heart bleed to see it. There was everything 
vol. i. — 20 305 
