On May 31st (thermometer min. 56°, max. 74° Fahr.) I decided to abandon the missing horse and proceed on my journey. I suspected, with reason, that the animal had been stolen. It was no use wasting any more time searching for it. We thus bade good-bye for good to the Salesians, and left the great basin of the Sangrador River (elev. 2,050 ft.).

We travelled over sparsely wooded country to 2,350 ft. Tobacco-coloured soil was still under our feet, yellow spattered lava, then again reddish soil, wonderfully rich and fertile, if only it could be cultivated. The country was here peculiar for its many undulations until we arrived on the rim of a large basin, extending from north-west to south-east, of great campos, with stunted vegetation at first, but later with a truly luxuriant growth of vigorous-looking Jtauba preta (Oreodaphne Hookeriana Meissn.), with thick deep green foliage.

We crossed two streamlets flowing north. On going uphill we travelled on masses of volcanic pellets (elev. 2,500 ft.). To the south we could see a number of hills, the sides of which showed the great effects of erosion by wind and water. Nearly all those hill ranges extended from east to west. A long depression could be observed cutting them from north to south.

That was a fine day for cloud effects, especially along the horizon, where they displayed horizontal lines, while they had great ball-like tops. Higher up, to the north-west, was feathery mist turning the sky to a delicate pale blue. A heavy, immense stratum of cloud in four perfectly parallel terraces extended on the arc from west to north.

We descended into a cuvette with the usual cluster of vegetation in the centre and campos around. To the south-west of that cuvette was an elongated but well-rounded mountain, extending from east to west, and beyond, to the S.S.W., in the far distance, an almost identical replica of it. We travelled on deep volcanic sand on the west slope of the cuvette and in deep ashes at the bottom until we arrived at the Sangradorzinho River, flowing north.

June 1st (thermometer min. 55½° Fahr.; max. 74°; elev. 2,150 ft.). Heavy mist and rain-clouds, heavy and sultry atmosphere. Sky almost entirely covered by clouds.

Owing to trouble among my followers and waiting for one of my men, who had remained behind in a last effort to find the missing horse, we were unable to leave camp until nearly noon. We rose to an elevation of 2,400 ft., leaving behind the great cuvette, and marching over parallel domes extending from north to south. Between those domes in the depressions were sandy cuvettes of verdant grass and the usual central bosquets.

Cinders and sand were still plentiful, with stunted, thin trees growing upon them. Several times that day we reached an elevation of 2,550 ft. After passing a streamlet flowing north, we kept at that elevation for a considerable distance, after which, having descended 100 ft. (2,450 ft.), we found ourselves in a most enchanting, oval-shaped cuvette of cinders well covered with fresh verdure, and in its centre from north to south a row of burity palms.

That was indeed a day of great surprises in the way of scenery. No sooner had we left that beautiful cuvette than we came to a magnificent flat open valley extending from E.S.E. to W.N.W. In its northern part, where a pool of stagnant water was to be found, were innumerable burity palms. It was evident that during the rainy season that plain (elev. 2,350 ft.) must be entirely under water. In many places it was swampy, even at the time of my visit. It was most refreshing to the eyes to see such expanses of lovely green healthy grass. The mules and horses enjoyed it more than we did, neighing to their hearts' content when we emerged into the great verdant meadow. They tore away with their teeth at the delicious grass as they cantered along gaily.

Some of the enjoyment of the delightful scenery was taken away from me—not only that day, but every day during almost an entire year—owing to the stupid obstinacy of my men. They carried their magazine rifles fully loaded—eight cartridges in each—and while marching insisted on keeping the rifles cocked; they would not hear of keeping them at safety—so that any extra jerk or a twig of a tree catching the trigger might cause the weapons to go off at any moment. This would have mattered little if they had slung their rifles in the usual way, pointing skyward or else towards the earth. But no-one could never induce a Brazilian to do things in a sensible way. No, indeed; they must carry their rifles horizontally upon the shoulder, the muzzles of the nearest weapons always pointing at me. It was no use remonstrating, as they might perhaps have misunderstood it as fear. So all I could do was to trust in Providence. I could not have done better, for Providence indeed watched over me and protected me on that expedition in a most merciful way—for which I am truly grateful. On several occasions—as was to be expected from the careless way in which the weapons were carried—now one rifle then another went off unexpectedly, and I came mighty near being shot. On other occasions the mules had narrow escapes. Once a bullet went right through the hat of one of my men, just missing his head.

In any case, I beg the reader to realize how pleasant it was to have the muzzle of a loaded rifle, ready to be fired, pointing at you in front for an average of eight to twelve hours a day for several months. I generally rode last in the caravan in order to prevent straggling, and also to see that any baggage which fell off the pack-saddles was recovered. This was unpleasant in more ways than one. First the clouds of dust raised by the animals as we marched over the sand and cinders, which filled my eyes, mouth and nose; then the constant attention to watch for lost baggage—besides the work of writing my notes as we rode along. The sound of the dangling bells of the mules was monotonous to a degree, and so was the aspect of the animals' tails swinging and slashing from one side to the other in order to drive away tormenting flies. Occasionally, when stung fiercely by a horse-fly, one or two animals would dash away wildly, tearing off in their career low branches of trees and even altogether knocking down good-sized trees, four or five inches in diameter.

This would seem impossible in any other country, but not in Brazil, where the majority of the trees were nearly entirely eaten up inside by ants. The roots, owing to the substratum of lava spread horizontally near the surface, offered little resistance to side pressure upon the tree itself, so that frequently even the weight of a man leaning against a tree was sufficient to knock it down. I never shall forget how impressed I was the first time I saw my men cut the way through the forest, slashing down right and left good-sized trees with one swing each of their falcon—heavy-bladed knives some 2 ft. long.

What terrific strength! I thought, until I happened to lean against a tree, and down went the tree and myself too. Upon examination I found that merely the bark remained, with a few filaments inside—the rest of the interior having been entirely devoured by ants. Yet some of the top branches seemed still alive, and had leaves. Again, even when quite sound, those trees were extremely anÆmic and soft, quite watery inside, and could be cut almost as easily as celery.

This does not mean that all the trees of Brazil were worthless. No, indeed. These remarks apply merely to that particular portion of Brazil in which I was then travelling—where, barring the burity palms in the moist lands and marshes, the trees were mostly rickety and dwarfed, with mouldy barks, malformed limbs, and scanty leaves. That is why, when we came to the healthy mass of burity palms and the lovely young grass, one felt just the same as when, after having been through a hospital, one emerges into the fresh air among healthy people.

That night we encamped on the heavenly meadow. We felt we had reached Paradise. For the first time great flocks of parrots and gorgeously-coloured macaws played about and enlivened the air with their shrill whistles and shrieks, and flew over the palms, gently swung to and fro by the wind. Then innumerable colibris—the tiny humming-birds, of marvellous iridescent metallic tints—sucked now from one then from another flower while still flying. Indeed, that spot seemed the rendez-vous of all the animals of that region. There you found onÇas (jaguar), anta (a large pachyderm), the Tapirus Americanus, the tamandua bandeira, with its worm-like tongue, (or Myrmecophaga jubata), and plenty of veado (Cervus elaphus). The footmarks of all those animals were innumerable near the water.

The man I had left behind in order to make a further attempt at recovering the lost horse arrived that evening, his search having been unsuccessful. Undoubtedly the horse had been stolen.

Strange Geometrical Pattern of Lava over Giant Volcanic Dome.

Strange Geometrical Pattern of Lava over Giant Volcanic Dome.

Although the place where we had made camp was a regular paradise to look at—in the day-time—it might have been compared to warmer regions at night. Mosquitoes of all sizes and of all degrees of viciousness rose in swarms from the swamp at sunset, and made our life absolutely miserable. To counterbalance the torture we had a wonderful sunset to look at. First the sky, of a golden colour, was intersected by graceful curves dividing it into sections like a melon; then it gradually became overladen with horizontal black and crimson lines to the west, black to the east and overhead.

June the 2nd was my birthday. I am superstitious by nature, and I would have given anything to celebrate it with some lucky event, although I was at a loss to think of anything lucky that could have happened to me there. Indeed, I began my new year badly—much worse even than I expected. That was an ill-omen to me. First of all there was a terrible row among my men in camp. They had taken to their rifles. They wanted to shoot the cook. The man deserved punishment, perhaps, but not quite so severe a one. After a great deal of arguing I quieted them and got them to lay down their weapons. The cook's life was spared—worse luck for me. I was sorry for it when I had my breakfast, for cooking more diabolical than his could not be imagined. During breakfast the news came that another horse of my caravan had been lost. So there was the prospect of another day wasted to recover it. My men were unable to trace it, so I resigned myself to the monetary loss and also to the inconvenience its absence would cause us.

My men felt the cold intensely during the night, the thermometer being as low as 51° Fahr. (minimum). During the day the maximum temperature was 85° Fahr. and 96° in the sun.

My only consolation that day was watching the innumerable birds and gazing at the magnificent sunset. The latter consisted that evening of three lines forming arches—two black to the west and the third white—stretching across the sky from north to south. From the higher black line radiations spread, subdividing the sky into rectangular designs—of almost equal size. To the east were great globular masses of mist somewhat confused in shape.

The water at this camp was bad, the marsh being over a bed of decayed vegetable matter, which rendered the water of a brownish black colour, like strong tea. Its taste was foul. By digging a well a few yards from the lagoon I succeeded, however, in obtaining clean and good water, which filtered through the ashes and sand.

Our camp was at an elevation of 2,300 ft. During the night, June 2nd-3rd, the thermometer was higher than usual (min. 58° Fahr.), but my men felt the cold more than the previous night because of the heavy mist which set in after sunset, followed by a drizzling rain which damped everything. My men were all attacked by fever, which rendered them more irritable and ill-tempered than ever—if possible.

We did not leave camp until 11.30 a.m., rising again to the summit of the plateau some 50 ft. higher. There we had to describe a wide arc of a circle, as through the trees we perceived on our left an immense chasm, beyond which was a much disturbed landscape of striking ruggedness. We could see a huge circular crater with eroded lips, rising like the chipped edges of a gigantic cup, in the centre of the great volcanic basin. That depression with high vertical walls all round displayed a large gap to the W.N.W. and another to the south-west.

Twelve kilometres from our last camp—and still marching along the edge of the circle on the summit of the plateau—we came to a grassy cuvette, and then to another hollow with a few burity palms. The wall overlooking the great circular depression was perpendicular, of red igneous rock, with projecting spurs ending in conical, much-corrugated hills. The curious opening to the south-west was much broken up in two places with gaps. In the distance beyond were three ranges of hills, the colour of which appeared a pure cobalt blue.

The central crater was formed by rugged red walls with spurs on the east and south-east sides. In the bottom was water with trees all round its edge. There were four square holes from which boiling water gurgled like feeble geysers, and three more holes of a more irregular shape.

The hill range on which we stood projected well into the centre of the great circular basin. It had on the west side perfectly vertical walls of black igneous rock. Its summit was chiefly formed of ferruginous erupted rock thrown up while in a state of ebullition, which had cooled into a conglomerate of minute globular masses, in shape like the bubbles of boiling water. The great circle around us, as we stood on the outermost point of the projecting spur, was most impressive, with its brilliantly coloured red walls.

My men killed a coatÍ—a peculiar, long-nosed carnivorous animal, which had characteristics in common with dogs, monkeys, and pigs. There were two kinds of coatÍ or guatÍ, viz. the coatÍ de mundeo (Nasua solitaria), and the coatÍ de bando (Nasua socialis). Ours was a Nasua solitaria. It was a beautiful little animal, about the size of a small cat, with a wonderfully soft brown coat on its back, a yellowish red belly and bright yellow chest and throat. The chin was as white as snow. The long tail, 1½ ft. long—was in black and yellow rings. It possessed powerful fangs on both the upper and lower jaws, a long, black, gritty or granular tongue, short ears, powerful short fore-paws with long nails—quite dog-like; long thighs extremely strong, short hips and hind legs, with callosity up to the knee—evidently to allow that part of the leg to rest flat upon the ground. The coatÍ had velvety black eyes of great beauty, well set in its small well-shaped head. It was a wild little fellow, extremely agile, and could kill a dog much larger than itself with comparative ease.

We circled the eastern and northern part of the great cauldron, always remaining on the summit of the plateau at elevations varying from 2,250 to 2,300 ft. We came upon patches of violet-coloured and then tobacco-coloured sand, and also upon quantities of dark brown sand, generally consolidated into easily friable rock. There were the usual deposits of grey ashes over the underlying volcanic rock which peeped through here and there.

On June 4th we were at the CabeÇeira Koiteh (temperature, min. 53° Fahr.; max. 80° Fahr.; elev. 2,100 ft.). Close to this camp, from an outstretching spur, I obtained another magnificent view. To the E.S.E. stretched from north-east to south-west a flat plateau, and to the east a flat mountainous block with an eroded passage. Headlands branched off from the northern side of the ridges in a north-easterly direction. Between them were basins thickly wooded in their lower depressions. The north-eastern portion of the flat range was almost vertical, with many angular and sharply pointed spurs projecting from it.

In the centre of the greater basin, of which the others were details, a low convex ridge bulged out, with three conical peaks—two of them at the highest point of the curve. Between the first and second cone two twin sub-craters were visible—evidently the two twin circles had formed part of the same crater—in the mountain side of the distant range. A third crater was some distance off to the south-west.

To the south-west in the background was a lovely view of flat highlands with huge tower-like rocks standing upright upon them. Then to the S.S.W. a regular vertical dyke of rock stood on the top of an elongated conical base.

The elevation on the summit of the spur from which we obtained this lovely panorama was 2,200 ft.—or no more than 100 ft. higher than our camp.

We travelled again that same day on the northern edge of the great depression, and met three more cuvettes of grey ashes with an abundant central growth of buritys. These were at a general elevation of 2,300 ft., the bottom of the depression being 50 ft. lower. On descending from the table-land, through a gap we discerned far away to the south a long flat-topped plateau extending from south-west to north-east and having a precipitous wall-face.

We got down to the Caxoeirinha stream, where we found an abandoned hut in the eroded hollow of the stream. The water flowed there over a bed of red lava and extremely hard conglomerate rock made up of lava pebbles and solidified ashes. Above this at the sides of the stream was a stratum some 10 ft. thick of grey ashes, and above it a stratum 2 ft. thick of red volcanic dust and sand. As we got higher again and I stood on a projecting promontory, another wonderful view spread itself before me. The sun, nearly setting, in glorious white radiations, cast deep blue and violet-coloured shadows upon the great abyss to my right (N.W.) which was a kilometre or more in diameter and more than 300 ft. deep—surely another great crater. It seemed as if a natural wall of rock must have once existed, joining the promontory on which I stood to the great mass of prismatic red volcanic rock to the west of us, and ending in a flat triangle with a wide base. The surface soil on the height of the peninsula was of spattered lava and black broiled rock and pellets.

The bottom of the abyss formed two sweeping undulations—the second from the centre much higher than the first—seemingly a great wave of lava vomited by the crater, by which probably the destruction of the wall joining the peninsula had been caused.

To the S.S.E. in the distance stood a high mountain range—or rather a great flat-topped plateau of delicious cobalt blue shades, almost losing itself in the sky. To the east, completing the circle, were two other great spurs of red-baked rock, with precipitous, almost vertical, sides and with much-striated buttresses that ended in conical mounds—eroded into that shape by the action of water and wind.

To the south, beyond, a sloping table-land with a pronounced dip eastward extended from east to west. It towered over everything, and was shaped like a trapezium. In front of this sloping table-land was another long flat-topped range, stretching from E.S.E. to W.N.W. Again in front of this, could be seen an interesting series of prismatic mounds—like parallel barriers. To the S.S.W. rose a large mountainous mass—another plateau. Then came a second range, cut into clear pyramids with rectangular bases, and, beyond, a great expanse of lovely green with some large mounds of a similar shape to those already described. Two more pyramids were also to be observed far, far in the distance, while others of a slightly less angular shape were noticeable upon the great flat stretch due west.

Right under us, at the bottom of the precipice, was thick forest covering, zigzag fashion, the two depressions, roughly in a general direction of south-east to north-west. Those two depressions drained that immense basin. It was there that the streamlet Caxoeirinha had its birth. The Caxoeirinha flowed north-west and fell into the Ponte de Pedra River, which flowed south. Those two streams, with a number of others, formed the head-waters of the great S. LourenÇo River, a formidable tributary of the Rio Paraguay or ParanÁ.

An extraordinary effect of clouds could be seen that day, and a similar occurrence I saw on many other occasions upon the table-lands of Matto Grosso. The clouds reproduced—upside-down—the configuration of the country directly underneath them. That was due, no doubt, to the air currents diverted by the obstacles on the earth's surface, which caused the masses of mist above to assume similar forms—but of course, as I have said, upside-down.

We were still at an elevation of 2,150 ft. The temperature during the night went down to 52° Fahr. My men, as usual, suffered intensely from the cold—at least, judging by the noise they made, the moans and groans and chattering of teeth. They nearly all had violent toothache. Alcides, too, apparently went through agony, but he showed a little more manliness than the rest and did not make quite such a pitiful exhibition of himself.

It was curious how certain racial characteristics were difficult to suppress in individuals. Alcides had some German blood in him—rather far removed. He could not speak German, nor did he know anything about Germany. Yet German characteristics came out in him constantly. For instance, the uncontrollable desire to write his own name and that of his lady-love on trees and rocks all along our passage. Alcides was really very good at calligraphy, and some of his inscriptions and ornamentations were real works of art. Many half-hours did we have to waste at the different camps, waiting for Alcides to finish up the record of his passage in that country, and many blades of penknives—I had a good supply of them to give as presents to natives—did he render useless in incising the lettering on the trees and stones.

Author's Troop of Animals wading across a Shallow Stream.

Author's Troop of Animals wading across a Shallow Stream.

Filippe the negro—who was the best-natured of the lot—had become quite swelled-headed with the big salary he received. Arithmetic was not his forte. As he could hardly write, he was trying to work out, with a number of sticks—each representing one day's salary—how much money he had already earned, and how much more he was likely to earn. It evidently seemed to him a large fortune—indeed it was—and his plans of what he would do with all that money in the future were amusing. First of all, the idÉe fixe in his mind was the purchase of a mallettinha, a small trunk with a strong lock, in which to keep his money and his clothes. I took advantage of this to tell Filippe—they were all just like spoiled children—that the best place for mallettinhas was Manaos, our chief objective on the River Amazon, some 1,800 kil. away from that point as the crow flew, and about four times, at least, that distance by the way we should travel. Many times a day I had to repeat to Filippe glowing descriptions of the wonders of the mallettinhas, and I got him so enamoured of the mallettinhas to be got at Manaos that I made certain that Filippe at least would come along and not leave me. I was sure of one thing—that nowhere in the intervening country would he be able to procure himself a little trunk—nor, indeed, could one procure oneself anything else.

I supplied my men with ample tobacco. Filippe was all day and a great part of the night smoking a pipe. Owing to constant quarrels among my men, I had turned him into a cook. When in camp he had to sit hour after hour watching the boiling of the feijÃo. Enveloped in clouds of smoke, Filippe with his pipe sat in a reverie, dreaming about the mallettinha. He was quite a good fellow, and at any rate he did work when ordered.

All my men had been given small pocket mirrors—without which no Brazilian will travel anywhere. It was amusing to watch them, a hundred times a day, gazing at the reflection of their faces in the glasses. It was nevertheless somewhat trying to one's temper when one ordered a man to do something and then had to watch him for an endless time admiring his own features in the little mirror, and one had to repeat the order half a dozen times before the glass was duly cleaned with his elbow or upon his trousers and set at rest, and the order carelessly obeyed. Even Alcides—who was far superior to the others in education—could not be kept away from his mirror. While riding he would all the time be gazing at his features instead of looking at the beautiful scenery around us.

On leaving camp we again reached the summit of the plateau (elev. 2,300 ft.), with its patches of red volcanic earth, violet-coloured sand, and snuff-coloured dust—extremely fine in quality. After crossing a streamlet flowing south, we again continued our journey on the flat plateau, slightly higher at that point, or 2,400 ft.

We were in the great plain crossed by the Ponte de Pedra rivulet, flowing southward. Once more we obtained a gorgeous view looking south. Four parallel ranges stretching roughly from south-east to north-west stood in all their grandeur before us. They were of brilliant red volcanic rock. On the second range, from us, rose a curious square block of rock of gigantic size, resembling a castle with its door and all. In the distance, to the south-west, erosion seemed to have taken place on a great scale in the side of the table-land.

The highest point we had so far reached on the plateau on which we were travelling since leaving the Araguaya was 2,400 ft. There again we found another of the extensive grassy cuvettes—the flat bottom of which was only 30 ft. lower than the highest point of the plateau. A luxuriant growth of burity palms and birero trees adorned the centre, the latter very tall and handsome, with smooth white bark and only a dense tuft of dark green foliage at their tops. In the cuvettes I saw, the growth of the tall vegetation invariably ran the long way of the oval.

The sky that evening showed great streaks of transparent lines of mist from west to east, the central radiation of these being formed of lines so precisely parallel that they seemed to have been drawn with rule and dividers. Directly overhead those lines gradually blended into a more indefinite mass. The radiations did not begin from the vanishing sun on the horizon, nor at the point diametrically opposite on the east, but began to appear only one-tenth up the entire circle of the sky, both west and east.

Almost globular cloudlets, with the lower section cut off in a horizontal plane—quite typical, as we have seen, of the cloud formation on that Central Brazilian plateau—crowded the sky, quite low to the north, and also a great many small ball-like clouds which showed with some brilliancy against the blue sky.

The sunsets in Central Brazil were to me always a source of intense joy, interest, and admiration. With certain characteristics which repeated themselves frequently, they always displayed wonderful effects of light and a most peculiar formation of clouds.

Before reaching camp we passed another oval cuvette with a longitudinal row of trees—so green and tidy as to be just like a portion of a well-kept English park (elev. 2,350 ft.). Another bit of wonderful scenery, with immense prismatic rocky mountains—really more like dykes—appeared in the distance; and also a vertical walled mountain in the foreground.