ne of the vendas at the foot of the mountain we fortified
ourselves with some excellent pan-cakes, laid in a stock of sugar-
canes, the juice of which is excessively refreshing in the great
heat, and then proceeded to scale the Serra, 3,400 feet high. The
road was execrable; full of holes, pits, and puddles, in which our
poor beasts often sank above their knees. We had to skirt chasms
and ravines, with torrents rolling loudly beneath, yet not visible
to us, on account of the thick underwood which grew over them. Some
part of the way, too, lay through virgin forests, which, however,
were not nearly so beautiful or thick as some I had traversed on my
excursion to the Puris. There were hardly any palm-trees, and the
few there were, reminded us, from their thin stems and scanty
foliage, of those of a colder climate.

The prospect from the Serra struck us all with astonishment. The
entire valley with its woods and prairies was spread far and wide
before our sight as far as the bays, the little detached huts being
quite indistinguishable, while only a part of the town and a few
masts of ships were perceptible in the distance.

A turning in the road soon shut out this charming picture from our
gaze; we then left the Serra and entered upon a woody, uneven tract,
alternating with large level grass-plots, covered with low
brushwood, and innumerable mole-hills, two feet high.

Half way from Santos to St. Paulo is a place called Rio Grande, the
houses of which lie, after the Brazilian fashion, so far apart, that
no one would suppose they had any connection with each other. The
owner of the mules used on this journey resides here, and here,
likewise, the money for their hire is paid. If the traveller
desires to proceed immediately he has fresh mules given him, but,
should he prefer stopping the afternoon or night, he finds very good
victual and clean rooms, for which he has nothing to pay, as they
are included in the five milreis (10s. 10d.), charged for the mules.

We snatched a hasty morsel or two, and then hurried on, in order to
complete the second half of the road before sunset. The plain
became broader and broader the nearer we approached the town; the
beauty of the scenery falls off very much, and for the first time
since I left Europe, did I see fields and hills of sand. The town
itself, situated upon a hill, presents a tolerable appearance; it
contains about 22,000 inhabitants, and is a place of considerable
i