w 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 _feijao_. 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 al