trusted in myself, but on this particular one
I was so disgusted that I had made up my mind to trust in Providence
alone. I did well, for had I done otherwise I might have fared much worse
than I did.

We went over a pass (elev. 2,400 ft.) between two small domes, quite
barren but for a scanty growth of short dried grass. We were marching
over masses of lava and conglomerate with innumerable marble pellets. We
found ourselves within a regular circle of low hills enclosing a shallow
depression. Subsequently we came to a second and then to a third similar
depression.

[Illustration: Author's Caravan marching across Trailless Country.]

[Illustration: The Roncador River.]

Continuing in a north-westerly direction we again obtained a gorgeous
view of the treble _portal_--by which word the Brazilians describe a
monumental entrance of any kind. That is just what those three immense
gaps in the plateau looked like: an immense wall of rock forming a
high barrier, with three gigantic natural gateways.

After finding a stream of good water on the west side of the plateau we
rose again higher, obtaining a splendid bird's-eye view of the
picturesque depression we had just crossed. The effects of erosion
following those of volcanic activity were evident enough upon the entire
landscape. On the west side we had a horseshoe-shaped vertical
wall--seemingly containing an extinct crater--and yet another on the
north side of the western end of the elongated ellipse which was there
formed.

With some difficulty we managed to get the animals up to the summit of
the plateau (elev. 2,580 ft.). From there we obtained a sumptuous view
beyond. An immense dyke of brilliant red rock, flat-topped, lay
majestically to the west. At its foot the Rio Pedra Grande had its birth,
and then flowed westward into the Rio Roncador. Four gigantic flat
table-lands stood impressively in a line. Three more, equally impressive,
loomed in the south-west. Other minor ones, quite wall-like--rectangular
in vertical section--appeared in the blue distance, while the horizon was
barred by a long flat plateau.

Looking north as we descended from the table-land, we found on our left
another extinct crater--semicircular in shape, with several superimposed
strata of lava, each about one foot thick, capping its lip, which was
broken up into three sections. The valley below that crater formed a
_cuvette_, the bottom of which (elev. 2,200 ft.) showed deep erosion by
w