ew
before us of the entire line of natural gateways, with two additional
pyramidal and prismatic peaks to the south, became more and more
beautiful. There was a strong breeze blowing from the north-east. At an
elevation of 2,150 ft. we found quantities of marble chips and blocks and
great masses of ferruginous, froth-like rock.

As we went along we obtained an imposing view to the north of an immense
plateau in three terraces, the lower one appearing like the sea--it was
so blue--with the brilliant red upper portion rising out of it like a
great island. The foreground of dark green, in great undulations, stood
out in contrast to the light green of the slopes of the plateau on the
top of which we were marching.

Central Brazil was certainly a country of flat sky-lines--so flat that
often when the distance became of a pure cobalt blue one had the
impression of overlooking an immense ocean, to which the green
undulations in sweeping lines in the nearer foreground added the
impression of great waves.

It was indeed difficult to realize the stupendous magnitude of the scenes
we constantly had before us. That day, for instance, the plateau to the
north of us stretched across towards the east for 70 deg. of the compass from
bearings magnetic 320 deg. (N.N.W.) to 30 deg. (N.N.E.). Above the plateau was a
strange effect of clouds--a succession of arrow-shaped, nebulous masses.

We still came upon basins of grey ashes--_cuvettes_--but in that region
these were deeper than those we had observed so far, had luxuriant grass,
and in the moist centre the invariable line of _burity_ palm and heavily
foliaged trees.

Travelling on a northerly course, and then to the north-west, we
descended, after having marched 20 kil., into a basin (elev. 1,950 ft.)
where a thick and wide deposit of fine white sand and minute crystals
covered the deeper part of the depression. Then, farther on, the sand was
replaced by the usual deposits of grey ashes which filled the remainder
of the basin. A streamlet which had its birth in the centre of the basin
flowed north into the Rio Manso, along one of the many cracks which were
to be seen in that region and in the depressions we had previously
crossed. We came upon a mighty flow of red and black lava with a somewhat
frothy surface. It was in superposed layers from one to six inches deep,
with an inclination to the east of 15 deg.. The flow itself had a direction
from west to east.

As we were marching