il.
away--so that the only way to escape death was to fall back on the
ancient settlement of Diamantino, the farthest village in Central Brazil,
a place once established by the first Portuguese settlers of Brazil
while in search of diamonds.

Diamantino was practically in the very centre of the thicker part of
South America, without counting Patagonia. It was almost
equidistant--roughly speaking, some 2,560 kil. as the crow flies--from
Pernambuco on the Atlantic Coast to the east, Callao (Lima) in Peru on
the Pacific Coast to the west, Georgetown in British Guyana to the north,
and Buenos Ayres in the Argentine Republic. Although so far in the
interior and almost inaccessible from the north, east, and west,
Diamantino could be reached comparatively easily from the south,
travelling by river up the Parana, Paraguay, and the Cuyaba Rivers, as
far as Rosario--thence by trail to Diamantino. I had heard that the place
was once flourishing, but had since become almost totally abandoned. I
thought that perhaps I might be able to purchase sufficient provisions to
get along; and--hope being one of my everlasting good qualities--I also
dreamt that perhaps I might there get fresh men.

It was indeed with a bleeding heart--when I had reached a point some 200
kil. north of the Serra Azul--that I had to alter my course, which had
been practically due north, into a south-westerly direction, and
endeavour to find Diamantino. My men were delighted at the prospect of
seeing human beings again. We had met no one for some weeks. We made
terrific marches daily in order to reach that village before the food
gave out altogether.

The nights were cold--47 deg. Fahr. being the minimum at our camp on June
23rd.

We crossed a small range of hills over a pass 930 ft. above the sea
level, and found ourselves in a spacious _cuvette_ with the usual central
line of _buritys_ and thick vegetation (elev. 900 ft.). Soaring over our
heads were a number of _gaviao caboclo_ (_Hetorospidias meridionalis_), a
kind of falcon, rending the air with their unmusical shrieks.

[Illustration: Matto-Grosso Girl, a Mixture of Portuguese, Indian
and Negro Blood.]

[Illustration: Brazilian Child, a Mixture of Portuguese and Negro.]

After leaving the _cuvette_ we began to ascend the Estivado Range, very
steep and rocky. Near the summit we struggled through a field of great
igneous boulders, chiefly upright pillars of granite and white marble.
Upon the pass (ele