The estate of Senhor Antonio Prado, a Brazilian gentleman who has done much for the beautifying of the capital, lies about 230 miles therefrom, and the journey by rail is through a country full of interest and beauty. The towns and villages that lie along the route are partially hidden by the dense foliage of the tropical vegetation that bespeaks the richness of the soil. The undulating hills through which the railway winds offer a change of view at every moment of the journey. The rich red earth accentuates and intensifies the green of the foliage, whilst the stain of it tinges everything it touches. The railway carriages, constructed on American models, are full of the fine red dust, and the passengers have a ruddy hue when they descend from a journey through the country. The whitewash of the buildings and cotton clothes of the peasants are all more or less tinted with the eternal red of the soil. The Prado fazenda, situated upon rising ground, is a low, one-story building encircled with verandahs. Brilliant-coloured flowers grow in front of it, luxurious creepers entwine themselves around the supports of its verandahs, and tall palms nod their heads above its roofs. The floors of broad, hard-wood planks are red with the stain of the all-pervading earth. The “fazendiero” lives well, and his table groans under a plentiful variety of meat, vegetables, rice, bread, and sweetmeats, to which visitors and friends from neighbouring plantations are welcomed round the board. From the verandahs the view is extensive, a waving sea of green, except when the bloom is on the coffee plant, when the white flakes of colour suggest fallen snow, very refreshing to the eye in the intense heat. A ride through the coffee trees on this estate could be extended for many miles, but the lanes and vistas are all very much alike, appealing most strongly to the sense of distance and extent. Beyond the region planted lies the wild forest, thick woods almost impenetrable, save where patches of land, full of gaunt, half-burnt stumps, betoken clearings in process of being turned into plantations--a preparation that takes no little time and much labour. [Illustration: A COFFEE FAZENDIERO.]