square miles may be seen with the unaided eye. Sheer precipices of more or less bare rock extend down for a distance of fifteen hundred feet or more. A stone merely dropped over the crowning walls would descend to the plains below. It is to the bay that one will turn with most interest. There, in the distance, is the seemingly narrow channel through which all boats must pass on their way to the city. Then nearer to the city is the famous Sugar Loaf, with its curious outline. The blue waters of the bay studded with numerous small islands, the curved shores, the white streaks which mark the cities, and the broad white line, which indicates the Avenida Central and the Beira Mar, acquire a new meaning, and become photographed upon one’s memory in indelible colours; it is then one fully realizes that he is gazing upon one of the most beautiful panoramas that nature has prepared for the delectation of mankind. CHAPTER V MINAS GERAES AND MINING There is another route to Bello Horizonte, the capital of the state of Minas Geraes, but I chose the one through Petropolis, because I was to have the pleasure of the company of the American Embassador. Petropolis was the one time capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro. There are other cities in the state of Rio besides Petropolis. Among these are Therezopolis, which occupies a magnificent site on a commanding hill that gives a fine view of the surrounding country, and Nova Friburgo, the oldest immigrant settlement in Brazil. This city was established almost a century ago by a number of Swiss colonists, and is reached by another railway of almost an equal ascent with the route to Petropolis, heretofore described. This little colony has grown into a prosperous settlement and preserves many of the characteristics of the race which founded it.