They had an exhilarating ride, and came back about ten o'clock full of enthusiasm concerning it. There is a carriage-road nearly to the top of the mountain, and a bridle-path the rest of the way, so that they had no occasion to leave their saddles. At every step they had beautiful views of mountain and valley, thick forest and open lawn, and there were frequent glimpses of the bay and the distant ocean. From the top of the mountain the view embraces a considerable extent of country, backed by the higher mountains of the Serra, which fills the horizon to the west. [Illustration: THE ARMADILLO.] Breakfast was served soon after their return, and they sat down to the meal with good appetites. After breakfast they busied themselves with letters and journals, and with the contemplation of a happy family of monkeys and other Brazilian animals in a large cage in the court-yard of the hotel. One occupant of the cage was an armadillo; as nature had not adapted him for climbing, he wisely remained on the floor and allowed the monkeys a monopoly of acrobatic feats. The upper half of him was protected with scales like plates of mail, and when alarmed he closed himself together till he resembled a cocoa-nut. At such times there was little else than the mail-plates presented to outside view, and he could be tossed around with impunity, at least to the tosser. The monkeys had a way of rolling him from side to side of the cage, and occasionally they carried him to the top and let him fall. This application of the laws of gravitation did not affect his gravity, and when they wearied of the performance he opened out his iron-clad coating and looked as serene as ever. Frank wished to know the uses of the armadillo; Manuel told him it was an excellent article of food, and was liked by both native and foreign residents of Brazil. The youth was sceptical until he had the opportunity of tasting the new diet, whereupon he declared that he would be a friend of the armadillo as long as he remained in South America. From Tijuca they went to Petropolis, a summer resort higher in the mountains and more distant from the sea than is the former place. They took the carriage-route by the Union and Industry road, a magnificent highway, which was built by private enterprise, and is a model of engineering skill. It penetrates the coffee district back of Rio, and until the railway was built from the capital to and beyond the mountains of the Serra it had almost a monopoly of transportation. It still has a large business, and the company which controls it runs a line of stages and freight wagons, in addition to collecting tolls on every private wagon and every pack animal that passes over it. [Illustration: ROAD OVER THE SERRA, NEAR PETROPOLIS.]