the branches of a _Mimosa_; and a few shells in the bed of the river. Between this place and Lavra, the course of the river is very tortuous, and being now very nearly dried up, I observed that the inhabitants had planted melons, water-melons, gourds, &c. in it; bananas were now beginning to be cultivated, and almost every house had its own little cotton and tobacco plantation. Every where _Argemone Mexicana_, the Cardo Santo of the Brazilians, grows in great plenty, the large yellow poppy-like flowers being very beautiful; a handful of the leaves of this plant, together with about a quarter of an ounce of the ripe seeds infused, is used as a draught in jaundice. It was a beautiful evening when I retired to my hammock, which was suspended between two trees, but I had not been long asleep when I was awoke by a strange rattling noise among the leaves, that I soon found to be caused by a heavy shower approaching from the south, which shortly fell upon our encampment in torrents; we were unprepared for such an occurrence, it being then the height of the dry season, and were quickly drenched; my hammock soon became too uncomfortable to lie in, so I got up, wrapt myself in my poncho, and sat down on one of the pack-saddles by the extinguished fire; unfortunately I had no umbrella to afford any shelter, having lost it two days before, at a place where I had dismounted to collect some beetles. The rain continued for about two hours, and not being able to go to bed again, every thing being soaked, I was obliged to remain seated in this position till daybreak, when, after arranging all our humid articles in the best manner, we proceeded on our journey. The morning though cloudy was dry, and there was a feeling of freshness in the atmosphere such as I had not felt since we left the coast; we travelled for nearly a league before we came to a house, so that instead of being only half a league distant from where we were refused accommodation on the previous day, I found it was nearly two; we went on two leagues further, without meeting another habitation, so we halted during the middle of the day beneath some large Jatobá (_Hymenæa_) trees. This part of the country is very thinly populated; the greater part of the soil being of a gravelly nature, is neither adapted for cultivation, even were water abundant, nor for feeding cattle. It is besides very hilly, some of the ranges being the highest we had yet passed over; from the top of one of the elevations I obtained a fine view of the undulating thinly-wooded country below; scattered here and there were to be seen large pink or yellow _Bignonias_, or the azure-blossomed _Jacaranda_, raising their magnificent diadems above the other denizens of the wood; and an occasional plant of _Cochlospermum serratifolium_, loaded with its large and beautiful yellow flowers, attracts the attention of the traveller. The rocks which I observed during this ride were of a grey coloured clay-slate.