The desolate tract of country, upwards of forty leagues in breadth, which we were now about to cross, in order to reach the province of Goyaz, is called by the people of the country Os Geräes. It is seldom traversed except by drovers, who take cattle from the north of Goyaz to Bahia. There is, however, a path through it, and the mulatto I engaged at Parnaguá, having once traversed it, was to act as our guide. From him I learned that there was only one habitation to be met with, a small hut, occasionally occupied by an old man, half Indian, half Portuguese; but this was of no importance to me, as I had laid in a sufficient stock of provisions for our journey. The stories he told of the Indians, alarmed my party very much; and I was in consequence obliged to get all my arms put in order, so as to make as formidable an appearance as possible. I carried a small brace of pocket pistols besides those in my holsters, and had a large sword-knife in my belt. Mr. Walker, besides the usual dagger-knife of the Brazilians, carried a small sword; and the men were each armed with a gun; happily we had no occasion to make use of our weapons. The country people have all a great dread of this wild and uninhabited tract, and before entering it I was often asked if I was not afraid to do so with so few attendants. Their own fear is, I believe, greatly owing to their cowardice, a very common feeling in all parts of the country I have visited. My mind was too much occupied with the anticipations of the rich harvest of novelties I expected to meet with, to think much of these dangers; the whole country I had gone over since I had left the coast at Aracaty was virgin ground to the naturalist, with the exception of Oeiras, which was passed through by Spix and Martius on their journey from Bahia to Maranham.