On the day succeeding that on which we arrived at the foot of the Chapada, we started to cross it about one o’clock in the afternoon. The horses were previously allowed to drink freely, and I took care that the leathern bag was not neglected this time. After travelling about half a league, we entered by a gradual ascent upon the Chapada, and at the same time were overtaken by a thunder storm, which, however, passed over without wetting us much. After a journey of five leagues, we arrived at a place where there are a few small trees, and under them we halted for the night. Tor the first league and a half, the Chapada was thinly-wooded with small trees, which became gradually smaller and thinner, till at last not one was to be seen; only a few stunted shrubs, from a foot to a foot and a half high, exist on this barren spot; and the only living thing we saw, was a kind of locust, about two inches long, which rose in clouds before the horses. Many skeletons of horses and oxen lay on both sides of the path no doubt the remains of animals which on crossing this desert tract, had become exhausted, and died from want of water. After the thunder storm passed over, the sky became clear and unclouded and the sunset was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen, its splendour, and the ocean-like plain over which we were travelling, reminded me of those I have so often seen at sea, between the tropics. The atmosphere, too, was delightfully cool, and heavily laden with the rich perfume of one of the small shrubs then in flower, which grew in the greatest profusion; this shrub, which I afterwards found to be the _Spiranthera odoratissima_ of St. Hilaire, grows in small clusters, and bears large corymbs of pure white flowers larger than those of the honeysuckle, but not unlike them in shape, although their odour more resembles that of the Jasmine. Shortly after we reached our resting-place, the sky again became clouded towards the west, and there was much lightning, which made us fear another storm. As usual, we slung our hammocks between the trees, and, contrary to our expectations, passed the night without rain.