I found the western side of the Serra to be bounded by a thick bed of very compact greyish-coloured limestone, which beyond the northern point of the Serra, for some leagues, forms large isolated hills, covered with wood. The central part of the chain is granite, between which and the limestone formation the rocks are schistose. My botanical harvest was a very rich one, so much so that I was induced, on two subsequent occasions, to ascend the mountain again. I collected, in particular, many curious and beautiful little ferns, all new species, and several beautiful _Vellozias_; these plants are peculiar to Brazil, and as I have so often spoken of them, I shall here describe their appearance: they belong to the _Endogenous_ or _Monocotyledonous_ division of the vegetable kingdom, and were named in honour of Dr. Joaquim Vellozo de Miranda, a Jesuit, who was a native of the province of Minas Geräes, and who devoted much of his leisure time to the study of the botany of his country. They are most commonly found on the mountains of the interior, but principally in the gold and diamond districts, growing in open grassy places, and often covering large tracts; they vary in height from a few inches to twelve feet; their stems are very dry and fibrous, and seem to be made up of a great mass of long slender roots loosely hung together; and not unfrequently they contain a resinous matter, which causes them to be sought after in the woodless regions of the diamond district for fuel. Sometimes these stems are not less than a foot in diameter; they are very much branched, and are entirely leafless, except the last divisions of the branches, which are clothed with long, narrow, aloe-like leaves, not, however, fleshy; from the centre of these spring the flowers, which are generally solitary, although some of the smaller species have as many as six arising from the end of each branch. In the large kinds, the flowers are about six inches long, either of a pure white, or more frequently of a beautiful purple colour; in shape, they are not unlike the large white lily of our gardens, and hence their name of tree-lilies. These plants are called by the Brazilians, Canela d’Emú (literally Emu shanks), from their bare stems resembling the legs of that bird. These beautiful plants were first introduced into the hot-houses of England, from seeds sent home by me; and as they are of very slow growth, and apparently difficult of cultivation, it may reasonably be expected they will be a long time before they can exhibit the beauty of their wild progenitors.