In the afternoon we made another journey of two leagues, the road being through a hilly elevated country, in which we met with several gradual ascents, that always terminate in flat, sandy, thinly-wooded chapadas. After travelling about a league, we came very close to the Serra Geral, and continued our journey along its base, till we reached a convenient spot where we encamped under some trees by the side of an open swamp, in the centre of which grew a large grove of Buriti palms; we had been gradually ascending, for we were not more than two hundred feet below the summit of the Serra; our elevated situation, and a smart breeze which began to blow after sunset, caused us to pass a colder night than we had done for some time. Another journey of two long leagues brought us about mid-day to the little village of Capella da Posse, our route leading us through a beautiful upland country. It was for the most part of an undulating character, the road sometimes passing through large open campos, containing small clusters of Buriti and other palms, at others through densely wooded hollows, and not unfrequently along the bushy margins of open sandy marshes, abounding in curious _Eriocaulons_. Within a few miles of Posse, the mountain range takes a sweep to the S.E., and the road consequently diverges from the Serra, to gain the village, lying to the southward, which is surrounded by a flat, arid, and very sandy country, covered with a few scattered stunted trees and shrubs. The village we found to be of the most miserable description; it contains about a dozen small houses, and a very little church; the place is so poor that it cannot support a priest, for one who came to settle among the inhabitants about a year before our visit left, because they either could not or would not pay him more than half the salary he was promised. It was late on the following day before we left, as I remained to arrange the large collection made between San Domingo and this place. Hitherto we had avoided travelling along the upper part of the Serra, on account of the difficulty of finding water, but beyond Posse, the comparatively flat sandy country merges into the mountain range, and our course was therefore now in a S.E. direction. On the second night after our departure, we arrived at a little hamlet, about five leagues distant, called San Pedro; it consists of about half a dozen small houses, and a little chapel. We passed the night in an open shed, between two of the houses, and on rising in the morning Mr. Walker missed some of his clothes; it was very fortunate that nothing else had disappeared, for we were afterwards informed that the whole place was nothing better than a nest of robbers. The fazendeiro who gave us this information said, that whenever he had occasion to sleep there, and had money with him, he always hid it in the bush at some distance until the morning. During the whole of my travels, I always avoided sleeping in the open air if