le I was there the Fahrenheit
thermometer registered 76 deg. at an elevation of 3,450 feet. With a fairly
good soil, the municipality could produce cereals in plenty under proper
cultivation. Land was cheap enough in that region--150 milreis per
alqueire for good land for cultivation, and 25 to 30 milreis per alqueire
for campos.

We proceeded on our journey north the next morning, passing through
Indaya, 3,450 ft. above the sea level--a settlement boasting of two
houses upon the highest point of the railway line in the State of Sao
Paulo. We were nearing the Rio Grande, or Great River, which, flowing in
a westerly direction, formed in that region the northern boundary of the
State of Sao Paulo with the State of Minas Geraes. As we got near the
river a greater lack of cultivation was noticeable, with more extensive
zones of wooded country, especially in the depressions of the land. The
undulations of the landscape were more accentuated as we approached the
Minas Geraes province. Clouds hung low in the valleys, and we
occasionally went through banks of mist not unlike those of Scotland. At
Chapadao the ground was more "_accidente_"--to use an appropriate French
expression--with deep depressions and indentations in the surface soil
caused by erosion.

The high land on which we had been travelling between Franca and Igacaba,
the station after Chapadao, gave birth on the west to several important
tributaries of the Rio Grande, enumerated below, from south to north; the
Rio Salgado, the Rio do Carmo, Riberao Ponte Nova, Rib. Bandeira, Rio da
Soledade, Rib. S. Pedro; on the east was the Rib. S. Jesus, also a
tributary of the Rio Grande.

As the train sped down the incline towards the Rio Grande we were now
treated to magnificent scenery on our right. An isolated hill stood at
the bottom of the valley with higher mountains on either side of it, and,
beyond, a high flat-topped plateau. The railway line skirted snake-like
along the hill-side. The hill-tops were getting more rounded and fairly
thickly wooded. As we got to a lower elevation the isolated hill assumed
the appearance of an elephant's back. A grassy valley several miles wide
opened up before us.

At Rifaina Station we had reached the level of the banks of the Rio
Grande, that is to say, 1,950 ft. above the sea level. The valley of the
river was formed, in this case also, by erosion which had left isolated
hills in terraces, one with as many as six distinct terrace