yba River, within a short distance
of which the line had already been laid when I was there. Some delay had
been experienced in making a deep cut on the south side of Paranahyba
Hills, where the strata had been found much harder than expected.

I camped for a day and a half at Morro da Meza, a lovely spot at an
elevation of 2,850 ft., from whence an immense panorama could be enjoyed.
What a relief this heavenly place was after Araguary, and how
everlastingly grateful I shall be to my friend Mr. Schnoor for having
deposited me there!

I took the opportunity of the solitude to rearrange my baggage. On April
1st my good friend Schnoor reappeared to see that all arrangements were
satisfactory for my departure.

Morro da Meza will ever remain present in my mind, for it was my
jumping-off place into the wilds. It was from there that the actual
marching on horseback and on foot began, and it was there I last saw a
railway train for the best part of a year.

On April 1st, at 4 p.m., I left Morro da Meza, went through the new
railway cut in preparation, crossed the Paranahyba River (at an elevation
of 1,970 ft. above the sea level), and made my camp on the opposite side
of the stream at Anhanguera (elev. 2,100 ft. above sea level) in the
railway engineers' camp, 800 yards away from the water. The engineers, an
Italian, Mr. Schnoor's father-in-law, and a Russian--a Mr.
Martens--showed me every possible civility. A curious incident occurred
while we were having dinner. The day was a holiday, and the workmen on
the line were resting. We were sipping our coffee, when a man entered our
hut and said a companion of his had been shot. We rushed to see him, and
we found that the poor wretch had had his skin perforated in eight
different places by the same bullet. What was more remarkable was that
each perforation was close to dangerous places in the man's anatomy, and
yet not a single wound was mortal. This is how it happened. The man was
lying down in his suspended hammock, resting his left hand on his left
knee. A friend came along to show him a new automatic pistol he had
purchased. In the usual silly fashion he had pointed it at his friend.
The pistol went off, and the bullet passed just under the skin at the
knee, at the side of the knee-cap, and having come out again, went right
through the soft part of the hand between the thumb and index finger. It
then perforated the arm at the biceps, and further entering the chest,
shaved