the people who had drifted into the interior were the worst Portuguese,
the worst blacks, and the Indians who intermarried with these gentry the
worst Indians, you can well imagine what fine results could be expected
from such a breed.

One trait predominant among these people was the unreasonable jealousy of
the men over their women. Had they been so many Venuses of Milo the men
could not have guarded them with more ferocity. I am sure it would take a
brave man indeed, and, above all, a totally blind man, to fall in love
with the farmers' wives, daughters, or servants of the Province of Goyaz.

I must say this in favour of my Brazilian men, that, whatever other
faults they may have had, they always, behaved in a most chivalrous,
dignified way with the women-folk we met. Never once did I have to
reprimand them.

In the morning, as the cows were driven into the yard to be milked, and
the calves were being suckled by their mothers, and the children, rubbing
their sleepy eyes with the backs of their hands, scrambled out of the
house upon their drowsy legs, the girls of the family brought the last
cups of coffee to us departing strangers. We packed our animals, paid the
bill, and were off again.

On April 7th we crossed the Piracanjuga River, another tributary of the
Corumba, 50 yards wide, flowing from north-east to south-west, at an
elevation of 2,300 ft. One league (6 kil. 600 m.) farther on we crossed
another stream flowing east, in its turn a tributary of the Piracanjuga.

One of the most beautiful trees in that region was the _caneleira_, of
the family of the _Laurineas_. Beautiful, too, were the _oleo pardo_ and
_vermelho_ (_Myrocarpus frondosus_ and _Myrospermum erythrozylon_).

We were next treated to a view of an extensive, deliciously green valley,
most excellent for grazing purposes, extending from north to south to the
west of our route. In the central depression of this valley were _burity_
palms in abundance. They say that wherever you find a burity you are sure
to find water. It is perfectly true, as the burity only flourishes where
there is a good deal of moisture in the soil.

Having crossed a low pass, we found ourselves in another valley--this one
sparsely wooded (2,500 ft. above the sea level), very beautiful, with
undulations some 200 ft. high, and with streamlets at the bottom of most
of the undulations. The summit of the highest elevation on that
undulating land was 2,750 ft., the level of th