When we arrived, there were three priests in the Villa, one of whom died during our stay. These, like most others I met with, instead of being examples of morality to the people, were immoral to an extent almost past belief. The one who died was an old man upwards of seventy-four years of age: he was a native of Santos in the province of San Paulo, and a cousin of the celebrated José Bonifacio de Andrade. Although a man of a very humane and benevolent disposition, and well educated, he left behind him a family of half a dozen children by his own slaves, most of whom, with their mothers, were left in bondage, and were afterwards sold with his other effects for the payment of his debts. The Vigario General was a half-caste, upwards of forty years of age, who had only been ordained a few years before; up to that time he was, and still continues to be, the largest cattle farmer in the district. Having acquired as much Latin from the old priest, as would enable him to mumble over the service of the church, but without the least knowledge of theology, he went to the city of Goyaz, to purchase his ordination from the bishop; a short time afterwards he obtained, by another purchase, the vicar generalship of the district. About a month after my arrival in the Villa, I was sent for to attend a young slave belonging to him, a fine girl about sixteen years of age, who died of puerperal fever, a few days after giving birth to a child, of which he was the father. By the inhabitants, this man was as much detested, as the old priest had been loved and esteemed.
Both the soil and the climate of this neighbourhood are far superior to those of Piauhy and Ceará; the rains generally set in about the beginning of October, and continue more or less till April. During the whole of the month of December, and part of January, it rained almost incessantly every day, rendering it quite impossible to stir out; but in the latter part of January and the beginning of February the weather was very fine, with the exception of the afternoons, when there was usually a heavy thunder-storm. The thunder-storms and the rain generally came from the north, north-east, and east, originating probably on the Serras which exist at a considerable distance in those directions. Indian corn and mandiocca are the principal articles cultivated here; but many of the fazendeiros also find it profitable to plant cane, not so much for the manufacture of sugar as of rum, which meets a ready sale. The only fruit trees that are cultivated are orange and lime, and in a few instances the jaca and tamarind.
The principal diseases of this district are intermittent and malignant fevers, especially at the beginning and towards the end of the rainy season. Ophthalmia and its consequences, as well as syphilis and its effects, are also very common, and yearly produce many miserable objects. Nearly the whole of the inhabitants are affected with goître, and children are frequently born with it, even strangers who come to reside in the Villa and neighbourhood, are sure to become affected with it in the course of a few years. Some ascribe it to the use of the sea salt brought from Pará, the people having previously been accustomed to the use of that they obtain from the soil in the neighbourhood, which is impregnated with salt; others say that it is caused by the waters from the Serra, which in the dry season particularly are a little saline. Whatever the cause may be, all seemed to agree both here, and at Almas, that it is only within the last twenty years that it has become so prevalent among them: I found it quite as frequent at Conceição and Arrayas, two towns further to the south, at which places the waters are also saline, especially those flowing from the limestone mountains. All the places where I have seen it prevail, lie along the eastern base of the Serra Geral, a broad mountain chain, which divides the province of Goyaz from those of Pernambuco and Minas Geräes; burnt sponge is the only remedy they employ against it. They have, however, recourse to another method, in which they put great faith; this is a small piece of cord taken to a church, and cut exactly the length of the image of the crucifixion which they wear round their necks. I made enquiries of several who wore this kind of charm, whether they imagined it produced any effect on the swelling, but, as was to be expected, they all confessed that it not only failed in curing it, but in no way prevented it from increasing in size.
I had now reached the most northerly point of the Brazilian empire, that had previously been visited by any naturalist, for neither Pohl nor Burchell had extended their excursions beyond Natividade. It is true that Spix and Martius also travelled in the north of Brazil, but their route was in a very different direction. As I was here informed that these travellers had not ascended the neighbouring lofty Serra, I was resolved to do so, for the double purpose of making botanical collections, and of examining its geological structure. On this journey I was accompanied by Mr. Walker, a black shoe-maker, who acted as a guide, and one of my own men. Following the banks of a small stream which comes from the Serra, and which passing near the north end of the Villa, yields it a constant supply of clear and cool water, we reached the foot of the Serra, and shortly afterwards, by a gradual ascent, arrived on the top of a low branch, where we found a broad shallow valley, the soil of which had been completely turned over in search of gold; and near the centre of it, we came upon the ruins of what we were told had been the original site of the Villa. It was founded by those who first ventured into this distant region in search of gold, and was abandoned about sixty or seventy years ago, when this metal became scarce, and when cattle farms were found to be more productive than mines. Near the top of this valley there is a small artificial lake, which must have been formed at a great expense, and from it the water was led in small streams to the places where the washings were going on. The soil in which the gold was found, is a ferruginous gravel, formed from the disintegration of the primitive rocks of which the Serra is composed.
Leaving the valley of the gold mines, which is above a mile in length, and beginning to ascend the higher part of the Serra, which is very thinly wooded with small trees, and covered with abundance of tree-lilies (Vellozia), as well as several kinds of coarse grass, we arrived at a place near the summit, which was rocky, steep, and of difficult ascent. It was some time before we could find a proper path, and in doing so, Mr. Walker, who was the first to climb up, met with an accident which nearly proved fatal to him; when near the top, part of a rock by which he laid hold gave way, and he was precipitated from a height of about sixteen or eighteen feet with great violence, and rolled over some large stones to within a few feet of a deep precipice; it was a most fortunate circumstance for him that he did not go over it, or he would have been dashed to pieces. Although considerably bruised, he was again the first to lead the way, reaching the top with safety, where with more or less difficulty we followed him. On attaining this point, we thought we had gained the highest part of the Serra, but about half a mile to the north we saw another point considerably higher to which we now directed our steps. During the ascent the sun was very powerful, but at this elevation, we found a deliciously cool breeze blowing from the east, which was very refreshing. We all suffered from thirst, and fortunately found, at the base of the highest peak, a little pool of clear cool water, by the side of which we took some refreshment that we had brought with us. From the summit we had a beautiful prospect in all directions; to the eastward and north, the view was bounded by several chains of low Serras, but to the westward and south, the country appeared one vast plain, which was lost in the horizon. The top was covered with large blocks of granite, among which grew a few stunted trees and shrubs.
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.
Besides many shorter excursions which I made in the neighbourhood of Natividade, I went several times to the Arraial da Chapada, a village about two leagues to the N.W.; it is about half the size of Natividade, and is situated on one of those low, flat table-lands called Chapadas, and hence its name. The country round it, as about Natividade, has all been turned over in search of gold; but those who formerly employed their slaves on this labour, now find it more to their profit to employ them on plantations. There are still a few old free blacks who get a scanty livelihood by washing the soil. On my visits to this place I was always very hospitably entertained by Captain Baptista, an old Portuguese, who has been settled there for many years, and who is father-in-law to the proprietor of Sociedade. He spoke much of Pohl and Burchell, both of whom remained some time in the Arraial, and with whom he seemed to have been intimate. My visits to this place afforded large additions to my collections, the limestone hills near Sociedade in particular being very rich in plants. During my stay in the Villa de Natividade, I received much kindness from Senhor Zacaria Antonio do Santo, the Juiz dos Orfãos. I had many visits also from a person who lived at a little distance from the Villa, and who at one time had been Juiz de Paz: he was a very good-natured and simple-minded man, as the following anecdote will show. The first time he called on me, he said he wished to speak with me in private: he began by telling me that he had heard the English had the power of divining where hidden gold was to be discovered, and that as much gold was to be found in the Serra, if I would point out where a rich mine existed, he would undertake to work it, and share the profits with me. In almost the same breath he informed me, that a few years ago a Portuguese died in the neighbourhood, who was always considered to be very rich, but that on his decease no money was to be found; now, he said, he fully believed that it was all buried, somewhere near his house, which was now in ruins, and that if I would accompany him there, and discover it, we could without any one knowing it, share it between us. The poor old fellow seemed sadly disappointed when I told him that I had never made such a branch of knowledge my study.
One dark night, about the beginning of December, while passing along the streets of the Villa de Natividade, I observed some boys amusing themselves with some’ luminous object, which I at first supposed to be a kind of large fire-fly; but on making enquiry I found it to be a beautiful phosphorescent fungus, belonging to the genus Agaricus, and was told that it grew abundantly in the neighbourhood, on the decaying leaves of a dwarf palm. Next day I obtained a great many specimens, and found them to vary from one to two inches and a half across. The whole plant gives out at night a bright phosphorescent light, of a pale greenish hue, similar to that emitted by the larger fire-flies, or by those curious soft-bodied marine animals, the Pyrosomæ; from which circumstance, and from growing on a palm, it is called by the inhabitants “Flor do Coco;” the light given out by a few of these fungi, in a dark room, was sufficient to read by. It proved to be quite a new species, and since my return from Brazil, has been described by the Rev. Mr. Berkeley under the name of Agaricus Gardneri, from preserved specimens which I brought home. I had already named it A. phosphorescens, not being aware at the time I discovered it, that any other species of the same genus exhibited a similar phenomenon; such, however, is the case in the Agaricus olearius of De Candolle; and Mr. Drummond, of the Swan River Colony in Australia, has given an account of a very large phosphorescent species occasionally found there.[11]
On the 10th of February, 1840, we left Natividade, with the intention of proceeding to the Villa de Arrayas, a small town about thirty leagues to the S.E. We had made all our preparations to leave on the second, but had the mortification to find one of our horses missing, which detained us eight days. It proved, in the end, that some one had taken the loan of it, for four days after our departure, it was found near the place whence it had been taken, and was sent after me by my friend the Juiz dos Orfãos. Leaving Natividade, and skirting the base of the Serra in a southerly direction, we arrived at the banks of a small river called the Riacho Salobro, which flows towards the west, and falls into the Manoel Alvez: its waters are very brackish during the dry season. The loads had all to be passed over a rude kind of bridge (pingella) formed of the trunks of two trees, and as both the river and its banks were deep, we had no little difficulty in getting the horses across, which was done by swimming them. We remained for the night at the fazenda Das tres legoas, nearly three leagues from the Villa, as its name implies. On the following morning, after a journey of one long league and a half, we again reached the banks of the Rio de Manoel Alvez, at a place where it was both much broader and deeper than where we previously crossed it; here, however, we were fortunate enough to find a canoe. My first care was to have the horses passed to the other side, which was done by two men entering the canoe, and each taking hold of a halter they were swum over, two at a time. Before all our luggage was conveyed to the opposite bank, a heavy thunder-storm passed over us from the N.E., which drenched us completely; in consequence of this I thought it best to proceed at once to the first house, which was only a league and a half distant, where we remained for the night. The country between the Villa and the river is nearly a flat plain, consisting of large open campos, marshes, and tracts, but thinly wooded with small trees. Several beautiful flowering shrubs, and a few terrestrial Orchideæ were collected on this journey.
From this place, a journey of about ten leagues brought us to the Arraial de Conceição, a distance that occupied us two days and a half. On the night of the 12th, we slept at a large cattle fazenda, called San Bento, and a very stormy afternoon prevented us from leaving it. Till within about a league of the Arraial, the country continues flat and open, but afterwards it became hilly, the hills being low and often rocky. So thinly is the country populated in these districts, that between San Bento and the Arraial, a distance of at least twenty miles, we passed only one house. The greater part of this district is only adapted for the rearing of cattle, but there is much also admirably suited for plantations of different kinds.