On the day we left San João, we made a journey of three long leagues, and put up for the night at the Fazenda de San Bernardo. During the afternoon, one of the horses in passing between two trees broke his pack-saddle, and it was necessary to remain here half the following day, in order to get it properly repaired; in the interval I went out to botanize near a large marsh, through which a small river runs. This river, as well as several others about the same size, which we passed both before and after we left San João, loses itself beneath a low serra of limestone which runs parallel with the Serra Geral, and nearly two leagues to the west of it. These rivers take their rise in the Serra Geral, and are said to enter beneath the range before mentioned, where they all unite, and at the distance of three leagues still further to the westward, they again appear above ground in one stream, forming the Rio de San Bernardo, which afterwards falls into the Rio Parannan. A person belonging to the fazenda took me down to see the spot where the stream, that passes this place, disappears in the mountains, when contrary to what I expected, I found that it did not enter by an open cave, but by an aperture far below the surface of the water, forming what the Brazilians call a Soumidouro; the current here runs with considerable rapidity, strikes against the nearly perpendicular face of the limestone rock, and forming a few whirlpools is lost in the gulf below. By these streams the remains of many of the animals of the country must be entombed in the deep caverns through which they pass, and it is not impossible that such deposits may, at some distant epoch, form themes for the speculation of future geologists. As it was late in the afternoon before we left San Bernardo, we could not complete more than a league of our journey, through a country very similar to that on the other side of San Domingo. Next morning after accomplishing a very long league and a half, we rested to breakfast at a little habitation called Boa Vista, but inappropriately named, for not only is it situated in a hollow, but is surrounded by trees. The house had a miserable appearance, but the old woman to whom it belonged offered us much civility and attention, and gave us some sweet limes, which we relished exceedingly after our exposure to a burning sun. The country here is of an undulating character, and rather thickly wooded, though the soil is poor, being very sandy. During these journeys my collections were much increased by the addition of many fine shrubs and herbaceous plants, the dry sandy campos abounding with numerous species of Diplusodon, elegant little shrubs with rose-coloured flowers; while the moister portions afforded a rich harvest of curious varieties of Eriocaulon, having little resemblance to our humble British species, being tall and branched, and very remarkable from the large white balls of flowers which each branch bears at its extremity. 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 possible, whenever two or three houses were seen together, otherwise some little thing or other was always sure to disappear; indeed, in the dry season, and where the country suited, it was always preferable to encamp at some distance from any habitation, especially in the thinly inhabited districts. Next day we only travelled a league and a half, and passed the afternoon and night at the fazenda de San Antonio, the owner of which was a coloured man, and very hospitable. Leaving this place early in the morning, a journey of two very long leagues brought us to the next fazenda called Dôres, but we found that for some time it had been deserted by its inhabitants. The country through which we passed on our journey there, was nearly one continued elevated sandy plain, with occasional large open marshy campos, but these only existed where any slight declivity was seen. About half way we came to a long narrow valley, in the centre of which was observed a small and very deep river, with a rapid current, over which we passed by a wretched old bridge, formed of the trunks of two trees, traversed by smaller branches very loosely laid together, so that I was glad when I saw the last of the horses safely across, on account of the great risk of their feet slipping between the cross sticks. In the afternoon, we went a league further to a fazenda called Picada, which, like most of the houses we had lately seen, was very small; it belonged to a mulatto, with a large family, who seemed to be in no very affluent circumstances. Among the numerous plants collected on these journeys, was one, the root of which is celebrated by the inhabitants of these districts, as a cure for the bite of the rattle-snake. It is a suffruticose species of Trixis, about four feet high, with rather large clammy leaves; the root has a musky smell, and it is even said that the smell alone is sufficient to kill a snake; they call it raiz da cobra.
We started from Picada early, but did not proceed more than a league, being detained on the road by an accident that befell the Indian guide I had hired at Arrayas: he was walking behind another of the men, who was mounted on a spirited young horse, when on a sudden, probably from the sting of some insect, it started, casting up its heels in the air, and after striking the poor Indian a violent blow in the stomach, set off at full gallop, throwing its rider, but without doing him any harm. I sent forward the troop in charge of Mr. Walker, while I remained behind to attend to the Indian who seemed to be in much pain; he was greatly relieved by a little water for which we had to wait a long time before it could be procured, he was then placed on a quiet horse, and led slowly to the nearest house two miles distant, but by the time we reached it, he became so weak that his pulse was scarcely sensible. After giving him a cup of strong warm tea, the only stimulus that was to be procured, his pulse rose considerably, when I bled him in the arm, which relieved him greatly; and he gradually recovered, so that we were enabled to resume our journey in the afternoon of the following day.
We stopped at a place called Riachão, which consisted of three houses, about a quarter of a mile distant from each other. Here, for the third time only since I left Arrayas, I was able to purchase some Indian corn for my horses; they stood in much need of it, as the pastures were now very poor, consisting of coarse, dry, innutritious grasses. The inhabitants of this district are so desperately lazy that they scarcely plant sufficient of anything for their own use, notwithstanding the unlimited extent of ground that each family possesses. For several nights before we reached this place, the horses were greatly annoyed by bats, which are very numerous on this Serra, where they inhabit the caves in the limestone rocks; during the night we remained at Riachão, the whole of my troop suffered more from their attacks, than they had done before on any previous occasion. All exhibited one or more streams of clotted blood on their shoulders and backs, which had run from the wounds made by these animals, and from which they had sucked their fill of blood; when a small sore exists on the back of a horse, they always prefer making their incision in that place. The owner of the house where we stopped informed me, that he was not able to rear cattle here, on account of the destruction made by the bats among the calves, so that he was obliged to keep them at a considerable distance in a lower part of the country; even the pigs did not escape their attacks.
The singular creatures which are productive of so much annoyance, constitute the genus Phyllostoma, so named from the leaf-like appendage attached to their upper lip; they are peculiar to the continent of America, being distributed over the immense extent of territory between Paraguay and the Isthmus of Darien. Their tongue, which is capable of considerable extension, is furnished at its extremity with a number of papillæ, which appear to be so arranged as to form an organ of suction, and their lips have also tubercles symmetrically arranged; these are the organs by which they draw the life-blood both from man and beast. These animals are the famous vampires, of which various travellers have given such redoubtable accounts, and which are known to have nearly destroyed the first establishment of Europeans in the new world. The molar teeth of the true vampire or spectre bat, are of the most carnivorous character, the first being short and almost plain, the others sharp and cutting, and terminating in three and four points. Their rough tongue has been supposed to be the instrument employed for abrading the skin, so as to enable them more readily to abstract the blood, but zoologists are now agreed that such supposition is wholly groundless. Having carefully examined, in many cases, the wounds thus made on horses, mules, pigs, and other animals, observations that have been confirmed by information received from the inhabitants of the northern parts of Brazil, I am led to believe that the puncture which the vampire makes in the skin of animals, is effected by the sharp hooked nail of its thumb, and that from the wound thus made, it abstracts the blood by the suctorial powers of its lips and tongue. That these bats attack man as well as animals is certain, for I have frequently been shown the scars of their punctures in the toes of many who had suffered from their attacks, but I never met with a recent case. They grow to a large size, and I have killed some that measure two feet between the tips of the wings.
It was late in the afternoon when we left Riachão, and we halted about a league beyond it, under some trees, by the side of a small marsh, having been informed that the next watering place was more than a league further on. We were now travelling along the Chapada, or flat top of the Serra, and I observed that the little streams we had been crossing for some time all flowed to the eastward, to empty themselves into the Rio de San Francisco. We suffered from the cold during the night, and were besides much annoyed by a large species of mosquito, the bite of which was very painful, and on the following morning our hands and faces were greatly swollen in consequence. We did not get away from this place till about mid-day, owing to one of the horses having strayed to some distance, but this loss of time was compensated by successful botanizing made in the neighbourhood. We now passed through a rather dense wood in a hollow, the road being dreadfully bad in consequence of the great number of large rocks of limestone abounding there. The remainder of this morning’s journey, of a league and a half, was through a flat, open, and rather sandy country, when we halted for a short time by the side of another marsh, which afforded both water and good pasturage for the horses. In the afternoon we accomplished a further distance of two very long leagues, and spent the night at a small fazenda called San Vidal. Two leagues beyond this place, we reached the banks of a small river, too deep to allow of the horses passing with their loads. We were told at San Vidal that we should find a bridge, but we met with only the remains of one; after much trouble in searching along the swampy banks, we found at length a spot that answered as a ford, where all the loads were carried over on the men’s heads, a task which occupied about an hour and a half. We halted on the other side of the river, under the shade of a large Vochysia, which was then covered with its long spikes of yellow flowers. During the time we lost in crossing, and for more than an hour afterwards an immense flight of a large greyish-coloured locust, passed from south to north. They did not keep continuously on the wing, but alighted and rose again at short intervals, and thousands of them which fell into the stream were carried down by the current. They did not fly above twelve feet from the ground, and their constant rise and descent gave the air very much the appearance of falling flakes of snow. The country through which we passed after leaving San Vidal, is nearly one continued flat, sandy, bushy plain, thinly wooded in some places with small trees, among which occasionally appeared a fine palm, with a stem about twelve feet high; large tracts had lately been burned according to the general custom at this season. In many places these sandy plains were beautifully adorned with a dwarf species of Diplusodon, covered with rose-coloured flowers, and small leaves, greatly reminding me of the heather of my native country. A Vellozia, with a stem about four feet high, was also very common, as well as several elegant stemless palms. In the evening we went on about a league and a half, and passed the night under some trees by the side of a small river, very similar to that we crossed in the morning. During the whole of this day’s journey, we were greatly annoyed by the numerous stragglers of the flight of locusts that were following their companions, and which sometimes nearly blinded us by striking against our faces. My little monkey amused herself by catching them as they passed, and they appeared a favourite food with her; to prevent their escaping, for she had frequently three at a time in her possession, she secured them by biting off their heads as soon as they were caught.
The river on the north side of which we slept, was very deep, and I was greatly annoyed to find that a small bridge, that had been thrown across it, had been nearly carried away by the floods, so that we were again put to the trouble of having all the luggage carried over; this occupied about an hour, when we lost no time in resuming our journey, in the hope of reaching some habitation where I could ascertain whether we were on the right path towards a little hamlet through which I wished to pass, called Nossa Senhora d’Abadia. After leaving the river, we ascended a low hill, on the top of which is a somewhat thickly wooded Chapada, and we spent nearly half an hour in crossing it. Having accomplished this, we saw at some distance in a hollow, a few small houses with a church, which proved to be the little hamlet we were in quest of. It consisted of half a dozen miserable small huts formed of wicker-work and clay, and thatched with palm leaves, the church being also constructed of the same materials; the houses were all in a state of decay, and uninhabited, with the exception of one, in which we found a mulatto woman and a few children. I had hoped to procure here some corn for my horses, but none was to be had. I asked the woman if she could direct us to the Arraial of Formozo, but all the information she could give was that it was three leagues distant; not only had she never been there, but had never gone half a league beyond the spot where she lived: she told us, however, that if we went to the house of the Juiz de Paz of the district, who lived about half a league from Abadia, he would give us all the information we wanted. We proceeded there accordingly, and found his house to be scarcely better than those we had just left, and the Juiz himself, a little meagre old man, with a grey beard that appeared never to have felt a razor. When I asked, according to the custom of the country, if he would allow us to pass the middle of the day with him, he said he was sorry he could not give us accommodation, as two travelling merchants from the Rio de San Francisco, occupied the only spare room in his house. As the day was fine, we took up our quarters beneath the shade of a large tree, called Pao Parahiba (Simaba versicolor, St. Hil.), which grew before his house. Still wishing to give the horses a feed of Indian corn, I solicited the old man as a favour to sell me a small quantity, but he assured me he had not a single grain in his possession; this however I scarcely believed, as I saw heaps of husks lying about, and not long after, one of my men was informed by a slave belonging to the place, that his master had plenty. In the course of the day, having learned my profession, he came to consult me respecting a complaint of the chest, under which he had been labouring for about eight days; but I very coolly told him, that being aware he had plenty of corn, I would not attend to his complaint until he had sold me as much as would provide a good feed for all my horses. He now confessed he had a little, and would try to spare as much as I wanted; in half an hour he sent out about a bushel, for which I immediately paid him the usual price, about two shillings. I found him labouring under a slight attack of inflammation of the lungs, for which I bled him, and left him some medicine to take. I could not however ascertain his reason for refusing me the corn in the first instance, but my medical knowledge ultimately acted like a charm in procuring it.
When we left the house of the Juiz de Paz in the afternoon, he directed us to Formozo, but as will be seen, not sufficiently clearly. We started early with the intention of making a long stage, and after travelling two very long leagues, we arrived at a small house in a hollow, where two men, a negro and a mulatto, were making Farinha de Mandiocca. From them we learned we were on the wrong road for Formozo; and when I asked leave to pass the night here, they assured me we should find much better accommodation a little way further on. As the hut was small, I accordingly pushed on towards the place indicated, hoping to obtain good shelter, as it had been thundering all the afternoon, and seemed likely soon to rain; but when we had travelled half an hour without meeting with any signs of a house, we reached a small muddy stream, just as it was getting dusk, in crossing which one of the horses fell with its load of specimens of dried plants in large skin boxes, by which the plants became soaked; this was all the more vexatious, as some of these parcels were the same that had formerly suffered on the journey from Duro to Natividade. After passing this stream, we went on pretty quickly for about another half hour, when we arrived at a small uninhabited house in a very ruined condition, but as the roof was in great measure entire, we determined to remain here for the night. We were much incensed against the men who gave us such wilfully false information, for just as the luggage was taken off the horses, it began to rain heavily, accompanied by a strong wind; and notwithstanding that we covered the open patches in the roof and walls as well as we could with skins, it was two hours before we could manage to keep a candle lighted. Towards midnight the storm ceased, when we kindled a large fire in front of the house, which helped to warm and dry us.
On the following day we examined the collections that had been wetted, and as the sun shone brightly, we dried them by spreading them out on the sheets of paper in which they were packed; this task having occupied nearly the whole day, we passed the following night under the same shelter. In the afternoon I took a walk a little way along the banks of a small stream which flows into a large marsh, lined on each side with Buriti palms, and other trees and shrubs, where I collected a number of fine plants. Next morning before starting, Mr. Walker, in searching for a ring to fasten into the end of one of our trunks, had a very narrow escape from being bitten by a rattle-snake: the ring had been laid down in a corner of the room, and putting his hand to search for it in the dark, he felt something soft which he was just about to lift, when to his horror he discovered it to be a rattle-snake. No time was lost in killing this frightful reptile, which was found to measure nearly five feet in length; I had slept all night within two feet of it. We left this place on the morning of the first of June, and after travelling about a league, came in sight of some houses which were supposed to be Formozo, but were informed the place was called Campinhas, and that we had left the former place behind us a little to the westward. Half a league further on, we halted during the middle of the day, in the house of an Indian, at a place called Pasquada; when we arrived, the man was absent working in his plantation, but his wife received us with great hospitality, immediately sending one of her boys with a large basket of oranges and another of sweet potatoes, and a few eggs, treating us in a very different manner from that to which we had been for some time accustomed. From this place we went on about two leagues, and encamped for the night under a large tree, called by the inhabitants Folha larga (Salvertia convallariodora, St. Hil.). The nature of the country still continued to be very much the same as that we had traversed since we had reached the table-land of the Serra. On the dry grassy flats, I met with a few specimens of the beautiful Amaranthaceous plant which Martius has described under the name of Gomphrena officinalis, and which is well known to the people of the country by its vernacular name of Para-todo. It has a large tuberous root, which is very much used as a purgative, and as its name implies, is considered good for every complaint. The stem is about a foot high, hairy and leafy, and bears at its extremity a large compact head of crimson flowers. We passed a miserably cold night being obliged several times to get out of our hammocks, in order to warm ourselves at the fire. Had we proceeded half a mile further, we should have reached a good sized fazenda, but I was not aware we were so near it, until we heard a cock crow in the morning. We halted during the middle of the following day, at a fazenda called San Francisco, about two leagues distant from where we slept. From the time we left Arrayas, the horses had gradually fallen off in strength, owing to the want of proper provender, as they had depended almost entirely on the coarse rank innutritious grasses of the mountain pastures. They had also been accustomed to a warmer climate than that we now experienced on the table-land of the Serra, where we were exposed to a chilly S.E. wind, which at night was particularly piercing. The heat during the day, especially when unclouded, was very great, and this rendered us much more susceptible to the cold at night. At Riachão I was obliged to exchange two of my horses that could proceed no farther, and finding here that my own horse, which I had constantly ridden since I left Icó, in the province of Ceará, was with difficulty kept from lagging behind the others, it became necessary, much against my inclination, to part with him and procure another. On leaving him behind me I felt as if parting from an old friend, as we had become so much accustomed to each other; my chestnut horse was now replaced by another of a pure white, with a flowing mane and tail; but it did not remain long in my possession, for it was stolen from me soon after we crossed the Rio de San Francisco. We left San Francisco in the afternoon, and passed on our way to the first house from the fazenda, which is said to be three leagues distant; but as the leagues in this district were even much longer than those of the more populated parts of Goyaz, the distance in reality was far greater. Towards dusk we encamped under some small Tingi trees (Magonia glabrata, St. Hil.), from the stems of which we suspended our hammocks. Some of the large undulating grassy campos through which we passed, between the fazenda and the place of our encampment, had been burned a few weeks before. These were now covered with numerous herbaceous plants in full flower; and I observed that in those parts that remained untouched by the fire, the same plants were in a more backward state, none being yet in blossom; but over the burned tracts, the new grass was springing up vigorously, promising soon to yield an excellent pasture for the cattle.
On the following morning, after having proceeded about half a league, we reached the Rio Carynhenha, which forms the boundary line between the province of Pernambuco, through the south-west corner of which we had for a few days been passing, and that of Minas Geräes, so that on crossing it we at length entered the latter province. After travelling a further distance of two leagues, we halted to breakfast under a wide-spreading Piki tree, on the margin of a Buriti swamp. The first part of our day’s journey was through an open campo country, the greater part of which had been lately burned; but the latter half was through a hilly and thinly-wooded tract. The day being cloudy, and the wind blowing freshly from the S.E., made us all complain much of the cold. In the afternoon it was my intention to reach the next house, said to be three leagues from that we had passed in the morning, but after travelling till dark without seeing it, we encamped for the night near some bushes on the banks of a small river; and as there were no trees here from which to suspend our hammocks, we contented ourselves with sleeping on hides spread on the ground.