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friable and porous. The guide told us that these stones in Goias, where they are called "potatoes", are considered to be characteristic indications of gold, and that here too this metal has already been washed, albeit to a lesser extent. Then, further on, we found the existence of large deposits of shale, calcic, light-lilac clay, which usually appear in the formation of stone.

Mica shale

Behind the Dois Irmaos, we saw another mountain, belonging to the same mountain, extended towards E. to W., which we rounded to descend among the catingas bush, to the Serrinha Farm. Our group was camped there under a large and leafy juazeiro, because they couldn't host us in the house. With a cheerful disposition of spirit, we had barely gotten to sleep, when we were awakened by the roar of distant thunder. To our astonishment, instead of the clear, dazzling sky of stars, which illuminated us as we lay down, the darkest darkness now surrounded us. Continuing lightning tore through the clouds in a furious rush, illuminating everything from time to time, and suddenly the most terrible gale fell, bending the thicket of the groves. As if in an instant the typhoon broke out around us, seeking to pluck bushes and uproot the trees. The earth seemed to tremble under our feet; with a crash the trunks were cracked or uprooted; the roar of the wind in the foliage, the plaintive shouting of the monkeys, and the flurry of crowds of birds, the thunder of torrential rain, terrified us. A violent gust blew the roof of the house nearby and hurled it over a low shed that served as a kitchen while the fire was still burning; in an instant great flames rose and illuminated the astonishing scenery. We soon thought of defending our boxes; but in the confusion of such sudden tumult of the elements nothing could be done; however, luck this time favored us in the best way, for the hospitable

Ziziphus juazeiro, the Juazeiro tree

juazeiro, under which we had placed our boxes, had stood firmly and, with its closed fronds, had sheltered us so well that the next morning we could go on, so to speak, safe and sound. However, the heavy cold caused by the rain, had a very harmful effect on our employees, and the fever attacked several of them.

Topa mountain ?

To the north of Serrinha rises, in the main direction from east to west, the mountain called Topa, of earthen planes, and consisting of a white or pale red limestone. We left these beautiful slopes on our right, and entered a vast plateau, whose vegetation of grassland catinga gradually became open fields of extreme charm. Fine grasses and flowers of the vegetation of the mimosos fields stood out

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