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page 281 ---Sugar manufacture at Tagoahy---church---wildlife---
We passed the night of the 12th of
December at Tagoahy,
a large sugar manufactory, the environs of which are adorned with an incredible variety of vegetation. A small church upon the eminence, commands  the
valley. Not far from it there is a large lake, which is frequented by
waterfowl of manifold species. We here observed, for the first time, a
kind of woodpecker (Picus garrulus,
nob.),which is found
only in districts resembling the campos [fields], and precedes
the traveller with a loud screaming cry. On the following morning, when
we had our mules loaded, we had another unhappy proof of the difficulty
of conveyance in this country. A mule which had to carry the tin cylinder,
containing the barometer tubes, suddenly became shy, run into the neighbouring
wood, and could not be retaken till it had thrown off its load and broken
all the instruments. This loss was the more distressing to us, as it could
not be repaired during the whole journey till we reached Sao
Paulo, whither we had luckily sent some barometer tubes by water.
page 282 ---clay pits---
The natural sciences have hitherto met with little encouragement, even
in the principal cities of Brazil,
the barometers and other instruments which are here and there met with
are, accordingly, considered as invaluable by the few persons who amuse
themselves with meteorological observations.
At the foot of the mountain which we had now to ascend, was the house
of a Dutch planter. While a person went into the wood to look for him,  and our caravan went forward, we collected an abundance
of plants, and of the most beautiful insects, particularly the cetonia.
This planter, whose name was Dufles, cultivates the sugar-cane and coffee with great success, in which he is much favoured by the moisture of the
valley, and the sunny situation of the mountain. Fortunately, we did not
stay here very long, and soon overtook our mules, which we found in great
confusion on the clayey soil, which was full of deep holes. Most of them
had thrown off their burdens, or stuck fast in the pits. We were therefore
obliged to make fascines to fill
up the holes, and to give the animals a firm footing.
View from Serra Tagoahy
After excessive
exertions, we at length reached the summit of the mountain, where a fine
view over the plains of Santa
Cruz made us forget our labours. With various feelings, we here
took our last farewell of the sea-coast, and bent our way into the interior.
The mountain consists of granite of a pretty fine grain, and reddish color
which sometimes passes into gneiss, and is covered
with a thick forest.
 
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