tory, become seriously oppressive to the chest and affect the lungs. On my first horseback ride into the mountains around Rio Janeiro, the air towards the middle of the day's ride seemed heavier than it had been upon the margin of the bay, though the contrary should have been the case, since I was up in the midst of the mountains. At the same time the sky seemed less limpid, and a reddish horizon had taken the place of the azure. At first I attributed this effect to fatigue of the organs. But a certain oppression that made the breath laborious soon made me aware that there was something abnormal in the atmosphere. At length, at a turn in the road, finding myself opposite the sun, I looked steadily at it; it was no longer the dazzling orb of the tropics, floating in vapors of purple and gold, but a sombre red disk lost in a wintry mist. My astonishment redoubled. Profiting by a halt, which the guide made to adjust the baggage, I pointed out to him the object of my thoughts. 'He queimada,' (it is a fire,) he instantly replied with the brevity characteristic of the Portuguese. I was still puzzled to know how a fire that I was unable to see could at this point obscure the sun and render the atmosphere so oppressive. A few moments later, on reaching the summit of a hill where the plants, not being much grown, permitted us to see to a distance, the enigma was solved. It was not simply a fire, but hundreds of fires, visible in every part of the horizon. The Southern spring-time was drawing near, and the fazendeiros were hastening to burn over the forests and wild lands that were to be put under culture. The slightest shower sufficed to dissolve or carry off the gas with which these fires had filled the air; but I have sometimes known whole weeks to pass by without rain, during the height of the burnings, and though the heat was not at the time excessive, I must say that it was during such periods that I suffered most in Brazil. The burnings generally last six weeks or two months. Beginning in July or August, according to the latitude, these burnings end in the course of September or October, in order to have time to plant and sow before the rainy season.
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS—COFFEE
The traveller, from observing the cultivated fields through which he passes, can form an opinion of the varied culture of the soil before reaching the fazenda. The coffee-plants, sugar-cane, and cotton-fields successively attract his attention.
The most important culture of Brazil is undoubtedly that of the coffee-plant. This shrub never grows very tall. The leaves resemble those of the laurel, though smaller and more separated. The plants are arranged in rows along the hills, the same as vineyards on the hillsides of France, only not so near together. The coffee-plant does not become productive until some four or five years old. At the end of about twenty years, the sap becomes exhausted; but if the branches are trimmed, renewed vigor is imparted to the trunk, and an other ten years of harvest may be obtained. The flowers of the coffee-plant are white, with five petals, and disposed in clusters. The fruit, when it begins to ripen, resembles a small red cherry. The taste of the envelope is not unpleasant. When it begins to grow dark, the grains are ripe and the harvest is gathered. As fast as the berries are taken from the plant, they are spread upon a platform which is generally built in front of the house. Here the sun dries the grains and completes the darkening of the envelope. After several days' exposure in the open air, the berries are subjected to the action of wooden pestles, which are moved by water-power. Each berry contains two seeds, lying with their flat surfaces together and kept in place by the envelope. The backward and forward movement of the pestles readily separates the seeds from the pericarp, and nothing remains but to pass them through a sieve. The
