once more obtained possession of it.  Waving it furiously over his head, he slashed her twice in the upper part of the left arm.  All seemed lost; but in her extreme peril the brave lady bethought her of her own knife, and struck at her adversary, wounding him in the hand.  At the same moment Count Berchthold sprang forward, and while he seized the villain with both arms, Madame Ida Pfeiffer recovered her feet.  All this took place in less than a minute.  The negro was now roused into a condition of maniacal fury; he gnashed his teeth like a wild beast, and brandished his knife, while uttering fearful threats.  The issue of the contest would probably have been disastrous, but for the opportune arrival of assistance.  Hearing the tramp of horses’ hoofs upon the road, the negro desisted from his attack, and sprang into the forest.  A couple of horsemen turning the corner of the road, our travellers hurried to meet them; and having told their tale, which, indeed, their wounds told eloquently enough, they leaped from their horses, and entered the wood in pursuit.  A couple of negroes soon afterwards coming up, the villain was captured, securely pinioned, and, as he would not walk, severely beaten, until, as most of the blows fell upon his head, Madame Ida Pfeiffer feared that the wretch’s skull would be broken.  Nothing, however, would induce him to walk, and the negroes were compelled to carry him bodily, to the nearest house.

The colony of Petropolis proved to be situated in the depth of a virgin forest, at an elevation of 2500 feet above the sea-level.  At the time of Madame Pfeiffer’s visit it was about fourteen months old, having been founded for the special purpose of providing the capital with fruits and vegetables which, in tropical climates, will thrive only in very elevated situations.  It was, of course, in a very rudimentary condition, the mere embryo of a town; but the country around it was very picturesque.

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Madame Pfeiffer’s second excursion was into the interior; and it opened up to her a variety of interesting scenes,—­as, for instance, a manioc-fazenda, or plantation.  The manioc plant, it appears, throws off stalks from four to six feet in height, with a number of large leaves at their upper extremities.  The valuable portion of the plant is its bulbous root, which frequently weighs two or three pounds, and supplies the place of corn throughout the Brazils.  It is washed, peeled, and held against the rough edge of a mill-stone, until it is completely ground into flour.  This flour is collected in a basket, steeped thoroughly in water, and afterwards pressed quite dry by means of a press.  Lastly, it is scattered upon large iron plates, and slowly dried over a gentle fire.  At this stage it resembles a very coarse kind of flour, and is eaten in two ways;—­either mixed with hot water, until it forms a kind of porridge; or baked in the form of coarse flour, which is handed round at table in little baskets.