CLIMATE OF THE AMAZON. 25 



on the Amazons, and clearly exhibits some of the more 

 characteristic features of a typical equatorial day. 



" At that early period of the day (the first two hours 

 after sunrise) the sky was invariably cloudless, the ther- 

 mometer marking 72 or 73 Fahr.; the heavy dew or 

 the previous night's rain, which lay on the moist foliage, 

 becoming quickly dissipated by the glowing sun, which, 

 rising straight out of the east, mounted rapidly towards 

 the zenith. All nature was fresh, new leaf and flower- 

 buds expanding rapidly. * * * The heat increased hourly, 

 and towards two o'clock reached 92 to 93 Fahr., by 

 which time every voice of bird and mammal was hushed. 

 The leaves, which were so moist and fresh in early 

 morning, now became lax and drooping, and flowers shed 

 their petals. On most days in June and July a heavy 

 shower would fall some time in the afternoon, producing 

 a most welcome coolness. The approach of the rain- 

 clouds was after a uniform fashion very interesting to 

 observe. First, the cool sea-breeze which had commenced 

 to blow about ten o'clock, and which had increased in 

 force with the increasing power of the sun, would flag, 

 and finally die away. The heat and electric tension of 

 the atmosphere would then become almost insupportable. 

 Languor and uneasiness would seize on every one, even 

 the denizens of the forest betraying it by their motions. 

 White clouds would appear in the east and gather into 

 cumuli, with an increasing blackness along their lower 

 portions. The whole eastern horizon would become 

 almost suddenly black, and this would spread upwards, 

 the sun at length becoming obscured. Then the rush of 

 a mighty wind is heard through the forest, swaying the 

 tree-tops ; a vivid flash of lightning bursts forth, then a 



