74 A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 
and pleasure of the party, and had so prepared the way 
for the scientific objects of the excursion that at several 
points of the road we found collections of fishes and other 
animals awaiting us by the roadside. Once or twice, as we 
passed a fazenda, a negro carrying a basket came out to 
stop the diligence, and, lifting the cool green leaves which 
covered them, showed freshly caught fishes of all hues and 
sizes. It was rather aggravating, especially as we ap- 
proached the end of our long drive, and the idea of 
dinner readily suggested itself, to see them disappear in 
the alcohol cans.* 
At about midday we bade good by to the pretty river we 
had followed thus far, and at the Estac,ao d'Entre Rios 
(between the rivers) crossed the fine bridge which spans 
the Parahyba at this point. The Parahyba is the large 
river which flows for a great part of its course between 
the Serra do Mar and the Serra da Mantiqueira, emptying 
into the Atlantic at San Joao da Barra considerably to the 
northeast of Rio de Janeiro. One is a little bewildered 
at first by the variety of Serras in Brazil, because the 
* My experience of this day might well awaken the envy of any naturalist, 
and I was myself no less astonished than grateful for its scientific results. 
Not only had Scnhor Lage provided us with the most comfortable private con- 
veyance, but he had sent messengers in advance to all the planters residing 
near our line of travel, requesting them to provide all the fishes that were to be 
had in the adjoining rivers and brooks. The agents of the stations situated 
near water-courses had also received instructions to have similar collections in 
readiness, and in two places I found large tanks filled with living specimens of 
all the species in the neighborhood. The small number of species subsequently 
added, upon repeated excursions to different parts of the basin of the Parahyba, 
convinced me that in this one day, thanks to the kindness of our host and his 
friends, I had an opportunity of examining nearly its whole ichthyological 
fauna, and of making probably as complete a collection from it as may be 
found from any of the considerable rivers of Europe in the larger museums 
of the Old World. L. A. 
