134 A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 
coasting along within sight of land, with a quiet sea and 
a delicious breeze. The ocean is covered with white caps, 
and of a very peculiar greenish, aquamarine tint, the same 
which I observed as soon as we reached these latitudes in 
coming out. This singular color is said to be owing to 
the nature of the sea bottom and the shallowness of the 
water, combined, farther north, with the admixture of fresh 
water along the coast. 
August Qth. Arrived early this morning before Maran- 
ham, and went on shore to breakfast at the hotel ; for, won- 
derful to relate, Maranham possesses a hotel, a great rarity in 
many Brazilian towns. We passed the greater part of the day 
in driving about the city with Dr. Braga, who kindly under- 
took to show us everything of interest.* The town and 
harbor are very pretty, the city itself standing on an island, 
formed by two bays running up on either side and enclosing 
it. The surrounding country is flat and very thickly wood- 
ed, though the woods are rather low. Here, at the house of 
Dr. Braga' s brother-in-law, we saw, for the fifst time, the 
slender, graceful Assai palm, from which the drink is made 
so much appreciated in Para and on the Lower Amazons. 
It is curious to see the negroes go up the tree to gather 
collections made in my absence by Dr. Mendes and Senhor Barroso, who 
had been our companions on board the steamer. At Parahyba do Norte I 
was indebted in the same way to Dr. Justa. These collections will afford in- 
valuable materials for the comparison of the Coast Faunse. L. A. 
* At a later period I owed to Dr. Braga far more than the ordinary courtesy 
extended to a stranger. I had informed him that Mr. St. John, then following 
the course of the Rio San Francisco, on his way to the province of Piauhy, 
would arrive in Maranham at the close of his journey. When he reached that 
city he was very seriously ill with fever. Dr Braga took him into his h.ou=e, 
where he was attended by him and his family as if he had been one of their kin- 
dred. I have, indeed, little doubt that my young friend owed his recovery to 
the considerate care with which he was treated under their kindly roof. L. A. 
