92 A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL 
May 2Sth, Rio. - - To-day is Mr. Agassiz's birthday, 
and it lias been so affectionately remembered here that it 
is difficult to believe ourselves in a foreign country. The 
Swiss citizens gave him a dinner yesterday on the eve 
of the anniversary, where everything recalled the land of 
his birth, without excluding the land of his adoption. The 
room was draped with the flags of all the Cantons, while 
the ceiling was covered by two Swiss national flags, united 
in the centre just above his own seat by the American flag, 
thus recognizing at once his Swiss nationality and his Ameri- 
can citizenship.* The Brazilian flag which gave them all 
hospitality and protection had also an honored place. The 
fete is reported to have been most genial and gay, closing 
with a number of student songs in which all bore their 
share, and succeeded by a serenade under our windows. 
To-day our room is festive with flowers and other deco- 
rations, and friendly greetings on every side remind us that, 
though in a foreign land, we are not among strangers. 
June 14A. Since our return from Tijuca we have been 
almost constantly in town, Mr. Agassiz being engaged, often 
from early morning till deep into the night, in taking care 
of the specimens which come in from every quarter, and 
making the final preparations for the parties which he 
intends sending into the interior. The most important of 
these, or rather the one for which it is most difficult to 
procure the necessary facilities, is bound for the upper 
course of the San Francisco. At this point one or 
more of their number will strike across the country to 
* Though a resident of the United States ror nearly twenty years, Mr. 
Agassiz was only naturalized in 1863. At the moment when a general 
distrust of our institutions prevailed in Europe, it was a satisfaction to him 
to testify by some personal and public act his confidence in them. 
