204 THE VOYAGE. .ETAT. 23. [1832, 



Decidedly the most striking thing in the Tropics is the 

 novelty of the vegetable forms. Cocoa-nuts could well be 

 imagined from drawings, if you add to them a graceful light- 

 ness which no European tree partakes of. Bananas and plan- 

 tains are exactly the same as those in hothouses, the acacias 

 or tamarinds are striking from the blueness of their foliage ; 

 but of the glorious orange trees, no description, no drawings, 

 will give any just idea; instead of the sickly green of our 

 oranges, the native ones exceed the Portugal laurel in the 

 darkness of their tint, and infinitely exceed it in beauty of 

 form. Cocoa-nuts, papaws, the light green bananas, and 

 oranges, loaded with fruit, generally surround the more luxu- 

 riant villages. Whilst viewing such scenes, one feels the im- 

 possibility that any description should come near the mark, 

 much less be overdrawn. 



March \st. — Bahia, or San Salvador. I arrived at this 

 place on the 28th of February, and am now writing this letter 

 after having in real earnest strolled in the forests of the new 

 world. No person could imagine anything so beautiful as the 

 ancient town of Bahia, it is fairly embosomed in a luxuriant 

 wood of beautiful trees, and situated on a steep bank, and 

 overlooks the calm waters of the great bay of All Saints. The 

 houses are white and lofty, and, from the windows being 

 narrow and long, have a very light and elegant appearance. 

 Convents, porticos, and public buildings, vary the uniformity 

 of the houses ; the bay is scattered over with large ships ; in 

 short, and what can be said more, it is one of the finest views 

 in the Brazils. But the exquisite glorious pleasure of walking 

 amongst such flowers, and such trees, cannot be comprehended 

 but by those who have experienced it. Although in so low a 

 latitude the locality is not disagreeably hot, but at present it 

 is very damp, for it is the rainy season. I find the climate as 

 yet agrees admirably with me ; it makes me long to live 

 quietly for some time in such a country. If you really want 

 to have [an idea] of tropical countries, study Humboldt. 

 Skip the scientific parts, and commence after leaving Tener- 

 iffe. My feelings amount to admiration the more I read him. 



