Information respecting Botanical Travellers, 251 



Piauhy, which, from Von Martius' account to Mr. Bentham, must 

 oiFer a good field for botanical research. I quitted Pernambuco on 

 the 17th of July, in a coasting schooner, for Aracaty. Previous to 

 my departure 1 was introduced to two gentlemen, brothers, named 

 Pinto, very respectable merchants belonging to Ico, who visit Per- 

 nambuco to make purchases about once in two years. The vessel in 

 which I sailed was freighted by them, and I considered myself fortunate 

 in having such companions. Besides ourselves there were about a 

 dozen more passengers ; and as the cabin was filled with goods, we 

 were all obliged to sleep on deck without shelter, a most uncomfort- 

 able position, as we were four days at sea and it rained heavily 

 nearly all that time. During our meals we more resembled wild 

 beasts than civilized beings, and to crown my misery I was dreadfully 

 sea-sick for two days. An illness succeeded for three days after 

 landing owing to my exposure to the wet. 



The town of Aracaty is situated on the east side of the Rio Jagua- 

 ride (Ounce river), about three leagues from the sea. The only 

 British merchant there is a young man from Ayrshire, with whom I 

 lived during my stay, and who kindly assisted me in making prepa- 

 rations for the inland journey. Ico is distant from Aracaty about 

 200 miles, and the intervening country being level, it is customary 

 to convey all goods in large waggons, generally drawn by twelve 

 oxen. In one of these I forwarded all my travelling trunks and bun- 

 dles of paper, so that I had only to buy two horses, one for myself, 

 the other to carry provisions and a few indispensable articles for the 

 journey. It was about twelve days before the brothers Pinto were 

 ready to depart, and I occupied this time in making excursions 

 around Aracaty, which produced a few species that I had not seen 

 before, among them Angelonia procumhens (Martius). The country 

 is uninteresting, especially to a botanist, from its arid and level na- 

 ture : except one small hill to the south-west and a few sand hills 

 towards the sea, it is a continued plain, covered with abundance of 

 Carnahuba palms {Corypha cerifera of Martius), but nothing else 

 worthy the name of a tree. This palm is one of the finest I have 

 seen in the north of Brazil, and I regret that I could not meet with 

 it in flower. Its stem, which is quite straight, rises to a height of 

 about 40 feet, while its fan-shaped leaves are so arranged as to form 

 a sort of round ball at the summit. I have never before seen a palm 

 occurring in such quantities as this does, the road from Aracaty to 

 Ico passing through a dense forest of it, more than 20 leagues in 

 length ; its foliage shelters a great multitude of parrots, parakeets, 

 pigeons, woodpeckers, and hosts of other small birds. Of the wax. 



