with Remarks on their Vegetation. 179 



tions on the evening of the 14th of May for starting on the fol- 

 lowing morning. On this journey I was again accompanied by 

 my old guide " Pai Phelipe" and the other three blacks. We 

 left the fazenda at 8 a.m. and reached our former encampment 

 at 3 p.m. After dinner I went out to botanize, taking three of 

 the blacks with me. One of them I left at the little water-fall 

 to collect bulbs of the Amaryllis formerly mentioned as grow- 

 ing there ; the other two accompanied me to assist in collect- 

 ing specimens ; and I was thus enabled to add considerably 

 to my previous stock ; but the only new thing I met with was 

 a species of Melastomacea, a tree about ten or twelve feet high 

 covered with small white flowers. After getting all my spe- 

 cimens put into paper I once more lay down on a few palm 

 leaves covered with my poncho to pass the night. We arose 

 next morning by break of day, when I found the thermometer 

 at 50°. As there was little to be had on the top of the moun- 

 tain but the bulbous roots already mentioned, I sent two 

 of the blacks up to bring as many of these as they could 

 carry, intending myself to walk slowly with the other two to 

 the bog in which I formerly found the Vaccinium. During 

 my walk I gathered plenty of Cereus Russellianus. This plant 

 is a good example of nearly allied species representing each 

 other in different regions. During the four times that 1 passed 

 through the woods in my journey to and from the mountains, 

 I always found Cereus truncatus confined to the dense virgin 

 forests below the elevation of 4500 feet, while from that point 

 to nearly 6000 feet Cereus Russellianus alone was seen. Little 

 new was added to my number of species on this visit, but I 

 much increased my former limited stock of specimens. Early 

 in the afternoon the two blacks and myself returned to the 

 spot from whence we had started loaded with collections. 

 The day was one of the most delightful I ever remember to 

 have witnessed, quite like one of the finest days of an English 

 summer. The skv was clear and unclouded, and the atmo- 

 sphere being free from that haze which often in the finest 

 weather renders the view of distant objects indistinct, allowed 

 us to obtain a perfect and well-defined prospect of the outline 

 of the high mountains far to the eastward. Shortly after the 

 other two blacks returned from the top of the mountains, 



x 2 



