DOWN THE AMAZONS. 363 



dren under their charge ; and you may sometimes see the 

 large red jars standing under the mouth of the spring above, 

 while white babies and dark nurses splash about in the cool 

 water-basin below. Although in the campos the growth is 

 low, and the soil but scantily covered with coarse grass and 

 shrubs, yet, in some localities, and especially in the neighbor- 

 hood of the town, the forest is beautiful. We have seen no- 

 where larger and more luxuriant mimosas, sometimes of a 

 green so rich and deep, and a foliage so close that it is dif- 

 ficult to believe, at a distance, that its dense mass is formed 

 by the light, pinnate leaves of a sensitive plant. The palms 

 are also very lofty and numerous, including some kinds 

 which we have not met before. 



January 28th. Yesterday our kind host arranged an 

 excursion into the country, for my especial pleasure, that I 

 might see something of the characteristic amusements of 

 Monte Alegre. One or two neighbors joined us, and the 

 children, a host of happy little folks, for whom anything 

 out of the common tenor of e very-day life is "festa," were 

 not left behind. We started on foot to walk out into a very 

 picturesque Indian village called Surubiju. Here we were 

 to breakfast, returning afterwards in one of the heavy carts 

 drawn by oxen, the only conveyance for women and chil- 

 dren in a country where a carriage-road and a side-saddle 

 are equally unknown. Our walk was very pleasant, partly 

 through the woods, partly through the campos ; but as it was 

 early in the day, we did not miss the shade when we chanced 

 to leave the trees. We lingered by the wayside, the chil- 

 dren stopping to gather wild fruits, of which there were 

 a number on the road, and to help me in making a 

 collection of plants. It was about nine o'clock when we 

 reached the first straw-house, where we stopped to rest. 



