444 A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 



may reduce the vigor of the constitution, and perhaps make 

 one more liable to certain diseases ; but during our journey 

 of eight months none of our large company suffered from 

 any serious indisposition connected with the climate, nor 

 did we see in any of our wanderings as many indications of 

 intermittent fever as are to be met constantly on our West- 

 ern rivers. The voyage on the Amazons proper has now 

 become accessible to all who are willing to endure heat and 

 mosquitoes for the sake of seeing the greatest river in the 

 world, and the magnificent tropical vegetation along its 

 shores. The best season for the journey is from the close 

 of June to the middle of November, July, August, Sep- 

 tember, and October being the four driest months of the 

 year, and the most salubrious throughout that region. 



We had a rough and boisterous passage from Para to 

 Ceara, with unceasing rain, in consequence of which the 

 decks were constantly wet. Indeed, the cabins were not 

 free from water, and it was only by frequent bailing that 

 the floor of our state-room was kept tolerably dry. At 

 Maranham we had the relief of a night on shore ; and Mr. 

 Agassiz and Major Coutinho profited by the occasion the 

 following morning to examine the geology of the coast 

 more carefully than 'they had formerly done. They found 

 the structure identical with that of the Amazonian Valley, 

 except that the formations were more worn down and dis- 

 turbed. We arrived before Ceara at two o'clock on Sat- 

 urday, March 31st, expecting to go on shore at once ; but 

 the sea ran high, the tide was unfavorable, and during the 

 day not even a "jangada," those singular rafts that here 

 take the place of boats, ventured out to our steamer as 

 she lay rocking in the surf. Ceard has no harbor, and the 

 sea drives in with fearful violence on the long sand-beach 



