BAHIA. 80 



with a thick wild growth, but with numerous scattered cottages. 

 The inhabitants of these are mostly black, but there are many 

 whites amongst them, and white and black children are to be 

 seen playing together on almost every doorstep. 



I frequently visited these suburbs to search for Land- 

 planarian worms,* which I found resting beneath the sheathing 

 leaf stalks of the banana plants, just as I had found them in 

 Ceylon, and accompanied, curiously enough, as in Ceylon, by a 

 peculiar slug ( Vaginulus). 



A butterfly which makes a clicking sound whilst flying, a 

 fact first observed by Darwin, is common near Bahia.f I only 

 heard the sound when pairs were flying together in courtship. 

 I do not know whether the butterfly in question at Bahia is 

 Prqrilio fcronia, the species which Darwin met with at Bio de 

 Janeiro. It has, however, the peculiar drum with a spiral 

 diaphragm with it at the base of its wings, as described by 

 Doubleday. This organ of sound is large and conspicuous. 



I made an excursion with one of the sub-lieutenants about 

 20 miles inland, along the railway intended to reach Pernambuco, 

 but at the time of our visit, completed only for about 60 miles 

 to the Bio Francisco. Free passes were given by the railway 

 company to all the officers of the " Challenger," and the officials 

 of the line, who were Englishmen, were extremely hospitable 

 and gave us every possible assistance. 



Leaving Bahia, the railroad led along the shores of the bay, 

 fringed with gardens and houses. Further on the land was 

 covered with wild vegetation, with occasional sugar plantations 

 and frequent cottages. Almost the whole of the land has been 

 cleared at some time or other of the dense forest winch once 

 covered it. 



On a sugar plantation, ground is cleared in patches. The 

 patches are planted and cultivated for about fifteen years and 

 are then allowed to run waste, or sleep, as the Brazilians put it. 

 A fresh piece of land is then cleared, and so the whole estate is 



* See H. N. Moseley. " Notes on the Structure of several Forms of 

 Land Planarians." Quart. Journ. Micro. Sci. Vol. XVII, New Ser., 

 p. 273. 



t C. Darwin, " Journal of Researches," p . 33. 



