A NATURALIST IN BRAZIL 



and these rains are known in North-eastern Brazil as the caju rains, 

 for the fruit of the cashew-tree needs them in order to ripen and 

 fill with sap. 



In December the rains cease, and the dry season begins. The moist 

 and heavy fragrance of the tropics is replaced by a sharp, insistent 

 odour of fallen leaves, and the green of the grasses, which at other 

 times invades even the roads, now turns grey, and everywhere the 

 bare red soil emerges. Many trees stand leafless, while others, like 

 the splendid Flame Acacia, choose this month to deck their spreading 

 crowns with a royal mantle of scarlet flowers as large as tulips. The 

 temperature rises to 84° in the shade; at night it is hardly cooler. 

 In the morning one lifts one's head from a wet pillow, and during 

 even a slight exertion, such as playing the piano, one has constantly 

 to wipe the perspiration from one's forehead. At the end of March 

 there are once more frequent showers, and the morning temperature 

 is only 77°; once again all things deck themselves in luxuriant green, 

 and of a morning one walks refreshed in the moist fragrance of the 

 gardens. 



In Rio de Janeiro the heat from November to February is often 

 worse than in North-eastern Brazil ; the city, shut in by the hills, 

 is airless, the streets glow with heat, and the nights are sleepless; 

 until at last, after some days of torment, a thunderstorm beats up 

 behind the peak of Tijuca, and coolness falls with the rustling rain. 

 In May and June, indeed, it is even lovelier in Rio ; the nights are 

 cool, the days magnificent, and one enjoys them all the more securely 

 in that fine weather prevails about this time. In Sao Paulo, indeed, 

 which Ues at an altitude of 2,400 feet, the nights are really cold at 

 this season, and of a morning there is fog in the streets ; one shivers, 

 and wraps oneself in one's cloak, until about ten o'clock the sun 

 breaks through, shining in a radiant blue sky, and the temperature 

 becomes comfortable. The whole of South America is richer in 

 sunlight than Europe. 



The reason why the Brazilian summer is more easily endured in 

 Pernambuco than in Rio is the fact that in the former State the 

 trade-wind constantly blows upon the coast. In August, the windy 

 month, it blows hard from the south-east; in the summer it veers 

 to the north-east, but it is always to be felt as a refreshing breeze, 

 noticeably cooler than the still air, and on its way across the endless 

 plains of the ocean it brings with it a purity which is plainly per- 

 ceptible. This wind is a precious boon. A similar wind blows off" the 

 coast of Ceylon — the south-west monsoon — but only during the 

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