A NATURALIST IN BRAZIL 



were standing before our house. For Campina Grande is not yet in 

 the desert ; it Hes in a depression, and for this reason there was rain 

 there in August, a thing unknown in the Sertao at this season. But 

 the vegetation was enough to show that one was at a greater altitude 

 than in Pernambuco. As in Europe the Alpine flora covers the ground 

 with a carpet of many coloured blossoms, so the flowers covered 

 the ground in the neighbourhood of Campina Grande. Red, blue 

 and violet flowers were closely intermingled in the low growth 

 underfoot; in some places the ground was entirely covered with 

 the violet flowers of a kind of thyme, which gave out the aromatic 

 smell of our northern thyme. And bumble-bees, black, with a grey 

 thorax, flew humming from flower to flower. 



Here and there, on the post of a railing, sat a little black bird 

 with the yellow beak of a finch. Indefatigably the tiny creature 

 sprang, with an audible flapping of his wings, perhaps a yard into 

 the air, every time uttering a little zip- This peculiar dance continued, 

 in perfect time, as though the bird were moved by clockwork, or 

 were suspended, like a toy, on a thread of elastic. It was impossible 

 to watch the little bird for very long without laughing, so singular 

 did this behaviour seem. The Brazilians call this little finch the 

 Serrador or "Sawyer," because in the distance the rhythmical zipt 

 zip sounds like the regular creaking of a small-toothed saw. 



The cars soon left Campina Grande behind, and were passing 

 through a landscape whose appearance was eloquent of a scanty 

 rainfall. This country is known as "Cariri." It is a "bush" country, 

 and the green of the leaves is like that of our European trees, but the 

 foliage is sparser, and on all sides the bare tree-trunks and thick 

 grey branches are visible. Many of the plants have leaves covered 

 with a grey felt; including Euphorbias belonging to the Croton 

 family. This woolly covering enables the leaves to retain their 

 moisture ; at the same time, they are less likely to be eaten by grazing 

 ruminants, as when chewed the felt comes away from the leaves 

 and forms into pellets which irritate the mucous membrane. 



Now the first tall Tree-cacti appear (Plate 21). These are the 

 most typical inhabitants of the dry belt. Genuine children of 

 America, they have spread from the high table-lands of Mexico far 

 over North and all over South America, and have been conveyed, 

 by men and birds, to other parts of the globe. Their stems are 

 thick and swollen, and their branches have the same form. The 

 leaves are present only in the form of small scales, or they have 

 become transformed into spines ; their green has been appropriated 

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