THE MOSAIC OF COLOURS 



At the same time, there is no lack in the tropics of restrained and 

 dignified colouring. Black — at all events, a splendid, intense and 

 satiny black — is more common than in Europe, and is employed 

 by many birds and butterflies with the most dignified eflfect, inter- 

 rupted only by a band of red, green, blue or yellow across the wings, 

 or a patch of one of these colours. In Recife, where I witnessed the 

 carnival, it seemed to me that the girls of Brazil had learned a 

 lesson from the Brazilian butterflies. Those nights of festival were 

 incomparable, and are among my most cherished memories. The 

 whole great city was like one vast banqueting-hall ; for it is always 

 warm in Recife, though the light sea-breeze was pleasantly refreshing. 

 Along the house-fronts were rows of chairs on which the inmates 

 were seated, and the electric light turned night into day ; garlands 

 of lights, white or coloured, were suspended on the house-fronts, 

 or hung across the streets, and the arms of the river were full of 

 gleaming lights. The whole city was full of the fragrance of the 

 langa perfume, the scented ether with which the Brazilians spray 

 one another at carnival-time. Down the middle of the street, in 

 endless procession, drove the splendidly-decorated cars, in many 

 of which were symbolic or historical tableaux; but the private 

 motor-cars were the prettiest, for the back seat was always occupied 

 by two or three slender and graceful Brazilian girls, with their 

 dark shingled heads and beautiful, friendly eyes. All were in black 

 silk, but for a green, blue, red or yellow fichu about their slender 

 throats. The cars themselves were often decorated in the same 

 colours. From time to time the procession of cars was interrupted 

 by a troop of indefatigably dancing negroes ; and despite the teeming 

 life of the city the whole of the rejoicings were characterized by a 

 certain tranquillity; for there was no alcohol drunk during the 

 carnival ! The whole aflfair was eloquent of the charm of this great, 

 friendly country of Brazil ; for me it will always be unforgettable. 



Just as the beauty of Nature is an expression of the same activity 

 which has made of the living creature an organism in which every 

 least part co-operates in the harmony of the body, so even the 

 colouring of the animals must have significance in relation to the 

 whole. It must of course be admitted at the outset that there are 

 colours in the animal kingdom whose significance escapes us. For 

 example, the shells of certain marine snails are magnificently 

 coloured, yet they are enclosed by the creature's body, which is 



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