A NATURALIST IN BRAZIL 



capable of roofing a street, as one may see in Buenos Aires. Certain 

 Leguminosae — the "parasol" acacias, of which there are hundreds 

 of species — are still better adapted for planting in avenues ; their 

 boughs slant upwards on either side of the street, forming a sort 

 of Gothic vault ; and their foliage is deUcate, and not so dense as to 

 cast a deep shade and prevent a road-surface from drying. Europe 

 may well envy the tropics their shade-trees ! In Brazil their value is 

 as yet imperfectly reaUzed. One often sees avenues of King-palms, 

 but these give no shade ; they have a solemn and dignified appearance, 

 and the rows of their columnar stems have an architectural appear- 

 ance. The Australian Grevilleas and Eucalyptuses are out of place 

 in Brazil. Not so the Oitys, which are planted in many of the streets 

 of Sao Paulo. 



Brazilian trees should be given the preference; they truly adorn 

 the landscape. The true-born children of the country are always in 

 tune with it. The best way of preserving the beauty of Brazil is to 

 be indefatigable in learning the lessons of Nature. Since the essential 

 character of the tropical forest is variety, so in making new planta- 

 tions many species of trees should be planted together. 



In Brazil there is as yet little understanding of the value of a 

 loving respect for the beauty of the landscape. This struck me 

 especially in Petropolis. The little town is of course delightful, but 

 how much it would gain were the heights that overlook its streets 

 covered not with copsewood or "bush," but with the old, noble 

 virgin forest, made accessible by footpaths ! In whatever direction 

 one leaves Petropolis, the many bare heights strike a discord with 

 the rich articulation of the landscape, whose formation is faintly 

 reminiscent of the Black Forest; and even the planning of the 

 streets fails to harmonize with the structure of the landscape. On all 

 sides there are red embankments or cuttings, and even the houses 

 do not always grow harmoniously from the landscape. That acme 

 of tastelessness, the corrugated iron roof, is not seldom to be seen 

 in the loveliest surroundings, and even in the gardens ! 



Young copsewood, in Brazil, is often predominantly grey in 

 colour, and the uniform height of its foliage seems doubly unnatural 

 in a country of virgin forests. In Europe even the copses delight us 

 with their tender green; but in Brazil the vigorous, glossy, deep 

 green of the tropical forest appears only when the trees have grown 

 to a considerable height ; and one sees it in its perfection only when 

 trees of many species are growing together. Great bamboo thickets 

 are always pleasing as roadside hedges. 

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