IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THE GLOBE. 147 



journey in such a country very monotonous and uninteresting. 

 The most abundant tree is that called by the inhabitants Ai-veira 

 {Schbius Aroeira, St. Hil.) : it flowers before the leaves appear, 

 and in this state much resembles the Alder of Europe when loaded 

 with its catkins. Its mode of growth is upright, and it reaches to a 

 height of from forty to fifty feet. Large Ingas and Mimosas, and 

 the Triplaris and Licania rigida, already mentioned, are also 

 common. In passing along, the eye is sometimes relieved from 

 the flowerless monotony of the woods by seeing here and there a 

 solitary pink or yellow arboreous Bign07iia, or an azure-blossomed 

 Jacai-anda, destitute of foliage, but rearing their consequently 

 more conspicuous and magnificent diadems of flowers above the 

 other denizens of the woods, or an occasional plant of Cochlo- 

 spermum sei-ratifoliiim, loaded also with its large and beautifully 

 yellow bloom, attracts the attention of the traveller. On dry 

 hilly places there were abundance of small shrubs ; the only ones, 

 however, that I met with in flower were two or three species of 

 Lippia, and a Krameria similar to that found in the island of 

 Itamarica. Within a day's journey of Crato I collected the 

 only Orchideous plant met with from the coast upward, a new 

 Oncidium, which I have called O. tirophyllum. The inhabit- 

 ants call it Rabo de Tata (armadillo's tail). It grows in great 

 plenty on the under sides of the brandies and on the stems of 

 Geoff'roya sicperba, H. B. A. K., the back of which is soft, and 

 well adapted for the growth of epiphytes. It was not till I 

 came within a few leagues of Crato that the country became 

 more verdant, and large tracts of land planted with sugar-cane 

 gave the assurance that I was approaching a place better suited 

 to my pursuits than any I had seen since leaving the coast. The 

 town of Crato is small, and situated in the hollow part of a large 

 valley, several leagues in extent, and bounded on the south and 

 west by the Serra de Araripe, an eastern branch of a low moun- 

 tain range which runs from south to north, and divides the pro- 

 vince of Ceara from that of Piauhy. Sugar-cane, mandioca, rice, 

 tobacco, and a little cotton are the principal articles of culture 

 in the vicinity of Crato. From the juice of the cane a kind of im- 

 pure sugar is prepared, csX\ei\Rapadura, and made into hard cakes 

 about the size of bricks. A kind of rum is also prepared from 

 it, which meets with a very ready sale. Almost all the fruits 

 which are sold in the towns near the coast grow here, such as 

 the orange, lime, lemon, mango, papaw, banana, plantain, grape, 

 pine-apple, melon, water-melon, &c. There are a few small 

 plantations of cocoa-nuts, which appear to thrive and bear abun- 

 dantly ; and in the woods are a great number of Cashew trees, 

 but their fruit, or rather the thickened peduncle, which is the 

 esculent part, is small, not bigger than a cherry. In the Ca- 



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