IN PEENAMBUCO. 289 



He accompanied me in a walk round the garden, wliich con- 

 tained but little worthy of notice ; a few European plants 

 struggling for existence, and some large Indian trees, being its 

 chief productions : among the latter, however, were fine speci- 

 mens of the Mango, Tamarind, and Cinnamon. It likewise 

 contained a few fine palms, among which I observed some large 

 fruit-bearing Dates. Although the town of Olinda is situated on 

 a low hill, the country around it is flat, and the vegetation very 

 similar to that around Pernambuco. One of the finest of the 

 wild fruits of Brazil grows in this neighbourhood, and what 

 is not a little remarkable, belongs to the natural order of 

 Dogbanes. The tree which produces it is the Hancornia speciosa, 

 reaching to the size of an ordinary apple-tree, though its small 

 leaves and drooping branches give it more the appearance of the 

 Weeping birch. The fruit which it bears is yellow, a little 

 streaked with red on one side, about the size of an Orleans plum, 

 and of delicious flavour. It is called Mangaba by the Brazilians, 

 and when in season is brought in great quantities to Pernambuco 

 for sale. 



The months of November and December of 1838 I spent at 

 the country-house of Dr. Loudon, a gentleman I had previously 

 met with in Scotland, situated on the banks of a small river about 

 four miles to the west of Pernambuco, and as the country around 

 it was chiefly uncultivated, I had ample scope for my researches. 

 In a low marshy spot near the house I met with a good 

 many sedges and grasses, and great plenty of the curious 

 Pongatium indicum, Lam. In the same marsh, as well as along 

 the banks of tlie river, grew some fine large trees of Avicennia 

 niiida, their stems often measuring 5 feet in circumference, and 

 rising unbranched to a height of nearly 30 feet. Opposite 

 the house, on the other side of the river, there extends a large 

 tract of wooded country, consisting chiefly of small trees and 

 shrubs, which have .sprung up since the virgin forests have been 

 felled : it is called tlie Matto de Torre. Between this wood and 

 the river stretches a broad open stripe, partly covered with low 

 shrubs, and partly grass and other herbaceous plants. The 

 former consist of several species of Solatium and Mimosa, some 

 3Iyrtle-blootns, Vernonias, Jatropha urens, &c. Among the her- 

 baceous plants I found great abundance of Angelonia Gardneri, 

 Hook., and a Cleome with large white flowers. In the middle 

 of this tract there are some small fresh-water lakes that afforded 

 me some good plants. To my great delight my first visit to this 

 spot was rewarded with that curious aquatic fern Parkeria 

 jjteridioides, Hook., which at first sight has much the appearance 

 of an Umbelliferous plant. The lower part of the fronds is 

 much inflated, by which the whole plant, being rendered speci- 

 VOL. I. u 



