FLORA OF BRAZIL. 159 
of new and beautiful plants which were discovered, particu- 
larly near their summits, sufficiently rewarded the toil and 
fatigue of such an undertaking. In passing through the 
dense forests, what numbers of beautiful Orchidee, of deli- 
cate and graceful Ferns, strange Dorstenias, tall and slender- 
stemmed Palms, grotesque Begonias, and broad-leaved Ma- 
rantacee, are constantly meeting the eye! But still more 
interesting are the productions of the less wooded, and more 
upland and rocky tracts. There Orchidee also abound, 
growing on the bare and exposed rocks ; and the mind for a 
time becomes quite bewildered among the Gesnerias, the 
Esterhazias, the Luxemburgias, the Vellozias, the Barbacenias, 
the Fuchsias, the Lobelias, the Bromeliacee, the brilliant- 
flowered Salvias, the Alstremerias, the Amaryllidee, the 
beautiful Melastomacee, the epiphytal Cactee, the Utricula- 
rias, (which we are accustomed to see in our latitudes desti- 
tute of foliage, here bearing leaves 2 and 3 inches long,) the 
Proteacee, the Andromedas, the Vacciniums, the Gualtherias, 
the strange Composite, the Escallonias, and the beautiful 
Gentianee, forming the mass of the vegetation of these 
regions. About 600 species were collected on this my first 
visit to these mountains. 
Having, by this time, acquired some knowledge of the 
language of the country, and of the mode of travelling, I 
Was anxious to proceed to the northern provinces, and em- 
barking at Rio, in September 1837, reached Pernambuco 
early in October. The packet being allowed to remain two 
days at Bahia, I had thus an opportunity to make one or two 
excursions in the neighbourhood of that city; and to collect 
a considerable number of plants. Three months were at 
this period spent in the province of Pernambuco, during 
which I made a collection of about 500 species. The coun- 
try here is flat and unpicturesque, and everything bespeaks 
a dry atmosphere, and an arid soil. The woods are gene- 
rally low, and abound in Melastomacee, Myrtacee, Legu- 
minose, and Rubiacee; while the open tracts are rich in 
Composite; and the swamps and small lakes teem with Cy- 
