MISSION OP COLLECTOR TO BlJAZIL. "53 



not hold so many plants as I had expected. .1 therefore wrote to 



; Rio for another, ordering it to be sent to Belem as soon as possible. 



Aug. 1 StJi. — Started this morning ^vith the' intention of 



descending the river Sta. Anna to its junction with the Sao 



Pedro, which I am told is a few leagues below Belein ; but after 



having managed to get along for a few miles, I found that the 



.banks of the river were in many places quite impenetrable from 



the dense mass of vegetation they nourished, and also from the 



marshy nature of the ground. I therefore returned to Belcm, 



and have determined to hire a mule to-morrow morning, and to 



start by the road for Itagoahy, ^Yhich runs the greater part of the 



^way through the valley of the Sta. Anna and its tributaries, my 



object being to learn the nature of the country in that direction, 



and to see whether it might be worth while to spend a week or 



two there before leaving for St. Paul's, the distance from Belem 



being too great to be travelled every day. 



Aug. Idth. — Started this morning on a mule for the purpose 

 of devoting a day or two to the investigation of the country 

 between Belem and Itagoahy, beyond the immediate neighbour- 

 hood of the former place. The main waggon-road between the 

 two places goes a long way to the west by Sao Jose de Cacaria 

 and Banana], and thence back to Itagoahy in a south-easterly 

 direction. The way I went is much nearer, but it is only passable 

 for mules or horses, not for waggons ; it leaves the main road at 

 the village of Sao Pedro, Sao Paulo, and leads between two 

 ranges of low hills in almost a due southerly direction for several 

 leagues, when it again joins the main road between Bananal and 

 Itagoahy. Many of the hills on either side of this path are 

 cleared and under crops of several kinds ; the low land between 

 them is much of it swampy, and sometimes wooded, the woods 

 being full of tall Cannas, Heliconias, Aroids, and other plants of 



the same nature. 



Aug. 20th. — Continued my journey to-day along the road to 

 Itagoahy, passing some large Fazendas, each surrounded with 

 extensive plantations of coffee, mandioc, and sugar-cane. Where 

 the land is not cleared, it resembles in every respect the country 

 round Belem, and I think it will scarcely be worth while to move 

 from Belem during the short time I am to be in this part of the 

 country. Slept at another venda on the road-side ; determined 

 to start on my w^ay back to Belem in the morning, where I hoped 

 to find the other case awaiting me. 



Aiiff. ^IsL — Returned to Belem. Took specimens on the way 



£2 



