568 -MR. 'weir's journal. 



the lie^id-qdarters of the cultivation of tea, in the province of St. 

 Paul's. Seaor Fonsecahas a coasidevable extent of laud planted 

 with it. The plant is much more hai*dy and tenacious of life 

 than the coffee plant, and will succeed well on dry and poor land 

 where coffee will not grow at all. The price it Lruigs in the 

 market here is 32 dollars per arroba, for the best quality — a 

 trifle more than 25. a pound. Much of it is afterwards sold in 

 the shops, both here and in Eio de Janeiro for '* cha da India," 

 at three or four times this price. 



Dee. I^th. — The country round Itu is all canipo, nnd on the 

 whole flat, although not perfectly level. It consists of a 

 succession of swellings or undulations, covered with long, tough, 

 withered grass and scrub, and dotted with stunted trees of various 

 species. Two leagues to the south-west is an irregular range or 

 group of low hills, divided and diversified by many small valleys, 

 or quebradas, which run into and between them. These valleys are 

 for the most part wooded, or are cleared and planted with coffee. 



I went over part of the campo to-day, near the village. Myr- 

 taceous shrubs abound here. ' One of the commonest species 

 (called by the people here the gnahiroha, or guaviroha) is now 

 with ripe fruit of tolerable quality. The shrub grows to a height 

 of 3 or 4 feet ; the fruit is about the size of a gooseberry, and is 



greenish yellow wlien ripe. There are innumerable varieties, all 

 differing in the size of the leaves, and the size, colour, and 

 flavour of the fruit. 



Collected specimens of No. 105, a Melastomad, 2 to 3 feet high, 

 with dark purple flowers ; No. 106, a terrestrial Orchid {Galeandra 

 sp.) with rather pretty purple flowers ; No. 107 {Myrosperiniim 

 sp], a small tree with pale white flowers ; and No. 108, a half- 

 shrubby leguminous plant {Cassia sp.), with large yellow flowers. 

 All these species grow on the dry campo. 



Dec, IStJu — Had another day in the campo, and added the 

 following species to my dried collection: — No. 109 (Psychotria 

 sp), a stunted shrub, with leathery leaves and yellow flowers ; 

 No. 110, a herbaceous plant {Hyptis sj?.), 2 to 3 feet high ; No. 

 Ill {Chinchona sp.), a dendroid shrub — its flowers are greenish 

 white; No. 112, a malpighiaceous shrub. 4 to 6 feet high, with 

 pink flowers; and No. 113, a small herbaceous species, from 6 to 

 inches in height, with bright blue flowers. The soil of the 

 campo is a sandy loam. 



■We have had a thunderstorm this afteraoon, with some heavy 

 rain. 



