ME. weir's journal. 585 



in abundance. This species occurs along the margins of the 

 Tiete and its tributaries, all the way from the town of St. Paul's 

 to this point, and it no doubt continues much further down. 

 There are also some other species of Orchids on the trees here, 

 but not being in flower, I have no idea what they are. 



During the day collected specimens of No. 183 [Cestrum sjy,), 

 a shrub with pale white flowers, 4 to 5 feet high; No. 183, a 

 (leguminous) tree 40 to 60 feet high; and No. 184 [lonidhim sp,), 

 a shrub 3 to 5 feet high ; its flowers are white with purple streaks, 

 but are almost all eaten by insects. I collected a few ripe seeds 

 of this plant. It seems to prefer wet places, where it forms 

 masses as thick as a quickthom hedge. 



Jan.^Srd. — Eeturued to Jahu, examining part of the forest 

 on the road, but met with nothing of interest. My camarada 

 was taken unwell to-day. I gave him some medicine, and hope 

 he will soon get better. 



Jan, 2ith. — Started this morning on an excursion to the 

 estate of Senor Luiz Pereira Barbosa, the gentleman who invited 

 me to visit him and to spend a .few days in the forest at the 

 junction of the Jacare with the Tiete. The road I found difficult 

 to follow, being merely a path through the thick underwood, and 

 often scarcely visible, and to add to my discomfort, the day 

 turned out very wet. Late in the afternoon I came upon a 

 cluster of huts in the forest, and found that I had erred in the 

 road, and would have to go back about a league to get right 

 again. It was too late to think of turning back then, so I 

 remained there for the night, accepting the shelter of one of the 

 huts which was offered to me. 



The people who live in these huts may be said to be the 

 lowest class of Brazilians, and according to accounts, are many of 

 them escaped criminals, deserters, and runaway slaves: they are 

 found in the forest just bej'ond the verge of civilisation; they 

 associate in parties for* mutual protection against the Indians, 

 and live chiefly by entrapping animals, fishing, and stealing ; 

 labour they utterly repudiate, seldom even planting a little milho, 

 or feijoes, preferring to steal tliem. 



Jan, 35?/t. — The weather still continues very wet, but I started 

 again on my journey through the forest. Saw no plants worthy 

 of cultivation on the way. Reached Senor Barbosa's place in the 

 afternoon ; he has already built a house, and has a lot of slaves at 

 work clearing the forest. Senor Barbosa tells me that there are 

 plenty of Indian^ in the forest, on the other side of the river, and 



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