122 TRE ATLANTIC. [chap. iii. 



sky where tliey were thickest, they were as close together as, 

 and had much the appearance and style of motion of, the large 

 flakes of snow in a heavy snow-shower when a thaw is setting 

 in. Such showers of butterflies are by no means uncommon 

 along the coast of Brazil, nor are they confined to the Helico- 

 nidffi, although these, from their extreme lightness of build, seem 

 best to fulfill the required conditions. Sometimes the country 

 over a considerable area is absolutely devastated by some par- 

 ticular species of caterpillar. The butterflies or moths, as the 

 case may be, come out nearly at one time ; and the swarm of 

 insects are caught by the land-breeze and wafted out to sea, 

 where myriads are drowned, a remnant being, perhaps, floated 

 back again by the usual shift of wind in the evening. 



The entrance to Bahia is certainly very beautiful. We 

 passed in the forenoon along an elevated coast, not mountain- 

 ous or hilly, but rising from the shore in even terraces to the 

 height of two or three hundred feet, the terraces broken here 

 and there by ravines and wooded knolls, every space gloriously 

 clothed with vegetation, and the sky-line broken by long lines 

 of palm-trees. To the right of the town, as we neared the 

 anchorage, a long suburb of handsome houses ran along the 

 crest of the rise. The theatre is a prominent building in the 

 middle of the town, and a little above it and to the right is a 

 handsome church — one with which we were afterward very 

 familiar as an excellent observing station. 



The general effect of the town from the sea reminds one 

 somewhat of Lisbon, but Bahia is much finer ; the splendid lux- 

 uriance of the vegetation gives it a character of its own, and 

 certainly nothing approaches the pahn in lightening and giving 

 grace to a picture. 



During our stay at Bahia, Captain Maclear and I went in one 

 of the little coasting steamers to Caxoeira, a small town at a 

 few hours' distance up a river, to get some idea of the general 

 appearance of the country. We were very fortunate in meeting 



