26 PARA. Cuap. Il, 
always held to be a different species until proved to be the same. 
Several other kinds allied to this inhabit almost exclusively these moist 
shades. In all of them the males are brilliantly coloured and widely 
different from the females. Such are P. Atneas, P. Vertumnus, and P. 
Lysander, all velvety black, with patches of green and crimson on their 
wings. ‘The females of these species do not court the company of the 
males, but are found slowly flying in places where the shade is less 
dense. In the moist parts great numbers of males are seen, often four 
species together, threading the mazes of the forest, and occasionally 
rising to settle on the scarlet flowers of climbers near the tops of 
the trees. Occasionally a stray one is seen in the localities which the 
females frequent. In the swampiest parts, we saw numbers of the 
Epicalia ancea, one of the most richly coloured of the whole tribe of 
butterflies, being black, decorated with broad stripes of pale blue and 
orange. It delighted to settle on the broad leaves of the Uraniz and 
similar plants where a ray of sunlight shone, but it was excessively 
wary, darting off with lightning speed when approached. 
To obtain a fair notion of the number and variety of the animal 
tenants of these forests, it is necessary to follow up the research month 
after month, and explore them in different directions and at all seasons. 
During several months I used to visit this district two or three days 
every week, and never failed to obtain some species new to me, of bird. 
reptile, or insect. It seemed to be an epitome of all that the humid 
portions of the Pard forests could produce. This endless diversity, 
the coolness of the air, the varied and strange forms of vegetation, the 
entire freedom from mosquitoes and other pests, and even the solemn 
gloom and silence, combined to make my rambles through it always 
pleasant as well as profitable. Such places are paradises to a naturalist, 
and if he be of a contemplative turn there is no situation more favour- 
able for his indulging the tendency. There is something in a tropical 
forest akin to the ocean in its effects on the mind. Man feels so 
completely his insignificance there, and the vastness of nature. A 
naturalist cannot help reflecting on the vegetable forces manifested on 
so grand a scale around him. A German traveller, Burmeister, has 
said that the contemplation of a Brazilian forest produced on him a 
painful impression, on account of the vegetation displaying a spirit of 
restless selfishness, eager emulation, and craftiness. He thought the 
softness, earnestness, and repose of European woodland scenery were 
far more pleasing, and that these formed one of the causes of the 
superior moral character of European nations. 
In these tropical forests each plant and tree seems to be striving to 
outvie its fellow, struggling upwards towards light and air—branch and 
leaf and stem—regardless of its neighbours. Parasitic plants are seen 
fastening with firm grip on others, making use of them with reckless 
indifference as instruments for their own advancement. Live and let 
live is clearly not the maxim taught in these wildernesses. ‘There is 
one kind of parasitic tree, very common near Para, which exhibits this 
feature in a very prominent manner. It is called the Sipé Matador, 
or the Murderer Liana. It belongs to the fig order, and has been 
described and figured by Von Martius in the Atlas to Spix and Martius’s 
