Cuap. VII. TRUMPET TREE. 143 
storms may be therefore attributed to the rush of cold moist air from up 
river, when the regular trade-wind coming from the sea has slackened 
or ceased to blow. : 
On the 26th we arrived at a large sandbank connected with an island 
in mid-river, in front of an inlet called Maracd-uassi. Here we anchored 
and spent half a day ashore. Penna’s object in stopping was simply to 
enjoy a ramble on the sands with the children, and give Senhora Katita 
an opportunity to wash the linen. The sandbank was now fast going 
under water with the rise of the river; in the middle of the dry season 
it is about a mile long and half a mile in width. The canoe-men delight 
in these open spaces, which are a great relief to the monotony of the 
forest that clothes the land in every other part of the river. Farther 
westward they are much more frequent, and of larger extent. They lie 
generally at the upper end of islands; in fact, the latter originate in 
accretions of vegetable matter, formed by plants and trees growing on a 
shoal. The island was wooded chiefly with the trumpet tree (Cecropia 
peltata), which has a hollow stem and smooth pale bark. The leaves 
are similar in shape to those of the horse-chestnut, but immensely 
larger ; beneath they are white, and when the welcome trade-wind blows 
they show their silvery undersides,—a pleasant signal to the weary canoe 
traveller. The mode of growth of this tree is curious: the branches are 
emitted at nearly right angles with the stem, the branchlets in minor 
whorls around these, and so forth, the leaves growing at their ex- 
tremities; so that the total appearance is that of a huge candelabrum. 
Cecropiz of different species are characteristic of Brazilian forest 
scenery; the kind of which I am speaking grows in great numbers 
everywhere on the banks of the Amazons where the land is low. In 
the same places the curious Monguba tree (Bombax ceiba) is also 
plentiful; the dark-green bark of its huge tapering trunk, scored with 
grey, forming a conspicuous object. The principal palm-tree on the 
lowlands is the Jauari (Astryocaryum Jauari), whose stem, surrounded 
by whorls of spines, shoots up to a great height. On the borders of the 
island were large tracts of arrow-grass (Gynerium saccharoides), which 
bears elegant plumes of flowers, like those of the reed, and grows to a 
height of twenty feet, the leaves arranged in a fan-shaped figure near 
the middle of the stem. I was surprised to find on the higher parts of 
the sandbank the familiar foliage of a willow (Salix Humboldtiana). It 
is a dwarf species, and grows in patches resembling beds of osiers; as 
in the English willows, the leaves were peopled by small chrysomelideous 
beetles. In wandering about, many features reminded me of the sea- 
shore. Flocks of white gulls were flying overhead, uttering their well- 
known cry, and sandpipers coursed along the edge of the water. Here 
and there lonely wading-birds were stalking about; one of these, the 
Curicaca (Ibis melanopis), flew up with a loud cackling noise, and was 
soon joined by a unicorn bird (Palamedea cornuta), which I startled’ up 
from amidst the bushes, whose harsh screams, resembling the bray of a 
jackass, but shriller, disturbed unpleasantly the solitude of the place. 
Amongst the willow bushes were. flocks of a handsome bird belonging 
to the Icteridz or troupial family, adorned with a rich plumage of black 
and saffron-yellow. I spent some time watching an assemblage of a 
