322 Mr. W. A. Forbes on Eleveii Weeks 



i 



at first suggest glacial action ; but I am inclined to think that 

 in reality they are merely the beds of old streams which 

 formerly flowed down over them before the disappearance of 

 the forests on the hills around had reduced the rainfall, and 

 so caused their drying-up, I had no chance of shooting 

 before getting to Quipapa, though between that town and 

 Barra I fell in with a fine specimen of the much dreaded 

 Jararaca ( Trigonocephalus brasiliensis ?),a. rather rash attack on 

 which resulted in nothing further on my part than a narrow 

 escape from being bitten. 



Quipapa is distant 12 leagues from Palmares, on the 

 Piraugi, and is at an elevation of about 1450 feet above the 

 sea. The mean annual temperature is about 72°* 5 ¥., the 

 maximum being about 92° and the minimum 62°. For these 

 details I am indebted to my friend Mr. H. E. Weaver, an 

 English engineer who resides there, and who is chief of the 

 second section of the " Prolongamento.''^ He entertained me 

 most hospitably at his house for several days, and aided me 

 greatly in obtaining specimens of all kinds, as well as in other 

 ways. There is no high forest very close to Quipapa, though 

 there are still patches of it on the higher hills here, as else- 

 where. The lower slopes, where not cleared for sugar, are 

 covered with a rather thick growth of brushwood, in which, 

 particularly along the river, birds Avere rather abundant. 

 The weather too had now become markedly finer ; in fact, 

 since leaving Recife, hardly a drop of rain had fallen. Soon 

 after leaving Una I had made up my mind that any idea of 

 getting to the S. Francisco in the limited amount of time 

 (about a month) now at my disposal must be abandoned, as 

 I was due at Cambridge by the middle of October. I very 

 much regretted having to give up the Paulo Affonso, but 

 getting there and back in a month would have entailed 

 continual travelling, and I should have had no chance what- 

 ever of collecting. I therefore determined to go no further 

 than Garanhuns or thereabouts, staying en route at various 

 places to collect. At Quipapa I remained till September 6, 

 and then went on a few miles to a Brazilian friend living at 

 Vista Alegre, two houses in s valley off the main line of the 



