95 



which is about two miles in extent, the ascent becomes rather steep. 

 At this time it was about 9 a.m., and the rays of the sun, proceed- 

 ing from a cloudless sky, were very powerful ; but a short distance 

 brought us within the cool shade of the dense forest which skirts the 

 sides of the Corcovado, and through which our path lay. In the val- 

 ley we saw some very large trees of a thorny-stemmed Bombax, but 

 they were then destitute both of leaves and flowers, nearly all the trees 

 of this tribe being deciduous. There we also passed under the shade 

 of a very large solitary tree, which overhangs the road, and is well 

 known by the name of the Pao Grande. It is the Jequetiba of the 

 Brazilians, and the Couratari legalis of Martius. Considerably fur- 

 ther up, and on the banks of a small stream that descends from the 

 mountain, we found several curious Dorstenias, and many delicate 

 species of ferns. We also added here to our collections fine speci- 

 mens of the tree-fern (Trichopteris excelsa) which was the first of the 

 kind 1 had yet seen. The forests here exhibited all the characteris- 

 tics of tropical vegetation. The rich black soil, which has been form- 

 ing for centuries in the broad ravines from the decay of leaves, &c, 

 is covered with herbaceous ferns, Dorstenias, Heliconias, Bejonias, 

 and other plants which love shade and humidity ; while above these 

 rise the tall and graceful tree-ferns, and the noble palms, the large 

 leaves of which tremble in the slightest breeze. But it is the gigantic 

 forest trees themselves which produce the strongest impression on the 

 mind of a stranger. How I felt the truth of the observation of Hum- 

 boldt, that when a traveller newly arrived from Europe penetrates for 

 the first time into the forests of South America, Nature presents itself 

 to him under such an unexpected aspect, that he can scarcely distin- 

 guish which most excites his admiration, the deep silence of those 

 solitudes, the individual beauty and contrast of forms, or that vigour 

 and freshness of vegetable life which characterize the climate of the 

 tropics. What first claims attention is the great size of the trees, 

 their thickness, and the height to which they rear their unbranched 

 stems. 



" Then, in place of the few mosses and lichens which cover the 

 trunks and boughs of the forest trees of temperate climes, here they 

 are bearded from the roots to the very extremities of the smallest 

 branches, with ferns, Aroidese, Tillandsias, Cacti, Orchideae, Gesneriae, 

 and other epiphytous plants. Besides these, many of the large trunks 

 are encircled with the twining stems of Bignonias, and shrubs of simi- 

 lar habit, the branches of which frequently become thick, and com- 

 press the tree so much that it perishes in the too close embrace. 



