113 



" Santarem, January, 1850. 



" Thanks for the hints about Arums : Santarem is not the place for 

 this tribe any more than for the ferns. The delta of the Amazon is 

 more rich in fenis than any place 1 have since seen, and had I gone 

 to Marajo instead of coming up here, I might have done better in 

 both ferns and forest trees ; but I was desirous to get into an Orchis 

 country, if such existed. Now, however, I have traversed, from the 

 mouth of the Amazon, a tract extending through from 700 to 800 

 miles, and I am compelled to conclude that it is the reverse of rich 

 in Orchideae. It is not their utter absence that I complain of, but 

 their want of variety. Here up to Topajor are old low trees, filled 

 with orchises, but all are of two species ; in the neighbourhood of San- 

 tarem I have seen in all three species ; 1 got a few up the Trombetas, 

 but only two or three that looked at all promising. In other tribes of 

 plants I confess to have been disappointed to see the flowers in gene- 

 ral so small : in the tropics we look for everything on a gigantic scale, 

 but here the flowers are rarely striking for their magnitude, although 

 the plants that bear them are." 



"I have seen no place yet with a vegetation so varied as that of 

 Santarem, or where I can gather more species in a ramble. The 

 campos, that seemed burned up in summer, are now assuming a new 

 vegetation ; and that not an annual one, but of plants whose roots 

 have all the while been buried under the sand. In April and May 

 they are said to be brilliant with flowers. I may hope, too, for a fair 

 proportion of novelty, for the ground must be very imperfectly known. 

 Martins is said to have been sick, from his half-drowning, whilst he 

 remained here, and at Obidos he made no stay at all. From what I 

 have seen, the south side of the Amazon has a much more varied 

 vegetation than the north side : and 1 was disappointed at Obidos to 

 find the mass of plants quite the same as at Para." 



" Santarem, April, 1850. 

 " When I arrived at Santarem last October, I hired the only house 

 that was vacant, for houses are more scarce here than elsewhere in the 

 province ; but it suits me very well, for it has a spacious verandah at 

 the back, where we could work at our plants, and a paved yard, where 

 we could spread our paper, &c., to dry. The adjoining. house was 

 tenanted by a single man, and we were very quiet ; but when we 

 returned from Obidos we found it tenanted by a family, from several 

 days up the Topajor, including amongst them, besides children, seve- 

 ral slaves, big and little, numbers of fowls, turkeys, guinea-fowls, 

 Vol. IV. Q 



