BRAZIL. 7 



groups ; Bromei'Kv, Orchidew, pepper, crown the 

 rocks J and ferns and lichens cover tracts of dry 

 sand. The soil, abandoned by agriculture, is soon 

 covered with thick bnshes, among which beautiful 

 species of Melastoma are distinguished. 



The habitations of man lie under orange groves, 

 at the foot of the mountains ; and on the shore, sur- 

 rounded with plantations of pisang, coffee, cotton, 

 &c. and by inclosures, where many of our garden 

 plants, which have been parasitically followed by 

 various species of European weeds, are culti- 

 vated in obscurit}'. The melon-tree, (Carica pa- 

 paya^) which here shoots up in a high stem, and the 

 Coquero*^ a kind of cocoa, with fusiform stem, and 

 small fruit, overtop them. The genuine cocoa-palm, 

 which grows between the tropics, does not flourish 

 here. The Brazil or Pernambuco-wood (Ca'salpina 

 echinata) enriches only more northern provinces, 

 and the Pilifera testiculata Bress, should probably be 

 likewise sought for more to the north. This is the 

 interesting, still imperfectly known plant, the 

 spatha of which furnishes the natural caps which 

 are represented in Seba, (1 Tab. 3. fig. d.,) and may 

 be seen in many collections. 



The animal kingdom does not offer less riches, 

 less luxuriance, than the vegetable kingdom. In 

 harmony with the character of the vegetation, the 



* There is said to be in this part a palm oF tliis kind, the 

 trunk of which is parted, and bears a double crown. Our 

 time did not allow us to visit this tree. 



B 4 



