3*^6 APPENDIX. 



tinent opposite the island of St. Catharine's are 

 not very liigh, none of us ever succeeded in 

 reaching the top of one of them. The principal 

 cause was the impenetrable wood ; we could 

 only ascend as far as the slaves had opeaed a 

 way with the axe, for fetching wood ; if we at- 

 tempted to go farther, we soon found ourselves 

 raised above the ground, and suspended upon a 

 texture of climbing plants. For in the same manner 

 as the plants of TenerifFe showed a tendency to 

 arborescence, the vegetation in Brazil was re- 

 markably disposed to the rampant and climbing 

 character. Among the two hundred and thirty- 

 seven kinds of plants, which we collected here, 

 were one hundred and twenty-eight Dicotyle- 

 dones, sixty-nine Monocotyledones^ and forty 

 Filices. The proportion of the Dicolytedones to 

 the Monocotyledones is therefore two to one. 

 The number of the Filices is very remarkable, 

 being to that of the Phenogamous plants, as one 

 to five. 



On the 2d of January, 1816, we saw, to the 

 north of Cape Victoria, on the coast of Chili, great 

 numbers of animals of the dolphin kind swimming 

 in the sea. They were distinguished by having 

 no dorsal fins j and, in swimming, very much re- 

 semble sharks, on account of their large pectoral 

 fins. They have a pretty long snout ; the upper 

 half of their body is brown, and the under Iialf 

 white. They did not swim as fast as dolphins. 



