THE NATURALIST ON THE RIVER AMAZONS. 



631 



3Vfr. Miller's rocinha, we heard of another 

 similar country-house to be let, much better 

 situated for our purpose, in the village of 

 Nazareth, a mile and a half from the city, 

 and close to the forest. The owner was an 

 old Portuguese gentleman named Danin, who 

 lived at his tile manufactory at the mouth of 

 the Una, a small river lying: two miles below 

 Para. We resolved to walk to his place 

 through the forest, a distance of three miles, 

 although the road was said to be scarcely 

 passable at this season of the year, and the 

 Una much more easily accessible by boat. 

 We were glad, however, of this early oppor- 

 tunity of traversing the rich swampy forest, 

 which we had admired so much from the 

 deck of the ship ; so, about eleven o'clock 

 -one sunny morning, after procuring the 

 necessary information about the road, we set 

 off in that direction. This part of the forest 

 afterward became one of my best hunting- 

 grounds. I will narrate the incidents of the 

 walk, giving my first impressions and some 

 remarks on the wonderful vegetation. The 

 forest is very similar on most of the low 

 lands, and therefore one description will do 

 for all. 



On leaving the town, we walked along a 

 straight suburban road, constructed above 

 the level of the surrounding land. It had 

 low swampy ground on each side, built upon, 

 however, and containing several spacious 

 rocinhas, which were embowered in magnifi- 

 cent foliage. Leaving the last of these, we 

 arrived at a part where the lofty forest tow- 

 ered up like a wall, five or six yards from the 

 edge of the path, to the height of, probably, 

 100 feet. The tree trunks were only seen 

 partially here and there, nearly the 'whole 

 frontage from ground to summit being cov- 

 ered with a diversified draper}' of creeping 

 plants, all of the most vivid shades of green ; 

 scarcely a flower to be seen, except in some 

 places a solitary scarlet passion-flower, set in 

 the green mantle like a star. The low 

 ground on the borders, between the forest 

 wall and the road, was incumbered with a 

 tangled mass of bushy and shrubby vegeta- 

 tion, among which prickly mimosas were 

 Very numerous, covering the other bushes in 

 the same way as brambles do in England. 

 Oilier dwarf mimosas trailed along the 

 pound close to the edge of the road, shrink- 

 ing at the slightest touch of the feet as we 

 j.> tssed by. Cassia-trees, witii their elegant 

 pinnate foliage and conspicuous yellow flow- 

 ers, formed a great proportion of the lower 

 liees, and arborescent aruns grew in groups 

 around the swampy hollows. Over the 

 whole fluttered a larger number of brilliantly- 

 colored butterflies than we had yet seen ; 

 some wholly orange or yellow (Callidryas), 

 others with excessively elongated wings, sail- 

 ing horizontally through the air, colored 

 black, and varied with blue, red, and yellow 

 (Heliconii). One magnificent grassy-green 

 species (Colsenis Dido) especially attracted 

 our attention. Near the ground hovered 

 many other smaller species very similar in 

 appearance to those found at home, attracted. 



by the flowers of numerous leguminous and 

 other shrubs. Besides butterflies, there were 

 few other insects except dragon-flies, which 

 were in great numbers, similar in shape to 

 English species, but some of them looking 

 conspicuously diffeient on account of their 

 fiery red colors. 



After stopping a long time to examine and 

 admire, we at length walked onward. The 

 road then ascended slightly, and the soil and 

 vegetation became suddenly altered in char- 

 acter. The shrubs here were grasses, low 

 sedges and other plants, smaller in foliage 

 than those growing in moist grounds. The 

 forest was second growth, low, consisting of 

 trees which had the general aspect of laurels 

 and other evergreens in our gardens at 

 home : the leaves glossy and dark green. 

 Some of them were elegantly veined and 

 hairy (MelastomiB), while many, scattered 

 among the rest, had smaller foliage (Myrtles). 

 but these were not sufficient to subtract much 

 rom the general character of the whole. 



The sun now, for we had loitered long on. 

 the road, was exceedingly powerful. The 

 day was most brilliant ; the sky without a 

 cloud. In fact it was one of those glorious 

 days which announce the commencement of 

 the dry season. The radiation of heat .from 

 the sandy ground was visible by the quiver- 

 ing motion of the air above it. We saw or 

 heard no mammals or birds ; a few cattle 

 belonging to an estate down a shady lane 

 were congregated, panting, under a cluster 

 of wide-spreading trees. The very soil was 

 hot to our feet, and we hastened onward to 

 the shade of the forest, which we could see 

 not far ahead. At "length, on entering it, what 

 a relief ! We found ourselves in a moder- 

 ately broad pathway or alley, where the 

 branches of the trees crossed overhead and 

 produced a delightful shade. The woods 

 were at first of recent growth, dense, and 

 utterly impenetrable ; the ground, instead of 

 being clothed with grass and shrubs as in the 

 woods of Europe, was everywhere carpeted 

 with Lycopodiums (fern-shaped mosses). 

 Gradually the scene became changed. We 

 descended slightly from an elevated, dry, and 

 sandy area to a low and swampy one ; a cool 

 air breathed on our faces, and a mouldy 

 smell of rotting vegetation greeted us. The 

 trees were now taller, the underwood less 

 dense, and we could obtain glimpses into the 

 wilderness on all sides. The leafy crowns of 

 the trees, scarcely two of which could be seen 

 together of the same kind, were now far 

 away above us, in another world as it were. 

 We could only see at times, where there was 

 a break above, the tracery of the foliage 

 against the clear blue sky. Sometimes the 

 leaves were palmate, or of the shape of large 

 outstretched hands ; at others, finely cut or 

 feathery, like the leaves of Mimosse. Below, 

 the tree-trunks were everywhere linked to- 

 gether by sip6s ; the woody flexible stems 

 of climbing and creeping trees, whose foliage 

 is far away above, mingled with that of the 

 taller independent trees. Some were twisted 

 Hi strands like cables, others had thick stems 



