3o6 NOTES OF A NATURALIST. 



determined to leave the steamer, and find my way by 

 land to Rio Janeiro. 



Santos is an ancient place which had long remained 

 obscure, until the great development .of coffee-cultiva- 

 tion in South Brazil, and the construction of a railway 

 to the interior, have made it the most advantageous 

 port for the shipment to Europe of that important 

 product. It lies at the mouth of an inconsiderable 

 stream that enters the head of the bay. Seen from 

 the sea, it appears to be backed by a range of lofty, 

 flat-topped hills, but, in truth, these are no more than 

 the seaward face of the great plateau which extends 

 through a considerable part of the province of San 

 Paulo. Although Santos is placed a few miles south 

 of the Tropic of Capricorn, the aspect of the vegetation 

 is completely tropical ; and if a stranger were in 

 doubt, the fringe of cocoa-nut palms on the shores of 

 the bay would completely reassure him. Although 

 the thermometer on board ship did not rise above 

 6^°, the air seemed to us, arriving from the south, 

 very warm, and we were surprised to hear the com- 

 pany's agent, when he came on board, complain that 

 he had found the Vv^ater in his bath uncomfortably 

 chilly. 



I landed with a young German fellow-traveller who, 

 like myself, intended to proceed to San Paulo ; and, 

 as we found that the train was not to start for three 

 hours, we occupied the time in ascending the nearest 

 hill. It was now nearly three months since I had 

 enjoyed a glimpse of true tropical vegetation in the 

 forest of Buenaventura, and the interest and delight 

 of this renewed experience can never be forgotten. 



