32 LIFE OF 



as to stately palms and birds taking possession of newly- 

 formed oceanic land ; at any rate, here were only two 

 species of sea birds, no plants, and the fauna was com- 

 pleted by a number of insects and spiders of no very 

 exalted habits. Fernando Noronha was passed on 

 February 2oth, and at last the South American conti- 

 nent was reached. 



On February zgth, at Bahia, Darwin describes his first 

 day in a Brazilian forest, in a passage which is of special 

 interest. "The day has passed delightfully. Delight itself, 

 however, is a weak term to express the feelings of a 

 naturalist who, for the first time, has wandered by him- 

 self in a Brazilian forest. The elegance of the grasses, 

 the novelty of the parasitical plants, the beauty of the 

 flowers, the glossy green of the foliage, but, above all, 

 the general luxuriance of the vegetation, filled me with 

 admiration. A most paradoxical mixture of sound and 

 silence pervades the shady parts of the wood. The noise 

 from the insects is so loud that it may be heard even in 

 a vessel anchored several hundred yards from the shore ; 

 yet within the recesses of the forest a universal silence 

 appears to reign. To a person fond of natural history, 

 such a day as this brings with it a deeper pleasure than 

 he can ever hope to experience again." 



Arriving at Rio de Janeiro early in April, Darwin made 

 several excursions into the interior during the following 

 three months. On these expeditions it was rarely indeed 

 that decent accommodation could be procured at the 

 inns. " On first arriving," he says, " it was our custom 

 to unsaddle the horses and give them their Indian corn ; 

 then, with a low bow, to ask the senhor to do us the 



