1832.] BAHIA BRAZIL. g 



yielding strata, which thus had formed the moulds for these gigantic 

 obelisks. The whole island is covered with wood ; but from the dryness 

 of the climate there is no appearance of luxuriance. Halfway up the 

 mountain, some great masses of the columnar rock, shaded by laurel- 

 like trees, and ornamented by others covered with fine pink flowers 

 but without a single leaf, gave a pleasing effect to the nearer parts of 

 the scenery. 



BAHIA, OR SAN SALVADOR. BRAZIL, Feb. zqth. 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 himself 

 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. After wandering about for some hours, I returned 

 to the landing-place; but, before reaching it, I was overtaken by a 

 tropical storm. I tried to find shelter under a tree, which was so thick 

 that it would never have been penetrated by common English rain ; 

 but here, in a couple of minutes, a little torrent flowed down the trunk." 

 It is to this violence of the rain that we must attribute the verdure at 

 the bottom of the thickest woods : if the showers were like those of a 

 colder clime, the greater part would be absorbed or evaporated before 

 it reached the ground. I will not at present attempt to describe the 

 gaudy scenery of this noble bay, because, in our homeward voyage, we 

 called here a second time, and I shall then have occasion to remark 

 on it. 



Along the whole coast of Brazil, for a length of at least 2,000 miles, 

 and certainly for a considerable space inland, wherever solid rock occurs, 

 it belongs to a granitic formation. The circumstance of this enormous 

 area being constituted of materials which most geologists believe to 

 have been crystallized when heated under pressure, gives rise to many 

 curious reflections. Was this effect produced beneath the depths of a 

 profound ocean ? or did a covering of strata formerly extend over it, 

 which has since been removed ? Can we believe that any power, 

 acting for a time short of infinity, could have denuded the granite over 

 so many thousand square leagues ? 



On a point not far from the city, where a rivulet entered the sea, I 

 observed a fact connected with a subject discussed by Humboldt.* At 

 the cataracts of the great rivers Orinoco, Nile, and Congo, the syenitic 

 rocks are coated by a black substance, appearing as if they had been 

 polished with plumbago. The layer is of extreme thinness; and on 

 analysis by Berzelius it was found to consist of the oxides of manganese 

 * " Personal Narrative.," vol. v., pt. L, p. 18. 



