2 PAEA. Chap. I. 



companion and myself, both now about to see and ex- 

 amine the beauties of a tropical country for the first 

 time, gazed on the land, where I, at least, eventually 

 spent eleven of the best years of my life. To the east- 

 Avard the country was not remarkable m appearance, 

 being slightly undulating, with bare sand-hills and scat- 

 tered trees ; but to the westward, stretching towards 

 the mouth of the river, we could see through the 

 captain's glass a long line of forest, rising apparently 

 out of the water ; a densely-packed mass of tall trees, 

 broken into groups, and finally into single trees, as it 

 dwindled away in the distance. This was the frontier, 

 in this direction, of the great primaeval forest character- 

 istic of this region, which contains so many wonders in 

 its recesses, and clothes the whole surface of the country 

 for two thousand miles from this point to the foot of the 

 Andes. 



On the following day and night we sailed, with a 

 light wind, partly aided by the tide, up the Para river. 

 Towards evening we passed Vigia and Colares, two 

 fishing villages, and saw many native canoes, which 

 seemed like toys beneath the lofty walls of dark forest. 

 The air Avas excessively close, the sky overcast, and 

 sheet lightning played almost incessantly around the 

 horizon, an appropriate greeting on the threshold of a 

 country lying close under the equator ! The evening 

 was calm, this being the season when the winds are not 

 strong, so we glided along in a noiseless manner, which 

 contrasted pleasantly with the unceasing turmoil to 

 which we had been lately accustomed on the Atlantic. 

 The immensity of the river struck us greatly, for 



