Chap. II. PRIMiEVAL FOREST. 65 



day and night always of equal length, the atmospheric 

 disturbances of each day neutralising themselves before 

 each succeeding morn ; with the sun in its course 

 proceeding mid-way across the sky and the daily tem- 

 perature the same within two or three degi'ees through- 

 out the year — how grand in its perfect equilibrium 

 and simplicity is the march of Nature under the 

 equator ! 



Our evenings were generally fully employed pre- 

 serving our collections, and making notes. We dined 

 at four, and took tea about seven o'clock. Sometimes 

 we walked to the city to see" Brazilian life or enjoy the 

 pleasures of European and American society. And so 

 the time passed away from June loth to August 26th. 

 During this period we made two excursions of greater 

 length to the rice and sawMnills of Magoary, an estab- 

 lishment o^vned by an American gentleman, Mr. Upton, 

 situated on the banks of a creek in the heart of the 

 forest, about 12 miles from Para. I will narrate some 

 of the incidents of these excursions, and give an account 

 of the more interesting observations made on the 

 Natural History and inhabitants of these interior creeks 

 and forests. 



Our first trip to the mills was by land. The creek on 

 whose banks they stand, the Iritiri, communicates with the 

 river Para, through another larger creek, the Magoary ; 

 so that there is a passage by water ; but this is about 

 20 miles round. We started at sunrise, taking Isidore 

 with us. The road plunged at once into the forest after 

 leaving Nazareth, so that in a few minutes we were 

 enveloped in shade. For some distance the woods 



VOL. I. F 



