156 THE TOCANTINS. Chap. 17. 



town in England. To him also I was indebted for 

 many acts of kindness. 



The rocinha was situated near a broad grassy road 

 bordered by lofty woods, which leads from Gamete to 

 the Aldeia, a village two miles distant. My first walks 

 were along this road. From it branches another similar, 

 but still more picturesque road, which runs to Curima 

 and Pacaja, two small settlements, several miles dis- 

 tant, in the heart of the forest. The Curima road is 

 beautiful in the extreme. About half a mile from the 

 house where I lived it crosses a brook flowing through 

 a deep dell, by means of a long rustic wooden bridge. 

 The virgin forest is here left untouched ; numerous 

 groups of slender palms, mingled with lofty trees over- 

 run with creepers and parasites, fill the shady glen and 

 arch over the bridge, forming one of the most pic- 

 turesque scenes imaginable. On the sunny slopes near 

 this place, I found a great number of new and curious 

 insects. A little beyond the bridge there was an exten- 

 sive grove of orange and other trees, which also yielded 

 me a rich harvest. The Aldeia road runs parallel to 

 the river, the land from the border of the road to the 

 indented shore of the Tocantins forming a long slope, 

 which was also richly wooded ; this slope was threaded 

 by numerous shady paths and abounded in beautiful 

 insects and birds. At the opposite or southern end of 

 the town there was a broad road called the Estrada da 

 Yacaria ; this ran along the banks of the Tocantins at 

 some distance from the river, and continued over hill 

 and dale, through bamboo thickets and palm swamps, 

 for about fifteen miles. 



