24 SANTAREM. Chap. I. 



long, glossy, dark-green leaves, fresh and succulent 

 even in the most arid seasons, and white jasmine-like 

 flowers, forms the greatest decoration of these solitary 

 places. The bark, leaves, and leaf-stalks, yield a co- 

 pious supply of milky sap, which the natives use very 

 generally as plaister in local inflammations, laying the 

 liquid on the skin with a brush, and covering the place 

 with cotton. I have known it to work a cure in many 

 cases ; but, perhaps, the good effect is attributable to 

 the animal heat drawn to the place by the pad of 

 cotton. The milk flows most freely after the occa- 

 sional heavy rains in the intervals between the dry 

 and wet seasons ; it then spurts out with great force 

 from any part of the tree if hacked with a knife in 

 passing. 



The appearance of the campos changes very much 

 according to the season. There is not that grand uni- 

 formity of aspect throughout the year which is observed 

 in the virgin forest, and which makes a deeper im- 

 pression on the naturalist the longer he remains in 

 this country. The seasons in this part of the Amazons 

 region are sharply contrasted, but the difference is not 

 so great as in some tropical countries, where, during the 

 dry monsoon, insects and reptiles asstivate, and the trees 

 simultaneously shed their leaves. As the dry season 

 advances (August, September), the grass on the campos 

 withers, and the shrubby vegetation near the town 

 becomes a mass of parched yellow stubble. The period, 

 however, is not one of general torpidity or repose for 

 animal or vegetable life. Birds certainly are not so 

 numerous as in the wet season, but some kinds remain 



