TROPICAL RAINS. 15 



adoxical mixture of sound and silence pervades the 

 shady parts of the wood. The noise from the in- 

 sects is so loud, that it may he heard even in a ves- 

 sel anchored several hundred yards from the shore; 

 yet within the recesses of the forest a universal si- 

 lence appears to reign. To a person fond of nat- 

 ural history, such a day as this brings with it a 

 deeper pleasure than he can ever hope to experi- 

 ence again. After wandering about for some hours, 

 I returned to the landing-place; but, before reach- 

 ing 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 com- 

 mon English rain ; but here, in a couple of min- 

 utes, 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 climate, 

 the greater part would be absorbed or evaporated 

 before it reached the ground. I will not at pres- 

 ent attempt to describe the gaudy scenery of this 

 noble bay, becavise, in our homeward voyage, we 

 called here a second time, and I shall then have oc- 

 casion to remark on it. 



Along the whole coast of Brazil, for a length of 

 at least 2000 miles, and certainly for a considera- 

 ble space inland, wherever solid rock occurs, it be- 

 longs to a granitic formation. The circumstance of 

 this enormous area being constituted of inaterials 

 which most geologists believe to have been crystal- 

 lized when heated under pressure, gives rise to 

 many curious reflections. Was this effect produced 

 beneath the depths of a profound ocean 1 or did a 

 covering of strata formerly extend over it, which 

 has since been removed 1 Can we believe that any 

 power, acting for a time short of infinity, could have 

 denuded the granite over so many thousand sauare 

 leaeiip?: ? 



