166 ATABAPO AND UPPEK KIO NEGEO. 



followed in the line of march, and, althongh unencumbered 

 with burdens and walking briskly, making the distance 

 of over three leagues in as many hours, all of the carriers, 

 excepting a couple Avho were detained by the giving way 

 of their load, reached Pimichin some time before us. 



A short distance fi-om the village we entered the dense 

 forest, and were surprised to see the magnificent growth 

 of the trees as compared with the dwarfed vegetation upon 

 the submerged lands of the Temi and Atabapo. Grow- 

 ing along the path was the beautiful Cucurito palm, the 

 Inaja of the Portuguese {Maximilimia regia), and hairy 

 stems of the Piassaba {Zeopoldinia JPlassaba) were inter- 

 spersed throughout the forest. In these humid woods and 

 sombre shades, where scarcely a sunbeam ever penetrates, 

 but two species of flowers were found,* excejiting a few 

 that had fallen from stately trees high above our heads ; 

 bnt our herbarium received many curious and interesting 

 ferns and mosses which carpeted the earth, and covered 

 the trunks and branches of the trees. We remember 

 seeing nowhere in such numbers the large, blue Morphos, 

 that gigantic butterfly which so attracts the attention of 

 travellers in the tropics. Other beautiful insects fluttered 

 plentifully about us, for it was now the dry season at Javi- 

 ta, the time when they are the most abundant. The in- 

 habitants of this district enjoy for three or four months 

 an unclouded sky and most delightful weather. This, 

 however, is not true lower down on the Rio Xegro, where 

 rains are constant throughout the year, so that often for 

 days and weeks at a time the heavens are obscured with 

 clouds, and falling vapors saturate the earth. We experi- 



* Voyria Jlavescens and T". nuda., little plants from four to six inches 

 high, with yellow and white flowers. They are among the few repre- 

 sentative species of the floral kingdom that grow beneath the dense forest 

 of the tropics. We fovmd^thera upon the mountains of Valencia, and 

 also in the deep woods of the Rio Negro. 



