ARRIVAL AT RIO, AND JOURNEY TO QUELUZ. 23 



side of the Corcovado from the Largo dos Leoes,* where 

 the rock rises a sheer thousand feet above a mass of dense 

 forest. 



Decidedly the most interesting feature in these gardens 

 is the triple avenue of lofty palms (Oreodoxa oleraced]. The 

 avenues are arranged in the shape of a T> and the view I 

 give is of the centre walk the stem of the J. The palms 

 have a perfectly smooth straight trunk some eighty feet 

 high, crowned by a mass of leaves, each of which is twelve 

 feet long or more ; it is all on so large a scale that it was 

 only by seeing some people at a little distance coming 

 down the avenue that I could really take in its height. We 

 next came upon a number of mango and mangrove trees, 

 then some clumps of graceful bamboos forty feet high ; after 

 that, orange trees in fruit, the bread-fruit tree, and thou- 

 sands of plants with splendid and large leaves. Nearly all 

 the trees are covered with epiphytes, orchids, and luxuriant 

 hanging lichens. I noticed some butterflies, Papilio, Calli- 

 dryas, Pieris, Ithomice, a few Erycinida, and others I do 

 not know. 



To-day, having set my alarum for 3 a.m., I got up 

 early ; not, however, after my usual good night, which is 

 easily accounted for. First, it being the Feast of SS. Peter 

 and Paul, there were innumerable crackers and fireworks of 

 all kinds sent off in the street, which roused me every few 

 moments till midnight ; then some men close by started 

 singing in chorus, and kept it up till 4 a.m. ; a mosquito 

 also found me out, and was disagreeable, and I discovered 

 in the morning where he came from. Emptying the 

 remains of the water-jug into the basin, I had the pleasure 

 of seeing, besides a lot of muddy sediment, a dozen lively 

 mosquito larvae ! 



* Lion Square. 



