1832.] BAHIA BRAZIL. 11 



The whole island is covered with wood ; but from the dryuess of 

 the climate there is no appearance of luxuriance. Half-way up the 

 mountain, some great masses of the columnar rock, shaded by 

 laurel-like trees, and ornamented by others covered with fine pink 

 flowers but without a single leaf, gave a pleasing effect to the 

 nearer parts of the scenery. 



BAHIA, OR SAN SALVADOR. BRAZIL, Feb. 29</i. The day has 

 passed delightfully. Delight itself, however, is a weak term to 

 express the feelings of a naturalist who, for the first time, has 

 wandered by himself in a Brazilian forest. The elegance of the 

 grasses, the novelty of the parasitical plants, the beauty of the 

 flowers, the glossy green of the foliage, but above all the general 

 luxuriance of the vegetation, filled me with admiration. A most 

 paradoxical mixture of sound and silence pervades the shady parts 

 of the wood. The noise from the insects is so loud, that it may be 

 heard even in a vessel anchored several hundred yards from the 

 shore; yet within the recesses of the forest a universal silence 

 appears to reign. To a person fond of natural history, such a day 

 as this brings with it a deeper pleasure than he can ever hope to 

 experience again. After wandering about for some hours, I re- 

 turned to the landing-place ; but, before reaching 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 common 

 English rain; but here, in a couple of minutes, 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 t 

 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 present attempt to describe the gaudy scenery of this 

 noble bay, because, in our homeward voyage, we called here a 

 second time, and I shall then have occasion to remark on it. 



Along the whole coast of Brazil, for a length of at least 2000 

 miles, and certainly for a considerable space inland, wherever 

 solid rock occurs, it belongs to a granitic formation. The circum- 

 stance of this enormous area being constituted of materials which 

 most geologists believe to have been crystallized when heated under 

 pressure, gives rise to many curious reflections. Was this effect 

 produced beneath the depths of a profound ocean ? or did a cover- 

 ing of strata formerly extend over it, which has since been removed? 

 Can we believe that any power, acting for a time short of infinity, 



