1832.] SCENERY AND CLIMATE. 27 



extremity of which, even after death, can support the whole weight 

 of the body. One of them thus remained fast to a branch, and it 

 was necessary to cut down a large tree to procure it. This was 

 soon effected, and down came tree and monkey with an awful 

 crash. Our day's sport, besides the monkey, was confined to 

 sundry small green parrots and a few toucans. I profited, however, 

 by my acquaintance with the Portuguese padre, for on another 

 occasion he gave me a fine specimen of the Yagouaroundi cat. 



Every one has heard of the beauty of the scenery near Botofogo. 

 The house in which I lived was seated close beneath the well- 

 known mountain of the Corcovado. It has been remarked, with 

 much truth, that abruptly conical hills are characteristic of the 

 formation which Humboldt designates as gneiss-granite. Nothing 

 can be more striking than the effect of these huge rounded masses 

 of naked rock rising out of the most luxuriant vegetation. 



I was often interested by watching the clouds, which, rolling in 

 from seaward, formed a bank just beneath the highest point of the 

 Corcovado. This mountain, like most others, when thus partly 

 veiled, appeared to rise to a far prouder elevation than its real 

 height of 2300 feet. Mr. Daniell has observed, in his meteoro- 

 logical essays, that a cloud sometimes appears fixed on a mountain 

 summit, while the wind continues to blow over it. The same 

 phenomenon here presented a slightly different appearance. In 

 this case the cloud was clearly seen to curl over, and rapidly pass 

 by the summit, and yet was neither diminished nor increased in 

 size. The sun was setting, and a gentle southerly breeze, striking 

 against the southern side of the rock, mingled its current with the 

 colder air above ; and the vapour was thus condensed ; but as the 

 light wreaths of cloud passed over the ridge, and came within 

 the influence of the warmer atmosphere of the northern sloping 

 bank, they were immediately re-dissolved. 



The climate, during the months of May and June, or the 

 beginning of winter, was delightful. The mean temperature, from 

 observations taken at nine o'clock, both morning and evening, was 

 only 72. It often rained heavily, but the drying southerly winds 

 soon again rendered the walks pleasant. One morning, in the 

 course of six hours, 1-6 inches of rain fell. As this storm passed 

 over the forests which surround the Corcovado, the sound pro- 

 duced by the drops pattering on the countless multitude of leaves 

 was very remarkable; it could be heard at the distance of a 



