216 POPULAR GEOGRAPHY OF PLANTS. 



treasures of Brazil (not its gold or its diamonds, but its 

 flowers), we ought to commence our tour at Eio de Janeiro, 

 which lies just on the southern limit of this zone; but 

 having passed over in a straight line from Chuquito and 

 the Lake of Titicaca, we find ourselves, unfortunately with 

 regard to this design, on the northern instead of the south- 

 ern boundary of the zone, and far enough away from Eio de 

 Janeiro. 



Our only expedient in this dilemma will be to make our 

 way at once to the shores of the Atlantic, and then coast 

 along Brazil in a southerly direction, a necessity which we 

 do not regret, as we shall thus be able to contrast the coast 

 vegetation of Brazil with what we have lately seen on the 

 shores of the Pacific. And no greater contrast can there 

 well be than that which we find to exist between the sterility 

 which, for the most part, characterizes the western coast, 

 and the luxuriant vegetation which now refreshes our eyes, 

 and everywhere clothes the shores which are washed by the 

 waves of the Atlantic. 



Glad are we that we decided to approach Eio de Janeiro 

 by sea. The range of wooded, undulating hills, which after 

 we pass Cape Trio stretches for some seventy miles along 

 the coast, crowned here and there with Palms, which stand 



