xix] "IN MEMORIAM" 291 



meditating (but cheerfully) upon the miseries of human 

 nature, I received notice of your arrival in the Barra. 



" So you have at last gained that ■ lodge ' so long pic- 

 tured in the vista of imagination. You are at last in that 

 Promised Land — a land flowing with caxac.a and farinha ; l 

 a land where a man may literally, and safely, sleep without 

 breeches — a luxury which must be enjoyed to be appreciated. 



" I am now waiting for a passage to Para, from thence to 

 return to England. There is a vessel caulking here I expect 

 will go in two or three weeks. I have a small collection of 

 birds and butterflies, but new species of the latter are very 

 scarce. 



****** 



" The Christmas festa is now over, and this little village 

 has resumed its wonted tranquillity. I suppose you intend 

 soon to proceed up the Rio Negro ; no doubt my brother is 

 now glorying in ornithological rarities, and revelling amid 

 the sweets of lepidopterous loveliness. But enough ! A 

 little while and the wintry sea is roaring around my pillow ; 

 then shall I envy you in your snug redes far from the restless 

 billow; then, whilst vainly endeavouring to swallow pre- 

 served salmon or other ship luxury, I shall long for my 



Amazonian appetite and roasted pirarucu ; then But I 



will not anticipate hours which are inevitable. I hope your- 

 self and Mr. King are in good health. In this respect I have 

 no cause to complain. Wishing you both a prosperous and a 

 pleasant time, I must now remain, 



"Yours sincerely, 



"Edward Wallace." 



It is evident from this letter that the usual dilatoriness 

 and difficulties of Amazonian travel delayed his arrival at 

 Para about four months beyond the time he calculated on. 

 The answer to the enigma in the first letter, which he says he 

 has enclosed, I did not receive ; but I have no doubt it is as 

 follows : " Because it is a corpse (copse) sloping away from 



1 Native rum and mandioca meal. 



