TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 209 



impenetrable thicket, amidst which grow immense 

 stems of the silk cotton tree (bombax), of silver- 

 leaved cecropia, thorny Brazil wood tree, of the 

 lecythis, with its singular fruit resembling a pitcher, 

 slender stems of the cabbage-palm, and many other, 

 in part still unnamed, sovereigns of the woods. 

 The majestic sight, the repose and silence of these 

 woods, interrupted only by the buzz of the gay 

 humming-birds fluttering from flower to flower, 

 and by the singular notes of unknown birds and 

 insects, peculiarly affect the mind of the man of 

 sensibility, who feels himself as it were regenerated 

 in the prospect of the glorious country. 



The stream, which the aqueduct conveys to the 

 city, falls in one place in beautiful cascades over the 

 granite rocks. Oblique-leaved begonias, slender 

 costus, and heliconias, the red flower-stems of 

 which shine with peculiar splendour, contrasted 

 with the gloom of the forest, arborescent ferns 

 and grasses, hanging bushes of vernonias, myrtles, 

 and melastomas, bending under a load of blossoms, 

 adorn the cool spots that surround them. Large 

 and small winged butterflies play with the rippling 

 water ; and birds of the gayest plumage contend, 

 morning and evening, to overcome the noise of the 

 brook by their diverse notes. This fountain is 

 called Caryoca *, and the natives of the province 



* Caryoca, properly Caryb-oca, signifies, in the language of 

 the native Brazilians, House of the Whites, House of Stone ; 

 and was probably the name given by the Indians to the dwell- 



VOL. L P 



