348 
miles from the place whence we started, the 
ascent becomes rather steep, so that the 
ladies were obliged to proceed on foot. At 
this time it was about 9 A. M., and the rays 
of the sun, proceeding from a cloudless 
sky, were very powerful; but a short dis- 
tance brought us under the cool shade of 
the dense forest which skirts the sides of 
the Corcovado, and through which the 
road passes. During the early part of our 
walk, we observed several large trees of a 
thorny-stemmed Bombaz, growing by the 
side of a rivulet in the Sarangeiras Valley. 
Further on were some shrubby Violacee, 
with small white flowers, and we also pick- 
ed a few insects, principally Coleoptere, 
from the leaves of some small bushes by 
the road-side. A considerable way further 
up, on the banks of a small stream that 
descends from the mountain, we found 
two species of Dorstenia that I had not 
previously seen, one of them the D. cera- 
tosanthus of Loddiges, the other had a si- 
milar kind of branched receptacle, while 
its entire foliage resembles that of D. ari- 
Jolia. Near this spot we added to our 
collection fine specimens of the beautiful 
Tree- Fern. (Trichopteris excelsa), which 
grew in great abundance under the shade 
of lofty forest-trees; while herbaceous 
Ferns are numerous by the side of the 
stream. The forests here exhibited all the 
characteristics of tropical vegetation. The 
rich black soil which has been forming for 
centuries from the decay of leaves, &c. is 
covered with Ferns, and many species of 
Dorstenia, Heleconia, and Bignonia, to- 
gether with other herbaceous plants ; while 
above these again, wave the graceful Tree 
Ferns, and the noble Palms, their fronds 
trembling in the slightest breeze, bow as 
if to greet the stranger who passes beneath 
their shadow. But it is the large forest- 
trees themselves which produce the strong- 
est impression on the mind of a native of 
the Old World. Their thickness, and the 
great height to which they rear their un- 
branched stems first claim his attention. 
Then, in place of the few Mosses and Li- 
chens that cover the trunk and boughs of 
his own country’s woods, here they are 
BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 
bearded from their roots to the very tij 
of the smallest branches, with Ferns, A- - 
roidee, Tillandsie, Cacti, Orchidee, and 
many other epiphytous and parasiti 
plants. Besides these, the trunks of many — 
are encircled with the twining stems ol 
climbing Bignonias, and other plants of 
similar habit, the branches of which fre- | 
quently become thick, and compress the . 
tree so much, that it perishes in the too — 
close embrace. Those climbers, again, - 
which merely ascend the trunk, supporting — 
themselves by their numerous small roots — 
often -become detached after reaching the — 
boughs, and the whole mass then presents js 
the aspect of a ship's mast, supported by — 
its stays. These rope-like twiners and - 
creeping plants, passing from tree to igs i 
1 1: p E 1 PNECOREC M n 
and ascending again to other bougbs; iu- - 
termingle themselves in a thousand ways, a 
and render a passage through some parts p 
of the woods both difficult and annoying. — 
* Having reached, by mid-day, the le- ; 
vel on which the water from the aqueduct : 
is brought from the Pinheiras, we contie — 
nued our walk along it for upwards of two | 
miles. Our progress, however, was i ; 
from the number of new objects contini- — 
ally claiming our attention. In damp | 
shady spots by the side of the aqueduct, — 
grew Nasturtium officinale, 
rocks Marchantia polymorpha, Fi unana : 
juniperinum, 
acquaintances, 
thoughts of home. 
Bignonia grow on the 
sheltered rocks ; one species, 
flowers, and leaves as large as ; 
Petasites vulgaris, vegetating 0n 9 damp | 
acclivity, together with a large Heliconit; 
proved a striking object. The stem?" 
some were ten feet high; B. argyrostigm. 
was the most common kind. I saw v7. 
truncatus for the first time in its wild state, 
on the face of a bare dry rock, but it Me 
not in blossom. While gathering Puy 
chum juniperinum, I bad a narrow i 
from a large and poisonous snake ; 1 d p 
it in my hand along with the tuft j 
