Insects. 27 17 



of the family Nymphalida: some fifteen different genera ! Then again 

 in the forest are the Morphoes : M. Laertes (1 think) is one blaze of 

 dazzling blue above. Of the nocturnal Lepidoptera there are plenty 

 of the family Sphingidae here, a great variety of them being found on 

 buildings, &c. ; and in the woods are a great number of different kinds 

 of ^Egeria and Anthrocera or Ino." 



" Para, February 24, 1849. 



" After returning from the ' Tocantins ' I remained here two months, 

 Wallace going to Marajo. It was then the height of the dry season. 

 The low parts of the forest close by, which are now under water, were 

 then passable, and I collected every day a splendid boxful of butter- 

 flies, besides other things, always taking something new ; and, in spite 

 of the furious heat of the sun and great fatigue, enjoyed myself 

 amazingly. These swampy woods, which in similar latitudes on other 

 continents breathe pestilence to Europeans, are here traversable with 

 the greatest pleasure : narrow pathways thread through dense groves 

 of palms; their fringed leaves, some twenty-five feet long, droop over, 

 and the magnificent foliage of the wild plantains contrasts beautifully 

 with their feathery leaves. Of course I lead rather a solitary life, only 

 occasionally visiting English friends in the evenings ; but I am always 

 busy collecting, setting, making notes, &c. T had the greatest diffi- 

 culty in getting to Carepi, being obliged to hire a passage in a Cameta 

 canoe of a villanous Portuguese, who first agreed to take me for two 

 milreas, and afterwards, when I had left my house and got my traps 

 down to the wharf, asked me three times the sum. However, on the 

 7lh of December, 1848, I was embarked once more on the waters of 

 the Amazon. The canoe was of the largest kind, 30 tons ; no cabin 

 or any convenience whatever : besides myself there were four other 

 passengers, — young Indian fellows going to a ' festa ' at Cameta, — 

 five sailors, and a runaway slave in irons. We crossed the channel 

 opposite to Para (three miles wide to the islands) at noon on the 7th, 

 and they put me ashore at Carepi about 3 p. M. the next day. I slept 

 in my clothes on deck all night. Landing at Carepi was a perilous 

 job: it is situated (one large house and huts of negroes) on a sandy 

 bay, in a part of the river clear of islands ; the tree tops of the island 

 of Marajo being just visible ten miles distant. From the city here 

 the passage lies through narrow channels, between islands with forest 

 scenery of the most glorious character conceivable. 



" Carepi is a beautiful spot, but has one very great deficiency, — 

 VIII M 



