2838 Insects. 



tive here, that on the slightest rustling of the shrubs snakes dart out of 

 the way. I have waded through boggy thickets in the woods, where 

 the vegetation is rankest, and the glorious leaves of the plantain, the 

 creeping pothos, and tangled masses of climbing plants form a canopy 

 overhead; and I have scampered after insects over hot sandy banks 

 quite fearlessly. The mosquitos do not give us any trouble, but the 

 ants annoy us by running away with our specimens as we are 

 setting them, and stinging our legs. Not being au fait with the 

 language, I have had of course but little communication with the 

 people yet, and have few adventures to relate. We have been living 

 with an English merchant for about a fortnight : we are now in a 

 house of our own, and are surrounded by people who speak nothing 

 but Portuguese: the house is a beautiful place, forming a square; four 

 spacious rooms, and a verandah all round : the total circuit of the 

 latter is 280 feet, and the breadth 18 feet : this is the usual style of 

 suburban residences here — house of course only one story, and tiled : 

 there are about four acres of cleared ground round it, apparently 

 choked up with weeds ; but on close examination we find plenty of 

 orange-trees, pine-apples, melons, several kinds of palm-trees, plenty 

 of coffee and vegetables, and a few immense forest trees ; one but- 

 tress-tree has a girth which takes ten men to span with extended arms. 

 On the blossoms of inga-trees close to the house, we watch the hum- 

 ming-birds fluttering, while at breakfast and tea : toucans, &c, come 

 to the various trees, a Morpho now and then sails along the ve- 

 randah, several Papilios, Callidryas, Terias, and a Urania are plenti- 

 ful in the grounds, and all around is the forest. Everybody knows 

 our business here : there are three blacks attached to the place, and 

 the villagers come in and out when they please. We tolerate the 

 black-eyed Indian girls coming to gather flowers for their hair, and 

 gratify their curiosity by showing them our collection, and telling 

 them the insects are " para medicina." The people are very gentle, 

 polite, and friendly; the blacks are dreadfully independent and shrewd, 

 but good-humoured : one, Vicenti, is an excellent assistant to us; he is 

 better acquainted with the names and properties of plants and trees 

 than any man in Para, and is a glorious fellow to get wasps'-nests, 

 and to dig out the holes of monstrous spiders. They have many 

 pretty customs here ; a troop of children came by me to-night as I 

 was searching for Coleoptera ; the first, a sweet little Indian girl, 

 begged my hand, which she pressed to her lips en passant, and all 

 the others did the same, saying " passa been Senhor." I have seen 

 the negroes in the street do the same : from this and a hundred other 



