272 MY LIFE 



the world that affords such facilities for internal communica- 

 tion by water. 



" The climate of Para cannot be spoken of too highly. 

 The temperature is wonderfully uniform, the average daily 

 variation of the thermometer being only 12 ° F. The lowest 

 temperature at night is about 74 , the highest in the day 

 about 86°, but with occasional extremes of 70 and 90 . 

 Though I have been constantly out at all times of the day, 

 and often exposed to the vertical sun, I have never suffered 

 any ill effects from the heat, or even experienced so much 

 inconvenience from it as I have often done during a hot sum- 

 mer at home. There are two principal divisions of the year 

 into wet and dry seasons, called here winter and summer. 

 The wet season is from January to June, during which 

 time it rains more or less every day, but seldom the whole 

 day, the mornings usually being fine. The dry season is by 

 no means what it is in some parts of the world ; it still rains 

 every two or three days, and it is a rare thing for more than 

 a week to pass without a shower, so that vegetation is never 

 dried up, and a constant succession of fruits and flowers and 

 luxuriant foliage prevails throughout the year. Notwith- 

 standing the amount of water everywhere, Para is very 

 healthful. The English and Americans who have lived here 

 the longest look the healthiest. As for myself, I have enjoyed 

 the most perfect health and spirits without the necessity for 

 nearly so many precautions as are required at home. 



" The vegetable productions of the country around Para are 

 very numerous and interesting. There are upwards of 

 thirty different kinds of palms, and in almost every case the 

 leaves, stems, or fruits are useful to man. One elegant species, 

 the stem of which, though not thicker than a man's arm, 

 rises to a height of sixty or eighty feet, produces a small 

 blackish fruit, from which a creamy preparation is made, of 

 which everybody becomes very fond, and which forms a large 

 part of the subsistence of the natives. From the fibres of one 

 kind ropes are made, which are in general use for the cables 

 of native vessels, as they are almost indestructible in water. 

 The houses of the Indians are often entirely built of various 



