I 



VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 339 



The number of inhabited houses was two thousand four hundred and 

 eighteen; of births, seven hundred and eighty-five; of marriages, 

 ninety-eight ; of deaths, three hundred and seventy-five; and of resident 

 foreigners, seven hundred and eighty-four. 



Para was a remarkably healthy place, and entirely free from epi- 

 demics of any kind, until February, 1850, when the yellow fever was 

 taken there by a vessel from Pernambuco. It was originally brought 

 from the coast of Africa to Bahia, and spread thence along the coast. 

 The greatest malignancy of the disease was during the month of April, 

 when it carried off from twenty to twenty-five a day. 



About the same time the next year, (the fever being much dimin- 

 ished,) the small-pox broke out with great violence. About twenty-five 

 per cent, of the population died from the two diseases. I imagine that 

 the city will now never be entirely free from either ; and the filthy con- 

 dition in which the low tide leaves the slips, in which lie the small 

 trading craft, must be a fruitful source of malaria, and an ever-exciting 

 cause of epidemic. 



The crews of these vessels, with their families, generally live in them. 

 They are consequently crowded ; and, when the tide is out, they lie on 

 their sides, imbedded in a mass of refuse animal and vegetable matter, 

 rotting and festering under a burning sun. 



Para, however, is an agreeable place of residence, and has a delight- 

 ful climate. The sun is hot till about noon, when the Seabreeze comes 

 in, bringing clouds, with rain, thunder, and lightning, which cool and 

 purify the atmosphere, and wash the streets of the city. The afternoon 

 and evening are then delicious. This was invariable during my stay of 

 a month. 



The rich vegetable productions of the country enhance much the 

 beauty of the city. In nearly all the gardens grow the beautiful miriti 

 palm, the cabbage palm, the cocoa-nut, the cinnamon, the bread-fruit 

 tree, and rich green vines of black pepper. The rapidity of vegetable 

 growth here is wonderful. Streets opened six months ago, in the 

 suburbs of the city, are now filled up with bushes of the stramonium, or 

 Jamestown weed, of full six feet in height. There are a number of 

 almond trees in various parts of the town, which are very ornamental. 

 These trees throw out horizontal branches, encircling the trunk at in- 

 tervals of five or six feet, the lowest circle being the largest, so that they 

 resemble in shape a Norfolk pine. Mr. Norris and I thought it remark- 

 able that in a row of these trees planted before a house, or line of 

 houses, those nearest the door were invariably the farthest advanced in 

 growth. This we particularly remarked in the case of a row planted 



