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SANTAREM 



tree (Plumieria phagedaenica). It grows in the greatest 

 luxuriance in the driest parts, and with its long, glossy, 

 dark-green leaves, fresh and succulent even in the most 

 arid seasons, and white jasmine-like flowers, forms the 

 greatest decoration of these solitary places. The bark, 

 leaves, and leaf-stalks, yield a copious supply of milky 

 sap, which the natives use very generally as plaister in 

 local inflammations, laying the liquid on the skin with a 

 brush, and covering the place with cotton. I have known 

 it to work a cure in many cases ; but, perhaps, the good 

 effect is attributable to the animal heat drawn to the 

 place by the pad of cotton. The milk flows most freely 

 after the occasional heavy rains in the intervals between 

 the dry and wet seasons ; it then spurts out with great 

 force from any part of the tree if hacked with a knife in 

 passing. 



The appearance of the campos changes very much 

 according to the season. There is not that grand uni- 

 formity of aspect throughout the year which is observed 

 in the virgin forest, and which makes a deeper impression 

 on the naturalist the longer he remains in this country. 

 The seasons in this part of the Amazons region are sharply 

 contrasted, but the difference is not so great as in some 

 tropical countries, where, during the dry monsoon, in- 

 sects and reptiles aestivate, and the trees simultaneously 

 shed their leaves. As the dry season advances (August, 

 September), the grass on the campos withers, and the 

 shrubby vegetation near the town becomes a mass of 

 parched yellow stubble. The period, however, is not one 

 of general torpidity or repose for animal or vegetable 

 life. Birds certainly are not so numerous as in the wet 

 season, but some kinds remain and lay their eggs at this 

 time — for instance, the ground doves (Chamaepelia). The 

 trees retain their verdure throughout, and many of them 

 flower in the dry months. Lizards do not become torpid, 

 and insects are seen both in the larva and the perfect 

 states, showing that the aridity of the climate has not a 

 general influence on the development of the species. 

 Some kinds of butterflies, especially the little hair-streaks 

 (Theclae), whose larvae feed on the trees, make their ap- 

 pearance only when the dry season is at its height. The 

 land molluscs of the district, are the only animals which 

 aestivate ; they are found in clusters, Bulimi and Helices, 

 concealed in hollow trees, the mouths of their shells closed 



