May — June, 1832. rio de Janeiro. 



33 



rolling in from seaward, formed a bank just beneath the 

 highest point of the Corcovado. This mountain, like most 

 others, when thus partly veiled, appeared to rise to a far 

 prouder elevation than its real height of 2300 feet. Mr. 

 Daniell has observed, in his meteorological essays, that a 

 cloud sometimes appears fixed on a mountain summit, while 

 the wind continues to blow over it. The same phenomenon 

 here presented a slightly different appearance. In this case 

 the cloud was clearly seen to curl over, and rapidly pass by 

 the summit, and yet was neither diminished nor increased 

 in size. The sun was setting, and a gentle southerly breeze, 

 striking against the southern side of the rock, mingled its 

 current with the colder air above ; and the vapour was thus 

 condensed : but as the light wreaths of cloud passed over the 

 ridge, and came within the influence of the warmer atmo- 

 sphere of the northern sloping bank, they were immediately 

 redissolved. 



The climate, during the months of May and June, or 

 the beginning of winter, was delightful. The mean tem- 

 perature, from observations taken at nine o^clock, both 

 morning and evening, was only 72°. It often rained heavily, 

 but the drying southerly winds soon again rendered the 

 walks pleasant. One morning, in the course of six hours, 

 1.6 inches of rain fell. As this storm passed over the 

 forests, which surround the Corcovado, the sound produced 

 by the drops pattering on the countless multitude of leaves, 

 was very remarkable ; it could be heard at the distance of 

 a quarter of a mile, and was like the rushing of a great body 

 of water. After the hotter days, it was delicious to sit quietly 

 in the garden and watch the evening pass into night. Nature, 

 in these climes, chooses her vocalists from more humble per- 

 formers than in Europe. A small frog, of the genus Hyla,* 

 sits on a blade of glass about an inch above the surface of the 



* I had some difficulty in catching a specimen of this frog. The genus 

 Hyla has its toes terminated by small suckers ; and I found this animal 

 could crawl up a pane of glass, when placed absolutely perpendicular. 



VOL. III. D 



