96 



TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 



church of Nossa Senhora de Mo7ite, A broad flight 

 of steps leads to the building, which stands upon a 

 projection of the rock between spreading chesnut 

 trees. The setting sun gilded the sea, and illumi- 

 nated the more remote parts of the island with a 

 magic light, while the sound of the church bell 

 summoned the wanderer to the shrine. The ground 

 round it is planted, by the pious care of the fajthful, 

 with flowering groups of jessamine and honey- 

 suckle, coccinea, Buddleja globosa, and Vinca 

 major. Those foreign shrubs have here found a new 

 country, which they adorn, almost without inter- 

 ruption, with theit beautiful flowers. The climate 

 of this happy island equally favours the productions 

 of every zone ; only the European misses his oaks, 

 firs, birches, and willows; but, on the other hand, 

 he beholds with astonishment the yam, Inhame^ 

 (Caladium escidentum,') the egg-plant {Solarium me- 

 longena^, the cactus, aloe, and the potatoe of Ame- 

 rica, flourish near the corn and fruits from Caucasus; 

 the flg-tree, the sugar-cane, and the pisang of the 

 east; the date-palm, the tomato {Solanum ly coper- 

 sicum), and the cultivated cane (Arundo dona.v) of 

 Africa. It is well known that the sugar-cane was 

 introduced here from Sicily, by the Infant Don 

 Henrique Navegador. If we- may depend upon 

 ancient accounts, the refining of sugar was carried 

 on here with great success at a very early period, 

 and at the end of the fifteenth century the greater 

 part of the sugar used in Europe came perhaps from 



