TR4VELS IN BRAZIL. 



161 



griimijama and pitanga * let drop a fragrant 

 shower of snow-white blossoms ; the crowns of the 

 majestic palms wave slowly over the silent roof 

 which they overshade, like a symbol of peace and 

 tranquillity. Shrill cries of the cicada, the grass- 

 hopper, and tree frog, make an incessant hum, and 

 produce, by their monotony, a pleasing melancholy. 

 A stream gently murmuring descends from the 

 mountains, and the macuct, with its almost human 

 voice, seems to call for help from a distance. 

 Every quarter of an hour different balsamic odours 

 fill the air, and other flowers alternately unfold 

 their leaves to the night, and almost overpower 

 the senses with their perfume ; now it is the bowers 

 of paullinias, or the neighbouring orange grove, 

 then the thick tufts of the eupatoria, or the bunches 

 of the flowers of the palms t suddenly bursting, 

 which disclose their blossoms, and thus maintain 

 a constant succession of fragrance. While the si- 

 lent vegetable world, illuminated by swarms of fire- 

 flies (^Elater phosphor eus noctilucus\ as by a thou- 

 sand moving stars, charms the night by its deli- 

 cious effluvia, brilliant lightnings play incessantly 

 in the horizon, and elevate the mind in joyful ad- 



* Two pretty kinds of myrtle, Myrtus Brasiliensis, Lam. and 

 M. pedunculata, L. 



f Tinamus noctivagus, Perdix guyanensis. 



\ We noticed in several palms, that the bunch of flowers, 

 when arrived at perfection, suddenly bursts its covering, and 

 fills the surrounding air with perfume. This is most frequently 

 observed in the Macaraiba palm (Acrocomia sclerocarpa, nob.). 



VOL. I. M 



