TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 



258 



Corrego Seco, a poor village 2260 Paris feet above 

 the surface of the sea. We once passed the night 

 here in the miserable public house, which gave us, 

 in every respect, a foretaste of the difficulties of a 

 journey into the interior, A meal consisting of 

 the dried flour of the mandiocca root and tough 

 beef dried in the sun, a hard bench without pillow 

 or covering for a bed, put our patience, and ability 

 to endure the fatigues of the expedition, to the 

 proof. In Germany this would have been one of 

 the finest summer nights, as the thermometer was 

 not below 14° of Reaumur, and yet we found it 

 almost impossible to sleep for the cold. It is a fact, 

 as remarkable as it is generally observed, that a few 

 months' residence in a warm climate are sufficient 

 to give the frame an extraordinary sensibility to 

 the gradations of warmth. It probably proceeds 

 from the increased action of the nervous system, 

 which is a natural consequence of the great stimu- 

 his of the light and heat. This intensity of irri- 

 tation, and the vivacity of all the organic functions 

 during the day is followed, when night sets in, by 

 a considerable relaxation of the organic powers, 

 so that only the coolness can brace the limbs anew. 

 As the sun in these latitudes exercises its influence 

 with more energy than in our country, and all na- 

 ture therefore during the day is, if we may so ex- 

 press ourselves, more awake ; so, on the other hand, 

 as soon as it sinks below the horizon, more pro- 

 found repose and deeper sleep succeed. The ani- 



