TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 



311 



height, have far-spreadmg crooked branches, dry 

 pale-green leaves, and form a low, Hght grove, in 

 which the form of each individual is easily distin- 

 guished. This latter kind of wood is called in 

 Brazil, Tabuleiro, and when the trees grow so 

 close together that their branches touch, Tabuleiro 

 coperto. Besides the single trees, rich'>flowering 

 myrtles, creeping banisteria, bushy erythroxylon, 

 several kinds of the well -tasted guava (Psidimfi), 

 grow here and there in thick groves (Carrasco, 

 Feixado)^ from among which a grotesque cactus 

 now and then rises. This latter form, which is so 

 peculiarly characteristic of America, is here less 

 frequent than in the sultry deserts of Pernambuco, 

 Ceara, and Caracas. Almost all the productions 

 of the vegetable kingdom which we saw here were 

 new to us ; and our attention was constantly ex- 

 cited by these elegant forms of the campos, which 

 strongly contrast with the massy and juicy natives of 

 the forest, and rather resemble the delicate plants 

 of the northern Alpine meadows. 

 ' Taubate, which we reached late in the evening, 

 is situated on a flat hill, three miles to the S. E. 

 of Pendamhongaba. The eminence commands a ' 

 view of a great part of the plain, through which little 

 groves and bushes are scattered. The Franciscan 

 convent, on the left of the road, surrounded by 

 some rows of majestic palms, makes a favourable 

 impression, and excites in the traveller the hope of 

 finding a considerable place. In fact, Taubate, 



X 4 



1 



