74 



A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 



and pleasure of the party, and had so prepared the way 

 for the scientific objects of the excursion that at several 

 points of the road we found collections of fishes and other 

 animals awaiting us by the roadside. Once or twice, as we 

 passed a fazenda, a negro carrying a basket came out to 

 stop the diligence, and, lifting the cool green leaves which 

 covered them, showed freshly caught fishes of all hues and 

 sizes. It was rather aggravating, especially as we ap- 

 proached the end of our long drive, and the idea of 

 dinner readily suggested itself, to see them disappear in 

 the alcohol cans.* 



At about midday we bade good by to the pretty river we 

 had followed thus far, and at the Estagao d'Entre Rios 

 (between the rivers) crossed the fine bridge which spans 

 the Parahyba at this point. The Parahyba is the large 

 river which flows for a great part of its course between 

 the Serra do Mar and the Serra da Mantiqueira, emptying 

 into the Atlantic at San Joao da Barra considerably to the 

 northeast of Rio de" Janeiro. One is a little bewildered 

 at first by the variety of Serras in Brazil, because the 



* My experience of this day might well awaken the envy of any naturalist, 

 and I was myself no less astonished than grateful for its scientific results. 

 Not only had Senhor Lage provided us with the most comfortable private con- 

 veyance, but he had sent messengers in advance to all the planters residing 

 near our line of travel, requesting them to provide all the fishes that were to be 

 had in the adjoining rivers and brooks. The agents of the stations situated 

 near water-courses had also received instructions to have similar collections in 

 readiness, and in two places I found large tanks filled with living specimens of 

 all the species in the neighborhood. The small number of species subsequently 

 added, upon repeated excursions to different parts of the basin of the Parahyba, 

 convinced me that in this one day, thanks to the kindness of our host and his 

 fdends, I had an opportunity of examining nearly its whole ichthyological 

 fauna, and of making probably as complete a collection from it as may be 

 found from any of the considerable rivers of Europe in the larger museuma 

 of the Old World. — L. A. 



