156 



A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 



lightful to coast along by these woods, of a character so 

 new to us, to get glimpses mto their dark depths or into 

 a cleared spot with a single stately palm here and there, 

 or to catch even the merest glance at the life of the people 

 who live in the isolated settlements, consisting only of one or 

 two Indian houses by the river-side. We are keeping so 

 near to the banks to-day, that we can almost count the 

 leaves on the trees, and have an excellent opportunity 

 of studying the various kinds of palms. At first the 

 Assai was most conspicuous, but now come in a number 

 of others. The Miriti (Mauritia) is one of the most beau- 

 tiful, with its pendant clusters of reddish fruit and its 

 enormous, spreading, fan-like leaves cut into ribbons, one 

 of which Wallace says is a load for a man. The Jupati 

 (Rhaphia), with its plume-like leaves, sometimes from forty 

 to fifty feet in length, seems, in consequence of its short 

 stem, to start almost from the ground. Its vase-like form 

 is peculiarly graceful and symmetrical. Then there is the 

 Bussu (Manicaria), with stiff, entire leaves, some thirty 

 feet in length, more upright and close in their mode of 

 growth, and serrated along their edges. The stem of this 

 palm also is comparatively short. The banks in this part 

 of the river are very generally bordered by two plants 

 forming sometimes a sort of hedge along the shore ; name- 

 ly, the Aninga (Arum), with large, heart-shaped leaves on 

 the summit of tall stems, and the Murici, a lower growth, 

 just on the water's edge. We are passing out of the 

 so-called river Aturia into another channel of like char- 

 acter, the river Tajapuru. In the course of the day we 

 shall arrive at a little settlement bearing the same name, 

 where is to be our second station. 

 August 22d. — Yesterday we passed the day at the set- 



