DOWN THE AMAZONS. 



363 



dren under their charge ; and you may sometimes see the 

 large red jars standing under the mouth of the spring above, 

 while white babies and dark nurses splash about in the cool 

 water-basin below. Although in the campos the growth is 

 low, and the soil but scantily covered with coarse grass and 

 shrubs, yet, in some localities, and especially in the neighbor- 

 hood of the town, the forest is beautiful. We have seen no- 

 where larger and more luxuriant mimosas, sometimes of a 

 green so rich and deep, and a foliage so close that it is dif- 

 ficult to believe, at a distance, that its dense mass is formed 

 by the light, pinnate leaves of a sensitive plant. The palms 

 are also very lofty and numerous, including some kinds 

 which we have not met before. 



January 28^A. — Yesterday our kind host arranged an 

 excursion into the country, for my especial pleasure, that I 

 might see something of the characteristic amusements of 

 Monte Alegre. One or two neighbors joined us, and the 

 children, a host of happy little folks, for whom anything 

 out of the common tenor of every-day life is ^'/es^«," were 

 not left behind. We started on foot to walk out into a very 

 picturesque Indian village called Surubiju. Here we were 

 to breakfast, returning afterwards in one of the heavy carts 

 drawn by oxen, the only conveyance for women and chil- 

 dren in a country where a carriage-road and a side-saddle 

 are equally unknown. Our walk was very pleasant, partly 

 through the woods, partly through the campos ; but as it was 

 early in the day, we did not miss the shade when we chanced 

 to leave the trees. We lingered by the wayside, the chil- 

 dren stopping to gather wild fruits, of which there were 

 a number on the road, and to help me in making a 

 collection of plants. It was about nine o'clock when we 

 reached the first straw-house, where we stopped to rest. 



