TO CAPE FRIO. 



49 



the most part voracious, are found in such great numbers and in- 

 finite variety here, that an entomologist might write a large work on 

 them alone. Thej are of different sizes ; one of the largest species, 

 which is nearly an inch long, and has a disproportionately thick body, 

 is roasted and eaten in many parts, particularly in Minas Geraes, 

 where it is called tanachura. Another very small red species is 

 extremely troublesome and mischievous. These ants are also in- 

 jurious to the collector, and often consumed in a short time a great 

 number .of our insects, particularly butterflies. They often pene- 

 trate in large bodies into the dwellmg-houses, where they devour every 

 thing that is eatable, especially sweetmeats and sugar. There is no 

 method of keeping them from articles of this description, but that of 

 setting the feet of the tables in large dishes of water, or smearing 

 them with tar ; but they often overcome even these obstacles. Some 

 species build with a sort of earth, in the walls of the rooms, covered 

 passages with many branches, by which they ascend or descend. 

 In the paths in the woods we saw whole armies of large ants, all 

 carrying pieces of green leaves to their nests. 



A wild forest, which we now entered, again presented new and in- 

 teresting scenes. The toucan with its prodigious bill, and bright 

 orange-coloured throat, forming a beautiful contrast with the black 

 plumage, excited for the first time the impatience of our hunters ; 

 but fortune did not favour them, for the birds kept so high in the 

 tops of trees that it was impossible for our shot to touch them. 



The farther we advanced, the more noble and imposing did these 

 forests appear. The untravelled European has not the faintest con- 

 ception of their magnificence, nor is it possible for any words to give 

 a description of the scene corresponding with the sensations which it 

 excites. We frequently saw the cocoa-palm above thirty feet high : 

 the natives employ it in making their bows ; the trunk of this tree is 

 of a dark brown, and thickly covered with long thorns, which stand 



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