Travels in {he Brazils. 35 



gardenia ) a very light wood, with which spoons and plates are 

 made, and whose bark produces a milky sap ; the peroha, a hard 

 firm wood for ship-building, which is used by the agents of go- 

 vernment, and is therefore declared to be its property ; the canella 

 (laurus)^ very aromatic, smelling like cinnamon, with the caubi 

 ( mimosa), mqjole, sepepira, putumaju, called here, and in Rio de 

 Janeiro, arariba ; and many other kinds. Officinal plants are also 

 found here in abundance. I can mention only some of them, as 

 the herva mocira do serfam, with a taste similar to cloves, the ceos- 

 tus arahicus^ which is used for a certain venereal complaint ; the 

 ipecacuanha prei a (ipecacuanha ojjicinalis, Arruda) ; no doubt 

 the raiz preta, represented in Parfl. of Eschevege''s Journey in 

 Brazil ; ipecacuanha hranca {viola ipecacuanha. Linn, or pomha-r 

 lia ipecacuanha, Vandelli), and the huta*, which is said to pos- 

 sess the quality of the hark. 



After having frequently hunted with the Indians, in the neighr 

 bourhood of S. Pedro, we left them in the afternoon, and betook 

 ourselves to Cabo Frio, which was only a few hours journey dis- 

 tant. A delay which one of our mules occasioned, gave us an op- 

 portunity of killing a pretty species of maracana, which is des- 

 cribed under the name of psittacus macavuanna ; it lives in the 

 woods, and often gets upon the bushes and maize plantations of 

 the Indians, where it does much damage. 



Late in the evening, we crossed the Lagoa near the villa of 

 Cabo Frio, and were received by Capitam Carvalto into his house. 

 Caho Frio is a well known cape ; it is formed by high rocky moun- 

 tains, before which lie some rocky islands. A small fort is built 

 upon one of these small islands, in a bay near the coast. A La^ 

 goa enters the land in the form of a semi-circle, and on it lies the 

 Villa do Caho Frio. It is a small place with several unpaved 

 streets, and low houses, of which, however, some have a very neat 

 and friendly exterior. The tract of land on which the villa hes, 

 has partly a marshy, and partly a sandy ground, for near to the 

 the lagoas is marsh, and nearer to the sea deep sand, in which 

 many kinds of bushes grow. Here Ave discovered seme new plants, 

 amongst others, two bushy andromedct the one with pale yellow, 

 the other with rose-red flowers. The whole surrounding country 

 is covered with lakes and marshes, on which account this country 

 is reckoned unhealthy ; but the inhabitants maintain that the 

 strong sea- winds materially improve the atmosphere. 



The inhabitants of the villa draw their support from the expor- 

 tation of some products, such as farinha and su^ar. Some lancltas 

 carry on a coasting trade with it. Formerly this country, like Rio 



* We nave found this plant so efficacious in its blossom or with fruit, rather difficult id 

 determine to what class it belongs. It is perhaps a convolvulus. 



-f- Professor Schräder at Güttingen, 0 whose kindness I am indebted for the de- 

 termination of most of the plants mentioned in this book, has declared these two" plant« to 

 be new, and as yet uhdescribfed kinds of this genus. ^ - 



