22 



CHARLES DARWIN 



Bahia, or San Salvador. Brazil, Feb. 2pth.=The day 

 has passed delightfully. Delight itself, however, is a weak 

 term to express the feelings of a naturalist who, ,for the first 

 time, has wandered by himself in a Brazilian forest. The 

 elegance of the grasses, the novelty of the parasitical plants, 

 the beauty of the flowers, the glossy green of the foliage, 

 but above all the general luxuriance of the vegetation, filled 

 me with admiration. A most paradoxical mixture of sound 

 and silence pervades the shady parts of the wood. The noise 

 from the insects is so loud, that it may be heard even in a 

 vessel anchored several hundred yards from the shore; yet 

 within the recesses of the forest a universal silence appears 

 to reign. To a person fond of natural history, such a day 

 as this brings with it a deeper pleasure than he can ever hope 

 to experience again. After wandering about for some hours, 

 I returned to the landing-place; but, before reaching it, I 

 was overtaken by a tropical storm. I tried to find shelter 

 under a tree, which was so thick that it would never have 

 been penetrated by common English rain; but here, in a 

 couple of minutes, a little torrent flowed down the trunk. 

 It is to this violence of the rain that we must attribute the 

 verdure at the bottom of the thickest woods : if the showers 

 were like those of a colder climate, the greater part would 

 be absorbed or evaporated before it reached the ground. I 

 will not at present attempt to describe the gaudy scenery 

 of this noble bay, because, in our homeward voyage, we 

 called here a second time, and I shall then have occasion to 

 remark on it. 



Along the whole coast of Brazil, for a length of at least 

 2000 miles, and certainly for a considerable space inland, 

 wherever solid rock occurs, it belongs to a granitic forma- 

 tion. The circumstance of this enormous area being con- 

 stituted of materials which most geologists believe to have 

 been crystallized when heated under pressure, gives rise to 

 many curious reflections. Was this effect produced beneath 

 the depths of a profound ocean ? or did a covering of strata 

 formerly extend over it, which has since been removed* 

 Can we believe that any power, acting for a time short of 

 infinity, could have denuded the granite over so many thou- 

 sand square leagues J 



