c 
THE BRAZILS. 125 
forming under such circumstances, is not only noxious to 
animal life, but in many instances destructive of it. Tlie 
myriads of insects that are engendered in the woods and 
marshes of a warm climate are a constant torment. In fact, 
the life of man, in such situations, is so nmch occupied in 
providing against annoyances, that he has little time or in- 
clination to exert his faculties. If then energy of mind may 
be allowed to have any relation to ease of body, and the con- 
nection will hardly be disputed, it is not a matter of surprize 
that men of genius have hitherto rarely appeared in America. 
I have no notion, for my own part, ridiculous as it may ap- 
pear to those who have never travelled beyond the temperate 
regions of Europe, how any man can think to the purpose, 
even while a little mosquito, insignificant as it is, shall be 
humming in his ear. 
« 
Neither man nor quadrupeds can be said to thrive well, or 
to enjoy an apparent vigour of health, in the neighbourhood 
of Rio de Janeiro. During the season of rains, and for a 
nionth or six weeks afterwards, dysenteries and intermittent 
fevers are almost universal. All the hills behind the to-^vn, 
the numerous islands in the harbour, and every part of its 
shores, are covered with forests, interspersed ^\ith uncultivated 
plains and tracts of marshy ground, where a constant process 
of decay, and the reproduction of rank grass and sedges, fur- 
nish the materials of a constant fermentation. 
Notwithstanding the vexations, restrictions, and monopo- 
lies, Avhich the Portugueze government has imposed on the 
trade and productions of its colonies in South America, so 
