VOYAGE TO THE RIO NEGRO 195 
and awe, It is the river of his land ! What is this 
little river of ours " (pointing to the Amazon) 
compared to that ! " Other questions often put 
to me were, " Is there much open ground (campo) 
in your country ? " " Are there extensive forests ? " 
And they were filled with astonishment when I 
told them that most of our forests had been planted. 
" Why, here," said they, when one wants to plant 
a tree, one must first cut down a dozen to make 
room for it ! " 
I have often noticed that people not born in, 
or not accustomed to, a mountainous country are 
slow to appreciate the picturesque. A Paraense's 
idea of beautiful scenery supposes a land perfectly 
fiat, with broad rivers, the stiller the better. The 
idea of mountains always suggests rapid rivers, with 
rocks and cataracts, dangerous or even impassable 
for canoes. If I made inquiries respecting an 
unvisited region, hoping to hear of " antres vast 
and deserts wild," they on their part would expect 
to give me pleasure by describing it as a " terra 
bonita, plaina — la nao ha lugares feios, nem serras 
nem cachoeiras," i.e. a nice flat country, where 
there are no ugly places, such as hills and water- 
falls ! One essential of a fine country to them, and 
not an object of indifference to any traveller, is that 
it contains " muita caca, muito peixe " much game, 
much fish "). 
. . . On the 29th we had fair weather, and an 
excellent wind lasting from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. At 
2\ P.M. we passed on the north shore the village of 
Serpa — almost the exact counterpart of Villa Nova, 
and Hke it seated on a small bay, where stones are 
rudely heaped up. The margin continued stony 
