VII 
AT MANAoS 
2 I I 
plants are in two very large cases, and comprise 
between three and four hundred species. . . . 
I use certain terms in speaking of localities 
which may require explanation. We call the virgin 
forest here the mato, or sometimes mato siergen ; 
the " brush " that springs where forest has been 
cut down is called matinho or the little forest ; de- 
serted farms are called capociras — their vegetation 
is scarcely different from that of the matinho ; 
finally, the forest bordering the rivers, which is 
wholly or partially under water in winter, is called 
gapo ; and the vegetation often forms a distinct 
band quite different from that of the " terra firme." 
I have now purchased a boat for ascending the 
Rio Negro ; it is of 6 or 7 tons burthen, and has 
got a tolda da popa (poop cabin) and another 
da proa (at the bows), convenient for keeping my 
goods dry ; it was built at San Carlos in Venezuela, 
and has made but one voyage. I have given 140 
milreis for it, or ^9 : 6 : 8 (at the present rate of 
exchange, 2 8d.), and I shall have to spend about 
another 100 milreis on it to make it suitable for 
my purpose. The most difficult task will now be 
to procure men, and I shall have to give up a few 
weeks to the preparation of the canoe and the hunt- 
ing up of men. I can do very little just now in 
plants ; the river is nearly full and everything has 
flowered on its banks that belongs to the rainy 
season, when the dry season commences there will 
be another flush in the vegetation. I propose, how- 
ever, shortly going two days' journey up the 
Solimoes (the name by which the Amazon is known 
above the Rio Negro) to see if there is anything 
there different from what I get here. . . . 
