2l8 
NOTES OF A BOTANIST 
CHAP. 
could not induce the man to sell it. " I need it," 
said he, " to procure me the means of subsistence ; 
your money will not buy me such another, and it 
will be the work of weeks to supply its place." 
Such an argument admitted of no reply, and I 
could only regret that he looked with such a 
philosophical eye on money. 
There is another campo near the Barra, on the 
same side of the river, which differs much in every 
respect from the one I have described above. It 
is elevated about lOO feet above the river, and the 
soil is a loose white sand. The vegetation is chiefly 
shrubby, and one shrub called Umin' is so abundant 
that the campo is called from it the " Umirisal." It 
is a species of Humirium belonging to a small 
natural order (Humiriaceae) peculiar to tropical 
America, and bears a fruit which is said to be very 
agreeable. Another shrub or small tree, called 
Yumura-ceem or the Sweet tree, grows in almost 
equal abundance, and the fruit is ripe in February. 
It belongs to the natural order Clusiaceae. The 
other shrubs include but few species, the principal 
being a Myrsinea and two or three Myrtles. But 
what rendered the campo most interesting in my 
eyes was that here and there on the burning sand 
were large patches of four species of Claydonia, two 
of them exceedingly like our common Reindeer 
Moss, and a third with bright red fruit looking 
quite like our C. coccinea. When I add to this 
that everywhere among the bushes grew up a tall 
Fern [Pteris caudata) scarcely distinguishable from 
our Common Brake, it will easily be seen how 
strongly I was reminded of an English heath. 
There were, however, two Ferns of the curious 
