320 NOTES OF A BOTANIST 
singularly barren, but a caatinga lying north of it 
and another on the south side of the river have 
afforded me much novelty. The weather has been 
for some days very sunny, and butterflies are 
everywhere abundant. How long I may stay here 
is uncertain. I ought to stay twelve or even fifteen 
months, but in that time I should have to go to 
Marabitanas or somewhere to seek planks for 
making more boxes. I am now arranging with 
Agostinho to accompany him as far as Jauarite 
caxoeira in about a fortnight, and I do not propose 
staying there more than two or three weeks. If I go 
to the Juripari (devil-caxoeira) — from which the Lord 
deliver you — it will be in January with Jesuino." 
At the end of the letter he says : " Don't forget 
to tell me how yourself and your collections reached 
England, and especially, what progress you are 
making in the English tongue, and whether you 
can by this time make yourself understood by the 
natives. — Your faithful friend and quondam com- 
panion through this wilderness, 
Richard Spruce." 
[The last paragraph of this letter refers to the 
circumstance that when we met at Sao Gabriel on 
my way home, we found that we could neither of 
us talk English together without so frequently 
introducing Portuguese words and sentences as to 
form about one-third of our speech. Even when 
we said : " Now, let us speak English for a little 
while," we could only do so for a few minutes by 
much watchfulness, and the moment we got in- 
terested, or had to tell some anecdote, in came the 
Portuguese again ! 
