494 NOTES OF A BOTANIST 
him during his absence. The negro was a slave, 
and belonged to a widow lady at Barra, who, he 
said, treated him more like a son than a slave. 
He was, in fact, all the property she had, and the 
labour of his hands was all she could depend on 
for her maintenance. Spruce adds : " I found him a 
sensible, well-behaved fellow. He was tall, slender, 
and well-made, quite equal, in fact, to the run of 
journeyman masons of any colour or country. He 
might easily have freed himself by escaping across 
the Venezuelan frontier, but he had evidently a 
great contempt for the Spaniards and he loved his 
' country,' as he called the Barra, where he was 
liked and respected, and where he had his little boy 
(for he was himself a widower)." 
During the voyage to the Barra there were no 
further incidents beyond the usual sudden storms, 
more or less dangerous, and the ordinary incon- 
veniences and incidents of a boat journey on these 
great rivers ; but some interesting notes on the 
vegetation were made, showing that its novelties 
and curiosities were by no means exhausted.] 
Peculiarities of Vegetation observed during this Voyage 
DOWN THE Rio Negro 
{^November 23 Z^? December 22, 1854) 
On the north bank above the Rio Branco a Terminalia (Com- 
bretacese) was frequent, which has a remarkable ob-conical mode 
of growth, sometimes nearly flat-topped, sometimes slightly con- 
vex ; but the most curious feature is, that the short trunks and 
extruded roots are often nearly hidden by a quantity of black root- 
lets, the whole forming a mass the size and shape of a moderately 
large haycock. 
On the south shore, where the land was somewhat elevated, the 
great Bertholletia (Brazil-nut tree) was frequendy noticed in the 
lower half of the river, its stem and slightly convex crown rising 
a long way above the adjacent trees. 
