Chap. YL 
INHABITANTS. 
387 
and weedy places being generally more healthy than 
dry ones on the Amazons, probably owing to the absence 
of great radiation of heat from the ground. The forest 
was extremely rich and picturesque, although the soil 
was everywhere clayey and cold, and broad pathways 
threaded it for many a mile over hill and dale. In 
every hollow flowed a sparkling brook, with perennial 
and crystal waters. The margins of these streams were 
paradises of leafiness and verdure ; the most striking 
feature being the variety of ferns, with immense leaves, 
some terrestrial, others climbing over trees, and two, at 
least, arborescent. I saw here some of the largest trees 
I had yet seen ; there was one especially, a cedar, whose 
colossal trunk towered up for more than a hundred 
feet, straight as an arrow ; I never saw its crown, which 
was lost to view, from below, beyond the crowd of lesser 
trees which surrounded it. Birds and monkeys in 
this glorious forest were very abundant ; the bear-like 
Pithecia hirsuta being the most remarkable of the 
monkeys, and the Umbrella Chatterer and Curl-crested 
Toucans amongst the most beautiful of the birds. The 
Indians and half-castes of the village have made their 
little plantations, and built huts for summer residence 
on the banks of the rivulets, and my rambles generally 
terminated at one or other of these places. The people 
were always cheerful and friendly, and seemed to be 
glad when I proposed to join them at their meals, 
contributing the contents of my provision-bag to the 
dinner, and squatting down amongst them on the mat. 
The village was formerly a place of more importance 
than it now is, a great number of Indians belonging to 
