LIST OF THE ENGRAVINGS. 
XV 
CHAPTER V. 
Initial : Coffee-plant covered with 
Berries. 
The coffee-shrub, cultivated in immense 
plantations on the undulating soil of the 
Provinces of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Panic, 
Minas Geraes, and Espirito Santo, begins 
to bear in the fourth year, and sometimes 
is so heavily laden with the red, cherry- 
like berries that the slender boughs bend 
to the earth. The snow-white flower, 
resembling that of the myrtle, o.xhales a 
most delicate perfume ; and in bloom as 
well as at harvest-time the bushy shrub, 
with its glossy, dark leaves, offers a grati- 
fying sight. 
Transverse Section of a Breaking Shore, 
CALLED Terras Cahidas. 
Owing to the homogencousness of the 
alluvial layers, the water-w^ashed shore 
often breaks down, with such regularity as 
to form perfect degrees, linked at the 
surface by a sort of network or bridge 
formed by the tough roots. 
Broken Shore on the Madeira, whth a 
Group of Sinking Javary-palms. 
The landscape represented by this 
sketch, taken at sunset, is quite charac- 
teristic of the whole Madeira, in its wild 
loneliness and majestic calm. 
Buttressed Thee. 
In order to gain the necessary stability, 
the gigantic trunk, which has no deep 
roots, shoots out these huge wing-likc 
buttresses. It is found in the North as 
well as in the South. 
Grotesque Shape of a Species op Ficus. 
Forms like these, drawn exactly after 
Nature, are not a rare sight in these 
forests, though they are not often seen of 
that size. The trunk almost suggests a 
living being by the way it clasps the 
naked boulders and shoots out supports 
and props wherever they are needed. 
Usual Structure of Palm Roots ; Stilts 
OP the Paxiuba. 
The radical fibres, entangled to a thick 
clod w'ith most palms, arc developed into 
perfect stilts with the paxiuba {Iriartea 
exorhha). 
Our Tent under P,vlms. 
Though we were not lucky enough often 
to find such a Paradisaic little spot, stiU it 
occasionally fell to our lot, and we always 
thoroughly enjoyed it. 
Different Transverse Cuts of Palm-ribs. 
Bifurcated Palm-leaf. 
Bough of the Siphonia Elastica (Caout- 
chouc-tree). 
Very different from the so-called ficus, 
or gum-tree, often seen in European hot- 
houses, which also gives a resin, but not 
the one demanded by commerce. 
Mouth of a Lateral River on the 
Madeira, with an Indian shooting 
Fishes. 
The mighty tree rising above its neigh- 
bours is the castanhoira [Berthulletia ex- 
celsa) ; in the foreground, the round 
dish-like leaves of the Victoria regia. 
A Serinoueiro’s First Settlement on 
THE Madeira. 
On the high shore, but in the immediate 
vicinity of the moist seringacs (caoutchouc- 
tree w'oods), the first household arrange- 
ments are made. The richly-embroidered 
hammock is extended between two trees, 
and a dense musquitoiro is spread over 
'1 
I 
