TRAVELS 
ON THE 
AMAZON AND RIO NEGRO. 
CHAPTER I. 
PAEA. 
Arrival at Para — Appearance of the city and its environs — The inha- 
bitants and their costume — Vegetation — Sensitive plants — Lizards 
— Ants and other insects — Birds — Climate — Pood of the inhabi- 
tants. 
It was on the morning of the 26th of May, 1848, that 
after a short passage of twenty-nine days from Liverpool, 
we came to anchor opposite the southern entrance to 
the Liver Amazon, and obtained our first view of South 
America. In the afternoon the pilot came on board, 
and the next morning we sailed with a fair wind up the 
river, which for fifty miles could only be distinguished 
from the ocean by its calmness and discoloured water, 
the northern shore being invisible, and the southern at a 
distance of ten or twelve miles. Early on the morning 
of the 28th we again anchored ; and when the sun rose 
B 
