142 
TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. [September, I 
butterfly {Didonis biblis), wbicb, though a conunon South I 
American species, we had never found either at Santa- ' 
rem or Para : nor did I ever after see it until I reached 
' ' I 
Javita, near the sources of the Rio Negro. As another 
instance of the peculiar distribution of these insects, I 
may mention that during four years’ collecting I saw the 
beautiful Epicalia Numilius only twice, — once at Para, 
and once at Javita, stations two thousand miles apart. 
In the afternoon, just as we reached the mouth of the 
little river that flows by Montealegre, a violent storm 
came on suddenly, producing a heavy sea, and nearly i 
capsizing our boat, which the men did not very well 
know how to manage ; but, after being some time in con- i 
siderable danger, we got safely into smooth water, and, 
after about two hours’ rowing up a winding stream, | 
reached the village. The banks were mostly open, grassy, 
and half-flooded, with clumps of trees at intervals. Near ' | 
the village was a range of high rocks, of a fine red and 
yellow colour, which we afterwards found to be merely 
indurated clay, in some places very hard, in others soft j 
and friable : they were clothed with wood to their sum- j 
mits, and had a very picturesque appearance. < 
The village of Montealegre is situated on a hill about 
a quarter of a mile from the water’s edge. The ascent to 
it is up a shallow ravine, and the path is entirely covered 
with deep, loose sand, which makes the walk a very la- « 
borious one. On each side are numbers of large cactus- :|| 
plants, of the branched candelabrum form, and twenty ,^ 
to thirty feet high : they grow in immense masses, 
having great woody stems as thick as a man’s body, and J 
were quite a novel feature in the landscape. The village * 
