VARIETY OF FISHES. 
309 
1851.] 
tiful did it appear, in that wild, sandy, barren spot ! A 
day or two afterwards I found another handsome species, 
the flowers of which, unlike most of the family, were of 
very short duration, opening in the morning, and lasting 
but a single day. The sight of these determined me to 
try and send some to England, as from such a distant 
and unexplored locality there would probably be many 
new species. I accordingly began bringing a few home 
every day, and, packing them in empty farinha-baskets, 
placed them under a rough stage, with some plantain- 
leaves to defend them from the heat of the sun, till we 
should be ready to embark. I was rather doubtful of 
the result, as they could not arrive in England before 
the winter, which might be injurious ; but on my next 
voyage, I looked forward to bringing a larger collection 
of these beautiful and interesting plants, as they would 
then arrive in a good season of the year. 
Sao Jeronymo is celebrated for its abundance of fish, 
but at this season they are in all places difficult to take. 
However, we had on most days enough for breakfast and 
supper, and scarcely a day passed, but I had some new 
and strange kinds to add to my collection. The small 
fishes of these rivers are in wonderful variety, and the 
large proportion of the species here, different from those 
I had observed in the Eio Negro, led me to hope that in 
the upper parts of the river I should find them almost 
entirely new. 
Here we were tolerably free from chegoes, but had 
another plague, far worse, because more continual. We 
had suffered more or less from piuiiis in all parts of the 
river, but here they were in such countless myriads, as to 
