S7S Mr Swalnson'’s Sketch of a Journey through Brazil. 
Rio de Janeiro is in lat. 54', and Pernambuco in lat. 8°. 
Travellers and men of science from the Austrian, French, Russian 
and Tuscan Courts, were here. Few of them, however, hadbeen out 
of the province, and, by some unfortunate mismanagement j five 
of the Austrian party returned home shortly after my arrival. 
Among these travellers was Professor Raddi, director of the 
museum at Florence, who was indefatigable in forming a fine 
collection of the fruit and seeds of the country : With him I 
made an excursion to the immense range of mountains, called 
the Organ Mountains, which for leagues are covered with almost 
impenetrable forests, abounding in ferns, melastomas, and in- 
sects quite peculiar to them. From Dr Langsdorff, the Rus- 
sian Consul-General in Brazil, I received every assistance and 
the most liberal attention ; and having with his aid embarked 
my collection, with many desiderata, I returned to England in 
August 1818. 
The number of species, in all the classes of natural history, 
which I have brought home, cannot be ascertained ; but the 
following statement may give a general idea of the whole. 
Of Birds^ there are 760 specimens, among which are many 
entirely new species, and others exceedingly rare, particularly 
in the genus Trochilus, of which family I am now engaged in 
making a general arrangement ; two or three new toucans, a sin- 
gular goat-sucker, with a tail doubly forked, &c. 
The specimens of insects amount to more than S0,000. Of 
course there is a large proportion of duplicates, but it may safe- 
ly be said to exceed greatly any collection of South American in- 
sects ever seen in this country. The family of Hesperia {La- 
treille ) alone exceeds 280 species, and, by a peculiar mode of 
preservation, this part of the collection is in an uncommonly fine 
state. Drawings and ample descriptions were also made of nearly 
120 species of fish^ mostly unknown, and such as were of a con- 
venient size were sent home in spirits. 
Seeds of many new and little known plants have been sent 
to Kew and other botanic gardens, where they are now fiour- 
ishing. An interesting collection of parasitic plants, together 
with another of cryptogamia, I presented to my friend W. 
J. Flooker, Esq. These last have begun to appear in his ela- 
borate work, Musci Exotici* My herbarium, containing about. 
1200 species, is particularly well preserved, the plants having 
