13 
y/ 
V 
f 
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t 
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t 6 pniii >6 riBsl. Tli 6 bsst collsclin-g wciS in tlio axils of tiio BroB.olias, 
i 
where isopods, a few vvoiTiis and some tiny silvery insects were living', and 
viere the arboreal frogs spent the day. 
But I f? 
about collecting 
whenever I looked unward at the exquisite arching of topical branche 
Q 
against the mist, the enchanting vistas half-seen between the gray and green 
treetrunks. with sor,Btiffies a red Bromelia flower like a huge rose nestling 
against ^ parasite-covered unfc , or the flame -colored tonguelike 
bloom of another species of Bromelia shooting out frora a dim aisle among 
the trees. On the path the purple petals of quaresira fla.'ers spangled the brown 
gravel like stardust, and a few buds of fuchsia trees dropped into a bed of 
f-reen Selaginella at my feet. We continued along the path, with the constant 
drjtp of the ■f'orest all around us, and at the next turn the mist had cleared 
watery sun was coming out for a few moments. Beyond the froths'- 
mist that still billowed and rolled in the valley bej'-ond us, the siin made a 
^ , 4 ._ again, and a 
I 
ribbon of silver on the distant Atlantic* 
‘ihe expedition is over, and 11137 i'rogs and fishes and other trophies are 
safely' stowed a?/a3^' in nraseum jars, and the excitement of the adventure^ and 
the sheer beauty of Brazil are alread3~ onl:- a memoiy* But sometiiiies, while 
I am in the midst of the dry technical descriptions which 1 must write, the 
laboratory walls fade awa^^ and 1 see again the flash of a huinraing-bird’s 
wing, the purple beauty of an orchid lighting the dark gloom of the ancient 
M 
trees, or the fuchsia flovi/ers lying like spilled heart’s blood on green 
Brazilian mosses* 
