6 
valley, which we daily visited. Our youthful party were charmed 
with its novelty, and regaled on the plantanes, cocoa nuts, and 
pine-apples, with which it abounded. The lofty cocoa-tree, and 
waving plantane, were enlivened by monkeys, and a variety of 
birds; but the weather being extremely hot, and the hills barren, 
we seldom strolled beyond the limits of the valley. 
We remained about a week at St. Jago, and then sailed for the 
Cape of Good Hope; but on discovering a dangerous leak in the 
ship, we were obliged to alter our course, and to proceed imme- 
diately to Rio de Janeiro, a Portugueze settlement on the coast of 
Brazil, where we continued from the end of June until the middle 
of October; while the vessel underwent the necessary repairs. 
If I was pleased with St. Jago, I had much greater reason to 
be delighted with the Brazils: the grandeur of the mountains, the 
fertility of the vallies, the mildness of the climate, and the general 
beauty of animal and vegetable nature, render this part of South 
America very interesting; the variety of trees and plants, the pro- 
fusion of fruits and dowers, and the brilliancy of the birds and in- 
sects, afforded an ample scope for my earliest attempts in natural 
history. One lovely valley, over which the aqueduct passes which 
supplies the city of St. Sebastian with water, was my favourite 
place of resort; and I seldom passed a day without visiting this 
sweet retreat; there the rose and myrtle mingled their fragrance 
with the clustering blossoms of the citron and orange trees, bend- 
ing at the same time, under the weight of their golden produce. 
“ For here great Spring 
tc Greens all the year, and fruits and blossoms blush, 
“ In social sweetness, on the self-same bough.” 
Milton. 
