Hortus Fluminensis. 
339 
planters call “wet-feet.” Nevertheless they form very large and 
handsome trees. The great size which prevails among the trees, as 
compared with those of temperate climates, does not appeal to the 
observer immediately, but becomes impressed upon him gradually, 
An Eriodendron, 40 metres high and large in proportion, looks quite 
normal among its giant neighbours, and it is only after a little 
consideration of what a poor figure even a great English Elm would 
make by the side of it, that the huge stature of the tropical forest 
tree becomes apparent to the imagination. The last Director but 
one, Dr. Barbosa Rodrigues, was one of the greatest authorities 
upon the Palmae. His library has just been purchased for the 
Gardens, and will form a valuable asset. The collection of Palms, 
which he was responsible for introducing into the Gardens, is 
undoubtedly the finest in the world—comprising nearly 400 species, 
represented by full-sized specimens in flourishing condition, which 
lend a charming grace to many of the views in which the Gardens 
abound. Indeed, from the spectacular point of view, it is scarcely 
to be believed that anything, in any country, can excel this 
combination of grand natural surroundings and cultivated beauty. 
To realise the grandeur of these hills, the majesty of huge trees 
and quiet lawns beneath a torrid sun, or the multitudinous 
abundance of the lesser lives that fill every nook and cling to every 
crevice, such is the charm that the Gardens of Rio impress upon 
the minds of those who are happy to linger there. 
Swift blaze of dawn, and sea-breeze in the palms, who can 
forget these things, once known, or the strong vocation that they 
lay upon him for ever? Or this broad-bladed grass, so painfully 
pricked-in, root by root, which forms such deep carpets, of purity 
incomparable, chosen playground of the host of sunny butterflies— 
all sorts and sizes, from the great Morplio, blue and ephemeral as a 
tropic wave, to the tiny “ Figure of Eight ” with its quaintly 
regular markings. Who was it called them “ The Dancing 
Flowers” ? Perhaps Lafcadio Hearn—I forget. 
Or else this ceaseless wind among the leaves, irritating, perhaps, 
in the day time, if one be trying to photograph them on a slow plate, 
but taking on a deeper significance in the cool dusk, when only the 
winking fire-flies light the shadowy alleys of the trees, and the 
elfin piping of the tree-frogs welcomes in the night. 
The rhapsodical view is apt to be partial, and while writing the 
preceding paragraph I forgot the mosquitos, which would never have 
happened in the Gardens themselves. Rio city itself is now wonder¬ 
fully healthy, with a death-rate lower than that of many a European 
capital. Both yellow fever and malaria are ghosts of the past which 
have been laid, and, thanks to the very efficient sanitary service, 
the mosquito is almost negligible. But the Gardens do not come 
within the scope of the municipality’s efforts, and, surrounded as 
they are by jungle, the mosquito remains and flourishes, uninfected 
fortunately, but capable of much minor mischief on its own account. 
Certainly anyone intending to penetrate into the forests near Rio, 
or anyone whose work will lead him to be out-of-doors after 
nightfall should neglect no safeguard against their incessant attacks. 
Immediately behind the Gardens rises a hill some 300 feet in 
height, of which the slope lying towards the Gardens is included 
in their area. The remainder of these back-lying hills belongs to the 
