90 
WANDERINGS IN 
SECOND 
JOURNEY. 
Environs 
of Per¬ 
nambuco. 
judged best calculated to ensure success; and that 
the idolatry which you uncharitably affirm they 
taught, was really and truly the very same faith 
which the Catholic church taught for centuries in 
England, which she still teaches to those who wish 
to hear her, and which she will continue to teach, 
pure and unspotted, till time shall be no more.” 
The environs of Pernambuco are very pretty. You 
see country houses in all directions, and the appear¬ 
ance of here and there a sugar plantation enriches 
the scenery. Palm-trees, cocoa-nut-trees, orange 
and lemon groves, and all the different fruits peculiar 
to Brazil, are here in the greatest abundance. 
At Olinda there is a national botanical garden; 
it wants space, produce, and improvement. The 
forests, which are. several leagues off, abound with 
birds, beasts, insects, and serpents. Besides a 
brilliant plumage, many of the birds have a very 
fine song. The troupiale, noted for its rich colours, 
sings delightfully in the environs of Pernambuco. 
The red-headed finch, larger than the European 
sparrow, pours forth a sweet and varied strain, in 
company with two species of wrens, a little before 
daylight. There are also several species of the 
thrush, which have a song somewhat different from 
that of the European thrush; and two species of the 
linnet, whose strain is so soft and sweet that it dooms 
them to captivity in the houses. A bird called here 
Sangre do Buey, blood of the ox, cannot fail to 
engage your attention : he is of the passerine tribe, 
and very common about the houses; the wings and 
