forming one of the great charms of tropical vegetation, here grew with great luxuriance: its glossy velvety-green leaves, twelve feet in length, curving over the roofs of verandahs in the rear of every house. The shape of the leaves, the varying shades of green which they present when lightly moved by the wind, and especially the contrast they afford in colour and form to the more sombre hues and more rounded outline of the other trees, are quite sufficient to account for the charm of this glorious tree. Strange forms of vegetation drew our attention at almost every step. Amongst them were the different kinds of Bromelia, or pine-apple plant, with their long, rigid, sword-shaped leaves, in some species jagged or toothed along their edges. Then there was the breadfruit tree—an importation, it is true; but remarkable from its large, glossy, dark green, strongly digitated foliage, and its interesting history. Many other trees and plants, curious in leaf, stem, or manner of growth, grew on the borders of the thickets along which Jay our road; they were all attractive to new-comers, whose last country ramble, of quite recent date, was over the bleak moors of Derbyshire on a sleety morning in April. As we continued our walk the brief twilight commenced, and the sounds of multifarious life came from the vegetation around. The whirring of cicadas; the shrill stridulation of a vast number and variety of field crickets and grasshoppers, each species sounding its peculiar note; the plaintive hooting of tree frogs—all blended together in one continuous ringing sound,—the audible expression of the teeming profusion of Nature. As night came on, many species of frogs and toads in the marshy places joined in the chorus: their croaking and drumming, far louder than anything I had before heard in the same line, being added to the other noises, created an almost deafening din. ‘This uproar of life, I afterwards found, never wholly ceased, night or day: in course of time I became, like other residents, accustomed to it. It is, however, one of the peculiarities of a tropical—at least a Brazilian-climate which is most likely to surprise a stranger. After my return to England, the death-like stillness of days in the country appeared to me as strange as the ringing uproar did on my first arrival at Parad. The object of our visit being accomplished, we returned to the city. The fireflies were then out in great numbers, flitting about the sombre woods, and even the frequented streets. We turned into our hammocks, well pleased with what we had seen, and full of anticipation with regard to the wealth of natural objects we had come to explore.

During the first few days, we were employed in landing our baggage and arranging our extensive apparatus. We then accepted the invitation of Mr. Miller to make use of his rocinha, or country-house in the suburbs, until we finally decided on a residence. Upon this we made our first essay in housekeeping. We bought cotton hammocks, the universal substitute for beds in this country, cooking utensils and crockery, and then engaged a free negro, named Isidoro, as cook and servant-of-all-work. Isidoro had served Englishmen in this capacity before, and, although he had not picked up two words of English, he thought he had a great talent for understanding and making himself understood; in his efforts to do which he was very amusing. Having

6 PARA. Cuap, I.

no other medium through which we could make known our wants, we progressed rapidly in learning Portuguese. I was quite surprised to find little or no trace in Isidoro of that baseness of character which I had read of as being the rule amongst negroes in a slave country. Isidoro was an old man, with an anxious lugubrious expression of countenance, and exhibited signs of having been overworked in his younger days, which I understood had been passed in slavery. The first traits I perceived in him were a certain degree of self-respect and a spirit of independence: these I found afterwards to be by no means rare qualities among the free negroes. Some time after he had entered our service, I scolded him one morning about some delay in getting breakfast. It happened that it was not his fault, for he had been detained, much against his will, at the shambles. He resented the scolding, not in an insolent way, but in a quiet, respectful manner, and told me how the thing had occurred; that I must not expect the same regularity in Brazil which is found in England, and that “ paciencia” was a necessary accomplishment to a Brazilian traveller. ‘There was nothing ridiculous about Isidoro; there was a gravity of demeanour and sense of propriety about him which would have been considered becoming in a serving-man in any country. This spirit of self-respect is, I think, attributable partly to the lenient treatment which slaves have generally received from their white masters in this part of Brazil, and partly to the almost total absence of prejudice against coloured people amongst the inhabitants. This latter is a very hopeful state of things. It seems to be encouraged by the governing class in Brazil; and, by drawing together the races and classes of the heterogeneous population, will doubtless lead to the most happy results. I had afterwards, as I shall have to relate in the course of my narrative, to number free negroes amongst my most esteemed friends: men of temperate, quiet habits, desirous of mental and moral improvement, observant of the minor courtesies of life, and quite as trustworthy, in more important matters, as the whites and half-castes of the province. Isidoro was not, perhaps, scrupulously honest in small matters: scrupulous honesty is a rare quality in casual servants anywhere. He took pains to show that he knew he had made a contract to perform certain duties, and he tried, evidently, to perform them to the best of his ability.

Our first walks were in the immediate suburbs of Para. ‘The city lies on a corner of land formed by the junction of the river Guama with the Para. AsI have said before, the forest, which covers the whole country, extends close up to the city streets; indeed, the town is built on a tract of cleared land, and is kept free from the jungle only by the constant care of the Government. The surface, though everywhere low, is slightly undulating, so that areas of dry land alternate throughout with areas of swampy ground, the vegetation and animal tenants of the two being widely different. Our residence lay on the side of the city nearest the Guamd, on the borders of one of the low and swampy areas which here extend over a portion of the suburbs. The tract of land is intersected by well-macadamized suburban roads, the chief of which, Estrada das Mongubeiras (the Monguba road), about a mile long, is a magnificent avenue of silk-cotton trees (Bombax monguba and B. ceiba),

huge trees whose trunks taper rapidly from the ground upwards, and whose flowers before opening look like red balls studding the branches. This fine road was constructed under the governorship of the Count dos Arcos, about the year 1812. At right angles to it run a number of narrow green lanes, and the whole district is drained by a system of small canals or trenches, through which the tide ebbs and flows, showing the lowness of the site. Before I left the country, other enterprising presidents had formed a number of avenues lined with cocoa-nut palms, almond and other trees, in continuation of the Monguba road, over the more elevated and drier ground to the north-east of the city. On the high ground the vegetation has an aspect quite different from that which it presents in the swampy parts. Indeed, with the exception of the palm trees, the suburbs here have an aspect like that of a village green at home. The soil is sandy, and the open commons are covered with a short grassy and shrubby vegetation. Beyond this, the land again descends to a marshy tract, where, at the bottom of the moist hollows, the public wells are situated. Here all the linen of the city is washed by hosts of noisy negresses, and here also the water-carts are filled—painted hogsheads on wheels, drawn by bullocks. In early morning, when the sun sometimes shines through a light mist, and everything is dripping with moisture, this part of the city is full of life: vociferous negroes and wrangling Gallegos,* the proprietors of the water-carts, are gathered about, jabbering continually, and taking their morning drams in dirty wine-shops at the street corner.

Along these beautiful roads we found much to interest us during the first few days. Suburbs of towns, and open, sunny, cultivated places in Brazil, are tenanted by species of animals and plants which are mostly different from those of the dense primeval forests. I will therefore give an account of what we observed of the animal world, during our explorations in the immediate neighbourhood of Para.

The number and beauty of the birds and insects did not at first equal our expectations. The majority of the birds we saw were small and obscurely coloured; they were indeed similar, in general appearance, to such as are met with in country places in England. Occasionally a flock of small paroquets, green, with a patch of yellow on the forehead, would come at early morning to the trees near the Estrada. They would feed quietly, sometimes chattering in subdued tones, but setting up a harsh scream, and flying off, on being disturbed. Humming-birds we did not see at this time, although I afterwards found them by hundreds when certain trees were in flower. Vultures we only saw at a distance, sweeping round at a great height, over the public slaughter-houses. Several flycatchers, finches, ant-thrushes, a tribe of plainly-coloured birds, intermediate in structure between flycatchers and thrushes, some of which startle the new-comer by their extraordinary notes emitted from their places of concealment in the dense thickets; and also tanagers, and other small birds, inhabited in the neighbourhood. None of these had a pleasing song, except a little brown wren (Troglodytes furvus), whose voice and melody resemble those of our English robin.

Natives of Galicia, in Spain, who follow this occupation in Lisbon and Oporto, as well as at Para.

8 PARA. Cuap. L

It is often seen, hopping and climbing about the walls and roofs of houses and on trees in their vicinity. Its song is more frequently heard in the rainy season, when the Monguba trees shed their leaves. At those times the Estrada das Mongubeiras has an appearance quite unusual in a tropical country. The tree is one of the few in the Amazons region which sheds all its foliage before any of the new leaf-buds expand. ‘The naked branches, the soddened ground matted with dead leaves, the grey mist veiling the surrounding vegetation, and the cool atmosphere soon after sunrise; all combine to remind one of autumnal mornings in England. Whilst loitering about at such times in a half-oblivious mood, thinking of home, the song of this bird would create for the moment a perfect illusion. Numbers of tanagers frequented the fruit and other trees in our garden. The two principal kinds which attracted our attention were the Rhamphoccelus jacapa and the Tanagra episcopus. The females of both are dull in colour. The male of Jacapa has a beautiful velvety purple and black plumage, the beak being partly white. ‘The same sex in Episcopus is of a pale blue colour, with white spots on the wings. In their habits they both resemble the common house-sparrow of Europe, which does not exist in South America, its place being in some measure filled by these familiar tanagers. They are just as lively, restless, bold, and wary; their notes are very similar, chirping and inharmonious, and they seem to be almost as fond of the neighbourhood of man. ‘They do not, however, build their nests on houses.

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