16 PARA. Cuap. I.

de resistance,” serving as a foil against onslaughts made on the main body of workers. The third order of workers is the most curious of all. If the top of a small fresh hillock, one in which the thatching process is going on, be taken off, a broad cylindrical shaft is disclosed, at a depth of about two: feet from the surface. If this be probed with a stick, which may be done to the extent of three or four feet without touching bottom, a small number of colossal fellows (Fig. 3) will slowly begin to make their way up the smooth sides of the mine. ‘Their heads are of the same size as those of the class Fig. 2; but the front is clothed with hairs, instead of being polished, and they have in the middle of the forehead a twin ocellus, or simple eye, of quite different structure from the ordinary compound eyes, on the sides of the head. This frontal eye is. totally wanting in the other workers, and is not known in any other kind of ant. The apparition of these strange creatures from the cavernous depths of the mine reminded me, when I first observed: them, of the Cyclopes of Homeric fable. ‘They were not very pugnacious, as I feared they would be, and I had no difficulty in securing a few with.

Saiiba Ant.—Female.

my fingers. I never saw them under any other circumstances than those here related, and what their special functions may be I cannot. divine. The whole arrangement of a Formicarium, or ant-colony, and all the varied activity of ant-life, are directed to one main purpose—the perpetuation and dissemination of the species. Most of the labour which we see performed by the workers has for its end the sustenance and welfare of the young brood, which are helpless grubs. The true: females are incapable of attending to the wants of their offspring; and it is on the poor sterile workers, who are denied all the other pleasures: of maternity, that the entire care devolves. What a wonderfully organised community is that of the ant! The workers are also the chief agents in carrying out the different migrations of the colonies, which are of vast importance to the dispersal and consequent prosperity of the species. The successful début of the winged males and females depends likewise on the workers. It is amusing to see the activity and excitement which reign in an ants’ nest when the exodus of the winged individuals is taking place. The workers clear the roads of exit, and

show the most lively interest in their departure, although it is highly improbable that any of them will return to the same colony. The swarming or exodus of the winged males and females of the Saiiba ant takes place in January and February, that is, at the commencement of the rainy season. They come out in the evening in vast numbers, causing quite a commotion in the streets and Janes. They are of very large size, the female measuring no less than two and a quarter inches in expanse of wing; the male is not much more than half this size. They are so eagerly preyed upon by insectivorous animals, that on the morning after their flight not an individual is to be seen, a few impregnated females alone escaping the slaughter, to found new colonies. At the time of our arrival, Parad had not quite recovered from the effects of a series of revolutions, brought about by the hatred which existed betweeen the native Brazilians and the Portuguese; the former, in the end, calling to their aid the Indian and mixed coloured popu- Jation. The number of inhabitants of the city had decreased, in con sequence of these disorders, from 24,500 in 1819, to 15,000 in 1848. Although the public peace had not been broken for twelve years before the date of our visit, confidence was not yet completely restored, and the Portuguese merchants and tradesmen would not trust themselves to live at their beautiful country houses or rocinhas, which lie embosomed in the luxuriant shady gardens around the city. No progress had been made in clearing the second-growth forest, which had grown over the once cultivated grounds, and now reached the end of all the suburban streets. The place had the aspect of one which had seen better days; the public buildings, including the palaces of the President and Bishop, the cathedral, the principal churches and convents, all seemed constructed on a scale of grandeur far beyond the present requirements of the city. Streets full of extensive private residences, built in the Italian style of architecture, were in a neglected condition, weeds and flourishing young trees growing from large cracks in the masonry. The large public squares were overgrown with weeds, and impassable on account of the swampy places which occupied portions of their areas. Commerce, however, was now beginning to revive, and before I left the country I saw great improvements, as I shall have to relate towards the conclusion of this narrative. The province of which Para is the capital was, at the time I allude to, the most extensive in the Brazilian empire, being about 1560 miles in length from east to west, and about 600 in breadth. Since that date-namely, in 1853—it has been divided into two by the separation of the Upper Amazons as a distinct province. It formerly constituted a section, capitania, or governorship of the Portuguese colony. Originally it was well peopled by Indians, varying much in social condition according to their tribe, but all exhibiting the same general physical characters, which are those of the American red man somewhat modified by long residence in an equatorial forest country. Most of the tribes are now extinct or forgotten—at least, those which originally peopled the banks of the main river, their descendants having amalga-

18 PARA, Cuap. I.

mated with the white and negro immigrants:* many still exist, however, in their original state on the Upper Amazons and most of the branch rivers. On this account Indians in this province are far more numerous than elsewhere in Brazil, and the Indian element may be said to prevail in the mongrel population, the negro proportion being much smaller than in South Brazil. The city is built on the best available site for a port of entry to the Amazons region, and must in time become a vast emporium; for the northern shore of the main river, where alone a rival capital could be founded, is much more difficult of access to vessels, and is besides extremely unhealthy. Although lying so near the equator (1° 28’ S. lat.) the climate is not excessively hot. ‘The temperature during three years only once reached 95° of Fahrenheit. The greatest heat of the day, about 2 p.m., ranges generally between 89° and 94°; but, on the other hand, the air is never cooler than 73°, so that a uniformly high temperature exists, and the mean of the year is 81°. North American residents say that the heat is not so oppressive as it is in summer in New York and Philadelphia. The humidity is, of course, excessive, but the rains are not so heavy and continuous in the wet season as in many other tropical climates. ‘The country had for a long time a reputation for extreme salubrity. Since the small-pox in 1819, which attacked chiefly the Indians, no serious epidemic had visited the province. We were agreeably surprised to find no danger from exposure to the night air or residence in the low swampy lands. A few English residents, who had been established here for twenty or thirty years, looked almost as fresh in colour as if they had never left their native country. The native women, too, seemed to preserve their good looks and plump condition until late in life. I nowhere observed that early decay of appearance in Brazilian ladies which is said to be so general in the women of North America. Up to 1848 the salubrity of Para was quite remarkable for a city lying in the delta of a great river in the middle of the tropics and half surrounded by swamps. It did not much longer enjoy its immunity from epidemics. In 1850 the yellow fever visited the province for the first time, and carried off in a few weeks more than 4 per cent. of the population.t One disease after another succeeded, until in 1855 the cholera swept through the country and caused fearful havoc. Since then, the healthfulness of the climate has been gradually restored, and it is now fast recovering its former good reputation. Para is free from serious endemic disorders, and was once a resort of invalids from New York and Massachusetts. ‘The equable temperature,

The mixed breeds, which now form, probably, the greater part of the population, have each a distinguishing name. Mameluco denotes the offspring of White with Indian; Mulatto, that of White with Negro; Cafuzo, the mixture of the Indian and Negro; Curiboco, the cross between the Cafuzo and the Indian; Xibaro, that between the Cafuzo and Negro. These are seldom, however, well demarcated, and all shades of colour exist; the names are generally applied only approximatively. The term Creolois confined to negroes born in the country. The civilised Indian is called Tapuyo or Caboclo. t Relatorio of the President, Jeronymo Francisco Coelho, 1850. From January 1 to July 31, 1850, 12,000 persons, in the city of Para alone, fell ill out of a population of 16,000, but only 506 died.

the perpetual verdure, the coolness of the dry season when the sun’s heat is tempered by the strong sea-breezes and the moderation of the periodical rains, make the climaté one of the most enjoyable on the face of the earth. The province is governed, like all others in the empire, by a President, as chief civil authority. At the time of our arrival he held also, exceptionally, the chief military command. This functionary, together with the head of police administration and the judges, is nominated by the central Government at Rio Janeiro. The municipal and internal affairs are managed by a provincial assembly elected by the people. Every villa or borough throughout the province also possesses its municipal council, and in thinly-populated districts the inhabitants choose every four years a justice of the peace, who adjudicates in small disputes between neighbours. A system of popular education exists, and every village has its school of first letters, the master being paid by the government, the salary amounting to about £70, or the same sum as the priests receive. Besides common schools a well-endowed classical seminary is maintained at Para, to which the sons of most of the planters and traders in the interior are sent to complete their education. ‘The province returns its quota of members every four years to the lower and upper houses of the imperial parliament. Every householder has a vote. ‘Trial by jury has been established, the jury-men being selected from householders, no matter what their race or colour; and I have seen the white merchant, the negro husbandman, the mameluco, the mulatto and the Indian, all sitting side by side on the same bench. Altogether the constitution of government in Brazil seems to combine happily the principles of local self-government and centralisation, and only requires a proper degree of virtue and intelligence in the people to lead the nation to great prosperity.

The province of Para, or, as we may now say, the two provinces of Para and the Amazons, contain an area of 800,000 square miles; the population of which is only about 230,000, or in the ratio of one person to four square miles. The country is covered with forests, and the soil fertile in the extreme even for a tropical country. It is intersected throughout by broad and deep navigable rivers. It is the pride of the Paraenses to call the Amazons the Mediterranean of South America. It perhaps deserves the name, for not only have the main river and its principal tributaries an immense expanse of water bathing the shores of extensive and varied regions, but there is also throughout a system of back-channels, connected with the main rivers by narrow outlets and linking together a series of lakes, some of which are fifteen, twenty, and thirty miles in length. The whole Amazons valley is thus covered by a network of navigable waters, forming a vast inland freshwater sea with endless ramifications rather than a river.

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