however, there is a very great difficulty in imagining any
one spot to be the birthplace of the millions of millions of
animalcula and confervai: for whence come the germs at
such points ?—the parent bodies having been distributed by
the winds and waves over the immense ocean. But on no
other hypothesis can I understand their linear grouping.
I may add that Scoresby remarks, that green water abounding
with pelagic animals, is invariably found in a certain
part of the Arctic Sea.
C H A P T E R I I .
R io de J a n e iro— E x c u r s io n n o r th o f C a p e F r io— G r e a t e v a p o ra tio n—
S la v e ry— B o to fo g o Bay— T e r r e s tr ia l P l a n a r iæ— C lo u d s o n C o rc o v a d o—
H e a v y r a in— M u s ic a l H y la— L am p y ris a n d its la rvæ— E l a te r , sp rin g in g
povrere— B lu e h a z e— N o ise o f b u tte r fly— E n tom o lo g y— A n ts— W a sp -
k illin g s p id e r— P a r a s itic a l s p id e r— A rtific e s o f E p e i r a—G r e g a rio u s
s p id e r— S p id e r w ith im p e rfe c t web.
RIO DE JANEIRO.
A p r i l 4 t h TO J u l y 5 t i i , 1 8 3 2 . - A few days after our
arrival I became acquainted with an Englishman who was
going to visit his estate situated, rather more than a
hundred miles from the capital, to the northward of Cape
Frio. As I was quite unused to travelling, I gladly accepted
his kind offer of allowing me to accompany him.
A p r i l 8 t h .—Our party amounted to seven. The first
stage was very interesting. The day was powerfully hot,
and as we passed through the woods, every thing was
motionless, excepting the large and brilliant butterflies,
which lazily fluttered about. The view seen when crossing
the hills behind Praia Grande was most beautiful; the
colours were intense, and the prevailing tint a dark b lu e ;
the sky and the calm waters of the bay vied with each
other in splendour. After passing through some cultivated
country, we entered a forest, which in the grandeur of all its
parts could not be exceeded. AVe arrived by midday at
Ithacaia; this small village is situated on a plain, and round
the central house are the huts of the negroes. These, from
their regular form and position, reminded me of the drawings
of the Hottentot habitations in Southern Africa. As the
moon rose early, we determined to start the same evening for
our sleeping-place at the Lagoa Marica. As it was growing
it .