found, in company with an o l d Portuguese priest who took
me out to hunt with him. The sport consisted in turning
into the cover a few dogs, and then patiently waiting to fire
at any animal which might appear. AVe were accompanied
by the son of a neighbouring farmer—a good specimen of a
wild Brazilian youth. He was dressed in a tattered old shirt
and trousers, and had his head uncovered; he earned an
old-fashioned gun and a large knife. The habd of carrpng
the knife is universal; and in traversing a thick wood it is
almost necessary, on account of the creeping plants. The
frequent occurrence of murder may he partly attributed to
this habit. The Brazilians are so dexterous with the knife,
that they can throw it to some distance with precision, and
with sufficient force to cause a fatal wound. I have seen a
number of little boys practising this art as a game of play,
and from their skill in hitting an upright stick, they promised
well for mere earnest attempts. My companion, the
day before, had shot two large bearded monkeys. These
animals have prehensile tails, the extremity of which, even
after death, can support the whole weight of the body. One
of them thus remained fast to a branch, and it was necessary
to cut down a large tree to procure it. This was soon
effected, and down came tree and monkey with an awful
crash. Our day’s sport, besides the monkey, was confined
to sundry small green parrots and a few toucans. I profited,
however, by my acquaintance vnth the Portuguese
padre, for on another occasion he gave me a fine specimen
of the Vaguarundi cat.
Every one has heard of the beauty of the scenery near
Botofogo. The house in which I lived was seated close
beneath the well-known mountain of the Corcovado. It has
been remarked, with much truth, that abruptly conical hills
are characteristic of the formation which Humboldt designates
as gneiss-granite. Nothing can be more striking than
the effect of these huge rounded masses of naked rock rising
out of the most luxuriant vegetation.
I was often interested by watching the clouds, which,
rolling in from seaward, formed a bank just beneath the
highest point of the Corcovado. This mountain, like most
others, when thus partly veiled, appeared to rise to a far
prouder elevation than its real height of 2300 feet. Mr.
Daniell has observed, in his meteorological essays, that a
cloud sometimes appears fixed on a mountain summit, while
the wind continues to blow over it. The same phenomenon
here presented a slightly different appearance. In this case
the cloud was clearly seen to curl over, and rapidly pass by
the summit, and yet was neither diminished nor increased
in size. The sun was setting, and a gentle southerly lireeze,
striking ap in st the southern side of the rock, mingled its
current with the colder air above; and the vapour was thus
condensed: but as the light wreaths of cloud passed over tlie
ridge, and came within the influence of the warmer atmosphere
of the northern sloping bank, they were immediately
redissolved.
The climate, during the months of May and June, or
the beginning of winter, was delightful. The mean temperature,
from observations taken at nine o’clock, both
morning and evening, was only 72°. It often rained heavily,
but the drying southerly winds soon again rendered the
walks pleasant. One morning, in the course of six hours,
1.6 inches of ram fell. As this storm passed over the
forests, which surround the Corcovado, the sound produced
by the drops pattering on the countless multitude of leaves
was very remarkable; it could be heard at the distance of
a quarter of a mile, and was like the rushing of a great body
of water. After the hotter days, it was delicious to sit quietly
m the gaiffien and watch the evening pass into night. Nature
m these climes, chooses her vocalists from more humble performers
than in Europe. A small frog, of the genus Hyla,*
sits on a blade of glass about an inch above the surface of the
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o o i^ ^ cm w l u p a p a n e o f glass, w h o n ^ p lac ed a b s o lu te ly p o rp en d ic ‘: , : r “ '
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