I went to the Botanic Garden, where many plants, well
known for their great utility, might be seen growing.
The leaves of the camphor, pepper, cinnamon, and clove
trees were delightfully aromatick; and the bread frmt, tlie
jack, and the mango, vied with each other in the magnificence
of their foliage. The landscape in the neighbourhood
of Bahia almost takes its character from the two latter trees.
Before seeing them, I had no idea that any trees could cast
so black a shade on the ground. Both of them bear to the
ever o-reen vegetation of these climates, the same kind oi relation
which laurels and hollies in England do to the lighter
green of the deciduous trees. It may be observed, that the
houses within the tropics are surrounded by the most beautiful
forms of vegetation, because many of them are at tlie
same time most useful to man. Who can doubt that these
qualities are united in the banana, the cocoa-nut, the many
kinds of palm, the orange, and the bread-fruit tree ?
During this day I was particularly struck with a remark of
Humboldt’s, who often alludes to “ the thin vapour winch,
without changing the transparency of the air, r en to s its tints
more harmonious, softens its effects, &c. us is an
appearance which I have never observed in the temperate
zones. The atmosphere, seen through a short space of halt
or three-quarters of a mile, was perfectly lucid, but at a
greater distance all colours were blended into a most beautiful
haze, of a pale French gray, mingled with a little blue
The condition of the atmosphere between the morning and
about noon, when the effect was most evident, had under-
o-one little change, excepting in its dryness. In the interval,
the difference between the dew point and temperature had
increased from 7°-5 to 17 ■ n j * n „
On another occasion I started early and ^ l^ e d to the
Gavia, or topsail mountain. The air was delightfully cool
and fragrant; and the drops of dew still glittered on the
leaves of the large liliaceous plants, which shaded the streamlets
of clear water. Sitting down on a block of granite
was deliirhtful to watch the various insects and buds as they
flew [la.st. Tlic luimming-liird.s seem particularly fond of
■such sliady retired spots. Whenever I saw tlicse little
creatures buzzing round a flower, with their wings vibrating
so rapidly as to be scarcely visible, I was reminded of the
spliinx moths: their movements and habits are indeed, in
many respects, very similar.
Following a pathway I entered a noble forest, and from a
height of five or six hundred feet, one of those splendid views
was presented, which are so common on every side of Rio.
At this elevation the landscape has attained its most brilliant
tin t; and every form, every shade, so completely surpasses in
magnificence all that the European has ever beheld in his
own country, that he knows not how to express his feelings.
The general effect frequently recalled to my mind the gayest
scenery of the Opera-house or the great theatres. I never
returned from these excursions empty-handed. This day I
found a specimen of a curious fungus, called Hymenophallus.
Most people know the English Phallus, which in autumn
taints the air with its odious smell: this, however, as the entomologist
is aware, is to some of our beetles a delightful
fragrance. So was it here; for a Strongylus, attracted by
the odour, alighted on the fungus as I carried it in my hand.
We here see in two distant countries a similar relation between
plants and insects of the same families, though the
species of both are different. When man is the agent in
introducing into a country a new species, this relation is often
broken : as one instance of this I may mention, that the
leaves of the cabbages and lettuces, which in England afford
food to such a multitude of slugs and caterpillars, in the
gardens near Rio are untouched.
During our stay in Brazil I made a large collection of insects.
A few general observations on the comparative importance
of the different orders, may be interesting to the
English entomologist. The large and brilliantly-coloured
Lepidoptera bespeak the zone they inhabit, far more iilainly
than any other race of animals. I allude only to the butterflies ;
for the moths, contrary to what might have been expected
from the rankness of the vegetation, certainly appeared in mucJi
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