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beside us went tlirougli no doubt another of liis best
performances in the shape of a loud mocking laugh.
A u'ave of relief passed over the party, but Ave Avere
ratlier late, and tlie drivers expressed to the parrot
tlieir sense of liis conduct, I fear strongly, b u t in
terms wliicli, being in Brazilian patois, I did not
understand.
"VVe passed quietly doAvn the river, with the usual
mangrove swamps and tlieir rising background of
forest fringed Avitli palms. "When we got outside Ave
found th a t the wind liad risen, and there Avas a heavy
sea in the bay. The steamer Avas cranky, and there
Avas something adrift with her engines, so Ave got
a good wetting hefore we reached the ‘ Challenger ’
ahont sunset.
During onr stay in Bahia the steam pinnace Avas
out almost daily, dredging in the shallow water, 7
to 20 fathoms in the Bay. The fauna Avas Avonderfully
rich, every haul of the dredge bringing up
large numbers of tine tropical shore forms. The
Echinoderms Avere perhaps the most striking from the
ahnn dance of one or two large species of Bury ale and
Antedon. A fine calcareous sponge of unusual size
was very common; a cylindrical stem two to three
inches high supported a round button-shaped head
like an unexpanded mushroom ; the regular ladderlike
arrangement of the spicules in the stem of this
species is particularly heautiful.
"VVe remained a fortnight in Bahia and enjoyed our
stay greatly; all the conditions were so new to us
and so characteristic. Our friend Mr. Hugh "Wilson,
AA’h o A v a s one of the leading English residents in
Bahia, and evidently a man of great energy, took us
hip from San Salva