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Show April, 1832. RIO DE JANEIRO. 28 'd . th common run of men. It may be sa1 was sup.e nor to r e.t to the bl'm dn es s of interest and s.e lfish there exists no lffil . t . fling anecdote, whiCh at . l entwn one very n lt habit. may m f 'bl than any story of crue y. the time struck me mor~ orm y ho was uncommonly I was crossing a ferry with a nekgroh'. w understand I talked d · to rna e 1m ' stupid. In en eavour~ngd . h'cll I passed my hand near d d . ·ns m omg w 1 . d loud, an rna e sig ' th ht I was in a passiOn, an his face. He, I supp~se, f ou~ t tly with a frightened . t 'k him . or 1ns an , was gomg to s n e h' d d his hands. I shall never look and half-shut e}res, e. rolJe st and shame at seeing forget my feelings of surpns~, Isgu ' d off a blow, f l afraid even to war a great power u man t h' f ce This man had been directed, as he tho~ght,l a ~~ a the slavery of the most trained to a degradatiOn ower an helpless animal. . . s ent two days at So- APRIL 18TH.-In returmng we p . . . the " em lo ed them in collectmg msects m cego, and I pt y mber of trees although so lofty, are f t The grea er nu ' h ores . ore than three or four feet in circ~mfer~nce. T ere not m f of much greater dimensiOn. Senhor are, of l coursse~h:n e:aking a canoe seventy feet in length Manue ' wlida t nk which had originally been 110 feet long, ~nd from a so ru ' · m1dst f reat thickness. The contrast of pal~-trees, .growmg a oth eg common b ranch l'ng kinds ' never fails to give the scende ba n . ical character. Here the woods were ornamente . y mterga:a e Palm-one of the most beautiful of its :amily. th~th a st~m so narrow that it might be clas~ed with the :o hands, it waves its elegant head at the hmght of fort~ or fifty feet above the ground. The woody creeper~, them. selves covered by other creepers, were of. gre~t thiCkness . h. h I measured were two feet m cucumference. some w 1c · . ranee Man of the older trees presented a very cuno.us appea fromythe tresses of a liana depending from therr boughs, and bl. g bundles of hay. If the eye was turned from resem m b th 't as the world of foliage above, to the ground enea ' 1 w attracted by the extreme elegance of the leaves of the ferns April, 1832. RIO DE JANEIRO. 29 and mimosre. The latter, in some parts, covered the surface with a brushwood only a few inches high. In walking across these thick beds, a broad track was marked by the change of shade, produced by the drooping of their sensitive petio]es. It is easy to specify the individual objects of admiration in these grand scenes ; but it is not possible to give an adequate idea of the higher feelings of wonder, astonishment, and devotion, which fill and elevate the mind. APRIL 19TH.-Leaving Sod!go, during the two first days, we retraced our steps. It was very wearisome work, as the road generally ran across a glaring hot sandy plain, not far from the coast. I noticed that each time the horse put its foot on the fine siliceous sand, a gentle chirping noise was produced. On the third day we took a different line, and passed through the gay little village of Madre de Deos. This is one of the principal lines of road in Brazil; yet it was in so bad a state, that no wheel vehicle, excepting the clumsy bullock-waggon, could pass along. In our whole journey we did not cross a single bridge built of stone; and those made of logs of wood were frequently so much out of repair, that it was necessary to go on one side to avoid them. All distances are inaccurately known. The road is often marked by crosses, in the place of milestones, to signify where human blood has been spilled. On the evening of the 23d we arrived at Rio, having finished our pleasant little excursion. During the remainder of my stay at Rio, I resided in a cottage at Botofogo Bay. It was impossible to wish for any thing more delightful than thus to spend some weeks in so magnificent a country. In England any person fond of natural history enjoys in his walks a great advantage, by always having something to attract his attention ; but in these fertile climates, teeming with life, the attractions are so numerous, that he is scarcely able to walk at all. The few observations which I was enabled to make were almost exclusively confined to the invertebrate animals. The |