New-York tribune., 1878-05-10

color of the mass of weed Is thus olive in all Its shades
Sn s1S T color IT, however greatly
broken up by the delicate branehng OF ane veou weo'
SSGsd f Sr the Tercons d %sltS the bre wat
clearing through the spaces in the network Inc gen
eral effect of number OF such fields and patches o
weed in abrupt and yet harmonious contrast WIN
the OF intense indigo which separate the' is 'e'
These floating islands have inhabitants peculiar TO
tcm and know of no more perfect exanpe ol H. ro,Gg %
tive resemblance Than that which iSsiOwn III the gult-
weed fauna. Animals drifting about on t1e suticS o
e with such scSn cover c etposed az sV 10 excep"na
danger from the sharpeyet seabirds hoyeIlng aDTs m
meath but and all OF these creatures initiate III such
an extraordinary way, both IN form aud cOOrlng theT
can wen imagine their deceivng both the birds and the
fishes Among the most curious Of the gulf-weed ami
wnich finds It's nearest EnssH ally IN the fishing
ros, Lophs pisedtoriusl often thrown m up on o tne
its head aud jaws, and for its general ugness
and rapacy. None of the examples OF the guIi-weed
AntennariGs which VIC found more than 90
mn. III length, and we are s uncertain whe,hJr ,mr
httlc fish which constructs the singular nests OF gulI
weed bound In bundle with cords of yscid secretion,
which have been already mentioned as abundant Ill the
ScGI peiagiea one OF the sheless mollusca. is also
a frequent in6abItant of the guweed. little short
tailed crab (NGuf,logrdpsuS nRutusl swarms on the
and every floating object and 1t Is odd to see
how the little creature usually Corresponds III colU
with whatever it may happen to lnhaDt IDese gun
weod-auimas fishes mOnsca, and crabs, do not Simply
initiate the OF the gulweed to do so would he TO
produce suspicious patches OF continuous oVe lney
are AL
bloches generally rounded sometimes irregular but at
a little distance absolutely undistngulshaDle from tns
patches OF Men,trdRipord on the weed
The peculiar beauties OF the Brazilian coast are
favorite theme with writers of travels, but they
have rarely been depicted in brighter colors than III
numerous passages of the present narrative. The
entrance to the harbor of Bahia de Todos os Santos
Is an example. On approaching the city multitude
of delcatey formed butterflies fluttered over the
ship, and over the far as the eye could reach
quivered in the air like withered leaves. As
you looked up into the sky, where they swarned
in incalculable numbers, they appeared like
the large flakes of snow On heavy snow
storm when thaw is setting in. The general
effect of the town from the sea is somewhat ike
that of Lisbon, but much finer. The coast is ele-
waited, though not mountainous, rising from the
shore in terraces ~ the height of two or three
hundred feet, which are broken here and there by
ravnes and wooded knobs, every space clothed with
magnificent vegetation, and the sky line broken by
long lines of palm trees. 4 suburb of handsome
houses runs along the crest of the rise Upon Int
tie excursion into the interior, with Captain Mae
lear one of the officers of the ship the author was
fortunate enough to meet with cOuntryman of his
own, named Wilson, a leading engineer of Bahia,
who at that time engaged in large railway oper-
atiOns. Under his guidance the two travellers
made a venturesome dash into the country, which
is well described as follOws-
Mr. Wilson was obliged be next day at santo Amaro,
a little town about thirty miles distant, of
the ridges, on another river where he had hue Oi
went back to his house and dined, and spent the
evening at his window inhaling the SOFT, nOwer-pcr-
crystal doinc OF the deepest blue and their travcses in
a galaxy of fre-fies gitterng and dancing over The
tossed ourselves down 10 take sleep o'clock
was the hour fixed to be in the saddle IN the m"rning
We rode out OF the town IN the starlGht-Mr wilson,
Captain Maclear, ana myself win anative guide on
instinct Of our horses Tor II pain were Visible IA e
daylight, there was certainly none In the dark and We
scrambled for couple of hours right up the side Of The
| ridge When reached the tor, we came out upon
fat, open ground with little cultivation, bounded IN
almost absolutely silent; only now and then p
cular snr cry Of some nighbrd reached Us from the
| ing broke but the rerea in Brazilian forest is
deriuly different from the SLOW ceepngon OF the dawn
| OF a Summer morning ut home to the music OF the
thrushes answering one anOtbers 1ul nch notes from
spreads Upward in the east the stars quickly fade aud
the dark fnges of the forest and the tall palms show
out black against the yellow sky and almost before
| has ume to observe The change the sun has risen,
straight and fierce and the whole landscape Is batned
in tile fun light Of day. But the morning Is for yet
another hour cool aud fresh, and the scene is ndescrb
ably beautiful The woods, absolutely silent aud still
Of huer and scream the tops OF the highest
hopeeslY out OF shot the ear In pierced by
the strange Wild sereeches OF ilt'Ie Dand O macaws
which fly past you like the rdppedup ghosts of the Dds
some gaudy old brocade There Is no warb''ng, no
only harsh nOlses-abrupt calls winch those VINO
haunt the forest soon learn to translate by two or three
|
then set OF cries varied ana dssOnan than usual
tell that troop Of monkeys are passing across from
sounds to which ones attention is called by guide.
indicate his practised the neghborhood OF soth
forests Brazil And the insects now all awake,
and add their various notes to swell the general DIN
butterfly Of the gorgeous genus MOTpho comes 1utterng
along the path like loosely folded sheet OF Intensely
blue tinse flashing brilliant reflections IN lle sun
treebugs OF splendid metallic lustre, and IN the most
extraordinary harlequin cOOrng Of scarlet and blue and
Vellnc ri so
down. and make their presence perceptbe yards OF by
t6er peculiar and somttines unpleasant Odor But
how weak 1t is to say that exquisite little being,
whirrng and utcring in the air over that branch Of
BignOnla bells and sucking the nectar from them with
its long curved b has head OF rudy, and throat OF
emerald. and wings OF sapphire-as II any triumph OF
| sparkling eptOme Of life and light
1t broad day when we passed into the dense forest
through which the greater part OF the now lay The
path, which had been cut through the vegeaton was
just wide enough for us to rde IN indian ME ana Win
care to prevent our horses from brusng our legs
against the reetrunks aud We could not leave the path
for single foot either sde the scrub was so thick,
what with fallen tree,trunk covered With epphyes oi
all descriptions, aud cycads, ana aruIDs, ana great
thOrny spikes OF Br0De!td. and dense underground,
principally OF meastomads many OF them richly Gov
| cred with blue and purple nowers Above the under
growth the tall forest trees ran up straight and branch
less for thirty forty feet and when they began 10
branch a second tier OF vegetation spread over our
Monster0s and other arals, and epIphytc broueads.
| and orchids, OF them distlng from their long
! oyerpowering and mazcs of IaandSia hanging down
tangled hanks Of gray twne Every e nyaa pass
together running up singly, in size varying from
wlpcOrd foot III diameter These lianas were our
chief danger for they hung down in long loops from the
and lay the ground and were apt to entange
us and eaten the horses feet rode on. AS time
wore on got very close and hot, and the forest
lapsed into silence, most of the creatures retiring for
their MONDAY siesa. The false roof Of eppbytes and
parasites kept of the glare Of the and 1t only
| al Intervals that a sheaf OF vertical beams struck
through rift III the green canopy. and afforded us
passing glimpse OF tue tops Of the forest trees, uniting
| In delicate open tracery far above us.
| Few recent books of travel will be found to
possess greater degree Of interest for the intelligent
reader, regarded either storehouse of rare and