Chapter XXIX: Appendix: Zoology (2)

SOCO is a bird comprising various kinds, the white ones are the size of a large capon, without a tail, with the legs a little long, the bill also long and blue, the fore part of the head is black, the hinder part ornamented with a long pointed crest, falling back upon the neck, which is rather long. The ash-coloured ones differ only from the preceding in colour. There is another larger than the blackbird, being two spans and a half when the wings are opened, and three from the extremity of the bill to that of the feet; it is green on the upper part, and ash-coloured below, the bill is long and pointed, the iris yellow, the neck a span in length, slightly covered with feathers, and spotted on the under side; the tail is two inches long, the head is black, with a crest.

TAPERA is a little larger than the blackbird, the whole of the body white, with the head, tail, and wings black, the bill stout and pointed.

TYHE, or _Tapiranga_, is much larger than the sparrow, the feathers of the wings large, and those of the tail black, the rest entirely crimson; the bill is thick and black, with two white spots upon the lower part. The _tyhé negro_ (black tyhe) is the same size, with a green spot upon the head.

TINGARA is the size of a _tentilhao_, or chaffinch, of a sea green colour, with the head green, the tail short, and the bill fine, short, and pointed.

TUCANO is the size of a pullet, black, with the breast between green and yellow; the bill, a little curved, is of a thickness and length disproportionably large for the body. The _arassary_ is another species of _tucano_, differing in the colour of the feathers; the bill is a little less and straight, its song is the name by which it is designated. The _tucano_ builds its nest in the cavities of old trunks, lays only two eggs, and its first plumage is white, it has on each side of the head a naked portion of a red colour and varnished.

TUYUYU is much larger than the turkey-cock, white, with the legs black, is very high, with rather a long neck, the bill pointed, without a tail, and is the height of a man; it feeds at the margins of lakes, and its sustenance is fish.

VIUVA is the size of a sparrow, black, with the head white, and the tail proportioned. There is another species of _viuva_ the size of a red robin, also black, with the head white, and the body a little large from the feathers curling very much upon the upper part; the bill is short and delicate; it always perches upon dry branches and does not sing.

URUBU is a species of vulture, of the size of a turkey-cock, black, with the head hairy like it, the bill proportioned and curved at the upper part. There are two other sorts of the _urubu_, both rare, the one differs only in having a portion green, the other, which is called _urubu-rey_, is of a whitish ash colour, with the tail and wings black, the neck absolutely naked and fleshy, the head imperfectly covered with a soft fur, the crop hairy, the eyelids green, the iris very white, and the bill black. and has on the upper part of the bill a caruncle, composed of various yellow globules of divers sizes, attached to a delicate pedicle.

In the interior lakes there is a species of gull, the size of a swallow, the lower part very white, and the upper of a pearl colour; the tail forked, the wings long and narrow, with the three leading feathers black, as likewise the fore part of the head; the bill is long and yellow.

PATATIVA of an ash colour, is less than a robin, and sings.

RENDEIRA is the size of a bullfinch and white, with the head, tail, and wings black, the bill and tail short.

TICOTICO is of the size of a hedge-sparrow, having its colour almost upon the sides, with the belly yellow, and a white semicircle above the eyes.

TACOARA is larger than a blackbird, of a greenish colour, with the tail very long, the upper part of the head a gold colour, having a large black spot round the eyes.

PHYTOLOGY.

Perhaps no country in the world presents such an infinite variety of vegetation as the Brazil, or so spacious a field for the labours of the botanist. It abounds in a diversity of excellent timber, dye-woods, and medicinal plants. Nature, here so spontaneous, has not, amongst its innumerable indigenous species, any plants and trees of the European world. The colonists have naturalized a great number, but they do not prosper so well as in their native soil. Those of Africa and Asia sustain no injury when planted in the same latitude. The olive-tree grows little, soon droops, and does not fructify in the torrid zone. The chestnut-tree is only known in the southern provinces, where peaches grow in perfection; also the apple, plum, and cherry trees. The pomegranite and quince also prosper in the torrid zone. The vine and fig grow generally, but more especially out of the tropic. Oranges, of which there are various kinds, grow universally. Grain does not grow in all the provinces, with the exception of rice and Indian corn. Water-melons are every where excellent; the melon is good only in a few places. The cabbage and lettuce are cultivated, together with other indigenous hortulans unknown in Europe. The pea, bean, and turnip are little cultivated; with these were also naturalized rosemary, rue, wormwood, lavender, parsley, coriander, aniseed, mint, the pink, and jasmine. The rose-tree has a great enemy in the ant: its flower is not handsome.

Amongst other trees of excellent wood for building, carpenter and joiner’s work, are the _ajetahypeta_, _buranhe_, cedar, _conduru_, _coraçao de negro_, (negro’s heart,) _gonçalo alves_, _jacaranda_, _jacarandatan_, _jacarando-mulato_, _jequitiba_, _jetahy_, _loiro_, _massaranduba_, _mocetahyba_, _mocuhyba_, which is high, having a small tuft, similar to a parasol, and affords a small walnut, somewhat like an olive, with a thin and smooth rind, inclosing an oval kernel, from which is extracted an oil that is applied to various seus, _brahuna_, or _maria preto_, _olandim_, _bow wood_, _oil wood_, _violet wood_, _peguim_, _putumuju_, _oyty_, _oytycica_, _itapicuru_, _sapucaya_, _sebastiao d’arruda_, male and female, _sucupira_, _sucupirassu_, _vinhatica_, _sassafras_, and many more.

ALECRIM BRAZILICO (_Brazilian Rosemary_) is a shrub, only similar to that of its name in the colour of its flower, bark, and wood; the leaf resembles that of mint, but is small, with the smell of savory. There is another sort of rosemary, which differs only from the latter in its flower, which is white and formed like that of savory. Both grow best in a dry and sandy soil. ALGODEIRA, or _Cotton-Tree_, is a shrub which begins to ramify immediately on appearing, its leaves resembling the vine leaf. It has five large yellow petals, encircling each other; a great number of capillaments united in one column, in the centre of which a pistil arises to a greater height, of whose germ a capsule is formed more than two inches in length, triangular, and enclosing in three lodgements a great number of seed, resembling that of the pear, contiguous and in two orders, and unfolding in a white and long cotton wool, supplying the most extensive branch of commerce in the Brazil.

The AMBUZEIRO, or _Ambuzo Tree_, is of small size, and grows in sterile lands, not requiring any culture. It begins to have branches on issuing from the ground, and they are exceedingly intertwined with each other; the leaves are small, elliptical, and varnished on both sides; the flower is in small bunches, like the olive-tree; the fruit is similar in appearance to the sloe, between a green and white colour, having a thick skin, disagreeable to the taste, with a large round stone, never separating from the pulp, which resolves itself into a thick fluid, generally pleasant when ripe. It is much esteemed in the certams, particularly by the quadrupeds. The people of the country make of its fluid and curdled milk, well mixed together, and sweetened with sugar or honey, a beverage, which they call _ambuzada_, and say that it might do for a royal repast. This tree produces at the root one large potatoe, and sometimes more, and also small ones of a spongy and transparent substance, which turn into cold water on being compressed, and is a great resource to caravans and travellers passing plains devoid of water.

ANDIROBA is a plant, very similar to that of a cucumber, affording a round fruit, without smell, the size of a large apple, with eleven or twelve seeds, round and flat, disposed in three cavities or cells, from which is extracted a clear medicinal oil, being also good for lights.

ANGELIM is a tree of medium height, having many branches, the leaf small, the flower, with five petals in an ear, between a violet and rose-colour, having a pistil and nine capillaments; the fruit is a two-valved capsule of an ash-colour, affording an oval almond, covered with a thick membrane, and which is used in pharmacy.

ARACA MIRIM is a tree of considerable growth, with a small leaf; the bark is as smooth on the epidermis as the inner side.

ARGUEIRO, or _Argua-Tree_, is the size of the olive-tree, its trunk and branches overspread with short prickles; the leaves, which it annually sheds, are of the shape of a heart; the flowers are in bunches, of one or two spans in length, at the extremity of the branches, disposed three and three; it has five petals of which one only unfolds itself, this is of a beautiful rose-colour, with little less than two inches of length, and more than one in width. Upon the lower part of the pistil, which is amongst ten capillaments, there is a pod, containing an indeterminate number of _feijoes_, or beans, entirely of a red colour, or with black spots; they are very hard, and bracelets are made of them. It is one of the most beautiful trees in the country when in flower, in which state it remains for some time.

The ARTECUM, or _Araticu_, of which there are various kinds, is similar to the _ambuzo_ in size, in the entwining of its branches, and in having an ash-coloured rind. The leaves, which it casts off annually, are almost round, and of a beautiful green, and varnished on both sides. Its flower is like a fig, of a yellow colour, which opens in three equal portions, as if they were parted with a knife, are thick, of a reddish hue, and in the form of a shell; below each portion there is a smaller shell, not so thick, and externally white, inclosing a button in the shape of a pine, which becomes a fruit of the size and form of the largest pear; the pulp is white or yellow, soft and full of pips; few are good, but they are generally eaten.

The BARRIGUDA, (_Big-bellied_,) so called in consequence of its trunk being thicker at the middle than at the ground, and otherwise denominated _Arvore da lan_, (Wool-Tree,) has the rind covered with round thorns, the leaves are almost elliptical, and from three to four inches in length. The flower begins with the figure of a little round fig, smooth, without an eye, having a short and thick pedicle; this fig has the length and form of an acorn, being always of a green colour, it opens at the extremity in three parts, from whence issues a bud similar to that of cotton, round, and two inches long, which unfolds in five petals three inches in length. It has five capillaments surrounded with a pistil, which is delicate and terminates in a little red ball, the whole six attached to a receptacle at the bottom of a cup, where a fruit is formed with some resemblance to a cucumber, which, when it opens, is full of fine white wool, which the wind blows away if not immediately taken; it cannot be spun, but it is used for stuffing beds.

There are three sorts of BRAZIL WOOD;--_Brazil Mirim_, which is the best; _Brazil Assu_, or _Rozado_, so called from its trunk being higher, more upright, of less girth, and the dye which is extracted from it of less consistency and more rosy, hence arises its second name. The _Brazileto_ differs little from the Assu in size, in the form of its trunk and tuft, and affords little dye. The Brazil Mirim has a larger trunk, the rind greener and finer, the thorns smaller and thicker, the leaf smaller, and the wood more of a purple hue. The bark of the whole is smooth and the thorns begin at the shoot and extend to the point of the branches. The flower of the Mirim is white and very small; the wood, immediately on being cut, if put to the tongue, is sensibly bitter, which, on becoming dry, it loses, turning to an agreeable sweetness. These trees grow on rocks as well as in plains. The wood is heavy and excellent for building; put into water it will remain sound, it is said, eternally; put into the fire it breaks in pieces, but does not produce any smoke. It is said, that the most proper periods for cutting this timber for its dye is at the time of the new moon in winter, and when in the fourth quarter in summer. A portion of vitriol and lime, or ashes thrown into the decoction of the Brazil wood forms a black dye.

CACAUZEIRA, or _Cocoa-Tree_, which generally does not exceed the size of a small tree, almost always has many trunks, and extends its branches horizontally and incliningly; the leaves resemble those of the largest chestnut; its fruit, which grows only upon the trunks and thickest branches, is a large oblong capsule, in the shape of a mellon, with a very hard rind, which encloses forty to fifty almonds in a white, viscous, and sweet substance. Of these almonds chocolate is made.

CAFEEIRO, or _Coffee-Tree_, transplanted from Arabia, and prospering admirably in the strong and fresh soils of this country, is a branchy shrub, with the leaves opposite, which are smooth, pointed at both extremities, and larger than those of the laurel; the flower is white, entire, and tubulous on the lower part, and cleft into five lancet points on the upper, with the same number of capillaments attached to the angle of the divisions, and a pistil to the receptacle. The fruit is a berry, somewhat resembling a cherry, attached to a thick and short pedicle. It is exceedingly fruitful, and grows to the greatest size when planted under the shade of large trees; but the fruit of those trees exposed to the sun is of the best quality.

CAJATY is a shrub with a very thick rind, black, and furrowed with the first bark, the leaf differs little from the laurel, and affords a yellow fruit the size of the sloe, having an agreeable taste and perfume, with seed like the orange, and attached to the extremity of the branch by a long and delicate pedicle.

CAJAZEIRA, or _Cajaza-Tree_, is high, with a round tuft and small leaf, its fruit is like the acorn, yellow, insipid, and with a large stone.

The CAJUEIRA, or _Cajue-nut Tree_, which grows in sandy soils, is a small tree with a crooked trunk, a round tuft, with the branches raised horizontally and inclined; the first rind affords a sort of black dye; the wood a yellow one; the leaves are almost round; the flower in bunches; its singular fruit is of the size and figure of a long round pepper, with a fine smooth skin, tinged with red or yellow, and sometimes with both, with a white spongy substance, half sweet, without stone or seed; the taste is not agreeable, although many persons are partial to this fruit; it has at the extremity a nut of an ash-colour, containing a white and oily substance, and not unlike the chestnut when roasted. Excellent sweetmeats are made of the fruit, and also a lemonade and even wine of its juice.

CALUMBY, or _Calumbo-Tree_, is small, with little tuft, having exceedingly small leaves, which close when the sun sets and open in the morning. There are male and female, both armed with thorns like the bramble; the male has a very small flower, resembling a paint-brush, and its wood is green, hard, compact, and very heavy, being only serviceable for joiners’ work, as scarcely one is found, even amongst the most slender, without being hollow. The female has a flower resembling the chestnut-tree, and its timber, although solid, is not so heavy, and is waved with green and white. The fruit of both are flat berries.

CANDEA (_Lamp_) is a crooked shrub, with a large stock, the leaf is generally white on the under side; the wood, when dried, affords a good light without smoke, and saving much oil to the poor of the certams, who put a fire-brand of it into the wall, where it lasts for a long time, giving a flame like a flambeau; hence comes its denomination. When put into the ground it keeps many years.

CANELEIRA, _Canela_ or _Cinnamon Tree_, was transplanted from Asia, and was cultivated with some care at the commencement of the colonization, but was afterwards destroyed, by royal order, that it might not interfere with the oriental trade; this error was soon discovered. At present the increase of those which spring from roots is preferred; the quality of the soil in which it should be planted depends upon the vegetable. The best Asiatic cinnamon-trees grow in dry soils.

COLLA is a tree introduced from Africa, of medium size, with leaves rather long, pointed, and shining on both sides; the flower is white and in bunches. It fructifies in a pod.

CUTEZEIRA, or _Cuteza-Tree_, is small, with horizontal branches, and the leaves rather long, smooth, wide, rounded at the point, and pointed at the base; it affords a large oval fruit with a hard shell, of which, when parted, is made _cuyas_, or cups.

GAMELLEIRA, or _Gamella-Tree_, is of considerable girth, having a round and thick leaf; it extends roots from the branches to the ground; its shade is sought after.

GEREMMA is a small thorny tree with very small leaves, which daily close from the influence of the sun; the flower resembles that of the chestnut; of its wood charcoal is made for forges.

GOYABEIRA, or _Goyaba-Tree_, is a shrub with a smooth rind, the leaf almost round, the fruit, like a pear, is yellow and odoriferous, the pulp is rubicund, with a great quantity of small and round seed in the centre. A preserve much esteemed is made of it.

GUABIRABEIRA, or _Guabiraba-Tree_, is one of the largest fruit-trees in the country; its leaf is a little less than that of the peach, and almost of the same shape; the flower is white; the fruit has the size and form of a pear, and is eaten in the same way as _sorvas_ or service-berries.

HERVA DE COBRA (_Serpent-Herb_) is a small plant resembling a little the fern in its foliage, the flower is small and yellow, with five petals, and its fruit is a very little berry. The name arises from its virtue in curing the bite of a snake by placing the leaves pounded upon the wound and giving the patient the juice to drink.

The JABUTICABEIRA, or _Jabuticaba-Tree_, is small and slender, with smooth bark; the leaves, which are varnished on both sides, but not of the same green, vary in form upon the same branch. It flowers upon the trunk only, beginning at the ground, and extending to the branches, that are thick; the fruit is generally of the size and colour of a cherry, and of a good flavour; a strong liquor is distilled from it.

The JAMBEIRA, or _Jamba-Tree_, whose size is proportioned to the quality of the ground upon which it grows, has a pointed leaf, with dark green on the upper side, and clear green on the under; the flower has four small petals in the form of a shell, with numerous long and upright capillaments, and a pointed pistil still longer; its fruit resembles an apricot, has a fine flavour, and smells like a rose.

The JAQUEIRA, or _Jaca-Tree_, transplanted from Asia, and prospering only in the tropics, is a large tree, with a round tuft, a thick trunk, large leaves rounded at the extremity and pointed at the base, varnished on both sides, the upper one of dark green. Its fruit, which only grows upon the trunk and main branches, is very large, (some forty pounds weight,) of an oblong form; the skin is green, rough-grained, and thick; the white pulp is fibrous, and impregnated with viscous milk; but it has another pulp, sown promiscuously with a sort of almond, less fibrous, without milk, and sweet, and which is the part eaten.

JATUBA, which has not this name in all the provinces, fructifies in husks like the tamarind-tree.

JENIPAPEIRO, or _Jenipapo-Tree_, is of good height with the trunk erect, the tuft round and of medium size; the leaf is similar to that of the chestnut, very thick, and of a dark green; it is never without fruit, which is the size of an apple, the skin tenuous, a little harsh, and of an ash colour, the pulp is white, and the interior full of seed. They remain from one year to the next upon the branches, which wholly shed their foliage, and only change when the tree puts forth its new leaves, and when already the new fruit, for the following year, is of good growth. Its wood is preferred for the shafts of the _sege_, or cabriolet.

JIQUITIBA is a tree of considerable girth and affords a nut.

The JOAZEIRO, or _Joaza-Tree_, which grows in sandy soils, is of the size of a middling olive-tree; its tuft is round and thick; the leaves, which it scarcely sheds, are round and carefully protected; its wood is white, and its ashes are a good substitute for soap. The flower is in small and round bunches; the fruit is of the size of a cherry, oblong, yellow, disagreeable to the touch, and with a stone (full of smaller ones) which is difficult to divest of the pulp when the fruit is not half dried. It is aliment for some quadrupeds, and for the _jacu_ and other birds, although few are well flavoured.

MANGABEIRA, or _Mangaba-Tree_, is of medium size, with small pointed leaves, and a flower like the _jasmine_; the fruit is round and of various sizes upon the same branch, with a yellow and greenish rind; the pulp white, extremely soft, with various seeds covered with down; the wood, the leaves, the flowers, and the fruit, when parted, distil a clammy and white milk.

The MANGUE is a small tree, with a smooth rind, thick and varnished leaves. It prospers only upon the sea-coast or the margins of salt rivers.

The MANGUEIRA, or _Mangua-Tree_, transplanted from Asia, and prospering only in the torrid zone, is a bulky tree, with a leafy tuft, having a long leaf a little narrow and pointed. The fruit is the size of an apple and a little flat, the skin similar to a greengage, green or yellow, and tinged sometimes with red; when divested of the skin, which has a turpentine taste, the pulp is juicy and delicious, although unpleasantly full of fibres attached to the stone.

MOZES is a tree of medium height, slender, with little tuft, remarkable for its foliage, which does not differ from the fern; its flower is white, and its ashes are good for the lixivium of soap.

MUCORY is a large tree of excellent timber; its fruit is of the size of a sloe, yellow, and odoriferous, of very fine flavour, and has a large stone.

MURICY is a shrub, with large thick and harsh leaves, rounded at the end and pointed at the base; the flowers are in bunches, beginning with yellow and turning to a carnation colour; the fruit is very small, with little flavour. There is another called _muricy-bravo_, (or wild,) differing in the flower, which is white, and in the leaves, which are much less elliptical and varnished on both sides.

OYTY is a middling tree, of good timber, with fruit well flavoured, and of the colour and form of a pear, with a large stone, which, when ground or scraped, and used as a beverage or as a clyster, is an efficacious remedy against diarrhæas.

The PALM-TREE OF DATES, which is so abundant in Asia and Africa, are introduced only, and very partially, in the province of Rio de Janeiro.

Amongst the multiplied species of PALM-TREES that denominated _Tucum_ or _Tycum_ is particularly remarkable; its trunk is thorny, slender, and of proportionable size; its leaves differ a little from the common resemblance observed amongst all the other palm-trees; from its fibres a flax is made that is a little harsh, but as lustrous as silk, without any appearance of the coarsest description of flax, and which, from its strength, is generally consumed in making fishing-tackle. It is well adapted for making a certain sort of lace.

PINDAHIBA is a handsome tree, and of proportionable size according to the quality of the soil in which it grows; its wood is light; its leaves are lancet, one inch in width, and from three to four in length; it fructifies in very small bunches, and its berries are sometimes used as peppers.

PIQUIHA, is a medium-sized tree, affording fruit like the quince, with a thick and hard rind, and full of a gray liquor, very sweet and cooling, with some seed like those of an apple.

PITANGUEIRA, or _Pitanga-Tree_, which reaches the size of a plum-tree when planted in good ground, but generally not exceeding the size of a middling shrub in the woods; its leaf resembles that of the myrtle; the flower is white and small, with a great number of capillaments; the fruit is the size of an unripe cherry, of a scarlet or purple colour, and rather sour. An agreeable spirit is distilled from it.

QUINAQUINA, the _Jesuit_ or _Peruvian Bark_, was discovered about three centuries ago in Peru, and met with only a few years since near the heads of the river Cuiaba; it is a high tree, nine inches in diameter; the leaves are round at the base and pointed at the end, glossy and of a beautiful green above, and striped with a brilliant dark green in the half near the base. The flowers, which are in bunches at the extremity of the branches, are shaped like a funnel, with the edge parted into five lancet forms, and shorter than the tube, hairy, green in the middle, bounded with white, and fringed at the borders. The pistil is white, and surrounded with five capillaments, within the tube of the flower. When the flower falls the cup swells at the middle, and takes the shape of an olive, changing into a fruit, whose numerous seed, which are long, thick, of a green colour, and flat at the edge, are enclosed in two lodgements, divided by a double membrane. Thus a tree so useful to mankind is propagated abundantly.

Amongst the RESIN-TREES are the _Angico_, which produce the gum-copal; those that produce mastick, benzoin, and storax; amongst those that distil balsam are the cabureigba, better known by the name of _Balsam of the Holy Spirit_, the cupahybu, or capivi, and the cumaru.

Amongst the medicinal plants is noted sarsaparilla, ipecacuhana, jalap, _butua_, purging cassia, quassia, _aristoloquia_, or hart-wort, _cahinana_, Jesuit’s bark of the country, ginger, _capeba_, commonly called herb of St. Luzia, from its great virtue on application to diseases of the eyes. It is said that a surgeon of Rio de Janeiro, in the year 1784, by only using the juice of this plant, in the course of three months, restored the eye of a soldier to its former state, which had been injured by the point of a bayonet. Marvellous cures are related of this vegetable, which is said to regenerate the sight; experiments have been made by perforating the eye of a cock with sharp instruments, and on applying the juice or even the milk of this herb it is asserted that the eye has been cured in a few hours, and the sight restored. The _curucu_, whose juice, when drunk with water, is an efficacious stiptic for a bleeding at the mouth. There is also _betony_, ground-ivy, but very different from that of Europe, with a leaf resembling the rosemary, and a small white flower in a species of artichoke; the _herva ferro_ (iron herb); the herbs mercury, _eurucucu_, and mallows; _orelha d’onça_, (ear of the ounce,) generally two feet in height, the leaf like a heart, flat, and hairy on both sides, of a pearl colour, and as flexible when dried as when green; the plant called _hervachumbo_; and many others.

SAPUCAYA is a high tree of good timber, with a leaf similar to that of the peach; the bark, softened, produces a tow for caulking vessels. Its produces a very large spherical nut, full of long almonds. For their extraction nature has formed an orifice at the extremity four inches in diameter, covered with a lid of the same size, which has over it an outer rind similar to that of the whole nut, and of which it is necessary to strip it in order to find the entrance. The monkeys, by instinct, shake off this species of cocoa-nut when ripe, and with a stone, or hard piece of wood displace the lid and eat the almonds.

ST. CAETANO is a delicate plant, resembling that of a water-melon; its fruit is a species of small cucumber and thorny; it opens in three portions when ripe, exhibiting some small seed similar to those of the pomegranite. It is the sustenance of birds, who, carrying its seed, propagate it in all parts. This plant is applied to various domestic purposes, and augments the properties of soap in its ordinary use; on this account it was transplanted from the coast of Guinea, where it is called _Nheziken_, and being planted near a chapel of St. Caetano, took the name of that saint.

TABABUYA is a tree remarkable for the lightness of its wood, of which scarcely any thing is made besides corks and floats for fishing-nets; it resists all instruments except such as are used for cork-cutting.

TARUMAN is a shrub with lancet leaves of unequal size; the tea of these leaves have a diluent effect upon stones in the bladder.

THEU is a delicate _sipo_ or plant of long and flexible shoots, scarcely exceeding the thickness of a hen’s quil, but of extraordinary growth, always winding round other larger plants and trees. I have seen them so firmly entwined round orange-trees that the prosperity and fructification of the tree was impeded by them; its leaf is exceedingly small, resembling that of the broom; the root is nearly two yards in length, having a strong smell, and operating as an emetic, and is an approved remedy against the venom of snakes.

A great diversity of piratical trees or plants are observed in the Brazil, fixed to the bark or body of others, and nourished alone by their substance. In some parts there are divers species of climbers which rise to the top of the highest trees, sometimes unaccompanied, at other times twisted spirally with another of the same, or of a different species. Occasionally these prodigiously long cords have four, six, or more legs, or shoots.

TINGUY is a small tree with the branches and leaves alternate; the latter are small and lancet. The bark and leaves well pounded, and put into lakes, &c. cause the fish to die, from becoming soon intoxicated with it.

The URUCU does not in general exceed the size of a large shrub; the leaves are in the form of a heart, and the flowers in bunches with fine petals a little purpled, a pistil, and a great number of capillaments; the fruit is a capsule, a little flat and pointed, of the size of a large chestnut, and of a green colour, composed of two valves or folds, covered with fine soft thorns, and lined with a membrane that encircles a large quantity of small seed, having over them a green substance which, when diluted in water, affords a precious dye. The Indians are not ignorant of this, and use it to paint their bodies.

VINHATICO is a high and straight tree of yellow wood, and fructifies in pods with beans.

There are a variety of edible roots:--potatoes of various kinds; mandioca, of which is made the usual bread of the country; its plant, of which there are various sorts, is a shrub of one or more stems; the root, after being scraped and reduced to flour, is pressed until exhausted of its abundant juice, which is generally poisonous, and is ultimately toasted in a large earthern or copper vessel over a furnace till it becomes dry; this vegetable prospers well only in substantial soils: it is planted in little mounds of earth, by putting into each half the stock of the plant, which is a span in length. The _aypim_ is a species of mandioca, whose root is boiled or roasted. The _mendubim_ is a plant of little growth, with leaves similar to the French bean, producing beans at the root with a gray skin, which encloses from one to three small seed. The _potatoe do ar_, a creeping plant, without a flower preceding it, produces a fruit of irregular form, without stone or seed, is covered with a thin and green skin, and has the taste of the potatoe.

Besides the fruits mentioned there are many others, amongst which are the pine, or _atta_, the size of a quince, with a white, soft, and savoury pulp; the _conde_, which is of the size of the preceding, with the pulp equally soft, but not so white; the _mammao_ is larger, with a smooth and yellow skin, and the pulp of the same colour; the _pitomba_; the _mocuge_; of the _banana_, whose length exceeds many times its diameter, there are three sorts, the whole having a thick skin, and clustered upon one stalk; the plant which produces them is of considerable growth, without either branches or wood in the trunk; the leaves are very long, slender, and smooth, with proportionable width, and the back fibres very thick; the trunk is formed of the leaves firmly woven together, being two or three yards in height, round, erect, and inflexible, the leaves branching out from it at the top. The pine-apple, resembling a pine, with various leaves in the eye, is of delicious flavour and aromatic scent; the plant from whose centre it issues is very similar to the aloe. The _muracuja_ is of the size of an orange, oblong and regular, with a thick and hard skin, green on the outside and white within; it is full of gross and rather sour liquid, containing seeds similar to those of the melon.

The sugar-cane, mandioca, tobacco, and the matte-plant, are all indigenous, and now cultivated to a great extent with considerable advantage, furnishing many lucrative branches of commerce.

The indigo-plant and opuncia are met with almost in all parts; the first, which only prospers in strong soils, is yet cultivated but in few provinces. There are a diversity of peppers; that of Malabar, which only thrives in substantial and fresh soils, has been cultivated only within a few years.

The plant commonly called _malicia de mulker_ (woman’s malice) is a creeping and thorny twig, with very small foliage, whose little leaves obtain their opposite one’s, when they immediately adhere, so that the twig is encircled, and remains in this state for a considerable time.

THE END.

DIRECTIONS FOR THE BINDER.

1. Don John VI. and his Attendants to front the Title Page
2. Map of the Brazil to front 1
3. View of the Western Side of the Bay of Rio 9
4. Custom-House Negroes 10
5. Convent of St. Antonio 52
6. Convent of St. Theresa, Part of the Aqueduct, and a Sege 53
7. Convent of Ajuda 54
8. Pillars and Scenery near the Source of the Aqueduct 56
9. House at the Bottom of the Orange-Valley 57
10. A Miner, from the Province of Minas Geraes 61
11. Bella Fonta, the Shacara of J. E. Wright, Esq. 62
12. Palace of St. Christovao 63
13. A free Negress, and other Market-Women 71
14. Nightman, Water-Carrier, Washerwoman 74
15. The Casa of a Padre, in Campinha 85
16. The Rio Exchange, Trapiche, Grass-Waggon, and Gallows 96
17. A Captain of Militia, in the Province of Rio Grande do Sul 116
18. A Paulista and a Brazilian Mendicant 176
19. A Map of the Comarca of Sabara 277
20. An Officer of Cavalry, in Minas Geraes, and a Hermit 283
21. Botocudo Indians about to cross a River 299
22. A Brazilian Sedan-Chair, and a Person begging for the
Church 336
23. A Brazilian Sesta, or Afternoon Nap 346
24. A Jangada, or Catamaran, near Pernambuco 357
25. A Mattuto returning from Pernambuco 385
26. Style of Houses at Poço de Penella 388
27. Negroes impelling a Canoe with the Vara, and Scenery at
Ponta de Cho 389
28. The House of the Senhor d’ Engenho de Torre, near
Pernambuco 391
29. The Sugar Engenho de Torre, and a Plan of its Interior 392
30. The Site and Remains of Fribourg-House, formerly the
Residence of Prince Maurice, of Nassau 393

MARCHANT,
_Printer_,
Ingram-Court, Fenchurch-Street.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Eight successive days after a festival.

[2] “The said small vessels found a reef with a port within, very fine and very secure, with a very large entrance, and they put themselves within it.” Also, “and all the ships entered and anchored in five and six fathoms, which anchorage within is so grand, so beautiful, and so secure, that there could lie within it more than two hundred ships and men of war.”

[3] “We showed them a grey parrot, which the captain had brought with him; they took it immediately into their hands. We showed them a sheep, they took no notice of it. We showed them a fowl; they were afraid of it, and would not put their hands upon it.”

[4] “I kiss the hands of your Royal Highness from this secure port of your island of Vera Cruz. To-day, Friday, first day of May, 1500. P. V. de Caminha.”

[5] “L’altro giorno che fu alli dua di Maggio del derto anno 1500 l’armata fece vela pel camino per andare alla volta del capo di Buona Speraza. Li quali comincioro no a piangere, et gli huomini di quella terra, gli confortavano, et mostravano havere di loro pieta.”--_Ramuzio._

[6] “We arrived at the Cape of Good Hope at Easter-tide, and there met with good weather. We continued the voyage, and arrived at Besengue, near Cape Verd, where we met with three caravels, which the King of Portugal had sent to discover the new land, which we had found in going to Calcutta.”--_From the relation of the voyage of Cabral in Ramuzio._

[7] “The relations of A. Vespuccius contain the recital of two voyages, which he made upon the same coast (the Brazil), in the name of Emanuel, King of Portugal; but the dates are false, and it is in that which the imposture consists; for it is proved by all the cotemporary testimonies, that at the time which he names he was employed upon other expeditions.”--_Hist. Gen. des Voyages_, tom. 14. liv. 6. c. 9. Paris, 1757.

[8] This is a corroboration of Vincente Yanez Pinson’s voyage, as the character of the Indians near those two same places where he landed are described to be similar.

[9] “The King, Don Manuel, extremely attached to Vespuccius, gave him the command of six ships, with which he sailed on the 10th of May, 1503, and passed along the coast of Africa and Brazil, with the intention of discovering a western passage to the Molucca Islands, (afterwards discovered.) “After entering the Bay of All Saints, he navigated as far as the _Abrolhos_ and the river Curababa. As he had provisions only for twenty months, he took the resolution of returning to Portugal, where he arrived on the 18th of June, 1504.”--_Murery Dicc. Grand._ Paris, 1699.

[10] “Ordered immediately to be prepared another armament of caravels, which he delivered to C. Jacques, a fidalgo of his house, and with the title of Captain Mor, ordered him to continue in this undertaking of discovery. The armament sailed, and pursuing the voyage, arrived upon the coast, sounding bays and rivers, erecting pillars with the Portuguese arms upon them. He entered a bay to which he gave the name of _All Saints_, and after all necessary diligence he returned to Portugal.”--_Cunha._

[11] “In the same year, 1503, Gonsallo Coelho was sent to the land of St. Cruz, with six ships, with which he left Lisbon on the 10th day of the month of June. In consequence of not having much knowledge of the land, four were lost, and the other two brought to the kingdom merchandise of the land, which then were no others than red wood, which was called Brazil, and parrots.”--_Goes._

[12] An overlooker of negroes.

[13] To kiss his hand.

[14] No one had suffered the penalty of death for a long period before July 22, 1819, when a wretched criminal was hanged. He had stabbed five or six men, and it was said his punishment would have been commuted for transportation to Africa, had he not imbrued his hands in the blood of a pregnant female, whom he stabbed mortally.

[15] These parishes in the Brazil are considerable districts of country, and take their names generally from the chief or mother church.

[16] Mr. Langsdorff has recently (since his return to Europe) presented to the National Institute of Paris the head of a Botocudo Indian, who had been in his service for some years. He sent this Indian to St. Helena to collect insects, which commission he executed satisfactorily, and died soon after his return to the Brazil.

The Botocudos are really the Aymores of the province of Porto Seguro, and received their present name from the Portuguese, in consequence of their custom of perforating the ears and lips, and introducing pieces of wood as ornaments, which they imagine render them more genteel and comely.

[17] This denomination originated in Portugal, where the judge was prohibited from having any jurisdiction within his native town. Hence it is applied to judges in the Brazil, universally, without the capital.

[18] The Torres are two great and contiguous rocks, upon the coast, in 29° 40′ south latitude.

[19] Sumacas are from ten to nearly two hundred tons burden.

[20] Bandeira is a name given in the Brazil to an indeterminate number of persons, who provide themselves with arms, ammunition, and every thing requisite for their subsistence, with the project of entering the territories of the Indians, for the purpose of discovering mines, exploring the country, or chastising the savages; the individuals who compose those companies, call themselves _bandeirantes_, and their chiefs, _certanistas_.

[21] Pantanos signifies marshy, and is the name given to the swampy islands at the mouth of the Tocoary, which are submerged at the floods.

[22] “By the treaty of limits, liberty was given to these Indians to remain in the country or to pass to the other side of the Guapore, which latter they did by the persuasions of the Spanish curates. The mission of St. Roza, which consisted of four hundred Indians, and removed in 1754, was near a waterfall, where D. Antonio Rolin ordered a fort to be constructed. That of St. Miguel, which was in a plain near the river, and had six hundred Indians, was removed in 1753; and that of St. Simao, which comprised more than two thousand inhabitants, and was removed in 1752, existed near a river a little below the situation of the Pedras.” _Extract from the History of the Journeys of the Lieutenant-General of Matto Grosso. M.S._

[23] Passo is a picture or image representing some of our Saviour’s sufferings.

[24] The interior districts of provinces are so called.

[25] A bowl into which diamonds are put when found, from whence they are taken, weighed, and registered daily.

[26] He acquired the appellation of Caramuru, which signifies “a man of fire,” on the occasion of his first discharging a musket in the presence of the astonished Indians.

[27] “Where there was a Portuguese, who said he had lived twenty-five years amongst the Indians,” proving Correa’s shipwreck to be in 1510.

[28] The province is designated, as well as the city, by the Portuguese word for bay, from the great importance justly attached to its fine bay.

[29] “Sepulchre of Donna Catharine Alvarez, Lady of this Captaincy of Bahia, which she, and her husband, James Alvarez Correa, a native of Vianna, gave to the Kings of Portugal, and erected and gave this chapel to the patriarch St. Bento. The year 1582.”

[30]

The Don of the land is arrived,
The one hundred and fifty are ended.

[31]

The Don of the land is on the main,
The one hundred and fifty remain.

[32] The precarious nature of the tobacco trade is evidenced by a shipment made of this article from Bahia to London, where on its arrival it was unsaleable; the agent, therefore, reshipped it for Gibraltar, drawing for the freight and charges he had paid. On its arrival in Gibraltar, it was there equally unsaleable; and, after being deposited some time in a warehouse, it was discovered to be rotten, and condemned by government to be thrown into the sea; after which the agent there had to draw also for the freight and charges that he had paid, in which was included the expense of throwing the tobacco into the sea. The shippers, no doubt, considered the termination of this speculation as unpalatable as the element to which it was finally consigned.

[33] One thousand reas, or a milrea, is now worth about five shillings, and varies according to the exchange.

[34] “Oh! what a beautiful situation for founding a town.” Hence its name of Ollinda.

[35] Some writers have stated that this Duarthe Coelho Pereyra served as a military man in India; but Duarthe Coelho, of whose military exploits there Barros and Farria both speak, had not the surname of Pereyra. He died by the hands of the Moors of the island of Sumatra, after having suffered shipwreck at the mouth of the river Calapa, in 1527.

[36] The Dutch armament, commanded by Admiral Hervey Zonk, consisting of sixty-four vessels, of various sizes, and eight thousand men, landed, on the 15th of February, 1630, on the beach of Pau Amarello, three leagues north of Ollinda, by the direction of Judea Antonio Dias, who had resided many years in the country and acquired a large fortune, with which he established himself at Amsterdam. In 1654 the Dutch evacuated the captaincy.

[37] A capibara, the animal from which this river takes its name, is now in Exeter Change.

[38] Ollinda, although the head of a comarca, being commonly considered, with Recife, to constitute the city of Pernambuco, they will be described together.

[39] A Brazilian term for the Indian.

[40]

Erected
under
the Illustrious Government
of the
President and Council
in the year 1652.

[41] Some of these people are also called _certanejos_, inhabitants of the certams, or interior.

[42] I have been informed, since my return to England, that a clergyman had arrived at Pernambuco.

[43] Great River of the North; as there is Rio Grande do Sul, (Great River of the South,) and which must occasion some little confusion, both being called Rio Grande: it would be better to designate this St. Roque, the cape being even a more conspicuous object than the river.

[44] The Spaniards, from whom the French took this portion of territory, always recognized the river Oayapoek and the Vincent Pinson as the same river; and near its mouth a marble stone was erected, by order of Charles V. to serve as a limit between his conquests and those of the Portuguese.

[45]

Conserva o tardo impulso por tal modo,
Que em poucos passos mette um dia todo.
_Cant. vii. p. 57._

[46] Inhabiting the calingas.

[47] Inhabiting the campos, or plains.

[48] Correiçao is a term applied to a judge going out to travel through the district of his jurisdiction.

Transcriber’s Notes:

1. Obvious printers’, punctuation and spelling errors have been corrected silently.

2. Where hyphenation is in doubt, it has been retained as in the original.

3. Some hyphenated and non-hyphenated versions of the same words have been retained as in the original.

4. Superscripts are represented using the caret character, e.g. D^r. or X^{xx}.

5. Italics are shown as _xxx_.