In conclusion, I trust that the great loss of materials which I have suffered, and which every naturalist and traveller will fully appreciate, may be taken into consideration, to explain the inequalities and imperfections of the narrative, and the meagreness of the other part of the work, so little proportionate to what might be expected from a four years' residence in such an interesting and little-known country. LONDON, _October_, 1853. PREFACE TO NEW EDITION. THIS issue is substantially a reprint of the original work, but the proof sheets have been carefully revised and many verbal corrections made. A few notes have been added, and English names have in many cases been substituted for the local terms, which were used too freely in the first edition. The only omissions are the vocabularies of Indian languages and Dr. Latham's observations on them, which were thought to be unsuitable to the general reader. A. R. W. PARKSTONE, DORSET, _October_, 1889. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PARÁ. Arrival at Pará--Appearance of the city and its environs--The inhabitants and their costumes--Vegetation--Sensitive plants--Lizards--Ants and other insects--Birds--Climate--Food of the inhabitants 1 CHAPTER II. PARÁ. Festas--Portuguese and Brazilian currency--M. Borlaz' estate--Walk to the rice-mills--The virgin forest, its plants and insects--Milk-tree--Saw and rice-mills--Caripé or pottery-tree--India-rubber-tree--Flowers and trees in blossom--Saüba ants, wasps, and chegoes--Journey by water to Magoary--The monkeys--The commandante at Laranjeiras--Vampire bats--The timber-trade--Boa constrictor and sloth 13 CHAPTER III. THE TOCANTÍNS. Canoe, stores, and crew--River Mojú--Igaripé Miri--Cametá--Senhor Gomez and his establishment--Search for a dinner--Jambouassú--Polite letter--Baião and its inhabitants--A swarm of wasps--Enter the rocky district--The Mutuca--Difficulty of getting men--A village without houses--Catching an alligator--Duck-shooting--Aroyas, and the Falls--A nocturnal concert--Blue macaws--Turtles' eggs--A slight accident--Capabilities of the country--Return to Pará 35 CHAPTER IV. MEXIANA AND MARAJÓ. Visit to Olería--Habits of birds--Voyage to Mexiana--Arrival--Birds--Description of the island--Population--Slaves, their treatment and habits--Journey to the Lake--Beautiful stream--Fish and birds at the lake--Catching alligators--Strange sounds, and abundance of animal life--Walk back--Jaguar meat--Visit to Jungcal in Marajó--Embarking cattle--Ilha das Frechas 57 CHAPTER V. THE GUAMÁ AND CAPIM RIVERS.