MARANHAM, VOYAGE TO ENGLAND, CONCLUSION.
Leaves the Organ Mountains and returns to Rio de
Janeiro—Embarks for England with large Collections of living
and dried Plants—Touches at Maranham—City described—Its
Population—Public Buildings—And Trade—Geology of its
neighbourhood—Visits Alcantarà—Sails for England—Gulf Weed—Its
great extent and origin—Flying Fishes—Observations on their
mode of flight—Remarkable Phosphorescence at Sea—Description
of the singular animal that causes this phenomenon—Its curious
nests—Scintillations at Sea caused by a very minute kind of
Shrimp—Arrives in England—Concluding remarks.
Learning that there was a vessel in the harbour at Rio, about to sail
for Liverpool, and being now anxious to return to England, I put my
collections into order, and left the Organ mountains on the morning of
the 25th of April, reached Piedade the same evening, and arrived in the
city early next morning. Besides botanical specimens for the herbarium,
I collected, during my residence on the mountains, a large number of
the most beautiful plants in a living state to take home with me. They
filled six large Wardian cases, but scarcely half of them reached England
alive, owing to the boxes not having been properly constructed; many of
those which survived are now widely dispersed, and are very ornamental
plants.[23]
Early in the morning of the 6th of May, I went on board the barque
“Gipsy,” which shortly after got under weigh. She was not, however,
bound for England direct, having to call at Maranham, in the north of
Brazil, to take in a cargo of cotton. I was thus unexpectedly afforded
an opportunity of seeing another of the large Brazilian sea-ports, and
of making a few collections in a part of the empire which possesses a
different vegetation from any I had hitherto visited. We had a fine run
to Maranham, which place we reached in fifteen days. The night before we
made land, we had a strong breeze off shore, which brought with it a vast
number of moths and butterflies of all sizes, and of those that came on
board I was enabled to make a collection of about a dozen species. The
land here, as at Pernambuco, is very flat; the great sea-ports of Brazil
diminish in importance from south to north, the most important being Rio,
the next Bahia, the third Pernambuco, and the fourth Maranham.
The town of S. Luiz de Maranham is situated on a slightly elevated part
of the north-west end of an island of the same name, which is about
seven leagues long by five broad, and is separated from the mainland by
a channel of no great breadth. The river, in the mouth of which it is
situated, is formed by the union of several smaller ones which take their
origin in the south-western portions of the province. The population of
the town is said to amount to about 26,000; the houses are substantially
built of a reddish-coloured sandstone, are mostly of two stories, and
more regular in their appearance than those of the other large Brazilian
cities. The streets are generally well paved, and cleaner than any I
have seen in the country, no doubt owing to many of them having a slight
inclination, which allows them to benefit by the heavy falls of rain that
had already set in when we arrived. It contains eighty-five churches; the
palace of the president forms part of a large square, the remainder of
which consists of a large building formerly the college of the Jesuits,
the prison, and the town-hall. A very considerable trade is carried on
here both of import and export: most of the European goods which arrive,
are sent up to the interior of the province, and also into that of
Piauhy; the principal exports are cotton and hides.
On my arrival at Maranham, I was very kindly received by the English
residents there, who had heard of me when I was at Oeiras, and was
invited to take up my quarters in the house of the English physician, Dr.
Arbuckle. As the ship remained about three weeks, I had ample time to
make a few excursions in the neighbourhood, but was prevented from seeing
as much of the country as I wished, on account of the rains.
The island on which the town stands is very flat, in some places marshy,
and covered with a vegetation of shrubs and small trees. In the marshes
grow some fine palms belonging to the genera _Attalea_ and _Euterpe_.
There are but very few cocoa-nut trees; and indeed the general appearance
of the country indicates a less humid climate, and consequently a less
vigorous vegetation than exists towards the southern tropic. On the
island there is but little cultivation; much of the soil is of a sandy
nature on the surface, and below that of a gravelly character, highly
impregnated with iron; and the same also is the case on the continent
opposite the town. The rock which forms the basis of the island is a
dark red sandstone, similar to that which I found in the provinces of
Ceará and Piauhy in connection with the chalk formation of those parts of
the country. In many places it is of a conglomerate nature, the rounded
stones being of the same character as the softer matrix in which they
are imbedded. On the opposite continent, near the town of Alcantarà, I
found the same rock rising only a little above the level of the sea, but
overlaid by another rocky deposit, more than fifty feet thick in some
places, consisting of alternate strata of yellowish and greenish coloured
sandstone, irregularly deposited, soft, and in some places of a marly
nature. These rocks I have no hesitation in considering as equivalent to
those which underlie the white chalk near the Villa do Crato and Barra
do Jardim, in the interior of the province of Ceará, and they no doubt
formed part of the great chalk deposit, which seems at one time to have
covered the eastern shoulder of the South American continent, but which
in many places has since disappeared.
Besides making excursions in all directions in the island, I also
crossed over to Alcantarà, where I remained three days. I had a letter
of introduction to the principal merchant in the place, Senhor Peichoto,
a native of Portugal, and with him I lived during my stay there. I
crossed the bay, which is about four leagues broad, in one of the regular
trading vessels, which are about forty tons burden; these carry over
from Alcantarà cotton and fire-wood, the former is cultivated at some
distance in the interior, whence it is brought in on the backs of horses;
the fire-wood is obtained from the stems and branches of the mangrove
(_Rhizophora Mangle_), which grows in great abundance along the muddy
shores: it burns in the green state better perhaps than any other kind
of tree. Along these muddy shores great flocks of the beautiful Red
Flamingo (_Phænicopterus Chilensis_, Molina) are almost always to be
seen. At night they roost among the mangroves, and are much sought after
by the inhabitants, who consider their flesh excellent food. The town of
Alcantarà, like that of Maranham, is situated on a rising ground, and
seems to have been once in a more flourishing state than at present;
the houses and churches are mostly large, but are in a very dilapidated
state, while the streets are overgrown with weeds. The more wealthy
people who reside here, are the proprietors of cotton plantations, while
the poorer gain a livelihood by fishing and making hammocks, for which
latter article there is a great demand through the northern provinces.
Some of these are so finely worked that they sell for as much as six or
eight pounds each; they are made of fine cotton cord, and are either
altogether of a white colour, or white and blue, the latter colour being
obtained from the wild Indigo, which grows abundantly all over the
country. There are _Salinas_, or salt-pits, a few miles to the north of
the town, which formerly belonged to the Jesuits, and were profitably
worked by them, but they are now very much neglected. Along the shore,
and scattered here and there among the bushes on the low hills, I saw
a few plants of the wax palm (_Corypha cerifera_, Mart.), which is so
common about Aracaty, in the province of Ceará.
In the course of my rambles in this neighbourhood, I met with many plants
that were new to my collections; the flora of Maranham has greater
affinity with that of Guiana, than with any other part of Brazil I have
visited, as might indeed be expected from its northerly position; it is
also well known that such plants as grow only near the sea, have a far
more extensive geographical range than those which grow inland. I was
particularly struck with this fact in travelling into the interior from
Pernambuco and Aracaty. At both of these places are seen many plants
common to the shores of the West Indies, Guiana, and nearly the whole
of the intertropical coast of Brazil, while in the same parallels of
latitude, from a little way inland to the most western point I reached,
the vegetation had a distinct character from that of any other place.
The same observations apply to extensive plains, the vegetation of which
is so frequently and annoyingly monotonous to the botanist, while on
elevated tracts a much greater diversity occurs.
It was the knowledge of this fact that induced me, during the whole of my
travels, to keep as much as possible along mountain chains and elevated
table-lands. No satisfactory reason has yet been suggested to account for
the greater number of species which exist in a given space on a mountain
than on a plain; temperature, light, and moisture, no doubt play the most
important part, but there must be other causes yet unknown.
At Maranham I met two of my Oeiras acquaintances: one of them, though a
major in the army, was also a merchant, who had come down to purchase
European goods; the other, a son of the old Baron of Paranahiba, whose
object was to enter into holy orders, previous to his being appointed
Vicar of Oeiras. From them I learned that the insurrection had at last
been put down, and that the province was subsiding into a more settled
state. The authorities were apprehending all those they could lay their
hands on, who had been engaged in the affair, and sending them to the
province of Rio Grande do Sul, to fight against the rebels there,—a rare
piece of policy! I saw several parties of them brought down, and a very
ill-looking set of fellows they were.
The ship at length having taken in all her cargo, I embarked, and finally
bade adieu to the shores of Brazil, on the morning of the eighth of June.
While we were in about the fifty-sixth degree of west longitude, and
between the twenty-second and twenty-eighth degrees of north latitude,
we passed through those enormous fields of sea-weed, (_Sargassum
bacciferum_, Agardh), which have been described by almost every voyager
in those seas. It existed generally in long narrow strips or bands, lying
across the wind, sometimes not more than the ships’ length apart, at
other times at a considerable distance from each other. Much diversity of
opinion exists as to the origin of this floating mass; Humboldt believes
it be detached from rocks, at a considerable depth in the latitudes
where it floats; while others suppose it to come from the shores of the
northern seas, having been detached from the rocks by the violence of
the winds. Some again imagine that it comes from the rocky shores of
the gulfs of Mexico and Florida; while many agree with me in believing
that it has never had any other than its present place of abode; no one
has ever seen it attached to rocks, nor have roots ever been discovered
belonging to it. During the five or six days that we sailed through this
gulf-weed, I hooked on board more than a thousand pieces, and every one
of them presented the same appearance. The lower end of the stem had
always a whitish, decayed appearance, just like a piece of tangle which
has been some time cast on shore, while the extremities of the branches
were universally of a very fresh and healthy appearance. Such being the
case, we can scarcely help believing that these remarkable plants have
existed since the time of their first creation to the present period,
as we now find them, floating always in this revolving gulf stream, and
undergoing a perpetual mutation from the decay at one extremity, and
growth at the other. There is nothing unreasonable in this opinion, as
sea-weeds are not like land plants, which derive nourishment from the
spot to which they are attached. I found among the weed a great variety
of _Zoophytes_ and other minute marine animals; a crab, measuring from an
inch to an inch and a half across, was frequent, and I observed the nest
of one, formed by the small branches woven together by a strong kind of
thread, not unlike that of which spiders make their webs; it contained a
number of young ones.
In those latitudes, it was also curious to watch the flight of the
flying-fishes (_Exocetus volitans_), whole shoals of which rose quite
close to the ship; and I have perfectly satisfied myself, not only on
this occasion, but during the several times I have crossed the ocean,
that they make use of their pectoral fins as wings, during the time they
remain above water. This fact I was particularly desirous to ascertain,
as Cuvier and all other authors I have consulted on the subject, except
Humboldt, deny that this is the case.[24] The distance to which they fly
is sometimes very short, at others I have watched them skimming along
till the eye almost lost sight of them; I should say that they frequently
extend their flight to three hundred yards. The height to which they rise
above the surface of the sea, does not usually exceed three or four feet,
but that they rise higher is well known, from the fact that they not
unfrequently fly on board ships, which are from ten to fifteen feet out
of the water. When the sea is calm, they shoot along on the same plane,
like an arrow, and the impulse they acquire on leaving the water appears
to be that alone which impels them onward. The first time I discovered
that they certainly use their fins as wings was one day when a rather
high swell was running; a good many fish were rising, but not in great
numbers at a time. Solitary individuals could be followed by the eye to a
great distance, but during their progress they did not keep on the same
plane, nor did the course of their flight form the segment of a circle,
but they could most distinctly be seen rising and falling over the heavy
swell, keeping always at about the same height above the water, just as a
bird would do; the albatross, for example, when skimming along in search
of food. The only time I ever saw distinctly the fins moved in the manner
of wings, was in the South Atlantic Ocean. One beautifully clear day,
when we were running quietly along under the influence of a light breeze,
several large dolphins were playing about, one of which we saw give chase
to a flying-fish; the latter rose, but its flight was followed by the
dolphin. It fell close to the ship, and in attempting to rise again, the
impulse was not sufficient to throw it completely out of the water; it
flew along with its tail nearly out of the sea, for about a yard, when
it fell a prey to its pursuer; several of the other passengers were
watching it also, and by all of us the large fins were seen to be worked
with great rapidity. I agree with Humboldt,[25] that these fishes do not
always rise out of the water to escape from their enemies, as they often
spring up close to ships, when there are no signs of large fishes being
near. Why should the flying-fish, having the power to do so, not enjoy a
flight in the air, quite as much as a duck does a dive under the water,
or land animals the luxury of bathing?
Another remarkable oceanic phenomenon is the brilliant phosphorescence
of the water, which frequently occurs in low latitudes; and, presuming
they will not be misplaced, I shall make a few observations on the
subject. On my passage from England, and while we were about 2° of south
latitude and 26° of west longitude, I was called up by the captain, about
half-past ten o’clock at night, to witness a remarkable appearance the
sea had assumed. Upon reaching the deck, one of the most magnificent
scenes imaginable presented itself; all round the ship, and to as great
a distance as the eye could reach, the swell, which was running pretty
high, was emitting from its surface, at short intervals, long broad
sheets of phosphorescent light, which continued bright only for a second
or two, and then disappeared. The continued glare of these long streams
of light, their sudden appearance and disappearance, as if detached
portions of sheet lightning were flashing from wave to wave, gave a wild
and terrific aspect to the surface of the ocean; the reflection from it
was so great, that the sails of the ship were illumined by the glare. On
looking over the ship’s stern, her wake for about fifty yards was one
continued stream of pale yellow light, upon which, ever and anon, were
floating away, and becoming extinct, curious masses of a circular shape,
varying from half a foot to two feet in breadth, of a livid hue, similar
to that which burning sulphur emits. These masses retained their livid
flame-like appearance till they reached about six or eight yards from
the ship, when they gradually became extinct; their beautiful colour
contrasting singularly with the pale yellow stream on which they floated.
This curious state of the sea only lasted about a quarter of an hour, the
water then assuming its usual aspect, the foam at the ship’s bow only
presenting the sparkling appearance which it usually exhibits within the
tropics. This occurred on the 7th of July; the weather had been cloudy
all day, with the thermometer 79° at noon; the night was dark, and it was
blowing a fresh breeze from E.S.E., the ship going at the rate of six
knots an hour.
It is well known that the circular masses of light which I have
described, are produced from aggregated masses of very small marine
animals, to which the name of _Pyrosoma_ is given; I did not, however,
capture any, as my towing net was at this time out of order, but during
my voyage to Ceylon I was more fortunate; on the 25th of November, 1843,
in about 3° and 4° N. lat., and 23° W. long., with cloudy weather, and
the thermometer 81° at noon, shortly after it became dark, we got into a
field of these animals, and though the brilliancy of their light was not
so great as on the former occasion, they were more numerous, the ship
sailing through them for several hours. They were seen in broad shoals at
great but irregular distances from each other. The towing net on being
thrown overboard soon procured me a large supply of the extraordinary
animals of which these shoals were composed; they gave out a bright pale
yellowish green light, which they retained for some time after they were
brought on board. Each mass was shaped not unlike the finger of a glove,
being hollow, and closed at one end; they varied a little in size, but
were generally about four inches in length. The little animals of which
these masses are made up, are placed horizontally, and lie closely packed
over each other, their heads being towards the outer surface. When kept
in a glass in salt water for some time, they soon separated from each
other, and being very transparent, were then scarcely to be distinguished
from the water; they taste exactly like fresh oysters. During this
voyage, I obtained four distinct species, two of which were taken off
the Cape of Good Hope; one of these finger-like masses, taken near the
Equator, measured about two feet in length. I have often observed close
to the ship these bodies at a considerable depth, giving out a faint
light; and I am persuaded that the brilliant flashes which were emitted
from the sides of the swell, on the first occasion, were caused by the
number of the _Pyrosomæ_ then existing in the sea. The scintillations
which issued from the foam, dashed up by the ship, were caused by a
phosphorescent microscopic species of shrimp (_Noctiluca oceanica?_
Spix), which I collected in great numbers, in a net made from an old flag.
Our voyage home was a quick and a very pleasant one. We were only
thirty-two days altogether at sea from Maranham, we had no rough weather,
and the only calm day we experienced occurred between our losing the
N.E. trades, and falling in with westerly winds. The nearer I approached
home, the more my desire increased to be again among my friends; and
this I believe, under similar circumstances, almost universally occurs.
When we are at a great distance from, and know that we have no immediate
chance of returning to, those who are dear to us, we suppress as much
as possible the indulgence in hopes which cannot be realized; but when
we feel that every hour is bringing us nearer home, we throw off all
restraint on our imagination, and only regret that our progress cannot
be accelerated. On the evening of the eighth of July the welcome cry of
“land” was heard, and on the following afternoon we made the mouth of
the Mersey, but for want of sufficient water, we had to stand off and on
till next morning, during which interval we experienced a smart gale of
wind from the N.N.W., which kept us all awake. Early next day, the 10th
of July, 1841, I stood once more on British ground, after an absence of
upwards of five years.
* * * * *
Having now brought my narrative to a conclusion, it only remains
to notice that the object I had in view when I left England, was
accomplished to the satisfaction of all concerned in it, and the
anticipations I had indulged of the pleasures to be derived from such
an expedition, have not been disappointed. If almost every day brought
its little annoyances, they were more than compensated by the delight
which new scenes and objects for study constantly produced. Difficulties
only appear insurmountable when they are not looked boldly in the face;
and it is fortunate for us that the bright side of the picture of the
past presents itself more frequently than the dark. I have much to
congratulate myself upon; for although often exposed both by night and
by day, my health, save only on one occasion, continued good; and with
very few exceptions, I received the greatest kindness from all my fellow
men with whom I came in contact. I have also been more fortunate than
many natural history travellers, for the numerous collections shipped to
England, from time to time, all arrived safely; the letters, too, which
I despatched, reached their destination, with only one exception; and
not one of those from home was lost, although often long in coming to my
hands. It was not without many regrets that I left Brazil, for the life
I led was free and independent; the climate agreed better with my health
than that of England; and the country is beautiful, and richer than any
other in the world in those objects, to the study of which I have devoted
my life.
THE END.
Printed by Reeve, Benham and Reeve, King-William Street, Strand.
FOOTNOTES
[1] Personal Narrative, vol. iii. p. 36.
[2] _Echites atroviolacea_, Stadelm., and _E. crassinoda_, Gardn.
[3] This species I have ascertained to be identical with _F. affinis_,
Cambess.; _F. pyrifolia_, Presl.; and _F. radicans_, Miers.
[4] Vide Hooker’s ‘Journal of Botany,’ vol. iv. p. 5.
[5] Dr. Parigot appears, however, to have found coal abundantly in the
island of Santa Catharina, in the south of Brazil. He was employed by the
Government while I was there, to explore that country for coal, and in a
pamphlet which he published in 1841; entitled “Memoria sobre as Minas de
Carvao de Pedra do Brazil,” he mentions a bed about three feet thick, of
considerable extent; but as nothing has since transpired on the subject,
it may be doubted whether this coal is of any useful quality.
The coal which Spix and Martius inform us exists near Bahia, Dr. Parigot
found to consist of beds of lignite; and the probability is that they are
equivalent to that which I found at Crato.
[6] The fishes were found by M. Agassiz to be all new species, and he has
described them in the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal for January,
1841. I also possess, from the same rocks, specimens of two species of
very minute bivalve shells, a single valve of a _Venus_, and casts of a
univalve shell, all apparently new.
[7] Some of the specimens I obtained at this place were of that species
which M. Agassiz has done me the honour to name _Cladocyclus Gardneri_,
and are about a foot in depth; one, which from its great size, I was
obliged to leave behind, was still deeper.
[8] _Echites tenuifolia_, Mikan. _Dipladenia tenuifolia_, var.
_puberula_, Alph. D.C., Prodr. 8. p. 482.
[9] See Professor Morren’s paper “_On the production of Vanilla in
Europe_” in _Taylor’s Annals of Natural History_, vol. iii. p. 1.
[10] _Echites virescens_, St. Hil., _Dipladenia Gardneriana_, Alph. DC.
[11] Hooker, _Journal of Bot._ Vol i. p. 215.
[12] _Cocos capitata_, Mart.
[13] This spelling is different from that made use of by St. Hilaire, his
being _Suruby_. That which I adopt for this, as well as for the other
species, is taken from a MSS. list given me by Padre Francisco Fernandas
Vianna, of San Romão.
[14] For an exposition of this pseudo-African traveller, compared with
whom Mendez Pinto was but a mere type, see the 10th and 11th vols, of the
“Foreign Quarterly Review.”
[15] I shall here briefly enumerate the different kinds of forests and
woods, which the inhabitants of Brazil distinguish by particular names.
These are first, the Matos Virgens, or virgin forests, such as those
which exist on the Organ Mountains, and indeed along the whole maritime
Cordillera. To these also belong the Capoes of the Campo countries. Next
to the virgin forests come the Catingas, the trees of which are generally
small and deciduous, and form the connecting link between the virgin
forests and the Carrascos, which grow on more elevated tracts than the
Catingas, and consist of close growing shrubs about three or four feet
high. These are all natural woods, very different from the next I shall
mention, to which the name of Capoeira is given; such wooded tracts are
formed by the small trees and shrubs, which spring up in lands that have
been cultivated or prepared for cultivation, by destroying the virgin
forests, which is generally effected by setting fire to them: the trees
that then spring up are always very distinct from those which constituted
their original vegetation.
[16] Voyage dans les Provinces de Rio de Janeiro et de Minas Geräes, t.
2. p. 350.
[17] Since my return to England, I have described several of these
curious plants in the sixth vol. of Hooker’s ‘Icones Plantarum.’
[18] For an excellent description of the diamond mines, and an account
of the manner in which the workings were carried on while under the
administration of the government, the reader is referred to the work of
M. Auguste de Saint Hilaire, ‘Voyage dans le district des Diamans et sur
le Littoral du Brésil,’ Paris, 1833.
[19] Martius, in speaking of the productions of Minas Geräes, says:
“Almost every kind of metal is found here; iron-stone, which produces
ninety per cent., is met with almost everywhere, and it constitutes in
a manner the chief component part of long chains; lead is found beyond
the Rio de San Francisco in Abaité; copper in San Domingos, near Fanado
in Minas Novas; chrome and manganese in Paraöpeba; platina near Gaspar
Soares, and in other rivers; quicksilver, arsenic, bismuth, antimony, and
red-lead ore, about Villa Rica; diamonds in Tijuco and Abaité; yellow,
blue, and white topazes, grass and bluish green aqua marines, red and
green tourmalines, chrysoberyls, garnets and amethysts, principally in
Minas Novas. But what has chiefly contributed to the great influx of
settlers, and to the rapid population of this province, particularly of
the capital, is the great abundance of gold which has been obtained for
above a century.” _Travels in Brazil, Lloyd’s Translation_, vol. ii. p.
181.
[20] “Congonhas doit sa fondation à des mineurs attirés par l’or que l’on
trouvait dans les alentours, et son histoire est celle de tant d’autres
bourgades. Le précieux métal s’est épuisé; les travaux sont devenus plus
difficiles, et Congonhas n’annonce actuellement que la décadence et
l’abandon.”—_Voyage dans le District des Diamans, &c. par Aug. de St.
Hilaire_; vol. i. p. 169.
[21] Phillips, Treatise on Geology, in Lardner’s Cyclopedia, vol. ii. p.
227.
[22] For view of the Organ mountains, and Mr. March’s fazenda, see
Frontispiece.
[23] Among those which were introduced to England for the first time
on this occasion, may be enumerated the following:—_Siphocampylus
betulæfolius_, G. Don; _Pleroma Benthamiana_, Gardn. and _P. multiflora_,
Gardn.; _Franciscea hydrangeæformis_, Pohl; _Nematanthus longipes_,
Pohl; _Gesneria salviæfolia_, Gardn., and _G. leptopes_, Gardn.;
_Clusia fragrans_, Gardn.; _Luxemburgia ciliata_, Gardn.; _Dorstenia
elata_, Hook; _Prepusa connata_, Gardn., and _P. Hookeriana_, Gardn.;
_Campomanesia hirsuta_, Gardn.; _Bidens speciosa_, Gardn.; _Bowmania
speciosa_, Gardn.; _Anemia stricta_, Gardn. MS.; _Pteris sagittæfolia_,
Raddi; _Alstrœmeria nemorosa_, Gardn.; _Euterpe edulis_, Mart., and
_Corypha cerifera_, Mart., from Maranham.
[24] The following is the statement of Baron Cuvier:—“Leur vol n’est
jamais bien long; s’élevant pour fuir les poissons voraces, ils retombent
bientôt, parce que leurs ailes ne leur servent que de parachutes.” Le
Règne animal, Tom. 2, p. 287. Edit. 1829.
[25] Personal Narrative, vol. ii. p. 15.