The following is a translation of the leaf from the journal of Dr.
Martins, dated Para, August 16, 1819; and describes an equatorial day,
as observed near the mouths of the Para and the Amazons:--
How happy am I here! How thoroughly do I now understand many things
which before were incomprehensible to me! The glorious features of this
wonderful region, where all the powers of nature are harmoniously
combined, beget new sensations and ideas. I now feel that I better know
what it is to be a historian of nature. Overpowered by the contemplation
of an immense solitude, of a profound and inexpressible stillness,
it is, doubtless, impossible at once to perceive all its divine
characteristics; but the feeling of its vastness and grandeur cannot
fail to arouse in the mind of the beholder the thrilling emotions
of a hitherto inexperienced delight.
It is three o'clock in the morning, I quit my hammock; for the
excitement of my spirits banishes sleep. I open my window, and gaze on
the silent solemnity of night. The stars shine with their accustomed
lustre, and the moon's departing beam is reflected by the clear surface
of the river. How still and mysterious is every thing around me! I take
my dark lantern, and enter the cool verandah, to hold converse with my
trusty friends the trees and shrubs nearest to our dwelling. Most of
them are asleep, with their leaves closely pressed together; others,
however, which repose by day, stand erect, and expand themselves in
the stillness of night. But few flowers are open; only those of the
sweet-scented Paulli_nia_ greet me with a balmy fragrance, and
thine, lofty mango, the dark shade of whose leafy crown shields me from
the dews of night. Moths flit, ghost-like, round the seductive light of
my lantern. The meadows, ever breathing freshness, are now saturated
with dew, and I feel the damp of the night air on my heated limbs.
A Cicàda, a fellow-lodger in the house, attracts me by its domestic
chirp back into my bedroom, and is there my social companion, while,
in a happy dreaming state, I await the coming day, kept half awake by
the buzz of the mosquites, the kettle-drum croak of the bull-frog, or
the complaining cry of the goatsucker.
About five o'clock I again look out, and behold the morning twilight.
A beautiful even tone of grey, finely blended with a warmth-giving red,
now overspreads the sky. The zenith only still remains dark. The trees,
the forms of which become gradually distinct, are gently agitated by
the land wind, which blows from the east. The red morning light and
its reflexes play over the dome-topped caryocars, bertholetias, and
symphonias. The branches and foliage are in motion, and all the lately
slumbering dreamers are now awake, and bathe in the refreshing air
of the morning. Beetles fly, gnats buzz, and the varied voice of the
feathered race resounds from every bush; the apes scream as they clamber
into the thickets; the night moths, surprised by the approach of light,
swarm back in giddy confusion to the dark recesses of the forest; there
is life and motion in every path; the rats and all the gnawing tribe are
hastily retiring to their holes, and the cunning marten, disappointed of
his prey, steals from the farm-yard, leaving untouched the poultry, to
whom the watchful cock has just proclaimed the return of day.
The growing light gradually completes the dawn, and at length the
effulgent day breaks forth. It is nature's jubilee. The earth awaits her
bridegroom, and, behold, he comes! Rays of red light illumine the sky,
and now the sun rises. In another moment he is above the horizon, and,
emerging from a sea of fire, he casts his glowing rays upon the earth.
The magical twilight is gone; bright gleams flit from point to point,
accompanied by deeper and deeper shadows. Suddenly the enraptured
observer beholds around him the joyous earth, arrayed in fresh dewy
splendour, the fairest of brides. The vault of heaven is cloudless;
on the earth all is instinct with life, and every animal and plant is
in the full enjoyment of existence. At seven o'clock the dew begins to
disappear, the land breeze falls off, and the increasing heat soon makes
itself sensibly felt. The sun ascends rapidly and vertically the
transparent blue sky, from which every vapour seems to disappear; but
presently, low in the western horizon, small, flaky, white clouds are
formed. These point towards the sun, and gradually extend far into the
firmament. By nine o'clock the meadow is quite dry, the forest appears
in all the splendour of its glowing foliage. Some buds are expanding;
others, which had effloresced more rapidly, have already disappeared.
Another hour, and the clouds are higher: they form broad, dense masses,
and, passing under the sun, whose fervid and brilliant rays now pervade
the whole landscape, occasionally darken and cool the atmosphere.
The plants shrink beneath the scorching rays, and resign themselves
to the powerful influence of the ruler of the day. The merry buzz of the
gold-winged beetle and humming-bird becomes more audible. The variegated
butterflies and dragon-flies on the bank of the river, produce, by
their gyratory movements, lively and fantastic plays of colour. The
ground is covered with swarms of ants, dragging along leaves for
their architecture. Even the most sluggish animals are roused by the
stimulating power of the sun. The alligator leaves his muddy bed, and
encamps upon the hot sand; the turtle and lizard are enticed from their
damp and shady retreats; and serpents of every colour crawl along the
warm and sunny footpaths.
But now the clouds are lowering; they divide into strata, end,
gradually getting heavier, denser, and darker, at last veil the horizon
in a blueish grey mist. Towards the zenith they tower up in bright
broad-spreading masses, and assume the appearance of gigantic mountains
in the air. All at once the sky is completely overcast, excepting that a
few spots of deep blue still appear through the clouds. The sun is hid,
but the heat of the atmosphere is more oppressive. The noontide is past;
a cheerless melancholy gloom hangs heavily over nature. Fast sink the
spirits; for painful is the change to those who have witnessed the
joyous animation of the morning. The more active animals roam wildly
about, seeking to allay the cravings of hunger and thirst; only the
quiet and slothful, who have taken refuge in the forest, seem to have
no apprehension of the dreadful crisis. But it comes! it rushes on with
rapid strides, and we shall certainly have it here. The temperature is
already lowered; the fierce and clashing gales tear up trees by the
roots. Dark and foaming billows swell the surface of the deeply agitated
sea. The roar of the river is surpassed by the sound of the wind, and
the waters seem to flow silently into the ocean. There the storm rages.
Twice, thrice, flashes of pale blue lightning traverse the clouds in
rapid succession: as often does the thunder roll in loud and prolonged
claps through the firmament. Drops of rain fall. The plants begin to
recover their natural freshness; it thunders again, and the thunder
is followed, not by rain, but by torrents, which pour down from the
convulsed sky. The forest groans; the whizzing rustle of the waving
leaves becomes a hollow murmuring sound, which at length resembles
the distant roll of muffled drums. Flowers are scatterd to and fro,
leaves are stripped from the boughs, branches are torn from the stems,
and massy trees are overthrown; the terrible hurricane ravishes all
the remaining virgin charms of the levelled and devastated plants.
But wherefore regret their fate? Have they not lived and bloomed?
Has not the _Inga_ twisted together its already emptied stamens?
Have not the golden petals fallen from the fractified blossoms of the
Banisèr_ia_, and has not the fruit-loaded _A_rum yielded its
faded spathe to the storm? The terrors of this eventful hour fall
heavily even on the animal world. The feathered inhabitants of the woods
are struck dumb, and flutter about in dismay on the ground; myriads of
insects seek shelter under leaves and trunks of trees. The wild Mammàlia
are tamed, and suspend their work of war and carnage; the cold-blooded
Amphíbia alone rejoice in the overwhelming deluge, and millions of
snakes and frogs, which swarm in the flooded meadows, raise a chorus of
hissing and croaking. Streams of muddy water flow through the narrow
paths of the forests into the river, or pour into the cracks and chasms
of the soil. The temperature continues to descend, and the clouds
gradually empty themselves.
But at length a change takes place, and the storm which lately raged so
furiously is over. The sun shines forth with renovated splendour through
long extended masses of clouds, which gradually disperse towards the
horizon on the north and south, assuming, as in the morning, light,
vapoury forms, and hemming the azure basis of the firmament. A smiling
deep blue sky now gladdens the earth, and the horrors of the past
are speedily forgotten. In an hour no trace of the storm is visible;
the plants, dried by the warm sunbeams, rear their heaps with renewed
freshness, and the different kinds of animals obey, as before, their
respective instincts and propensities.
Evening approaches, and new clouds appear between the white flaky
fringes of the horizon. They diffuse over the landscape tints of violet
and pale yellow, which harmoniously blends the lofty forests in the
back-ground with the river and the sea. The setting sun, surrounded by
hues of variegated beauty, now retires through the western portals of
the firmament, leaving all nature to love and repose. The soft twilight
of evening awakens new sensations in animals and plants, and buzzing
sounds prove that the gloomy recesses of the woods are full of life and
motion. Love-sighs are breathed through the fragrant perfumes of newly
collapsed flowers, and all animated nature feels the influence of this
moment of voluptuous tranquillity. Scattered gleams of light, reflected
splendours of the departed sun, still float upon the woodland ridges;
while, amidst a refreshing coolness, the mild moon arises in calm and
silent grandeur, and diffusing her silver light over the dark forest,
imparts to every object a new and softened aspect. Night comes;--nature
sleeps, and the etheral canopy of heaven, arched out in awful immensity
over the earth, sparkling with innumerable witnesses of far distant
glories, infuses into the heart of man humility and confidence,--a
divine gift after such a day of wonder and delight!--_Mag. Nat.
Hist_. No. 24.
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