第18章

We now settled ourselves for a few months' regular work.We had the forest on three sides of us; it was the end of the wet season; most species of birds had finished moulting, and every day the insects increased in number and variety.Behind the rocinha, after several days' exploration, I found a series of pathways through the woods, which led to the Una road; about half way was the house in which the celebrated travellers Spix and Martius resided during their stay at Para, in 1819.It was now in a neglected condition, and the plantations were overgrown with bushes.The paths hereabout were very productive of insects, and being entirely under shade, were very pleasant for strolling.

Close to our doors began the main forest road.It was broad enough for two horsemen abreast, and branched off in three directions; the main line going to the village of Ourem, a distance of fifty miles.This road formerly extended to Maranham, but it had been long in disuse and was now grown up, being scarcely passable between Para and Ourem.

Our researches were made in various directions along these paths, and every day produced us a number of new and interesting species.Collecting, preparing our specimens, and making notes, kept us well occupied.One day was so much like another, that a general description of the diurnal round of incidents, including the sequence of natural phenomena, will be sufficient to give an idea of how days pass to naturalists under the equator.

We used to rise soon after dawn, when Isidoro would go down to the city, after supplying us with a cup of coffee, to purchase the fresh provisions for the day.The two hours before breakfast were devoted to ornithology.At that early period of the day the sky was invariably cloudless (the thermometer marking 72 or 73Fahr.); the heavy dew or the previous night's rain, which lay on the moist foliage, becoming quickly dissipated by the glowing sun, which rising straight out of the east, mounted rapidly towards the zenith.All nature was fresh, new leaf and flower-buds expanding rapidly.Some mornings a single tree would appear in flower amidst what was the preceding evening a uniform green mass of forest--a dome of blossom suddenly created as if by magic.The birds were all active; from the wild-fruit trees, not far off, we often heard the shrill yelping of the Toucans (Ramphastos vitellinus).Small flocks of parrots flew over on most mornings, at a great height, appearing in distinct relief against the blue sky, always two-by-two chattering to each other, the pairs being separated by regular intervals; their bright colours, however, were not apparent at that height.After breakfast we devoted the hours from 10 a.m.to 2 or 3 p.m.to entomology; the best time for insects in the forest being a little before the greatest heat of the day.

The heat increased rapidly towards two o'clock (92 and 93 Fahr.), by which time every voice of bird or mammal was hushed; only in the trees was heard at intervals the harsh whirr of a cicada.The leaves, which were so moist and fresh in early morning, now become lax and drooping; the flowers shed their petals.Our neighbours, the Indian and Mulatto inhabitants of the open palm-thatched huts, as we returned home fatigued with our ramble, were either asleep in their hammocks or seated on mats in the shade, too languid even to talk.On most days in June and July a heavy shower would fall some time in the afternoon, producing a most welcome coolness.The approach of the rain-clouds was after a uniform fashion very interesting to observe.First, the cool sea-breeze, which commenced to blow about ten o'clock, and which had increased in force with the increasing power of the sun, would flag and finally die away.The heat and electric tension of the atmosphere would then become almost insupportable.Languor and uneasiness would seize on every one, even the denizens of the forest, betraying it by their motions.White clouds would appear in the cast and gather into cumuli, with an increasing blackness along their lower portions.The whole eastern horizon would become almost suddenly black, and this would spread upwards, the sun at length becoming obscured.Then the rush of a mighty wind is heard through the forest, swaying the tree-tops; a vivid flash of lightning bursts forth, then a crash of thunder, and down streams the deluging rain.Such storms soon cease, leaving bluish-black, motionless clouds in the sky until night.Meantime all nature is refreshed; but heaps of flower-petals and fallen leaves are seen under the trees.Towards evening life revives again, and the ringing uproar is resumed from bush and tree.The following morning the sun again rises in a cloudless sky, and so the cycle is completed; spring, summer, and autumn, as it were, in one tropical day.

The days are more or less like this throughout the year in this country.A little difference exists between the dry and wet seasons;but generally, the dry season, which lasts from July to December, is varied with showers, and the wet, from January to June, with sunny days.

It results from this, that the periodical phenomena of plants and animals do not take place at about the same time in all species, or in the individuals of any given species, as they do in temperate countries.Of course there is no hybernation; nor, as the dry season is not excessive, is there any summer torpidity as in some tropical countries.Plants do not flower or shed their leaves, nor do birds moult, pair, or breed simultaneously.In Europe, a woodland scene has its spring, its summer, its autumn, and its winter aspects.In the equatorial forests the aspect is the same or nearly so every day in the year: budding, flowering, fruiting, and leaf shedding are always going on in one species or other.