ntific world. The
voluminous works of this author, besides the record of his
Amazon expedition, include his "Malay Archipelago,"
"Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection,"
"Miracles and Spiritualism," "The Geographical
Distribution of Animals," "Tropical Nature,"
"Australasia," "Island Life," "Land Nationalisation,"
"Darwinism," and "Man's Place in the Universe."

It was on the morning of the 26th of May, 1848, that after a short
passage of twenty-nine days from Liverpool, we came to anchor opposite
the southern entrance to the River Amazon, and obtained a first view of
South America. In the afternoon the pilot came on board, and the next
morning we sailed with a fair wind up the river, which for fifty miles
could only be distinguished from the ocean by its calmness and
discoloured water, the northern shore being invisible, and the southern
at a distance of ten or twelve miles.

Early on the morning of the 28th we again anchored; and when the sun
arose in a cloudless sky, the city of Para, surrounded by a dense
forest, and overtopped by palms and plantains, greeted our sight,
appearing doubly beautiful from the presence of those luxuriant tropical
productions in a state of nature, which we had so often admired in the
conservatories of Kew and Chatsworth.

The canoes passing with their motley crews of Negroes and Indians, the
vultures soaring overhead or walking lazily on the beach, and the crowds
of swallows on the churches and housetops, all served to occupy our
attention till the custom-house officers visited us, and we were allowed
to go on shore. Para contains about 15,000 inhabitants and does not
occupy a great extent of ground; yet it is the largest city on the
greatest river in the world, the Amazon, and is the capital of a
province equal in extent to all western Europe. We proceeded to the
house of the consignee of our vessel, Mr. Miller, by whom we were most
kindly received and accommodated in his "rosinha," or suburban villa.

We hired an old Negro man named Isidora for a cook, and regularly
commenced housekeeping, learning Portuguese, and investigating the
natural productions of the country. Having arrived at Para at the end of
the wet season, we did not at first see all the glories of the
vegetation. The beauty of the palm-trees can scarcely be too highly
drawn. In the forest a few miles out of the town trees of enormous
height, of various species, rise on every side. Climbing and