CHARLES
DARWIN
THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE
LONDON
J. M. DENT & SONS LTD
NEW YORK E. P. DUTTON & CO INC
On leaving Ascension we sailed for Bahia, on the coast of Brazil, in
order to complete the chronometrical measurement of the world. We arrived
there on August 1st, and stayed four days, during which I took several
long walks. I was glad to find my enjoyment in tropical scenery had not
decreased from the want of novelty, even in the slightest degree. The
elements of the scenery are so simple, that they are worth mentioning,
as a proof on what trifling circumstances exquisite natural beauty depends.
The country may be described as a level plain of about three hundred
feet in elevation, which in all parts has been worn into flat-bottomed
valleys. This structure is remarkable in a granitic land, but is nearly
universal in all those softer formations of which plains are usually composed.
The whole surface is covered by various kinds of stately trees, interspersed
with patches of cultivated ground, out of which houses, convents, and
chapels arise. It must be remembered that within the tropics, the wild
luxuriance of nature is not lost even in the vicinity of large cities;
for the natural vegetation of the hedges and hill-sides over-powers in
picturesque effect the artificial labour of man. Hence, there are only
a few spots where the bright red soil affords a strong contrast with the
universal clothing of green. From the edges of the plain there are distant
views either of the ocean, or of the great Bay with its low-wooded shores,
and on which numerous boats and canoes show their white sails. Excepting
from these points, the scene is extremely, limited; following the level
pathways, on each hand, only glimpses into the wooded
valleys below call be obtained. The houses, I may add, and especially the
sacred edifices, are built in a peculiar and rather fantastic style of architecture.
They are all whitewashed; so that when illumined by the brilliant sun of
mid-day, and as seen against the pale-blue sky of the horizon, they stand
out more like shadows than real buildings.
Such are the elements of the scenery, but it is a hopeless attempt to
paint the general effect. Learned naturalists describe these scenes of
the tropics by naming a multitude of objects, and mentioning some characteristic
feature of each. To a learned traveller this possibly may communicate
some definite ideas: but who else from seeing a plant in an herbarium
can imagine its appearance when growing in its native soil? Who from seeing
choice plants in a hothouse, can, magnify some into the dimensions of
forest trees, and crowd others into all entangled jungle? Who when examining
in the cabinet of the entomologist the gay exotic butterflies, and singular
cicadas, will associate with these lifeless object, the ceaseless harsh
music of the latter, and the lazy flight of the former,--the sure
accompaniments of the still, glowing noonday of the tropics? It is when
the sun has attained its greatest height, that such scenes should be viewed:
then the dense splendid foliage of the mango hides the ground with its
darkest shade, whilst the upper branches are rendered from the profusion
of light of the most brilliant green. In the temperate zones the case
is different--the vegetation there is not so dark or so rich, and
hence the rays of the declining still, tinged of a red, purple, or bright
yellow colour, add most to the beauties of those climes.
When quietly walking along the shady pathways, and admiring each successive
view, I wished to find language to express my ideas. Epithet after epithet
was found too weak to convey to those have not visited the inter-tropical
regions, the sensation of delight which the mind experiences. I have said
that the plants in a hothouse fail to communicate a just idea of the vegetation,
yet I must recur to it. The land is one great wild, untidy, luxuriant
hothouse, made by Nature for herself, but taken possession of by man,
who has studded it with gay houses and formal gardens. How great would
be the desire in every admirer of nature to behold, if such were possible,
the scenery of another planet! yet to every person in
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