At St. Helena, However, I Ascertained That Some
Pinnacles, Of A Nearly Similar Figure And Constitution, Had
Been Formed By The Injection Of Melted Rock Into Yielding
Strata, Which Thus Had Formed The Moulds For These Gigantic
Obelisks.
The whole island is covered with wood; but from
the dryness of the climate there is no appearance of
Luxuriance.
Half-way up the mountain, some great masses of the
columnar rock, shaded by laurel-like trees, and ornamented
by others covered with fine pink flowers but without a single
leaf, gave a pleasing effect to the nearer parts of the scenery.
BAHIA, OR SAN SALVADOR. BRAZIL, Feb. 29th. - The day
has passed delightfully. Delight itself, however, is a weak
term to express the feelings of a naturalist who, for the first
time, has wandered by himself in a Brazilian forest. The
elegance of the grasses, the novelty of the parasitical plants,
the beauty of the flowers, the glossy green of the foliage,
but above all the general luxuriance of the vegetation, filled
me with admiration. A most paradoxical mixture of sound
and silence pervades the shady parts of the wood. The noise
from the insects is so loud, that it may be heard even in a
vessel anchored several hundred yards from the shore; yet
within the recesses of the forest a universal silence appears
to reign. To a person fond of natural history, such a day
as this brings with it a deeper pleasure than he can ever hope
to experience again. After wandering about for some hours,
I returned to the landing-place; but, before reaching it, I
was overtaken by a tropical storm. I tried to find shelter
under a tree, which was so thick that it would never have
been penetrated by common English rain; but here, in a
couple of minutes, a little torrent flowed down the trunk.
It is to this violence of the rain that we must attribute the
verdure at the bottom of the thickest woods: if the showers
were like those of a colder climate, the greater part would
be absorbed or evaporated before it reached the ground. I
will not at present attempt to describe the gaudy scenery
of this noble bay, because, in our homeward voyage, we
called here a second time, and I shall then have occasion to
remark on it.
Along the whole coast of Brazil, for a length of at least
2000 miles, and certainly for a considerable space inland,
wherever solid rock occurs, it belongs to a granitic formation.
The circumstance of this enormous area being constituted of
materials which most geologists believe to have
been crystallized when heated under pressure, gives rise to
many curious reflections. Was this effect produced beneath
the depths of a profound ocean? or did a covering of strata
formerly extend over it, which has since been removed?
Can we believe that any power, acting for a time short of
infinity, could have denuded the granite over so many thousand
square leagues?
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