Tuesday, August 22nd.—­We were called at half-past five, and, after a hasty breakfast, started on horseback by seven o’clock for the Virgin Forest, about six miles from Petropolis.  After leaving the town and its suburbs, we pursued our way by rough winding paths, across which huge moths and butterflies flitted, and humming-birds buzzed in the almond-trees.  After a ride of an hour and a half, we entered the silence and gloom of a vast forest.  On every side extended a tangled mass of wild, luxuriant vegetation:  giant-palms, and tree-ferns, and parasites are to be seen in all directions, growing wherever they can find root-hold.  Sometimes they kill the tree which they favour with their attentions—­one creeper, in particular, being called ‘Mata-pao’ or ‘Kill-tree;’ but, as a rule, they seem to get on very well together, and to depend mutually upon one another for nourishment and support.  The most striking of these creepers is, perhaps, the liane, whose tendrils grow straight downwards to the ground, twisting themselves together in knots and bundles.  Occasionally one sees, suspended from a tree, at a height of some fifty feet, a large lump of moss, from which scarlet orchids are growing; looking like an enormous hanging flower-basket.  All colours in Brazil, whether of birds, insects, or flowers, are brilliant in the extreme.  Blue, violet, orange, scarlet, and yellow are found in the richest profusion, and no pale or faint tints are to be seen.  Even white seems purer, clearer, and deeper than the white of other countries.

We had a long wet walk in the forest; the mosses and ferns being kept moist and green by the innumerable little streams of water which abound everywhere.  Owing to the thickness of the surrounding jungle, it was impossible to stray from our very narrow path, notwithstanding the attractions of humming-birds, butterflies, and flowers.  At last we came to an opening in the wood, whence we had a splendid view seawards, and where it was decided to turn round and retrace our steps through the forest.  After walking some distance we found our horses waiting, and after a hot but pleasant ride reached Petropolis by twelve o’clock, in time for breakfast.  Letter-writing and butterfly-catching occupied the afternoon until four o’clock, when I was taken out for a drive in a comfortable little phaeton, with a pretty pair of horses, while the rest of the party walked out to see a little more of Petropolis and its environs.  We drove past the Emperor’s palace—­an Italian villa, standing in the middle of a large garden—­the new church, and the houses of the principal inhabitants, most of which are shut up just now, as everybody is out of town, but it all looked very green and pleasant.  It was interesting to see a curious breed of dogs, descended from the bloodhounds formerly used in hunting the poor Indians.