with any proof of the statement. In the woods, snakes were
constantly occurring; it was not often, however, that I saw
poisonous species. There were many arboreal kinds besides the two
just mentioned; and it was rather alarming, in entomologising
about the trunks of trees, to suddenly encounter, on turning
round, as sometimes happened, a pair of glittering eyes and a
forked tongue within a few inches of one's head. The last kind I
shall mention is the Coral-snake, which is a most beautiful
object when seen coiled up on black soil in the woods. The one I
saw here was banded with black and vermilion, the black bands
having each two clear white rings. The state of specimens
preserved in spirits can give no idea of the brilliant colours
which adorn the Coral-snake in life.

Petzell and I, as already mentioned, made many excursions of long
extent in the neighbouring forest. We sometimes went to Murucupi,
a creek which passes through the forest, about four miles behind
Caripi, the banks of which are inhabited by Indians and half-
breeds who have lived there for many generations in perfect
seclusion from the rest of the world-- the place being little
known or frequented. A path from Caripi leads to it through a
gloomy tract of virgin forest, where the trees are so closely
packed together that the ground beneath is thrown into the
deepest shade, under which nothing but fetid fungi and rotting
vegetable debris is to be seen. On emerging from this unfriendly
solitude near the banks of the Murucupi, a charming contrast is
presented. A glorious vegetation, piled up to an immense height,
clothes the banks of the creek, which traverses a broad tract of
semi-cultivated ground, and the varied masses of greenery are
lighted up with the sunny glow. Open palm-thatched huts peep