performance of many miracles. The image was to be seen on the
altar, a handsome doll about four feet high, wearing a silver
crown and a garment of blue silk, studded with golden stars. In
and about the chapel were the offerings that had been made to
her, proofs of the miracles which she had performed. There were
models of legs, arms, breasts, and so forth, which she had cured.
But most curious of all was a ship's boat, deposited here by the
crew of a Portuguese vessel which had foundered, a year or two
before our arrival, in a squall off Cayenne; part of them having
been saved in the boat, after invoking the protection of the
saint here enshrined. The annual festival in honour of our Lady
of Nazareth is the greatest of the Para holidays; many persons
come to it from the neighbouring city of Maranham, 300 miles
distant. Once the President ordered the mail steamer to be
delayed two days at Para for the convenience of these visitors.
The popularity of the festival is partly owing to the beautiful
weather that prevails when it takes place, namely, in the middle
of the fine season, on the ten days preceding the full moon in
October or November. Para is then seen at its best. The weather
is not too dry, for three weeks never follow in succession
without a shower; so that all the glory of verdure and flowers
can be enjoyed with clear skies. The moonlit nights are then
especially beautiful, the atmosphere is transparently clear, and
the light sea-breeze produces an agreeable coolness.

We now settled ourselves for a few months' regular work. We had
the forest on three sides of us; it was the end of the wet
season; most species of birds had finished moulting, and every
day the insects increased in number and variety. Behind the
rocinha, after several days' exploration, I found a series of