February 29th, 1832

1832年2月29日

The day has past delightfully. Delight itself, however, is a weak term to express the feelings of a naturalist who, for the first time, has been wandering by himself in a Brazilian forest. Among the multitude of striking objects, the general luxuriance of the vegetation bears away the victory. The elegance of the grasses, the novelty of the parasitical plants, the beauty of the flowers, the glossy green of the foliage, all tend to this end. 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 ever can hope again to experience. After wandering about for some hours, I returned to the landing-place; but, before reaching it. I was overtaken by a tropical storm. 1 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 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.

这一天过得很愉快。然而，愉快这个词还不足以表达一个博物学家首次独自漫步巴西森林的感受。在众多惹人注目的事物中，植被的繁茂最为引人入胜。草木优雅，寄生植物新奇，百花艳丽，树叶翠绿欲滴，所有的一切使得这里的植被拔得头筹。林荫间弥漫着喧嚣和寂静这对十分矛盾的组合。昆虫的叫声如此响亮，即使是在离岸儿百码外停泊的船只上也能听到，而森林深处却似乎完全为沉寂所笼罩。对于一个深爱着博物学的人来说，这样的一天带来的无比欢乐是他以后很难再期望重新经历的。漫步数小时后，我准备返回登陆的地方。但是在回去之前，我遇上了一场热带暴雨。我试着在一棵树下避雨，这棵大树非常茂盛。英国的雨水是绝不会穿透它茂密的枝叶的。可是，在这里，不到几分钟工夫，一条小小的瀑布便沿着树干顺流而下。然而，正因为雨水的猛烈才使得繁茂森林的最低处也如此郁郁葱葱，如果阵雨像寒冷气候中的那样，人部分水分在达到地面之前就被吸收或蒸发了。因为在返回的途中，我们还会再次造访这里，我现在暂时不打算描绘这个瑰丽海湾的绚丽景色了，到那时我会有机会对它进行评说的。

The geology of the surrounding country possesses little interest. Throughout the coast of Brazil, and certainly for a considerable space inland from the Rio Plata to Cape St. Roque, lat. 5° S., a distance of more than 2000 geographical miles, wherever solid rock occurs, it belongs to a granitic formation. The circumstance of this enormous area being thus constituted of materials, which almost every geologist believes have been crystallized by the action of heat 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, action for a time short of infinity, could have denuded the granite over so many thousand square leagues?

周围地区的地质情祝没有什么特别之处。巴西整个海岸，当然还有内陆很大一片区域，即从拉普拉塔到南纬5度的圣罗克海角2000多英里的地理范围内，只要是有坚固岩石的地方，都属于花岗岩地层。为此几乎每一位地质学家都认为这片广袤区域的组成物质是在压力作用下受热结晶形成的，但这样的地质状况本身引起了许多好奇者的思考。这个作用过程是在海洋深处发生的吗?以前它上面是还覆盖着一层底层，而后被移开了吗?我们是否可以相信有种力量经过漫长时期的作用，能够将如此几千平方公里范围的花岗岩侵蚀掉呢?