Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 6.djvu/64

58 58 DR. JOHN SCOULER. appear to communicate by means of short tubes with the external tubercles. 82d. These few days past we have been accompanied by many birds we did not se[e] in the Northern hemis- phere, the most abundant and beautifull of these is the Procellarias Capensis, but although they greedily devoured the oily substances we threw over to them all our en- deavours to procure a specimen have been unsuccessfull. 25th. The presence of several land birds, the quantity of Fuci [?] floating past us and the number of butterflys that alighted on the vessell, indicated our approach to land. In the afternoon these prognostics were verified by the agre[e]able report of land ahead & Cape Frio was the first land in the New World I had the pleasure of seeing. 26th. While sailing into the harbour of Rio De Ja- neiro my mind was entirely occupied in anticipating the rich harvest of natural objects which awaited me. Every thing I had read of the beauty & riches of tropical coun- tries & the recollection of the tropical plants I had an opportunity of examining at home, now presented them- selves to my memory. To see from the deck of the ves- sell. the hills covered with richest verdure and the palms raising their head above their breathren of the forest could not but please the imagination and try the patience of the naturalist. 28th. This morning we landed at Rio, & neglecting its public edifices, I made my way to the country fur- nished with my vasculum & box for holding insects. I soon filled my vasculum and loaded with as many more plants as I could well carry I returned to the ship along the sea coast, where every variety of marine animal abounded, as Holothuria, Limuli, Actiniae, & Echini, etc., etc.