Page:The naturalist on the River Amazons 1863 v2.djvu/41

 less kinds of Dipterous and Hymenopterous insects appear simultaneously with the flowers. This season might be considered the equivalent of summer in temperate climates, as the bursting forth of the foliage in February represents the spring; but under the equator there is not that simultaneous march in the annual life of animals and plants, which we see in high latitudes; some species, it is true, are dependent upon others in their periodical acts of life, and go hand-in-hand with them, but they are not all simultaneously and similarly affected by the physical changes of the seasons.

I will now give an account of some of my favourite collecting places in the neighbourhood of Santarem, incorporating with the description a few of the more interesting observations made on the Natural History of the localities. To the west of the town there was a pleasant path along the beach to a little bay, called Mapirí, about five miles within the mouth of the Tapajos. The road was practicable only in the dry season. The river at Santarem rises on the average about thirty feet, varying in different years about ten feet; so that in the four months, from April to July, the water comes up to the edge of the marginal belt of wood already spoken of. This Mapirí excursion was most pleasant and profitable in the months from January to March, before the rains become too continuous. The sandy beach beyond the town is very irregular; in some places forming long spits on which, when the east wind is blowing, the waves break in a line of foam; at others receding to