5th Mar 1832

Bahia, Brazil
King & myself started at 9 oclock for a long naturalizing walk. — Some of the valleys were even more beautiful than any I have yet seen. — There is a wild luxuriance in these spots that is quite enchanting. — One of the great superiorities that Tropical scenery has over European is the wildness even of the cultivated ground. Cocoa Nuts, Bananas, Plantain, Oranges, Papaws are mingled as if by Nature, & between them are patches of the herbaceous plants such as Indian corn, Yams & Cassada: & in this class of views, the knowledge that all conduces to the subsistence of Mankind, adds much to the pleasure of beholding them. We returned to the ship about 1/2 after 5 oclock & during these eight hours we scarcely rested one. — The sky was cloudless & the day very hot, yet we did not suffer much: It appears to me that the heat merely brings on indolence, & if there is any motive sufficient to overcome this it is very easy to undergo a good deal of fatigue. — During the walk I was chiefly employed in collecting numberless small beetles & in geologising. — King shot some pretty birds & I a most beautiful large lizard. — It is a new & pleasant thing for me to be conscious that naturalizing is doing my duty, & that if I neglected that duty I should at same time neglect what has for some years given me so much pleasure.