Nothing is more monotonous than the
vegetation of this region. The lawns
and the banks of the lagoons offer only
one kind of grass and flowering tufts of
a small Hedyotis. On the dune that ex-
tends to the seashore only the rickety
Sophora littoralis (necklace pod) can be
seen, and in places where there are more
variety appears only Surinam cherry (Eu-
genia michelii), some prickly Cactaceae,
Bromeliaceae equally full of thorns and
Brazilian peppertrees (Schinus there-
binthifolius Radd.), that, lying over the
ground, have a height between only one
foot and one foot and a half, showing how
much the land is unproductive. In this sad
region I saw, between Pires and Andrade,
no farm, no hut, and during all the day I
met only two persons. The numerous
animals that graze in the fields, and wa-
terfowl that fly gravely over the lagoons
or seek their food on damp ground, are
the only note of movement and life in the
landscape(24).These remarks are made again by Saint-Hilaire regarding the
restinga of the left bank of Paraíba do Sul River, impoverishing in
his notes a biome very diversified and rich in fruittrees.
It was an impenetrable web of cacti,
spiny monocotyledons, partly desiccat-
ed shrubs that rise to a uniform height,
among which we can see a large number
of Brazilian peppertrees (Schinus there-
bintifolius Radd), Surinam cherries (Eu-
genia michelli Lam.) and necklace pod;
I did not meet any person; I did not see
houses; no insects and no birds; and my
footprints were soon erased by the wind
and the waters of the sea; everywhere
a deep loneliness that the monotonous
noise of the waves still made it sadder(24).In the surroundings of Manguinhos, however, he found
the only Schizaea collected during his long journeys.
About the fauna of restinga, resignedly Saint-Hilaire
laments that "Since the beginning of this journey I and my ser-
vants had not ceased of being tormented by the jiggers..." Ad-
ditionally to the jigger, the botanist must settle the score with
mosquitoes and bedbugs, which are recognized by him as exot-
ic, and nothing more interesting to be recorded(24).The other authors of the nineteenth century, Brazilian or
foreigners, did not worry about putting the flora and fauna of the
restingas into context, providing, at most, a list of animals and
plants. Not even a botanist of international prestige, like José de
Saldanha da Gama, was concerned about that.Restingas in the twentieth century
Lands and waters. Regarding genetic geology, and not only
descriptive geology, north-northwestern Fluminense will have, in
the twentieth century, a great interpreter in the figure of Alberto
Ribeiro Lamego. Examining Goitacás Lowland in its amplitude, he
sees it as the result of two concomitant and intrinsically associat-
ed processes: the plain formed by alluvium brought by Paraíba do
Sul River from the crystalline zone and the marine plain resulting