162 APPENDIX. 



fruit is yet attached to the tree, and it is not until it has sprouted out to the length of 

 some inches that it drops as a young plant into the mud below. Rivers as far as they 

 are subjected to the influence of the ebb and flow are full of mangroves and the 

 highest Ehizophoras, which, growing always on that side where there is the deepest 

 water, assist the natives in conducting their canoes through the mud-banks. On the 

 sand of the sea-beach the Ipomoea pescaprce grows in wild luxuriance, producing run- 

 ners often more than 200 feet long. Higher up, where the ground is firmer, are groves 

 of cocoa-nut palms, poisonous manzanilla trees, and spiny Prosopis and Cereus pitajaya, 

 or thickets of Crescentia cucurbitina and Paritium tiliaceum. 



" Far different is the vegetation of the savanas. The ground, being level or 

 slightly undulated, is clothed during the greater part of the year with a turf of brilliant 

 green. Groups of trees and bushes rise here and there ; silvery streams, herds of cattle 

 and deer, and the isolated huts of the natives tend to give variety to the scene, while 

 the absence of palms and tree-ferns imparts to the whole more the appearance of a 

 European park than a tract of land in Tropical America. The turf is almost as dense 

 as in an English garden, and contains, besides numerous kinds of grasses, many elegant 

 Papilionaceae, Polygalaceae, Gentianaceae, and Violaceae; the sensitive plant (Mimosa 

 pudica) prevails in many localities, shutting up its tender leaves even upon the approach of 

 a heavy footstep. The clumps of trees and shrubs over which Panax speciosa and Cecropia 

 peltata are waving their large foliage are composed of Myrtaceae, Melastomaceae, Chryso- 

 balaneae, Papilionaceae, Verbenaceae, Compositae, Dilleniacese, Anonaceae, Malpighiaceae, 

 and Acanthaceee, and overspread by Convolvulacese, Aristolochiaceae, Apocynaceae, and 

 other climbing or twining plants. Orchideae are plentiful in the vicinity of the rivers, where 

 the trees are literally loaded with them. The vanilla climbs in abundance up the stems 

 of young trees, and often increases so much in weight as to cause the downfall of its 

 supporters. The < chumicales ' * or groves of sand-paper trees (Curatella americana), 

 form curious features in the landscape. They extend over whole districts, and their 

 presence indicates a soil impregnated with iron. The trees are about forty feet high, 

 have crooked branches (an approximation to the twining habit of the tribe) ; and their 

 paper-like leaves, if stirred by the wind, occasion a rattling noise which strongly 

 reminds one of the European autumn, when northerly breezes strip the trees of their 

 foliage. 



" Forests cover at least two thirds of the whole territory. The high trees, the dense 

 foliage, and the numerous twining and climbing plants almost shut out the rays of the 

 sun, causing a gloom which is the more insupportable as all other objects are hidden 

 from view. Rain is so frequent, and the moisture so great, that the burning of these 

 forests is impossible; a striking difference to those of the temperate regions, where 

 a fire often consumes extensive woods in a very short space of time. Flowers are 

 scarce in proportion to the mass of leaves with which the places are crowded, and in no 

 * Prom " chumico," the native name of this tree. 



