Ch. X.] RETROCESSION OF THE FOREST. 137 



paths. The thick forest they do not like, possibly 

 because beneath its shade the ground is kept too damp 

 for their fungus beds. But along the edge of the forest, 

 by the sides of roads through it, that let in the air 

 and sunshine, and in clearings they abound, and are 

 especially fond of the leaves of young trees, many of 

 which are destroyed by them. Should the brushwood 

 ultimately prevail, and cover the ground, the Indian, 

 or Mestizo, comes again after a few years, cuts it down, 

 and replants it with maize. But as most of his old 

 clearings get covered with grass, he is continually en- 

 croaching on the edge of the forest, beating it back 

 gradually, but surely, towards the north-east. As this 

 process has probably been going on for many thou- 

 sands of years, I believe that the edge of the forest is 

 several miles nearer the Atlantic than it was originally. 



In this way many acres in the neighbourhood of 

 Pital were taken from the forest, and added to the 

 grass-lands, whilst I was in the country. The brush- 

 wood-land does not yield such good crops as the virgin- 

 forest, but it is nearer to the huts of the cultivators, who 

 live out on the savannahs, so that whenever the weedy 

 shrubs gain possession of a spot sufficiently large for a 

 clearing, and choke off the grass, these places are again 

 cut down and burnt, and thus the forest is never 

 allowed to establish outposts, or advanced stations, in 

 the disputed ground. What would be the result if man 

 were withdrawn from the scene, I do not know, but I 

 believe that the forest would slowly, but surely, regain 

 the ground that it has lost through long centuries. The 

 thickets and dense brushwood that always spring up 

 along the edge of the forest, and consist of many 



