120 REVIEWS. 



steppes and deserts are of the Old. One of the peculiarities of the Amazon 

 forests is the variety of species of trees of which they are composed, 

 " two individuals of the same species scarcely ever occurring together, ex- 

 cept in certain cases, principally among the palms." Among the produc- 

 tions met with in these forests are the Indja-rubber (Siphonia elastica), 

 and the Brazil-tree nut ; which latter is thus described : — 



u The Brazil-nuts, from the Bertholletia excelsa, are brought chiefly from the 

 interior ; the greater part from the country around the junction of the Rio Negro 

 and Madeira with the Amazon rivers. This tree takes more than a whole year to 

 produce and ripen its fruits. In the month of January I observed the trees loaded 

 at the same time with flowers and ripe fruits, both of which were falling from the 

 tree ; from these flowers would be formed the nuts of the following year ; so that 

 they, probably, require eighteen months for their complete development from the 

 bud. The fruits, which are nearly as hard and heavy as cannon-balls, fall with 

 tremendous force from the height of a hundred feet, crashing through the branches 

 and undergrowth, and snapping off large boughs which they happen to strike 

 against. Persons are sometimes killed by them, and accidents are not unfrequent 

 among the Indians engaged in gathering them. 



M The fruits are all procured as they fall from the tree. They are collected 

 together in small heaps, where they are opened with an axe, an operation that 

 requires some practice and skill, and the triangular nuts are taken out, and carried 

 to the canoes in baskets. Other trees of the same family (Lecythidece) are very 

 abundant, and are remarkable for their curious fruits, which have lids, and are 

 shaped like pots or cups — whence they are called ' pot-trees.' Some of the 

 smaller ones are called by the natives ' cuyas de macaco' — monkey's calabashes." 



Amid all the brilliancy of tropical vegetation seen under its favourable 

 aspect, Mr. Wallace (whose pages bear ample evidence of his power of 

 appreciating the beautiful) does not quite forget home scenes and home 

 beauties, and he thus contrasts them : — 



" There is grandeur and solemnity in the tropical forest, but little of beauty or 

 brilliancy of colour. The huge buttress trees, the fissured trunks, the extraordinary 

 air roots, the twisted and wrinkled climbers, and the elegant palms, are what strike 

 the attention and fill the mind with admiration, and surprise, and awe. But all is 

 gloomy and solemn, and one feels a relief on again seeing the blue sky, and feeling 

 the scorching rays of the sun. 



M It is on the roadside and on the rivers' banks, that we see all the beauty of 

 the tropical vegetation. There we find a mass of bushes and shrubs, and trees of 

 every height, rising over one another, all exposed to the bright light and the fresh 

 air ; and putting forth, within reach, their flowers and fruit, which, in the forest, 

 only grow far up on the topmost branches. Bright flowers and green foliage com- 

 bine their charms, and climbers with their flowery festoons cover over the bare and 

 decaying stems. Yet, pick out the loveliest spots, whene the most gorgeous flowers 

 of the tropics expand their glowing petals, and for every scene of this kind we 

 may find another at home of equal beauty, and with an equal amount of brilliant 

 colour. 



u Look at a field of buttercups and daisies — a hill-side covered with gorse and 

 broom— a mountain rich with purple heather — or a forest -glade azure with a 

 carpet of wild hyacinths, and they will bear a comparison with any scene the tropics 

 can produce. I have never seen anything more glorious than an old crab-tree in 

 full blossom ; and the horse-chesnut, lilac, and laburnum will vie with the choicest 

 tropical trees and shrubs. In the tropical waters are no more beautiful plants than 

 our white and yellow water-lilies, our irises, and flowering rush ; for I cannot con- 

 sider the flower of the Victoria regia more beautiful than that of the Nymphtpa 



